To think I shouldn't be THIS heavy??

[Lotsofsausage]

So to start, I know I am no supermodel. Fairly tall at 5'8, size 14, smaller waist, medium bust. Fairly curvy arse/ thighs but toned. I am fit and strong and exercise 4-5x per week, including strength training.

Now I know measurements and photos are a better gauge than the scales, and muscle is meant to weigh more than fat (but I thought that was bullshit).....I am 14.5 stone! I have a friend with the same body measurements as me and same height and she is TWO STONE lighter.
Can some people just be 'heavy'???

A cracker a day?

Of course the doctor will react with unconcern.

All the evidence says most people seriously underreport their own food intake. Even fecking nutritionists IIRC (they compated actual calories with reported calories). See also that TV show 'Secret Eaters.' She may think she's only eating a cracker but she isn't.

And in any case, obesity is a life threatening state. A diet of under 1000cals a day WILL shift the weight and the doctor may decide that is a matter of priority.

She's not eating a cracker, though.

Gwenhwyfar my point is that being constantly told off and told that it’s not good enough, you need to lose more, is utterly demoralising and more likely to make you give up.

River how can you possibly know that? The point I’m making is that she WAS losing weight at a steady pace but the doctor just kept telling her to eat less until she was eating basically nothing, and fainting because of it, but the doctor thought that was fine because she was obese.

A little compassion would go a long way here!

Here’s the article I was referring to: highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/everything-you-know-about-obesity-is-wrong/

Oh op I feel your pain. I’m 5ft 5 and a size 14. I weigh 14 st 6lbs. I have had diabetes and thyroid tests as well as ovarian scans to rule out any issues. I am overweight because of historically bad eating but now I am much healthier and I run 5-10K 3x per week. When I was pregnant the midwife once re weighed me because she thought she’s read the scales wrong as I didn’t it look 15.5st! When I was a size 6 (many years ago) I was around 10st. The Drs have told me that 11st is probably the lowest I should go and that my small waist means that if I was that weight I’d be ideal.
I have huge boobs, fat arms and chunky, muscular thighs. My best friend is 3 inches taller, the same dress size and two stone lighter. You can’t look at weight, or dress size in isolation. I know I am overweight (fat) but I also don’t worry too much about the number, just that it needs to go down.

Lisa's point was about context - the larger girl could be eating a cracker a day, she wont be a stick instantly!

And leaving that question aside for the moment, do you honestly believe that that is a good image to aspire to, or to present to an already terribly obese nation (nations) as something aspirational and positive?

Sigh.

This argument always really bothers me. No, she is not a healthy weight and no, it is not at all good for someone to be that weight. The entire article is about effective approaches to weight loss and talks plenty about all the health risks associated with being obese. Nowhere is it saying that Corissa’s weight is a good thing or something to aim for.

However, should she not be allowed to be happy? Why can’t she put on a bikini and feel pretty and have her photo taken? There always seems to be this rhetoric that fat people aren’t allowed to do anything other than feel crap about themselves and apologise for their weight and I hate that. The idea that just by existing, and being fat, you’re ‘promoting’ an unhealthy body image must be so draining. She’s not a model, she’s a woman having her photo taken for an article about obesity and weight loss. No one reading the article would get the impression that she thinks she’s healthy or a size to aspire to. Did you read any of it?

Lisa's point was about context - the larger girl could be eating a cracker a day, she wont be a stick instantly!

Thank you, and yes exactly. I feel like my point has been proven somewhat by all the immediate replies basically saying ‘she can’t be eating that little because look at her, she’s fat!’

Fat people shouldnt be desirable or aspirational. OK, i'm checking out, this has taken a nasty turn.

She WOULD lose the weight pretty damn quick if she is eating a cracker a day.

Someone of her size would lose upwards of 100lb a month on a VLC diet.

Aspirational? No. I have daughters. I hope they will live past 30, not have feet amputated through diabetes, not get breast cancer from all oestrogen extra fat generates, be able to wipe their own arses and not get bedbound.

Morbid obesity is a SHIT thing to aspire to.

MORBID. THE CLUE IS IN THE TITLE.

What about aspirational as in able to sit in the sun in a bikini? Or should fatties only be depicted in, um, cellars?

You're talking about what obese people might aspire to do- though simply sitting is setting the bar low! Abseiling, windsurfing, horseriding, running in scenic locations.. damn, these are much more fun holidqy activities, but impossible if you are that lady from the article mostly likely.

I'm talking about extreme fatness itself being a state which one might aspire to.

kennohora you clicked on that article and all you seemed to take from it was a picture of a woman in a bikini, how about instead you take this: “We all have to do our best with the body that we have..And leave everyone else’s alone.”

That's not true. That article is ridiculous in many ways but the picture is just sad tbh. No way to live. But that is where excuses and fatlogic will take you.

Come on, yumyum, I remember seeing you on the old Beachbody fitness threads (I lurked, had another name then anyway)- you know how good it is to be strong and fit and capable, and not just give up and eat yourself into immobility and incapacity. It's such a rubbish state to promote, such a crap life, so selfish in many ways and self-destructive in others. If Kennehora is zealous, it's because she cares- that's the impression I get.

Kennehora, great about your friend!

Maybe some contributors to this thread should organise a fat people hating club. You can then all sit in a circle and berate the slobs with no willpower who are eating themselves to an early grave. You could take turns and elaborate how weak and indulgent the fat individuals are, what poor discipline they have, how disgustingly gluttonous they are. You could then all agree that the fatties don’t deserve a life and shouldn’t subject the public to seeing their revolting fat bodies. And actually wouldn’t it be good if we could lock them in a cellar with just bread and water (or just the water actually) and not let them out until they reached the socially acceptable weight parameters. 😔

The article upthread is excellent. It shows everything that is wrong with our attitude to obesity. It is time to stop blaming and pointing fingers and to actually start supporting people who are desperate to lose weight. But no, let’s make those people feel bad about themselves. That’ll help them put cake away.

Or it will drive them to more comfort eating and self-harm 🤔

Hey That's a bit uncalled for.
There has indeed been some heated debate on this thread, but I really don't see anyone saying overweight people don't deserve a life.