Why is a fat person disabled cos they’re fat, but never fat cos they’re disabled?

[Thislittlelady]

Just that really.

People become overweight for exactly 1 reason - because they consume more calories than they burn off. Some conditions and medications make it a lot easier to do this but at the end of the day it's about what you eat.

Yes. And depending On what tone you read the question, depends on your take on it. Which was the point. I’m sick of being labelled just fat. I’m not just fat. I’m struggling. And certain medications make you gain weight despite exercise and diet. But it is tough out there to be BOTH. cos you can try to help yourself, but it’s not always going to work.

This is the case with one of my friends. She was always a little chubbier but never overly large. Then she became ill, and developed a disability. A combination of medication and the limitations of her disability mean she can't easily exercise and is now medically obese.

There are disabilities which lead you to gain weight, particularly if your movement is limited and much exercise isn’t an option.
I also have a friend who went on prescribed steroids for a long term condition and she gained a lot of weight. It was like she couldn’t keep it off, she always ate a really healthy diet yet she just got heavier. Really feel for her as it’s a real battle.

Generally I think we should respect each other and that includes overweight people, whether their weight is due to a disability or not.

@JustCallMeGriffin

I get what you mean. My mother went from size 10 and perfectly in proportion frame to size 18/20 and visibly overweight when she became reliant on the wheelchair and the cocktail of drugs for her condition made her balloon.

She's overweight because she's disabled, but gets treated as though she's disabled because she's overweight. I think this is what the @Thislittlelady means.

Treated by whom? Surely not the medical profession.

The public? Family?

I imagine it's how it is in the able-bodied population - some people are fat because their calorific intake is more than they need.

In my experience of doing lots of exercise and being overweight, and having a disability - yes exercise helps but it's mainly down to diet. So unless you have a condition making you retain weight you will lose weight by being in a carolrie deficit, disability or not.

Fat discrimination with GPs is a thing though, many diagnoses are missed by the GP Assuming symptoms are down to being overweight when it may be something more sinister.

I’m sick of being labelled just fat. I’m not just fat.

Who on earth is doing this?

Yes when using my mobility scooter amount people say ir you lost weight would not need that ..I have off road one that use as can self transfer and was cheaper than off road powerchair
I do point out that looking weights it's not going to repair my spinal cord (I had accident causing SCI)

Yet when in my powerchair people tend not to comment about weight being cause of my disability

@Thislittlelady you are so right! I lost 18 stone in my late 20s, stayed at a healthy size 12 (I'm 5' 11). Now I have MS, I've gone up to a size 18 and all I hear about is my weight...

I can't train like I used to. I use the hydropool to work out in, I eat so little because of my meds, but gain weight because of them too. Catch 22, but yet I'm disabled because I'm fat!

@theorigbrave yes medical professionals, of course not all. There are the lovely ones who read your notes and empathise, then there are some quite horrid ones who won't even refer you on, due to weight.

My friend is in a similar position OP. She’s gained weight with her disability.

Thing is her life is very very narrow and isolated now and food to an extent is one thing she can still enjoy. Weight gain doesn’t necessarily help her disability but her disability doesn’t help in trying to manage her weight.

The answer for me is that I accept my friend as she is and go with the flow. We get out for a coffee etc sometimes....she uses a mobility scooter and god help anyone who makes a snarky comment in my hearing,

I have sleep apnea. When it's uncontrolled something in my brain switches. I cannot control what I eat at all. I think about food from the minute I wake up until I go to bed. I can't stop eating. I eat until I am physically sick. I was treated for an eating disorder for years but nothing changed, the treatment didn't work.

But once I was diagnosed with sleep apnea and started treatment that driving hunger turned off completely and I started losing weight. I lost a lot, but after a few months I put it all on again, so thought it wasn't the apnea. But it was. At my last checkup a few weeks ago they noticed my machine had a fault and was working properly. The weight is falling off me since they changed it. I've lost over a stone in 3 weeks. Now I know to ring the clinic if my weight starts going up again!

Oh god OP, thank you for this post! I have been underweight all my life but since becoming I'll and having to go on godawful steroids, I have gone from a size 8 to a 18. I can't exercise or cycle anymore, I can barely walk anywhere.
Which is depressing enough, without feeling like I've ballooned into a shipping hazard. I'm on four drugs that cause weight gain as a side effect, but I still get snidey looks and little remarks about the effect on my joints of being fat.

