To want to offer up to all the fat shamers...

[WichitaLineman]

... On mumsnet who peddle the old "fat people are lazy and lack will -power" or proffer their simplistic formula of "eat less, move more" an incredibly succinct description of food addiction by Marcus Brigstocke. I will admit that that sentence isn't quite so succinct

"Eating is different [from drug addiction]; it's dirty, it's horrible - you do it on your own and you wear it. [With] alcohol and drugs, you have moments of sobriety, [but] you don't stop being fat. You wear it; everyone can see it - it is a brand… an overcoat of shame for everyone to see.

"You despise yourself, you make promises to yourself, you say 'I had a bad day, that was bad but that means this is baseline and I can start', then you go and break those promises and do it again, and worse.

"Eating disorders are more pervasive and subtle [than alcohol and drugs] and availability and acceptability are much higher... the ”high“ comes from the totally full-up feeling ”It is an anaesthetic. You lie like a python digesting what you have, it slows your brain down and you are physically inert. Numb and dull, that is the feeling you get."

Whilst I am not saying that every obese person is a compulsive overeater, I wold wager that most are, including myself. This has resonated with me and is the best description I have read of the self-loathing involved in compulsive overeating. It is a faulty mechanism to deal with emotional pain and the fat shamers can't cause any more shame than we already feel for ourselves.

Whilst there are many people on mn who are understanding, I am always appalled by those who aren't. Please think on this when those threads come up. Thank you.

Then what is the issue? Clearly this woman does her job well. Her personal food habits are irrelevant

People who are obese eat too much, and exercise too little. Although some people have a mild predisposition toward weight gain, obesity is not a “glandular” issue for any more than a tiny fraction of the people who are overweight, nor is it a disease.
If there is a disease at work in the obesity epidemic, it is the disease of laziness. People want a quick fix to solve all their problems, and they don’t want to have to do anything differently… even though the things they have always done are what caused them to end up being overweight and unhappy with themselves.
The desire for a magic answer ends up creating a psychological barrier to progress. Because people want a quick, magical solution, even good medical advice is translated into bad, ineffectual behaviour.
The science of obesity is not complex, but cutting through the noise requires some common sense. If you are obese, then losing weight is simple. You need to gradually decrease the amount of food that you eat, and gradually increase the amount that you exercise, so that over time your body adapts to having less “fuel”. If you do this, you will gradually lose weight.
But there are no short cuts. There is no special food that you can eat, or exclude, and have the pounds melt away with no other change in your lifestyle. Eating organic or “additive free” food won’t help you if you eat 4,000 calories a day. There are no magic pills.
Eating healthy food is great, and is something everyone should strive for. But if you are seriously overweight, focusing on the minutiae of your vitamins and leafy green intake is likely to be an unnecessary distraction.

You two. Seriously? Please go and have your ill informed rants somewhere else. This thread was about offering an alternative perspective. Nobody has even mentioned bloody glands.

I simply cannot believe after all that has been said, you have twisted this thread so ridiculously. You are my first ever, (in 8 years) . I am lost for words.

You put the daily mail to shame. Well done.

Wow everlong did you really come on this thread to tell us that your son thinks fat people shouldn't be allowed to work for the NHS?

Really?

Can I politely suggest that you sit him down and explain the fallacy of judging peoples ability to do their job based purely on their appearance? That you also point out what an unpleasant nasty personality trait it is to judge people at all when you know nothing of their circumstances and the difficulties they may face?

Oh and while you are at it, do have the same chat with yourself!

Sobbingmummy you clearly work at the cutting edge of nutritional science, thanks for your amazing insights ....

But sobbing, I will obviously try your wonderful advice before I fuck off this thread. I had no idea it was all so simple. I could have saved so much money and heartache and misery had I just thought of these indispensable pearls of wisdom myself.

I'm thick as well as fat. Oh wait, fat people are all thick.

Oh FFS sobbing, have you actually read any of this thread at all? Next time someone asks whether women can do mansplaining I'm going to point them to your post.

sobbing do us all a favour and read the other 300 odd posts on this thread which explain in great detail why you can take your trite one size fits all back of the cereal packet wisdom and shove it straight up your ass.

Well said icebeing. everlong you've avoided my question re shift work and if you've ever done night shifts a few times a month for several years? Shift work causes obesity. This is a completely different issue to what the op is posting about.

When I was at my worst with binge eating in my 20s, I used to spend 3+ hours in the gym if I could to try and repair the damage (not the same day, I was physically spent after a binge).
I'm not saying that's right at all but it does throw a spanner in the works of the myth of being lazy, weak-willed etc. It took a lot of bloody will to shift myself to the gym after a major binge, but the disgust in myself won over.

I've been anorexic, overweight from binge eating and every bloomin' stage in between. I still slip up now, but thankfully, and thanks to the amazing help from the Maudsley, I'm just about holding my own.

Anyone who puts all cases of binge eating solely down to being greedy (surely people don't still think this?) are seriously misinformed. Places like the Maudsley hospital in London (formerly Bedlum, which I only recently found out!) have dedicated eating disorders departments - why would mental health institutions have eating disorder clinics if sufferers were simply greedy and weak-willed?

Shift work really does affect what you eat. Many HCPs survive on unhealthy focus because it is fast yo eat snd gives you energy . Frankly at 4am on nightshift number 4 a macdonalds is really welcome. And then you have the anxiety when you come off shift. Cravings for carbs etc

I actually didn't read the thread.

Oh yes, and 'lazy' - I forgot that one sobbing

Oops x post . I meant icebeing's response to everlong. But it's appropriate here too!

Actually I am pretty amazed this thread got even this far before getting trolled. I am afraid Wichi it was all but inevitable. But I think a lot of people have actually found some useful insight before it happened. So please don't think it was a waste of effort.

talk about stating the bleedin' obvious sobbing...

the recipe to losing weight is simple, therefore one has to look at the more complex issues

becuase if following that very simple recipe ( for it is simply eat less move more) the diet industry couldn't make millions could it

I imagine she walks fine. The weight you've said wouldn't affect mobility.
People can advise ill people how to get better without following that advice themselves. They are telling patients scientific information not personal anecdotes. I'm certain nhs professionals binge drink, smoke, get in fights! All can affect their health.
I don't think anyone's weight has anything to do with you. That's the point here. Whether you think their weight is 'ok' or not is irrelevant.

Thankfully sobbing and everlong are the only people, in a very heartening thread of over 300 posts to make such outrageous comments.

Even though some have been harder than others to read, the rest have been measured and considered and I have taken them on board.

You are doing the courageous women like the previous one a massive disservice with your ill judged remarks.

posts to make such outrageous comments.

Err when ?