Body positivity is out of control…

[YumYumY]

Inspired by another thread raising the topic of UPFs (by a fit 70 year old).

And I’m definitely people judging and shaming.

Lot of us eat shit food (availability of shit food definitely an issue) and seem to be proud of it.

Common MN army, lay into me.

I’ve done both, got used to eating crap as well as got more disciplined and got the crap out of my system (more than once and the change in diet was never a pleasurable experience).

But looking at the streets people just look so, yes fat, and unhealthy. And I’m calling already a size 12 fat here just to be clear (with some leeway for different bone structures)

When will we start admitting we are fat and it is a problem.

your Vanity size UK 12 from a very generous brand is not a UK 12 of the 50s, that's the point.

No, I would never comment on anyone’s weight in real life to their face or behind their back.

Yes, I would however make comments about compete strangers on the street to my husband (young girls dressed as described in my previous post) and when my DC’s will be older will definitely discourage them from that lever of embrace who I’m.

I was size 12 when i was a teenager. Now if i really really dieted and exercised much harder than i do now, maybe i could drop to to 14 at a push. But I did drop from 18 to 16 and feeling quite positive.

Size 12 means absolutely nothing because:

• Different shops have different methods of sizing (size 12 in one shop is an 8 in another and a 16 in another!)
• Different heights
• Different builds, muscle mass
• Different preferences for how tight/ loose clothing sits

It's impossible to even correctly envisage "a size 12 woman" - or a size anything woman - because there will be a huge amount of variety depending on their preferences and where they shop.

I think people have jumped on it because it's a daft and arbitrary way to categorise people.

My son wet the bed until he was about 12 years old. My father and his girlfriend were both very Victorian about it and thought that he should be shamed and if he was made to change and wash all his bedding each morning that it would stop him from doing it. we decided to avoid this archaic form of punishment and he eventually grew out of it.

The thing is my son felt enough shame as it was already. He didn’t need us rubbing his face in wet duvet covers.

similarly, most of the people out there who are overweight are normally bloody unhappy about it. It’s a real struggle to change habits, particularly if you have life stress or low willpower or some kind of job that gets in the way of you being mobile and getting into the gym. Do you think if they all covered themselves in sheets and self flagellated publicly that that would somehow solve the problem? And the fact that many of these body positive influences then go onto lose huge amounts of weight just goes to show that they were never actually happy in their skin in the first place.

You should probably worry less about other people and more about you. And as for being overweight. How arbitrary and wrong. You can be a fat size 8, and a very fit, muscly 12

A size 10-12 in shops is a size small. How are people who fit into a size small fat?

Yeah, and 34% of the adult population in France smokes compared with 12% of UK.

Take another random European country, Lithuania has relatively low obesity but the worst rate of coronary disease in Europe. Also for alcoholism.

Or another one, sweden has just 10% adult obesity but now the second worst country in Europe for gun homicide.

We could play this game for ages I guess but it's not a competition. Unless you specifically want to hear that the UK is the unhealthiest horriblest grossest country in all the world, in which case you're free to hold that conviction if you can stack it up with evidence on all health indicators.

I'm size 12. I run a minimum of 15 miles per week, strength train 3 times per week, and eat a healthy and balanced diet with little sugar.

So you can fuck right off calling me fat. Maybe it's you with the unhealthy body image problem?

It's a shame you opted to go down that road, because you made some otherwise valid points.

Body positivity is certainly a bad thing. The majority of UK women are overweight. That’s a fact. Having an overweight population costs the NHS more. How about people stop making excuses, look into the work Dr Micheal Mosley was so involved in and start making changes. I know I am going to. From today. Right now.

All objects fall freely at the same rate irrespective of mass (provided the effects of air resistance can be ignored).

Heavier things have a greater gravitational force AND heavier things have a lower acceleration. It turns out that these two effects exactly cancel to make falling objects have the same acceleration regardless of mass.

Physics update complete. Resume fat-shaming.

And I’m definitely people judging and shaming.

This is what you said in your first post, OP.

I don't know why you're referencing the super-fit 70 year old; she's awesome. This thread is not in the same league and neither are you.

I hope you get your arse handed to you.

The mumsnet obsession with france and generalising an entire country to be far superior in appearance is fucking bizarre. I went to paris last year and I couldn't tell you if the population was fat or skinny- its not something that stuck out to me

I'm one of those "street people" you comment on to your oh. You'd see me a fat size "12" 🙄 But because you don't actually know me, what you wouldn't know is 6 months ago, I came out out hospital after emergency surgery without my newborn twins who died in there. That I've tried to lose the weight but to be honest mentally I'm struggling to find a routine. I've probably done more squats in our nursery putting away what should have been my sons clothes, than I have in the gym...but shame on me. Right now I'm just trying to survive tbh.

