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.

YANBU - in my view 'body positivity' is a genuine concept that has been labelled and misused by certain groups to basically bring unhealthy behaviour and traits into acceptance.

'Body positivity' should be about being and feeling comfortable with your naturally small breasts or the stretch marks you have after child birth. It should not be about taking pride in your bingo wings or the fact that you are obese and overweight and have high levels of visceral fat.

I don’t really care a toss about fat adults having body positivity, what really worries me is that so many people don’t seem to see how overweight their children are, with bellies like balloons and chub rub thighs at five. I find it horrendous that very young kids are being set up for a lifetime of ill health through long term and devastating illnesses like diabetes, heart disease and joint problems. And I don’t care if your overweight kid does dance aerobics five times a week and park run on Sundays, if they are overweight and you can’t see their ribs they are carrying too much fat and that is what is going to damage them in the end.

The whole point of body positivity is to accept people for whatever size and shape they are. Nobody is going to be a healthy weight then suddenly decide that they will become obese because it's seen as positive.

Yes people are fatter than they were before and there are a whole load of reasons round it. Some people are fat at a size 12, some people aren't.

Instead of fat shaming or being fat positive all we can do as society is let people be themselves without judgement be it thin, fat, short, tall.

Tackling obesity is a huge project and it's not easy because everyone has their own reasons for it.

Thanks for clearing that one up then. So stretch marks after childbirth are okay, or small boobs (how French) but not massive tits down to your bellybutton (which ironically then of course makes it harder to do exercise) or being overweight as a result of having children? I don’t think anyone takes pride in their bingo wings. The people that say they do are usually few and far between and brittle as anything. Body positivity is about coming to terms with your shape and your figure and ultimately your size. And accepting is better than self loathing particularly as it relates to then doing something about making strides towards something healthier.

This statement about clothes sizes is bobbins.

I bought myself clothes in the high street in France, 6 weeks ago. I'm currently around a 22-24. French clothes, from a normal French shop. And they're only labelled as an XL.

I’m so sorry for your loss. I can’t imagine how you must feel.

Sod the size 12 crap. Look after yourself.

Well spotted. I even forgot I wrote that. I wrote it in anticipation of people saying that I’m fat shaming, so got in there first.

So, I don’t think fat shaming where people actually really are trying to be nasty is helping anything or anyone. If trying to talk about the topic of weight in western countries automatically results in people saying this is fat shaming than what ever I say or do people will say it is fat shaming…. So fine, I roll with that.

It’s been pointed out that there are so many variables to dress sizes it’s almost meaningless. People also argue against BMI, but at least it’s a consistent measure which takes variables into account and has clearly defined boundaries of what’s healthy or not. You might have stood a better chance of a reasonable debate if you’d stuck to that.

The thing is I somehow suspect that I wouldn’t comment about you (but given you would never know it doesn’t really matter anyway). As mentioned above, I will comment when I see young girls dressed in an unflattering way and it is worrying that they might be normalising that weight as healthy….

The basic idea of Keto is not to eat bread and cereal at all. There are some brands who promote themselves at “Keto Friendly” and are indeed more expensive than regular versions of those products but they’re not really Keto at all, just have fewer carbs. There are no special food purchases required to eat in a Keto way.

OP, you might have had a point, but your judgy attitude stinks. This is a very nasty thread... unwatch

Actually shit food hasn't always been available. That's the point. That's the difference. We are now three generations (x, y & z) raised with sugar-laced convenience food; setting up those of them that are more susceptible for sugar addiction.
The tendency to eat poorly and to gain excess weight is incredibly complex as the doctors in the field are now proving. Anyone who says I did it so everyone can is a demonstrably ignorant of the subject.

The obesity crisis is fairly widely talked about, as is the rise of other diet related diseases such as diabetes and some cancers.

It seems to be a systemic problem to me. Processed foods fit more easily into modern life and even helped shape it. Women were able to go out to work in part because they weren’t “tied to the stove” anymore. And as more women worked, the more food companies invested in processed products so mum could quickly whip up fishfingers and chips or pop a frozen pizza in the oven when she got home from work.

Now we have a generation who were raised on these marvellous inventions, me included, and we are learning how bad they are for us. And the health outcomes are beginning to show. So there is a backlash towards scratch cooking where people have the finances, time and inclination.

it’s important we don’t blame individuals when the food supply has been designed a certain way.

I don't want anyone to feel ashamed because they're overweight, some people have eating disorders, some people just grew up eating a bad diet and have never changed, some people are emotional eaters- they're sad so they eat more.
What I would like is for the seriously overweight to look at their future honestly and see how much they will suffer when they're older, and how much harder it will be then to change the habits of a lifetime. I know a few people who've hit their 40s and now have health problems, usually type 2 diabetes, who now need to change their ways and find it really hard, if they'd addressed the problem sooner they might not be ill today.

This.

Size 12 is not fat ffs 😂😂

On the whole my attitude isn’t judgy. My posts are not sympathetic I accept that.

The reason why is because I didn’t want to be apologetic. I’m not trying to win election or popularity contest.

In my view it is a loosing battle unless the food in shops changes. It is complex and I agree marginally overweight person shouldn’t feel ashamed and be consumed by their weight.

However, it is that extra bit worrying / infuriating when it’s being normalised.

And yes it is highly irritating when people on here come boasting about how much they eat, yes, most likely defence mechanism, but…

Big bag of pasta, bag of baking potatoes, cans of baked beans, cucumber, tomatoes, all cheap & make lots of meals- filming & nutrituos too & not fattening.

At least part of the body positivity movement is to encourage people of all weights to exercise.

Most people who go to the gym or exercise are not fat. So people who are worry about being shamed, and they worry about what to wear (most gym clothes are quite exposing) stops a lot of fat people from exercising.

The point is to help people be more healthy from the weight they are and if gaining that confidence to start exercising means they're wearing crop tops or whatever and you have to look at fat people maybe you should suck it up.

Can you please state where I said natural boobs down to belly buttons or being overweight post birth are not ok? It’s this ad hominem argument and sub par debating skills which is why so many MN threads deviate away from the actual question in the thread.

Regardless I don’t necessarily disagree with your definition of body positivity. What I do disagree with the trend for people to celebrate or promote their unhealthy weight and label this as body positivity and from what you have said - this also wouldn’t fall under the definition you have provided.

Having children doesn’t make you overweight. I say that as someone who has gained and lost 3 stone with each pregnancy. I gained it because I was eating way too much. I lost it because I stopped.

plenty of people don’t gain so much weight / it’s not a requirement.

YANBU

Women who take exercise seriously look just as good, sometimes better, after pregnancy than before.

I know a lot, and they have full time jobs and are very busy running around the kids. Which might even help them being even slimmer 😂

Telling women that having kids means destroying your body is so damaging, and so untrue. It might take efforts, you probably won't look like a skinny 14 year old - but why would you want to?, but you can be slim and toned just the same.

Well exactly!!!

I think I look better postpartum (even if my boobs are like two deflated sacks 😀)

Absolutely! I was a single parent, worked full time and still made the effort to exercise and eat well.

There have been so many excuses made on this thread why it’s not possible to maintain a healthy weight and eat well, but thats the point , it does take effort and some commitment, there are no shortcuts. There were plenty of times that I got in the door after 6pm and the last thing I wanted to do after seeing to the kids was start exercising but I’m so glad I did and even in my 50’s it’s still as much an integral part of my life.