To think 'celebrating your curves' is becoming a worrying trend?

[Freesunglasses]

So many of my overweight 'friends' on facebook are joining in the whole "I'm embracing my curves and loving this body, every inch"
The thing is they are Obese, not use a little overyweight but really fat. The more people see and read things like this the more it will become normalised.

Worrying times ahead I think. We're going to be a very fat country in the not too distant future.
I know it's hard to lose weight. I know lockdown has made lots put weight, I'm a little overweight myself but I will never say I'm happy with it because I'm not! I like being thin, I want to be thin.

For the love of God stop normalising and celebrating obesity.

But does anybody really worry about strangers' health?
I don't worry about their health as individuals, but do think that it's reasonable to view obesity like smoking and excessive drinking in that it is a health issue.

Unlike smoking and drinking though, if people discuss whether it's reasonable to celebrate obesity, they're met with cries of fat shaming, thinking fat people are vile, thinking overweight people should sit alone full of self hatred and all sorts of emotional hyperbole.

I stand by my thoughts up thread: people posting about their figure, how much they love their curves, how happy they are celebrating their body are generally as insecure as the people with heavily filtered images, or face fulls of 'natural' make up fishing for compliments. When I see those sorts of posts, I don't think "wow what a confident, self-assured person", mainly because I know offline they're very obsessed with their appearance and/or are always complaining about their appearance, and/or are regularly talking about or on a diet.

Not RTFT.

I think fat shaming is mean, as is THIN shaming.

However @Freesunglasses I have to say I actually agree with you. And I say this as someone who has been between 9 stone and 15 and a half stone (currently somewhere in between!)

Fat-shaming is mean, but also, the way some are celebrating obesity is very worrying.

Here we go - the holier than thou crowd talking about ‘health’ when it’s just an nasty excuse to spew their hatred and judgement of women who are overweight. Shame on you. You might have the perfect figure but you still need to work on the inner ugliness.'

I have also seen vitriol aimed at thin/skinny women, and 'bigger' or 'curvier' women being really spiteful towards thinner women - even their friends and colleagues.

When I went from 11 and a half stone to 10 stone some years ago, quite a few of my colleagues and friends told me I was too thin, and needed to put some weight back on. I am 5 ft 5 and was 10 stone! I was not TOO THIN. They were just bitterly jealous that I had lost the weight.

So, weight shaming is not always aimed at the overweight!

'And yet in the 70s those people were by and large not dieting. There were no "low fat" alternatives, no skimmed milk, no "go ahead" brands. You put butter on your veg. No one avoided carbs.'

Was there even fast food in the 70s and 80s, or the constant snacking that everyone seems to do now? The diet in the UK is shocking. Go to supermarkets abroad and they just don't seem to have the masses of ready meals and processed crap. In Spain supermarkets are full of fresh produce.

People need to stop with the persecution complexes and admit they have a problem, no one will mock them but obesity certainly isn't anything to celebrate either.

And yet in the 70s those people were by and large not dieting. There were no "low fat" alternatives, no skimmed milk, no "go ahead" brands. You put butter on your veg. No one avoided carbs.

There were no Starbucks back then. People didn’t grab a syrup laced coffee on their way to work. City centres didn’t have Krispy Kreme outlets. There weren’t huge supermarkets with a huge selection of pre-prepared ready to eat food, an endless supply of cakes and entire aisles devoted to crisps and snacks and fizzy drinks.

And yet in the 70s those people were by and large not dieting. There were no "low fat" alternatives, no skimmed milk, no "go ahead" brands. You put butter on your veg. No one avoided carbs.
There wasn't a snack culture plus socialising wasn't mainly around food more alcohol now it's food and alcohol.
Fast food places have increased massively since the 80's.
Small convenience stores, shoe repair, hardware are all replaced with takeaways and very few have a decent healthy option on their menu.

I look at overweight people and see premature death. Sorry. The defensiveness is weird.
Look at all the weight loss threads. So much support if you want to do it

Overweight people don’t need your pity and judgement. Stop pretending you are so concerned about their health. You are very naive if you think weight loss is as simple as looking at the weight loss threads (which btw, is an explosion of disordered eating that causes even more damage) for “support”

I've got to agree with OP. As a constant yo-yo dieter since I was a teenager (now 40) I've been every weight and in between. 110lbs and you to 208lbs (I was also pregnant to be fair) but it took me years and years to lose that excess weight. I looked shit and I felt shit. I was fat. It wasn't curves I was just fat. It was hard to walk, my joints hurt and I just wasn't happy.

I do find it very worrying how people seem to struggle so much with their weight and are now obese, but are told to celebrate their curves because society is so easily offended if we tell people they're not healthy and they need to lose weight. Just because you think you feel ok and can walk an mile and do the splits at 250lbs doesn't mean that's healthy. You have no idea what's going on in your insides before it's too late. It also irks me how often times we hear about a fit and healthy person just dying from covid. Only to find out they were 35 and 280lbs. Obviously I'm not saying everyone who died or died young was like this. But I seriously think our impression of fit and healthy and "curves" have been warped.

I also don't agree that BMI is that great a judgement. My husband would be considered obese, but when you look at him you can clearly tell he's not as he goes to the gym 5x a week and has a 6 pack. So because he's very muscular and muscle adds weight he's "obese" on a BMI. Broadly saying though most people aren't going to be like that and I'm sure BMI will be a truer reflection

I think food is relatively much cheaper now than it used to be as well as fast food/ ready meals being easy to get. People can afford to eat and eat and eat.