I don't think I've ever commented on people passing me in the street like that. I was with you when you said healthy eating and exercise....but the judgemental crap.....nah

You’re not discussing it though. You’re just being an arsehole.

So what would discussing it without being an arsehole look like?

If they’re in freefall yes. But not falling 2m to the floor. What falls faster if you drop it, a brick or a tennis ball?

The fact is obesity is costing the U.K. 58 billion a year

That’s the same as the budget for primary and secondary schools more or less

So next time you want to complain about underfunded schools…

Not the person you were responding to but I asked an AI to compose something and it did a much better job that OP's twattish approach:

"Firstly, it’s important to acknowledge that every person deserves to feel comfortable and confident in their own skin. Body positivity is a powerful movement that has done wonders for many by promoting self-love and acceptance, regardless of size or shape. It’s a message that resonates deeply, especially in a world that often idolizes unrealistic beauty standards.

However, alongside the celebration of all body types, there’s a growing concern about the health implications associated with obesity. Recent statistics suggest that obesity rates in the UK are on the rise, and this trend could have significant health consequences for individuals and the healthcare system.

It’s a delicate balance to maintain – advocating for body positivity while also recognizing the need for a healthy lifestyle. The conversation isn’t about assigning blame or shame; it’s about finding ways to support each other in leading healthier lives without compromising the principles of body positivity.

We can start by promoting a culture of health that focuses on well-being rather than weight. Encouraging activities that bring joy and improve health, such as dancing, swimming, or simply going for a walk, can be a great way to start. It’s also about making nutritious food choices more accessible and affordable for everyone.

Let’s also remember to speak kindly to ourselves and others. Words have power, and the way we talk about our bodies and health can influence our children and those around us. By fostering a community that supports both mental and physical health, we can work towards a future where body positivity and healthy living coexist harmoniously.

I’d love to hear your thoughts and experiences on this matter. How do you think we can address the issue of obesity while still promoting a body-positive message?"

Ok @dinomirror that was unnecessarily aggressive!
I didn't claim it was a scientific data set!

I’m not backtracking on anything, I was taking the piss out of the perfect posters on here who love making bigger girls feel bloody horrible. There’s no need for it. Do you think they don’t know they’re fat? Do you think you have to mention vanity sizing just in case they felt good about squeezing into a size 16? Well they’re not really a size 16 are they? In the old days that would be a size 26 at least. Know your place, fatty.

how do you explain all the posters falling over themselves to explain that a size 12-14 is SMALL...

Vanity sizing is a thing. Try vintage clothes, they don't lie.

No one is shaming anyone. Refusing to admit the obvious is not helpful. The problem is that you can't have a discussion without people whining that we are shaming/ bullying/ making people feel horrible.

Like it or not, it's not healthy to teach young girls that they can happily target a size 14+ as it's a healthy and ideal size. Just check the research showing the effect of the environment and why living in a country where healthy size are the norm makes a big difference.

Its a shame BP didn't focus on having enough love for your body to treat it well, so its this incredible thing that you will need to nuture and care for your whole life if you're going to get the most from life. So don't abuse it with poor food, alcohol or by letting it go under used, give it the best food in the right quantities because you deserve that.. etc. Instead typically it's all about what women look like, and worse what men want women to look like (cos men LOVE curvy girls apparantly. Until they love slim ones again...) which is so predictable and such a wasted opportunity.

There's a wonderful vintage clothes shop in our town. They modernise all the sizing so that for example a 1970s 12 is a 2024 8. Blows my tiny brain just a little bit, but chimes with my memories growing up in the 70s and looking back at pics of my mum and her friends. All v slim - slimmer than me and I'm a 10/12/M in modern sizing. Mum wasn't a smoker but many women were. I wonder whether that was a factor in suppressing appetites?

I think you are being unreasonable

Although you might not have struggled to maintain a low weight, it’s not within everyone’s gift - eg time/money/genetic factors

i myself couldn’t get above a size 8 until I was 30 however much I ate, and continuously had people or doctors trying to stage an intervention as my bmi was 17-18. Now I’m 45, it’s very hard to stay below a size 14, even with exercise and a lot less than half the calories I had when younger. It’s given me a real insight into the physiological drivers - ie it’s not just habits and will power.

privilege will play even more of a part as folk get older and metabolisms slow.

pretty shocked at size 12 being your definition of fat as an aside - to be honest your post to me, demonstrates why body positivity is needed!

Word salad (no pun intended)