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Original poster

BBC 3 FAT people

73 replies

jollymum · 31/08/2006 22:08

OK just watched programme showing that fat people can't do this/that, have nice clothes etc etc. Right, two thoughts. One, the two girls on the programme who couldn't get trendy teen clothes were ready and willing to boycott clothes shops with placards when told to by the programme makers. Would they have done it on their own and why weren't we told why they were fat? That's the word used so I make no apolgies. Maybe the money spent on the programme could have been used to get dietary advice, personal trainers and more help for the girls so they didn't have to humiliate themselves on national TV. I know fat people can be happy and happiness is not related to size (look at anorexia). I have experience of this, but the programme was suggesting that certain theme parks should accomodate fat people because of their size. I am not generalising here but most theme parks don't cater for disabled people and they can't go on rides for whatever reasons/problems they have. SOME and I mean SOME fat people have the choice, slim down a bit and get smaller clthes/go on rides etc. That's their choice and why should everyone cater for them? The programme never once suggested/advised any form of fat reduction/diets and as far as I watched (maybe I missed a bit) didn't seem to care about the people's health, just the fact that they were "victimised" because of their size. I just kept shouting at the TV, "well try and lose weight then or explain why you can'T" but felt that this was so in your face that it almost ranked with the uniform/non-uniform debate over certain faith schools. It's everyone's right to be different but to ask everyone else to cater/pander to them is wrong.Life is unfair sometimes and that's life.

OP posts:

themoon66 · 03/09/2006 11:15

I've been fat and I've been thin... I know I am much happier being thin. And I went from fat to thin by eating much less crap and exercising much more often. Not complicated.

suejoneziscalmernow · 03/09/2006 11:17

Well done - how much did you lose? Was it really not difficult?

themoon66 · 03/09/2006 11:20

At my fattest I was about 14 stone. At my thinnest I was about 8 stone 12lbs. Now I am 9 stone 7lbs. I try to stay under 9 st 9lbs. That is what I see as the cut off point where I start feeling fat again, tight waistbands etc.

suejoneziscalmernow · 03/09/2006 11:23

I'm glad you found it easy - good for you. Often the battle is not just losing but keeping it off.

themoon66 · 03/09/2006 11:24

It was easier because I exercised much more. I started off by swimming an hour three nights a week. Then when I started going for long walks on all the evenings when I wasnt swimming. Then the walks became jog/walks, which became jogs. Then I met a like-minded person who was jogging the same route as me. Turned out to be a retired marathon runner who offered to train me to run properly. He was very motivating and bossy (kicked me up the arse). I now run in races for a running club.

Exercise definitely keeps my weight stable. I don't starve myself. I just try to avoid crap food. If my weight creeps up a bit, I cut down alcohol and carbs for a while.

themoon66 · 03/09/2006 11:26

Should say... my weight has now been stable for 3 years... so I would class that as a success.

suejoneziscalmernow · 03/09/2006 11:39

Blimey, when did you find the time to swim for an hour three nights a week? Couldn't afford the babysitting cost!

I agree that for many exercise is the key but when you're significantly overweight thats easier said than done (and I mean significantly more than you were).

My earlier point wasn't about whether its better for you to lose weight (obviously from a health point of view it is) but that I object to anyone else having an opinion on my weight or what I should do about it.

I'm very, very bored with people saying eat less, exercise more. I guess they all think they are the only person to ever say that either on here or in RL. It does NOT help my motivation to be constantly made to feel a failure or to be reading a thread a week about how pathetic fat people are (albeit thinly disguised in some cases).

My "failure" is very visible and it is socially acceptable (indeed required it seems) to make fun of it and to very solicitously offer me advice. Well I'm bored of it. It is nothing to do with anyone what (if anything) I do about my weight - that is between me, my doctor, my family and anyone I choose to share it with.

The (fat) worm has turned!

suejoneziscalmernow · 03/09/2006 11:42

and with that little rant, I shall step away from this thread... before I humiliate myself in public any further and stick to my nice supportive weight loss threads...

notasheep · 03/09/2006 11:43

Obesity seemed to be encouraged-doesnt make sense to me

suejoneziscalmernow · 03/09/2006 11:45

Now if thats true Notasheep (didn't see the programme) - that would be the most sensible comment on this thread!

notasheep · 03/09/2006 11:47

themoon66 · 03/09/2006 12:57

Suejonez... I could only do the swimming coz DH would get home in time to take of LOs. And the walking/jogging was done either late evening when he was home, or early morning before he left. Also I do the main bulk of the exercise at weekends.

When the weather is good, DS rides his bike beside me as I run, if DH wasn't home to watch him. Although, now DS is old enough to leave for an hour while I run.

And I'm no saint with willpower of steel. But, I was lucky to find a likeminded person to run with who makes a firm agreement to meet me at a set time. If not for that I would just sit here on MN eating crisps LOL.

Blondilocks · 03/09/2006 15:32

I agree it's not really anyone elses business if someone's overweight (except perhaps OHs, family etc) but I do think that if being fat makes people happy why do so many overweight people seem to moan about their weight & how annoying / restrictive it is? (Not meaning anyone on here, just in general).

chenin · 03/09/2006 16:26

Well, I've been a size 20 and am now a size 12 so I've been both fat and slimmmer...

