What are your thoughts on fat acceptance?

[Jackalope]

I'm picking on you even though others have done the same thing.

That word.  SMFH.  Yeah, it's popular, but it's demeaning, and it's part of the shaming that we're discussing here.  IMO, if you are against shaming, using that work is as counterproductive as using "faggot".

I have a habit of using inflammatory language for effect.   The best argument against racism for example, imo, is twelve straight hours of old whites using the word.  I;m glad you;re disgusted by my use of the term.  

Meh.

Frankly, it's not necessary to use inflammatory language yourself when you're surrounded by it.

Who isn't, or didn't notice..if you had to guess?

Beats me, as I'm the only one who seemed to think it was worth mentioning.

[CapnAwesome]

What about when someone lies about the science involved in weight gain? I mean, I don't care about someone's body, I care about the information that is put out there.

I kind of covered that, in a way. Science can be discussed and corrected without shaming people.

I think it's terrible to fat-shame people or to encourage the supermodel and extreme dieting as the norm. People should be able to feel comfortable in their own bodies no matter what because it is their body and not yours. It's not hurting you, so get over it.

However, this kind of generosity should not get in the way of talking about health concerns. Obesity obviously causes problems, and at some point there should be a public awareness of this. Just don't be an asshat about it.

If only the body positivity movement were only about not fat-shaming people. Then it would be no problem, I'd say 'I don't do that anyway, so no problem.' Of course that's not what it's about, they want to re-write the whole way we understand nutrition, and facts for that matter.

[Losty]

I think it makes a difference if someone is an adult or a child. I don't think you should ever shame someone for being fat, but if it's a child something should be done. It's really hard for me not to judge people with fat kids, like how could you let this happen to your child.

[brewer]

Cis or Trans, at my age I don't care. What is not acceptable is 0 fat.

[LadyForCamus]

Someone mentioned mental illness, along with other health conditions, and that it would only result in so much weight gain. I have to point out that is not true.

You're absolutely correct.

I made the comment earlier that I gained over a hundred pounds as a result of taking a prescription drug to treat a mental health issue.  The weight gain started when I started taking the drug, and it stopped when I ceased taking it.  This is a drug that is absolutely known for many patients putting on massive amounts of weight.  You feel hungry all of the time.  Imagine that: it doesn't matter if you ate an hour ago, your body is constantly sending the trigger that you're hungry and must eat.

Once on, that weight is hard as fuck to take off.  If I cared to illustrate (I don't) that point, I'd post my calorie intake and exercise logs as well as a chart of my weight over a period of months where my weight inexplicably was all over the charts, up, down, flat, you name it.  I had lost 40lbs prior to that, on a nice steady curve before the chaos hit.  Literally nothing about my calorie intake or exercise routine explained it.  I was eating the same thing every day - same breakfast, same lunch, with rotating dinners, everything made from scratch, no added sugar, no unhealthy snacks - I mean *none*, never, nada, zilch.  All balanced, healthy foods.

Recent medical research also supports that once gained, weight becomes very difficult to impossible to take off.

More specifically, recent research shows that a person's metabolism is lower than it would be after losing a significant amount of weight.  In other words, a woman who loses 100lbs and now weighs 130lbs will expend less calories per day (I've seen a difference of around -300-600 kcals for women), than a woman of the same age, height, and weight who has always been within a healthy weight range.  Difficult, yes.  Impossible?  I find that to be a defeatist attitude.  

[Losty]

Cis or Trans, at my age I don't care. What is not acceptable is 0 fat.

What?

[Jesster]

Cis or Trans, at my age I don't care. What is not acceptable is 0 fat.

What?

I think it was a pun on trans fats. My humor senses are tingling, but they could be misfiring again.

[Losty]

What?

I think it was a pun on trans fats. My humor senses are tingling, but they could be misfiring again.

Oh that went right over my head

[paulpablo]

Cis or Trans, at my age I don't care. What is not acceptable is 0 fat.

What?

There has to be a way to make a joke about trans fats out of this convo somewhere down the line.

[LadyForCamus]

Good luck with that, the "junk food" that's making americans fat is all the shit that wic and food stamps cover.........

We've actually realized this, institutionally, and theres a big push for what are called "farm fresh stamps" - basically, assistance that can be used to buy something that -isn't- made of corn and cardboard.  OFC, look at how pissy people get when they see poor people buying healthy food with their food stamps?  

"OH em gee, that grifty grifter just bought seafood with his sin moneyz!"

As another poster touched on, either here or in another thread, food stamps (in actualioty, not in principle) exist to prop up industries through the ag dept, not people, and our biggest industry is unequivocally the thing making us fat...so, gordian knot?

