Who are you calling fat?

[cushioncovers]

Anyone watching?

As for 'giving them a pass' - Seriously? What?

Its worth pointing out that Courtney herself said that scenes were heavily edited and many of their opinions therefore omitted. Not surprising as that's how TV shows work. She was actually very good friends with both Victoria and Babs as they shared a room, although she disagreed with Victoria on a few major points. (She said this on a fbgroup I'm on)
I'm not sure there is editing heavy enough to distort two conversations, clearly fimed , one between Babs and Victoria and then the complete and deliberate twisting of that conversation related by Victoria to Courtney. It was unforgivable behaviour.

I know it's true for me. I immediately observe what is in the shopping trolley of an obese person or tut tut when I see them eat pizza, chocolate or fizzy drinks. Give them a pass if they're eating leaves
🤣🤣 Seriously get a life.
Who are you to judge anyone. What is this pass you speak of? How do you present this pass, a sticker, a bow, do you sprinkle fairy dust on them? I can see you now prancing about the supermarket with the magnifying glass. 🕵️‍♀️
I hope they appreciate you giving them a pass. 🤣

@OvertheSargassoSea Yes I was breastfeeding, pretty much the whole time we were being filmed! Ha! Thank you for your kind comments, I am lucky that breastfeeding has worked for me. :-)

All your comments make an interesting read, it is intriguing to hear everyone’s thoughts on the show.

two conversations, clearly fimed , one between Babs and Victoria and then the complete and deliberate twisting of that conversation related by Victoria to Courtney. It was unforgivable behaviour.

I agree fraggle. Victoria completely misrepresented what Babs said - it was a deliberate attempt to cause friction. It was spiteful to Baby, and to my mind, very hurtful to Courtney who was then led to believe that someone she regarded as a friend considered her "repulsive" - when that hadn't been said at all.

Victoria is a snake.

*Babs, not Baby

Victoria does not come off well, imo

i found the programme hard to watch, too much sadness, i feel sad when obese people turn out to be full of hatred for theur own bodies.

the bit where Babs (was it babs?) explained her binge eating strategies made me feel so sad for her. it is a form of self harm, maybe?

From what I can see, Victoria's instagram and twitter accounts are full of love for her (from the very few people who have commented...)

Has she switched off/ filtered comments? Is that possible?

What' Victoria's instagram? I saw Sarah and Del pop up on Twitter (getting lots of love) but no Victoria.

Ah, here www.instagram.com/fierce.fatty/

I'm all for body positivity - but Victoria was manipulative, rude and dismissive of other people if they didn't agree with her view of things.

She's not a pleasant person IMO.

Intentionally losing weight is the opposite of body positivity. WTAF!

I think she clarified the "intentionally" word.

To be fair she comes across better in print than she does on screen.

Many things she is correct about...for example obesity doesn't cause diabetes. You are either genetically predisposed to an increased risk or you are not.

That said if you are predisposed to it (I have PCOS which comes with an increased risk of T2 diabetes) then intentionally losing weight (if you're overweight) can be a good thing. Far more important though is increasing your activity levels and improving muscle tone and strength. Muscle is fab at burning blood sugar.

I monitor my glucose levels twice a year with a blood test which shows a trend for how it's been. My levels massively dropped when I began exercising regularly....even with no weight loss.

I'm now around 24lbs lighter than I was 18 months ago. No dieting ...just intuitive eating and a rough 80/20 ratio of nutrient dense food to non nutrient dense.

So Victoria seems better in print. While I like some of her stuff I also think there's extremism about some or even a lot of it.

That's where for me it all becomes less healthy.

Health is a social construct though apparently. And Victoria isn't overly well, she has hypothyroidism, depression etc. She's prone to weight gain just because of that.

However I do love her for raising two fingers to society and saying "if I want to wear a bikini I will".

Many things she is correct about...for example obesity doesn't cause diabetes. You are either genetically predisposed to an increased risk or you are not.

But if you are genetically predisposed, then obesity increases the risk. Same with heart and vascular problems.

Far more important though is increasing your activity levels and improving muscle tone and strength. Muscle is fab at burning blood sugar. I monitor my glucose levels twice a year with a blood test which shows a trend for how it's been. My levels massively dropped when I began exercising regularly....even with no weight loss.

If you have increased your activity, and increased your muscle mass, then you can remain at the same weight while reducing your fat levels. You now have a higher muscle:fat ratio. Muscles is denser than fat and weighs heavier.

You have, whether you realise it or not, reduced the amount of fat your body is carrying. This is also much better for your joints (joints suffer horribly when you are obese) because muscle is "self-supporting", being active; fat is just dead weight.

Health is a social construct though apparently. And Victoria isn't overly well, she has hypothyroidism, depression etc. She's prone to weight gain just because of that.

And yet she still insists that "health is a social construct"?

Good for her for not being bullied by society regarding her weight, but I really think that she was very happy to be the smallest of the girls, and that she wanted to keep it that way. She didn't want any of the others to lose weight, even though they wanted to lose it, for health reasons and because they didn't like the look of themselves. That is possibly a mental health reason.

She was trying to persuade the others, men and women, to stay fat - she didn't even have the courtesy to hear out a man who had come to talk to them about how his obesity had limited his life, leading to an amputation.