Just show me a fat person who is 'happy' with their weight...its a myth. I hated being fat, hated it with a vengeance and when I was fat I never said I liked being that size, because what on earth is there to like about it? Saying you like being fat is just a validation to carry on eating unhealthily. Adapting public places for fat people will just make it alright to be fat and to be honest, it isn't alright. Please don't think I'm being 'fattist' ... I'm not. I've been there and I know what its like and I've worked damn hard to lose the weight and its not easy but once you get yourself in the rhythm, it does get easier.

kittywits · 03/09/2006 16:40

The thrust of the programme was very annoying. It was more than about people's "rights" to be fat, it was demanding that extra money be spent because of this.
If we take the fairground rides for example we could assume that in order to make all the rides large enough to accommodate a seriously obese person ( such a lady was used in the programme) then a considerable amount of money would have to be laid out by the owners of these theme parks. The only way they could recoup these outgoings would be to hike up the prices and everyone would have to pay for this, fat or thin and I don't think that is right.

laneydaye · 03/09/2006 16:53

Show me a 19yr old girl who wouldnt want to be thin..... i personally dont believe any teenage girl would rather be a size 20/22 instead of a 10/12....... i think they were used to make good telly....

themoon66 · 03/09/2006 19:27

helliebean.... that's what I was meaning earlier... I've been 14st and I've been 9st and I was miserable fat and happy thin.

I do have a friend whose weight goes up and down like billio though. She varies from a size 12 to a size 28 . Not seen her for a year, then bumped into her the other week.... she was enormous. I said 'how are you'. She said 'Oh I'm fat, but I'm happy'.

So I suppose it is possible to be fat and happy, just not for me it isnt.

justamum · 04/09/2006 00:52

I didn't see the programme but i agree with those of you that have said that young people should not be encouraged to be overweight or even to accept obesity.
I just think that people need to understand that although the equation eat less/move more = weight loss is fine in principle it is precisely the eating less that is the problem for many overweight people, myself included. I know what i should and shouldn't be eating and my main diet is healthy, but i find it almost impossible to stop eating junk when i feel stressed out.
What I can't understand is that people are prepared to accept anorexia & bulimia as illnessness to do with food but can't see that overeating is the flip side of the same coin and is not just "greed" or lack of willpower.

coppertop · 04/09/2006 10:20

I didn't see the whole of the programme but the impression I got was that the aim was to make people/businesses aware that with more people becoming fat/overweight there is an increasing need for those people to be taken into account when making decisions about goods/services.

WRT the theme parks they weren't saying "It's not fair that we can't fit on the rides" (although they weren't happy about it). What they were annoyed about was the fact that when they specifically asked at the entrance if they would be able to go on the rides they were told that there would be no problem. They paid £26 each only to find that in fact there were only one or two suitable rides. They were also p*ssed off that they had to queue for 1.5hrs each time to find this out. What they were asking for was a similar system to Alton Towers where there is apparently (I've never been so I don't know) a seat outside the ride with a sign saying something like "If you can't fit into this seat you won't be able to go on the ride". How many of us would be pleased if we went to a theme park with our children, were told that they could go on plenty of rides, paid £26 for a wristband and then found out after queuing for 1.5hrs each time that the wristband-seller had lied?

flutterbee · 04/09/2006 22:33

Can anyone please explain to me why is one post someone posted size 28 I didn't understand the relevance of the

I watched the programme and agree that I feel that the focus of the programme was wrong (although the fairground ride part was fine as Coppertop said).

I personaly would have liked to have seen more about loosing weight and showing people how difficult it is for some one who is not just a few stone over weight but several becasue their is a huge difference. I think that a positive weight loss programme would have done much more to bolster the flagging morale of many a dieter and show everyone else that it is not a simple as it sounds for a lot of people.

However having said that I do agree that while people are fat they are pushed to the outskirts of society, and this is the point (if somewhat over played) the programme was trying to make.

themoon66 · 04/09/2006 22:51

the piccie i did wasnt due to my friend being size 28... it was more that she swings from a 12 to a 28 regularly.. up and down, up and down. Its the huge difference she can find herself being over the course of a mere 6 months that I find shocking.

kittywits · 05/09/2006 06:44

Fluuterbee it seems that the whole thrust of the programme was about society accommodating very overweight people. They were fat and should be able to stay that way and still have x,y and z.
There's no incentive whatsoever to lose weight then is there?

kittywits · 05/09/2006 07:17

Sorry, meant Flutterbee!

joelallie · 05/09/2006 12:57

But the incentive to lose weight should come from them wanting to be slimmer and eat healthier food - not from society shutting them out of things by default.

Clothes sizings have increased over the last few decades - a size 14 now isn't the same as a size 14 20 years ago - but that happened because it made financial sense for the clothes manufacturers to make it happen. And when and only when there is a financial incentive for people who run rides to increase the size of their seats it won't happen.

And BTW fat doesn't always mean unhealthy - you can be overweight and fit - I think sometimes that people who have never been fat simply mask their innate distaste for the overweight by pretending they are concerned for their health.

joelallie · 05/09/2006 13:04

Sorry ...meant "it will happen".

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