To think that some women go on and on about the obesity crisis and weight

[Tobythecat]

Just to be smug about their healthy eating and slimness?

I have noticed it on here a lot and real life, even a good friend of mine posted something on facebook about it and i was disappointed with her for being so judgemental.

People who fat shame and go on about the obesity crisis and talk about overweight peoples eating habits dont seem to think that these individuals likely have binge eating disorders and bullimia.

I have had a binge eating problem since i was a child and used to starve myself. Im overweight and trying to lose it but im sick of some smug women who try to make people like me ashamed of our weight issues.

A good friend of mine just posted about a quote from the bible about obesity and gluttony. A lot of her friends are carrying weight and i just felt like she posted it to feel smug and superior. Shes always going on about how she used to make herself sick and talks about how she only eats salad and healthy stuff, whilst offering me a biscuit.

AIBU to think that a lot of women do this as a way to feel superior?

We need to be more like dogs.

I mean, a Staffordshire Bull Terrier never looks at a greyhound and mourns that she's cursed with short legs and her massive jaws. She just focuses on being a Staffie, having a great time on her walk and chasing like a lunatic after her long legged pal. The greyhound doesn't look at the staffie and say "ew, what a fat lump, her butt is HUGE". She looks at the staffie and says "ha, that'll never catch me in a sprint...let's PLAY!!"

misses the point completely

The jury's still out on whether obesity itself is an eating disorder / addiction. But to those of us with weight issues it sure as hell feels like one. I hate what I look like, I hate feeling so uncomfortable, I hate getting out of breath, I hate not being able to wear nice clothes, I hate the humiliation of squeezing into a plane seat etc etc. But several times a week the voice in my head telling me to give on to the urge to eat a packet of biscuits and a litre of Ice cream is so powerful, wild horses wouldn't stop me from obeying it. I can however go for a night out and get drunk, then forget about alcohol and not touch a drop for weeks. But I don't consider myself superior to alcoholics. That's the difference.

I believe food is the biggest threat to our health. The chemicals in manmade food are making us fat, ill and even harming our thoughts.

I went totally healthy and couldn’t believe the difference it made to my brain! Yes my brain! My thinking and organisation improved. Scary

This processed food crap and takeaways are taking over most aspects of daily life

I still eat them though

@NorksAkimbo72

I am full of admiration, how did u give it all up? I am SICK of losing the same 2 stone and feeding the diet industry.

People who fat shame and go on about the obesity crisis and talk about overweight peoples eating habits dont seem to think that these individuals likely have binge eating disorders and bullimia.

Quite simply, I refuse to believe that 2/3 of the UK population have mental disorders that result in them being fat (male or female). It's a lack of self control, laziness, greed & a sedentary lifestyle for the most part.

*Overweight is now average. Clothes sizes are getting bigger. But don't mention it in case you hurt someone's feelings. A size 6 promotes anorexia but a size 32 is all about loving your curves. Mentioning vanity sizing is obviously just trying to be mean and not at all to do with the fact some of us are affected by sizes gettinf bigger.

There are health issues associated with being obese, yet raising that leads to anecdotes of someone who was fit dying of a heart attack / the fact that some slim people can be unfit. It's all very 'but ... but... but, look at another anecdote I can push whilst claiming there's no issue with being unhealthily overweight.*

Basically this.

I would never fat shame someone, unless they decided to skinny shame me. But, my personal opinion, is, medical conditions aside, I find fatties pretty disgusting.

And generally, in my experience, it's the fatties who do most of the moaning.

anxious My point is IF a 30 year old man went to Jack Wills and got annoyed that their skinny fit chinos didn't fit him in the size he wanted then that would be comparable to women going to a shop that fits smaller and complaining because they can't get the skinny jeans they want

I'm lolling because I have seen several threads about this by women trying to find trousers for their husbands who have been whining about their skinny fit trousers.

They don't complain to the stores as they have women to do the research for them.

@ragingmentalist

And how do you decide who has medical conditions and who doesn't? Do these "disgusting fatties" have to justify themselves to you before you decide they're worthy of being considered human or not?

But here’s the thing, what if I am genuinely concerned and baffled by the obesity crisis?

I certaintly don’t go on about it or tell people the overweight people I know in real life, “watch out for your arteries!” but surely it’s normal to be concerned at how we’re going to end up?

Our attitude towards food is quite frankly disgusting. We live in a culture of mass consumption where almost everyone over eats, yet the amount of food wastage is appalling.

I think people do need to learn to eat less, but at the same time I wouldn’t actually tell anyone that. It’s something a person has to do decide for themselves.

And I say this as a previous ‘fattie’ who used to just eat everything in sight. I stopped when my doctor told me if I carried on I wouldn’t live to see my grandchildren or kids grow up. Admittedly I did have to have a gastric bypass so maybe that made it easier or I ‘cheated’ but I still changed my perception.

Why do you even have to use language like "fatties"? why do you have to be so disrespectful? what is so inherently awful about a fat person that they aren't worthy of some base level respect as a fellow human being? Please do explain that to me.

Do these "disgusting fatties" have to justify themselves to you before you decide they're worthy of being considered human or not?

Of course they are all human beings, just bigger, more wobbly, generally sweating, moving slowly & usually eating shit.

