Quote:
Originally Posted by bkloots
Perhaps this belongs in the War Zone, perhaps not. I don't intend to "fight" about it, but the issue involves considerable differences of opinion.
On June 27, Dr. Yoni Freedhof, in his blog Weighty Matters, posted a link to a podcast from This American Life. Here is the link. I haven't finished listening to the entire hour. It begins with an interview and excerpts from a book written by a woman who has achieved self-acceptance while fat. Other views follow. See what you think.
I'm in favor of offering maximum empathy to all persons. Doesn't mean I'm not working on my own opinions and feelings all the time.
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Hi Bkloots,
I am all for fat acceptance. I don't believe in judging others, and the overweight have been discriminated against for far too long. I would hope that self-acceptance would come with a desire to be as healthy as possible, but that's a tougher nut to crack than one would think. Depending on which study you read on which day, we hear all kinds of mixed messages about whether overweight/obesity is OK as long as your not diabetic, just a mechanical burden on joints, or a sure sentence to an early death. It is hard to know what to do no matter one's weight, but especially for the heavy.
I've certainly evolved on this issue -- When I was young I would essentially hide away for months while trying to crash diet my way to a new skinny person in order to "debut" back into society. You can imagine how well that worked. I was obsessed with my food issues, lack of discipline, self-loathing, etc.
Finally I got sick of it and decided I had spent too much of my life in the downward thought spiral. What did normal weight people think about all day? What could I do with all the mental space freed up by accepting myself?
I am still searching for the optimal health regimen that will also help me with some weight loss, but I don't think about it 24/7. I also don't hate myself for being my current size. Life is too short and there are too many amazing things to ponder and experience.
I suppose the counter argument is that we should shame the heavy as we have shamed the smokers, with the outcome that there are now fewer smokers. Unkindness aside, I don't think that would be effective because the obesity-health link (or lack thereof) is so dependent upon the individual involved and, so far, no one has proven there is a "second-hand obesity" rish to others. I know, I know, heavy people tend to have heavy friends, heavy parents pass on their habits to kids, but my weight will not harm the person sitting in the table next to me at a restaurant!
Just my two cents.