*wasn't working properly

@TheOrigBrave

Treated by whom? Surely not the medical profession. The public? Family?

Yes to all counts! GPs who helped diagnose her condition and prescribed drugs with known side effects for excessive weight gain, the general public are fucking awful and some family honestly believe she'd be better if she just lost weight.

When my mother sees medical professionals she's been referred to the first words out of their mouths are almost always "If you weren't so overweight..." Either my sister or I are now always present in medical appointments as my mother's representatives so we've witnessed this first hand. Being a HCP doesn't necessarily make you a nice person who doesn't leap to unfair conclusions! (in the sake of fairness, some really are as caring as their profession suggests, but if you're overweight they're rare people to encounter).

There's a thundering assumption across society that being overweight is a choice and those in wheelchairs/mobility scooters wouldn't need them if they weren't fat lazy cows.

It's sad that so many health issues make weight gain almost inevitable but need you to stay slim in order to keep the issues manageable.

I have PCOS, weight gain is very easy, but being overweight also makes symptoms a million times worse!

My nan has arthritis - progressively gets harder to move and exercise, even harder when you're overweight.

My sister has depression and agoraphobia - depression medication made her gain a lot of weight very fast, which made the agoraphobia worse as she's scared of fat related judgement.

If there's a God, he's a little sadistic.

It wouldn't cross my mind to think that someone was disabled due to their weight - seems logical to me that it would usually be the other way round. So easy to put on weight due to medications and pain that makes "moving more" difficult.

My friend’s Dad is experiencing this. He had a stroke in the spring and despite all the therapy, he’s gained weight simply because he can’t move the way he used to. He obviously needs to cut calories as well, but they’ve been shocked at how quickly the weight‘s piled on and it’s made his recovery more challenging as family members find it hard to physically support him ( e.g. when he’s trying to exercise or get ready for bed] as he’s so much heavier. It’s not easy.

Absolutely the medical profession!! I have one leg which is much much larger than the other around the ankle. I have one ankle and one cankle. One is CKEARLY swollen and much larger than the other. It hurts. It is Uber sensitive. I went to gp, who has my notes, who knows my struggles and told me it was because I was fat. But apparently only around the one leg. One clearly swollen and larger leg. It took me YEARS AND YEARS to get them to prod into my illness ( whilst I was skinny). Then comes the diagnoses’ and weight gain meds and of course the ‘ fat’. But now I’m just fat. In one leg.

I totally get it. If you're a wheelchair user or have otherwise had your mobility impaired, plus being on medications that frequenly cause weight gain then of course the disablity will cause weight gain. It's horrible that the person is then judged for that.

[quote Thislittlelady]@JustCallMeGriffin

YES THAT! I was always size 8/10. Chronic illnesses turned more severe causing disability. I’ve slowed down soo much that I’m size 18/20 and struggling. Discussion with family one day, maybe you need to lose weight as it’s aggravating disability. Fair point, well made. I’m taking up restricted and limited exercise, further discussion with family ensued massive telling off cos ‘ you shouldn’t be doing that it will make you worse’
I am overweight BECAUSE of my disabilities. But I even find myself ( being completely honest here ) seeing morbidly obese people on mobility scooters and think ‘ god, you need to lose some weight my friend’ ( Shame face). So it’s just that. Immediate thought on seeing big obese disabled person.... and it’s a really shocking thought though, isn’t it ??[/quote]
That is really, really offensive. So your chronic illness is the reason that you may be overweight, and maybe it's fair to say so, but you think "fat people on mobility scooters" - that is, people who are really disabled are disgusting. It isn't your weight that is your problem. It's your personality.

I completely understand @Thislittlelady
I'm in a very similar position. I'm also caught in that cycle of needing to lose weight to get treatment and gaining weight because of my condition.
Another component to this that I think many well/abled body people fail to understand is that many chronic illnesses and disabilities cause depression. Many people (including myself) comfort eat and this just adds to the problem ☹️

I keep seeing a man in a motorised wheelchair when I walk the dog. We’ve started saying hi because it’s ridiculous trying to be British and do the polite ignore thing when it’s so frequent! He is extremely overweight. I can’t speculate on medication/disability, but I imagine it’s incredibly difficult to maintain a healthy weight if you’re confined to a chair. I imagine you have to eat virtually nothing to do that if you can’t move.

@Moondust001

I have never referred to fat disabled people as disgusting. And I’ve never thought or said that. Or written that.