"I may be fat, but I beat my eating disorder"

[Napoléon]

Rant incoming. This "story" really grinds my effing gears for many reasons.

I've seen several people on my facebook newsfeed liking and sharing this shit now, so I wanna know whether it's just me, or whether all these people are just fucking retards.

http://fullbodiedlovin.tumblr.com/post/7...before-and

Here’s to a week for the unconventional before and after photos, National Eating Disorder Awareness Week. For most of my life, I’ve been heavier, and consequently shamed and belittled for my weight. When I started college, however, I weighed 103 pounds, was eating 400-600 calories a day, doing about 90 minutes of cardio daily, and most importantly, I was anorexic. I was 15 pounds underweight, but no one thought to say anything because they were too busy applauding me for my unnatural weight loss. This is me calling them out. This is my telling them they were wrong. This is me thanking my real life and tumblr friends for everything they have done to get me to the wonderful place I am today. So fuck you traditional pictures of “healthy”, I may be fat, but I beat my eating disorder.

I'd like to point out, for starters, in one picture you're covered in shit with no makeup and terrible lighting, in the other you're dressed up for a professional fucking photoshoot. Obviously people are going to be more inclined to think the 'after' picture looks better.

But well done for beating your eating disorder. Pat on the back for that. Genuinely. But giving someone a pat on the back for being fat is just as bad as giving them a pat on the back for being skinny IMHO. This is where my contention is with this crap.

She's swapped one version of unhealthiness for another.


Taken from the FAQ on her stupid as shit tumblr:

“You’re not fat, you’re X (healthy, beautiful, etc.)”

My question to these people is why can’t I choose all of the above? I personally identify as fat, but when did fat become the opposite of healthy or of beautiful?

Ummm, I dunno, might have something to do with the general understandings of what constitutes healthy from a medical perspective. I've not really seen 'being fat' mentioned anywhere as an ideal. Has anyone else? Do people go to their GP and expect to be praised for being overweight? Am I living on the same planet as this person? Do I have a warped idea of what constitutes as healthy?

Fat is not a dirty word and fat people don’t lose the capacity to be healthy or attractive because they’re fat.

Attractiveness is subjective. I guess some people like chubbiness, that's not a crime. I've not really got beef with that.

However, I'm not doctor, or dietician, but I'm reasonably sure the fatter you get the unhealthier you are. Being fat has some bearing on health right? So, to some extent at least, you do lose the capacity to be healthy when you're fat. Am I wrong in thinking that, or is this shitty tumblr post as shitty as I think it is? In everything I've learned, or had told to me by doctors, nobody has once said you can be fat and healthy. Being fat is not healthy. Is it healthier than what she used to be though? Maybe. But I guarantee she couldn't do 90 mins of cardio while being fat whereas she could before (according to her own blog). On most, if not all fitness tests that would suggest that you being fat is unhealthier than you being skinny, right?

It’s just something else they can be. I am fat, but I’m also, healthy

What really, really, pisses me off with this, is that this is almost being celebrated as though it's something people should strive for. It's even as far as blatant misinformation IMO. This kind of shit is just as bad as people promoting anorexia in the first place. In fact, it just strikes me as completely ironic that the very thing this girl criticises throughout her posts (the pro-anorexia sentiment/skinny is healthy) is actually not at all far from what she's doing herself. She's just promoting a different brand of unhealthy.

Nowhere through any of the tripe on her tumblr has she had confirmation from any kind of source or doctor that her new lifestyle is healthy, or even healthier than her old one. In fact, she goes as far to suggest that her own doctor (in her own professional opinion ofcourse) would actually misdiagnose people if they're overweight. At least that's how I took this particular quote: "Even when I was underweight, my doctor wasn’t misdiagnosing my problems because of my weight", it doesn't actually make much sense to me. (That bit is found in the FAQ section, I don't really get where she's going with it).


I'm all for self acceptance, and being happy. I know everyone is different and all that shit. Some people carry more weight than others and have different body types etc.

But I don't at all buy that she's at her optimum health by being overweight. I also absolutely loath the way this kind of shit is sort of being fashionably promoted as an ideal. Seems massively hypocritical to me to bash on the pro-anorexia sentiments in society, and then promote your own brand of unhealthiness by saying "look at me, I'm happy being fat". I'm sure they're plenty of people who could say the same while being anorexic.