'Here we go - the holier than thou crowd talking about ‘health’ when it’s just an nasty excuse to spew their hatred and judgement of women who are overweight. Shame on you. You might have the perfect figure but you still need to work on the inner ugliness.'

THIS IN SPADES!!!

Diet culture is toxic.

(And I say this as a person with a ‘healthy’ BMI who runs or cycles every day, and has a resting heart rate in the 40s)

OP I think you’re upset because you think fat people don’t have the right to feel good about themselves. How dare they?

Because if being thin is not better than being fat, you may not have anything else going for you.

I do remember my mother struggling with her weight in the 70s. She was a size 16. Obviously smaller than a size 16 today but not slim. There were plenty of “slimming aids” available too. PLJ(Pure Lemon Juice) drinks, Energen starch reduced rolls (texture of polystyrene) and Limmit biscuits, Outline spread butter substitute which was vile, Slimcea/Nimble bread.

@Mousetown

*I look at overweight people and see premature death. Sorry. The defensiveness is weird. Look at all the weight loss threads. So much support if you want to do it*

Overweight people don’t need your pity and judgement. Stop pretending you are so concerned about their health. You are very naive if you think weight loss is as simple as looking at the weight loss threads (which btw, is an explosion of disordered eating that causes even more damage) for “support”

Not really. If you want to lose weight there is tonnes of support out there. I worry about how much it costs the NHS. We tax smokers to pay for it so...

@CounsellorTroi

And yet in the 70s those people were by and large not dieting. There were no "low fat" alternatives, no skimmed milk, no "go ahead" brands. You put butter on your veg. No one avoided carbs.

There were no Starbucks back then. People didn’t grab a syrup laced coffee on their way to work. City centres didn’t have Krispy Kreme outlets. There weren’t huge supermarkets with a huge selection of pre-prepared ready to eat food, an endless supply of cakes and entire aisles devoted to crisps and snacks and fizzy drinks.

I am fat. I have never been to Starbucks or Krispy Kreme. I find this assumption (mostly by naturally slim people) that in order to have got fat I must have shoved myself full of donuts or crisps or ice cream incredibly insulting. I eat much the same as my slimmer friends. Bodies work in different ways and I guess in historical famines my body type would have conferred an advantage.

There have always been obese people throughout history. Not all of us eat McDonalds, crisps, pizza and fish and chips for every meal.

At a population level we have got messed up with food, I agree. But would people whose bodies work differently kindly stop assuming that every fat person is a lazy greedy glutton with no idea of nutrition or self control?

Overweight people don’t need your pity and judgement. Stop pretending you are so concerned about their health

I am concerned about the health of the obese people I love though. Fat strangers? Nah, I don’t give fuck at the individual level if you want to eat yourself to an early grave.

At the societal level it is a concern, however. Implications for the health service, for example.

Do you blame the fast food industry? The diet industry? Confectionary and snackfood industries?
Or does all the blame go to individuals?

*I am fat.
I have never been to Starbucks or Krispy Kreme. I find this assumption (mostly by naturally slim people) that in order to have got fat I must have shoved myself full of donuts or crisps or ice cream incredibly insulting. I eat much the same as my slimmer friends. Bodies work in different ways and I guess in historical famines my body type would have conferred an advantage.

There have always been obese people throughout history. Not all of us eat McDonalds, crisps, pizza and fish and chips for every meal.

At a population level we have got messed up with food, I agree. But would people whose bodies work differently kindly stop assuming that every fat person is a lazy greedy glutton with no idea of nutrition or self control?*

I was commenting on the obesogenic nature of today’s society and not the eating habits/choices of individuals. Sorry if I came across that way.

Totally agree.

@kittycrackles

I think food is relatively much cheaper now than it used to be as well as fast food/ ready meals being easy to get. People can afford to eat and eat and eat.

Yes. Is it possoble that food is too cheap? Housing is so so expendive and food is too cheap

It is really hard to discuss the impact of obesity without people getting very upset about it, and that is half of the problem.

"Something has got fucked up between now and then in our relationship with food, and it's not the fault of any individual within the system."

Food is far more plentiful and much cheaper, and people are far less likely to walk or cycle anywhere.

In the 70s supermarkets weren't the size of a small country, dinner plates were smaller, restaurant portions were smaller, there were fewer takeaways and fast food outlets, food cost a bigger % of your wages.

But it is still up to the individual to resist temptation, moderate intake and make healthier choices. I'm overweight but I don't feel that I can pass the buck for that really.

I am overweight. I work with a lot of thin woman that are obsessed with what they put in their mouth but a lot of them smoke and have gin and wine nearly every night. They may look thin but doesn't mean they are healthy. Not saying I want to be thin though because I do.

@SelkieFly

Do you blame the fast food industry? The diet industry? Confectionary and snackfood industries? Or does all the blame go to individuals?

Well...

I agree that we shouldn't celebrate obseity.
I've seen a few really overweight people at the gym recently and I think good for them that they want to become fitter and possibly lose weight.
What annoys me is the constant moaning about being too fat from overweight friends, all of them with a different excuse.
Too tired
Menopause
Had x amount of dc
On medication etc etc
(could apply plenty of slim people)
But then you see their huge breakfast, dinner, tea etc on sm and they watch Netflix every night.
Being slim I've suffered rude comments all my life and used to be bothered. Ime it's always been ok to be brutal to thin people but never to fat people.
Even now I'm back to the gym and swim regularly I get people saying things like "what do you need to do that for?" "you're thin enough" etc.
Because I want to stay slim and fit and want to stave off being an old person who can't move from a chair without a carer for as long as possible.

I mean I do want to be thin.