She struck me as being totally closed-minded about anything she didn't agree with. She didn't want to listen to other people's opinions, or experiences, or feelings and she completed denied the facts about obesity.

Everyone on the show was chosen for a reason, and each and every one was selected to hold a metaphorical mirror up to us to view ourselves in. I think the inclusion of Victoria was a very tactical move. Had they included a 'holier than thou' preacher describing the problems of being overweight it would not have been received as well as our own disagreement with Victoria's views.

If she'd been saying 'obesity is awful, it will damage your health' it would not have been anywhere near as effective as saying 'obesity is brilliant, it will never affect your health' (obviously paraphrasing) and everyone privately thinking she's wrong. We all heard her and the majority disagreed with her.

I do think it is a shame that someone can be so desperate for recognition that she was prepared to be thrown under the bus so to speak, because she cannot possibly think she came out of that looking like a good person, and I doubt it will do her business any good. She's exactly the sort of person that will be interviewed on loads of trashy telly giving her opinions airtime whereas in fact she will be being exploited to a degree as she's defined a set of principles that now she has to stand by regardless, and that makes 'good telly'. Imagine someone like piers Morgan interviewing her? He'd tear her to shreds.

I loved babz and hope she gets the help she needs
Sarah was amazing too.

My favourite was the T2 guy, jack? getting those trainers on and running regardless and taking his life back into his own hands. That's what I did- and although you can't outrun a bad diet, running gives me something that makes me respect my body for the first time in my life- I've always seen it as a failing machine that's weak and powerless and broken, whereas running had made me see myself as a fit, strong, powerful thing.

I have a feeling that watching this has triggered the off switch in me. I need to lose 3 stone but at one point in my life was 8 stone overweight, so I get it.

Nobody comes across as truly happy.

It's fucking hard to get your head in that mental space. Why?!

It's so much more than CICO

"Her intuitive eating was also ridiculed which I'm not sure was fair."

It was totally fair. Intuitive eating for her was eating whatever she wanted, which is what made her obese, so hardly a good plan to follow. (I realise it can mean slightly different things to different people).

Intuitive eating is what I now practice but it’s totally different to what Victoria appears to do.

It’s about looking at food and deciding if I want to eat it.

Am I hungry?
Am I just wanting it because it’s there?

Take a cake for example.that someone has brought for a birthday.

I can decide to

Eat lots of the cake with no regard to portion sizes etc
Eat a large slice
Eat a smaller slice to be polite and taste it.
Decide not to have any cake.

The key thing is no guilt attached to any decision.

I check in with myself when eating.
Eating fish and chips for example....I often manage the fish but never all the chips. I push the plate away so I don’t keep picking.
I savour food when I eat and try to eat mindfully...no other distractions. Just me and my body while I tune in to taste and watch for signals that I am full .

No diets and I’ve shed some weight.

Worth reading are

Beyond Chocolate....also has a thriving FB group.
Secrets from the Diet Lab by Professor Tracy Mann.

I'm just catching up with this now but oh my goodness @SLB37 your baby is gorgeous!

@ Elodie and Shamrock

I think I demonstrated fairly well that I am willing to confront areas of my thinking and behaviour which need change. I'm also one of the very few who was willing to reflect on some of Victoria's points most here find so objectionable. You both go ahead though with your lofty greater than thou nose in the air. I judge you back.

To me Babs had a very obvious cause for her binges and I hope she does get the help she needs from therapy. She had a sad story.

Victoria seems like a horrible, deluded, egomaniacal bully. She might be one of the smallest there but she's by far and away the ugliest character.

@sentient

I agree with you. Victoria is most definitely a ' bad' fat person . She reminds me of.some of.my favourite radical feminists in her non apologetic stance ( if not her ideas)

Whilst I completely agree that Victoria is very very annoying and takes things too far, she really has some very good points.

I am astoumded that some.people on this thread didn't know the statistics about obese people gaining weight again after weight loss . I knew that statistic in tj 1908s when I lost my first 5 stones at weight watchers (which I did again at least 5 times in the following 30 years, as well.as the numerous losses of 2-3 stone in between)

I.am also astonished peole don't know that more and more research is confirming the idea that genetics plays a very big part in weight gain. That some people in the environment we live of lots of.food will pretty much always be ' overweight' and the best they can hope for is to.keep themselves out of the obese category, for which they might need to work much harder at that than many slim people do.to stay a size 6 or whatever.

Of course it is easier to believe that we can just lose the weight of we just try harder. I personally completely understand how Victpria got to the position she has as most people definitely do not believe any of the above and just see it as ' excuses' and that.anyone can be slim, if they are just ' good' enough.

@bumblingbovine49 and @sentient

I agree. I think it's a shame that some of Victoria's points were wrapped up in such an obnoxious personality and bundled with some very toxic approaches.

Take Babs - she'd previously lost 8st, and put it all back on again and more. And still absolutely hated herself.

I'm 5'9", 15.5 stone, down from 21st. I have always been tall, broad framed, muscular and big boobed. Those things are not going away, and I wouldn't want them to.

My target weight is 14st. At that weight, my waist is well less than half my height (already under it), my blood pressure is already great, my resting heart rate is already 57bpm. I eat a varied diet cooked from scratch and I exercise regularly, including 10k runs.

I have only achieved this via bucket loads of self-esteem.