I get the sense that all of these people are in denial somewhere along the line. Be who you want to be, but don't be in denial about whether it is healthy or not, and certainly don't make claims of healthiness that other people should strive for. That shit is dangerous.


But meh. End of rant.

I'm no doctor/dietician, so if my ideas of healthiness are wrong, feel free to rip me to shreds. But I honestly think this kind of shit is not only massively hypocritical, but just as dangerous to the health of impressionable people as what pro-anorexic posts are. And it ticks me the fuck off.

[FatAndFaithless]

My brain shut off after the phrase "Tumblr friends". I agree with you though.

[Alex K]

Napoléon,

I disagree mostly.
You, and she needs a sense of perspective, she's does not have a particularly unhealthy weight on the "after" picture. There's no evidence that somewhat above average weight like that is as terribly unhealthy as you make it sound - in no way is it comparable to the dangers of going in the other direction, where people simply die under the hands of their doctors in their 30s because of malnourishment - I've seen it happen. She may very well be a little overweight and eat waaay more "healthy" than someone who maintains perfect BMI. If that's the equilibrium she can more or less keep to keep her eating disorder in check, good for her, others are not so lucky.

[Napoléon]

You, and she needs a sense of perspective, she's does not have a particularly unhealthy weight on the "after" picture.

I wouldn't say she necessarily does on the before picture either.

One of my main issues is none of what she claims is supported by doctors, and the general message that fat can be healthy is a dangerous one. Just as dangerous as the pro-anorexia messages.

[Chad32]

It is a bit odd that her before picture is made to look as bad as possible, with dirty clothes and bad lighting. It can be hard to keep an ideal weight, but being a little over is probably better than being under the bar. It doesn't seem to say what her current weight is, and if it's really considered overweight.

[Alex K]

Just as dangerous as the pro-anorexia messages.

And I highly doubt that point.

[Napoléon]

Just as dangerous as the pro-anorexia messages.

And I highly doubt that point.

Why?

Far more people die every year due to obesity and issues relating directly to being overweight than they do to being underweight. I'd like to see any study that suggests otherwise.

My point isn't even necessarily that the girl on these tumblr posts is unhealthy, but her message that "being fat can be healthy", is IMHO plenty dangerous.

[pocaracas]

Hahahahaha!
So she's one more that lost weight... a lot... and then gained it back!
Congratz on the yo-yo diet!

To be fair, there's this new diet being advertised called the "paleolithic diet", eat like you're a caveman/woman.
Plenty in the summer, near nothing in the winter. see? yo-yo effect going on, huh? It's how it should be.
Oh, but do remember to lay off processed foods, you're hunting and gathering. So you have to hunt and gather yourself... that'll be much better than the gym... and cheaper too!

What's that? you live in a city? tough luck... I guess you're not qualified for the paleo diet, then!

[FreeTony]

She was hardly that anorexic before, around the normal/underweight BMI boundary. Her boyfriend at 6'2" and 125 pounds sounds more worrying (BMI 16)!

Calling herself an eating diorder survivor seems a little over the top.

[Alex K]

And I highly doubt that point.

Why?

Far more people die every year due to obesity and issues relating directly to being overweight than they do to being underweight. I'd like to see any study that suggests otherwise.

My point isn't even necessarily that the girl on these tumblr posts is unhealthy, but her message that "being fat can be healthy", is IMHO plenty dangerous.

Yes, that message, in general, is not a good one at all, but you're comparing apples with oranges, and we have different target groups in mind.
Being severely overweight may cause long term damage and shorten your life expectancy, which is hard to compare to more immediate effects of depression related eating disorders etc. Statistics suggest that at least 4-5% of people with anorexia or bulimia die from it, and I guess this is a rather short term effect compared to the delayed effects of obesity. But your apparent message to people with clinically diagnosable eating disorder that being a bit overweight is just as bad as anorexia, is very dangerous as well.

---

She was hardly that anorexic before, around the normal/underweight BMI boundary. Her boyfriend at 6'2" and 125 pounds sounds more worrying (BMI 16)!

Calling herself an eating diorder survivor seems a little over the top.

True, the whole thing is a bit unhealthy from start to finish.