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@Khemikal - Yes I have heard that before and it does make sense given the abundance of cheap shitty junk food. Although still, that is down to the food their are eating moreso than genetics or conditions

They eat what they can afford.  I'm not sure what else there is to do?  Say they understand, which most or many don't..that the food they're eating isn't good for them or for their children.  

Even then...what can -they- do?

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-Continuing on the above, wherein some person with access to better food presents the solution "they should eat what I eat".  Ignoring that they can;t afford it, do the people offering that solution realize that what they eat is heavily subsidized by those fatter poor people eating all the dietary trash?  That the producers could not afford to provide them with such quality sustenance if they could not also fob off the much larger portion of lesser quality products that are an intrinsic part of their operation?  That the middlemen in purchasing and procurement offset costs?  That the end processor engages in loss leader models of sales?  That the consumer retailer reenforces all of this in shittier products with greater shelf space to match their greater shelf life?  

Imagine the lolworthy scenario in which they choose to be richer, the fatties, I mean.  Suddenly you're competing with them for a limited product and the price goes up.  Now even more people are cut out of the lions share, as it were.  

No.  No.  It's lifestyle.  It's choices they make.  It's on them.  Our entire country just suddenly chose to be fat.  Thusly, we can righteously pile shame atop them.  Fat shaming and sin tax, no matter how politely described...would be comic if it weren't so damned cruel - and this is coming from a guy with a high tolerance for a mean joke.

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haha, ranting cuz it;s near and dear to my heart and hearth.  

I know that the comparison between cigarettes and being overweight seems compelling, but I would suggest that this is due to a slight misapprehension regarding why we placed those taxes on smokes.  Sure..health was the pretext, but not the purpose.  The purpose was revenue generation for the state.  It was so easy to demonize tobacco companies (mostly, because they acted the part) that our government found it useful and convenient to place a sin tax on..wait for it.....-the smoker-.  OFC they had no actual interest in reducing smoking...they flatly depended on those taxes to pay bills.  The army, a part of the federal gov..... still puts smokes on it's ration cards.  Insurance companies use smoking as a way to deny benefits.  The whole sorry thing just shits money for everybody.  Rinse and repeat with casinos.  Rinse and repeat with any "lifestyle" choice that an insurance company can deny benefits for.  

The same would happen with a sin tax on being fat.  The consumer would be made to pay an extra sum, but the industries would still receive ag subsidies (just like tobacco).  While telling our children (and ourselves) that smoking was unhealthy worked to some extent..it didn't work quite as well in the same poor demographic that's getting poisoned while being blamed for it - and it's not like we can tell people the same thing about that food that we did with smokes..that the best way not to be a smoker, is to never start.  They kindof have to eat.  Oh but hell, why stop there....being gay is a "lifestyle" choice if -any- of this other shit is a lifestyle choice...and I distinctly recall there being an increased risk of some diseases x or y.  Perhaps they should be made to pay a gay sin tax, for their unhealthy lifestyle decisions?  Perish the thought, amiright?  At the very least we should stop accepting them.  I can hear the insurance adjustors now.  "Are you sure you didn't get that from being gay, you know..being gay is a pre-existing condition....we have pamphlets for you, if you;d like to choose not to be unhealthy anymore...also...your premium just went up."

Just to nitpick, WIC does not cover junk food.  Mothers receive vouchers for things like milk, bread, cheese, beans, cereal, soy, infant formula, and I think now fruits and veggies.  Children in the program are routinely screened for iron deficiency anemia, and they also provide lactation consulting services to help increase breastfeeding success.  I did a rotation there during my internship.  WIC is actually a pretty useful resource for low income families.

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Not sure if this was already mentioned (didn't feel like wading through 8 pages of back and forth to find out) but....

Not everyone that is obese is that way because they ate too much. There are medical conditions which cause people to be obese.

Being stressed out can cause someone to gain weight.
Having insomnia or not getting enough sleep can attribute to weight gain.
Psychological trauma that leads to someone using food to comfort oneself, can lead to weight gain. And yes - while food is there, it is NOT the main factor or cause. It is the catalyst. The trauma is the main factor.

There are medicines that cause people to gain weight. I work with a person who is on chemo and steroids for an auto-immune disorder that I can't even pronounce. It causes her to gain weight. People keep asking her when her baby is due. She's not pregnant. Her youngest is six years old. But so that she can live, she has to take a pill form of chemo, daily.

People need to consider all the reasons to why someone is obese and not just contribute it to over-eating or eating the wrong thing.

While it is true these two things can result in weight gain, the mechanism of action in both cases is still over-consumption.