People who eat a balanced diet (not on a diet) within their BMR don't get fat. Greedy people who don't, do get fat.

what is so inherently awful about a fat person that they aren't worthy of some base level respect as a fellow human being? Please do explain that to me.

People earn respect. It shouldn't be a given. Do they actually even respect themselves, given what they are doing to their bodies?

The jury's still out on whether obesity itself is an eating disorder / addiction

I think it’s pretty clear it’s an eating disorder. It’s a pretty serious form of self harm.

I think what KateandMe said i think weve just lost kindness.friendliness and empathy from all things.people are just becoming nasty and judgy

Do we actually know what a proper portion of food is, nowadays? I ask because I do, yet I'm rarely served it if I eat out. I get given massive portions, so I rarely finish. If I do, it's because someone else has helped me (and no, I'm not a skinny and this is not a stealth boast). The portions are way out of control!

I was told (it may be wrong....if so, correct me please) that a portion of protein should be roughly the size of your palm. For fats, it's a matchbox size (ie a small Bluebell matches sized box, not cooks matches!) of cheese. Carbs, I was told a baked potato should be the size of your clenched fist, and for rice/pasta it's about 4 tablespoons or so. Veg and fruit were always to be the main part of your plate.

Then there's the snacks and drinks. People eat protein bars thinking it's better than a chocolate bar, but is it? I don't know. All these smoothies, the "healthy choice" aren't necessarily a bad thing, once in a while, but every day?

I think ragingmentalist has just demonstrated that perfectly.

i think weve just lost kindness.friendliness and empathy from all things.people are just becoming nasty and judgy

^^^

YANBU. I'm lucky in that I've never had a weight problem but it still irritates me when people use the "strain on the NHS" (without any evidence to back it up) to justify being judgemental and smug about other people's weight. Ironically the same people often moan about the "nanny state" and they "should be allowed to enjoy their lives" when it comes to alcohol consumption.

oh PS I put on two stone when I was on mega doses of steroids for a medical condition, and on an enforced exercise ban after surgery. I accept that personal responsibility is needed, but it's not always as simple as people just being greedy.

"But several times a week the voice in my head telling me to give on to the urge to eat a packet of biscuits and a litre of Ice cream is so powerful, wild horses wouldn't stop me from obeying it. I can however go for a night out and get drunk, then forget about alcohol and not touch a drop for weeks. But I don't consider myself superior to alcoholics. That's the difference."

Yes, absolutely this. I will be hating myself and telling myself how stupid I'm being WHILE eating the thing - it's like I'm genuinely having an out-of-body experience. I am also almost teetotal and a non-smoker, because I'm just not bothered so I don't have a wildly addictive personality as such.

I do think its a bit cruel that society actively promotes food in every way it possibly can, the full force of every marketing and sales tactic is employed relentlessly. Even slim healthy eaters will probably immediately recognise the "Cadbury Purple" or the McDonalds jingle.

We are geared biologically to find eating fat, salt and sugar pleasurable but these three are never all together in any food in nature. Have a McDonalds meal and youll get them all in bucketloads, its a massive button-push of every evolutionary feedback system we have to binge. THEN add in the marketing, the bright colours, the jingles, the "happy meal" toys, the convenience of getting food quickly "on the go", the special offers that make it way cheaper than a nice salad.

Then, when people have been psychologically manipulated their whole lives in every way we know how to do to crave and seek out these foods, we point to them and say "Look! Shame and judge them because they have no self control."

Obesity is an eating disorder

Once you start defining the majority of the population as having a disorder you've pretty much lost its use as an explanatory term.

Several members of my family and close friends are overweight or obese and they certainly do not have eating disorders, they just eat too much.

I am borderline underweight and have suffered from actual eating disorders for 20 years.

I have a damaged oesophagus, permanent gastritis, haemorrhoids, hormone problems, anaemia and facial and skin damage from my eating disorders.
I find it really offensive that you would cheapen the term in this way. it's an actual medical condition you know, not just a convenient excuse for greed.

@ragingmentalist

You haven't answered the question. Can you somehow tell on sight that someone has a medical issue that might cause weight gain, or make it difficult to lose weight?

ragingmentalist I'm slim but I find you much more disgusting than a nicer person who happens to be overweight.

Of course everyone's very good at throwing the insults and being smug but it's those insults that caused my anorexia

Did any of you watch HFW and his "Fat Fight" tv show that was on bbc a few weeks ago? He made an interesting point about the marketing stuff that manufacturers and retailers do to get their products bought. Part of his campaign was to try to get retailers to remove chocolate and sweets from pay points in shops (with wh smiths being one of the worst offenders). I'm always surprised that there's candy at the tills in Superdrug. Why would I want to buy some chocolate with my eye make up remover?

Product placement is absolutely fascinating when you start REALLY looking at it. Expensive branded items are at eye-level in the supermarket. Packaging with cartoon characters on it, to make it appeal to kids (get them started early and hook 'em for life). Why don't apples have cartoon kittens on them? Why is a brand of porridge displayed with a strapping Scotsman in a kilt (phwoar) on the box, and not a cuddly tiger exclaiming they're grrrreat?

Raging your lack of empathy is depressing. What hope does humanity have when people are so lacking in empathy and understanding?

People are complex and the reasons why people overeat are usually very deep rooted. Do you think the same of smokers and alcoholics? All of these individuals are human beings, deserving of empathy, compassion and understanding, not ridicule, judgement and humiliation.