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Fat aceptance

Debater Slayer

Vipassana
Staff member
Premium Member
When I was talking to a schizophrenic I met while in the army (who was later released due to his mental health issues), he told me that one of the main issues he had from antipsychotic medication was the significant weight gain despite barely eating anything. And he was still overweight in the army despite working out regularly and eating very little.

With many other overweight people I've met over the years, the reasons for being overweight have ranged from gland issues to eating disorders that therapists couldn't fully treat or diagnose. There are also some who can't afford to eat as healthy as a proper diet would require or have mental health issues that sap away so much of their energy that a healthy amount of physical activity becomes an achievement.

Of course, there are many people who are overweight due to poor diets, poor medical decisions, etc., but I think my point is clear here: we can't look at a random overweight person and assume by default that their weight issues are merely due to negligence or poor diets. Many have difficulty losing weight even though they dislike their being overweight more than anyone else does. With this in mind, being supportive and avoiding shaming indeed seems to me the wisest, most productive, and most empathetic approach to the issue of obesity.

Bill Maher is yet again trying to profit off misunderstanding and simplistic generalizations. It seems to me that comedians aren't the best source of information on medical issues like obesity, much less comedians with an extensive record of vitriol and blind partisanship.
 

Shadow Wolf

Certified People sTabber
Of course, there are many people who are overweight due to poor diets, poor medical decisions, etc.,
It likely depends on culture but in America that is the more common reason than medical issues. Add on top of it many Americans don't exercise and there will be issues.
 

Guitar's Cry

Disciple of Pan
People cannot seem to understand when to appropriately apply "Orwellian."

The problem with weight shaming is that it doesn't help a person lose weight, and how a person looks outwardly is not a specific indication they are unhealthy. Take some folks who struggle with weight despite healthy eating abd exercise. Or those that struggle with eating disorders.

While I agree that eating healthy and getting proper exercise is for the best and should be encouraged, Mahar simply appears to be throwing out anti-PC rhetoric that I don't think is helpful for those that struggle with obesity.

I think we can encourage without shaming. I admit, I may have misinterpreted Mahar, but he seemed to be advocating for shaming people over how they look and eat.

Maybe we could start piping in mandatory morning exercises into our telescreens...er, televisions...
 

Quagmire

Imaginary talking monkey
Staff member
Premium Member
People cannot seem to understand when to appropriately apply "Orwellian."

The problem with weight shaming is that it doesn't help a person lose weight,

The thread and the video aren't advocating weight-shaming, they're just pointing out the absurdity of celebrating something that should in fact be treated as a problem regardless of the causes.

Just because we're not pointing our fingers at something doesn't mean we have to start clapping.
 

Vee

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
There are different reasons people gain weight and shaming people doesn't help anyone. But coddling them makes the problem worse. The vast majority of overweight people are that way simply because of their habits.
I've been to North America many times and had the opportunity to see how it works. I actually just came back from a trip to Canada, and believe me, it wasn't easy to come back to France the same size.
It's not hard to understand why there is so much obesity: over consumption of food and high calorie drinks - and most of the food is processed. Add the lack of exercise and poor sleeping habits and there's the reason why such a huge percentage of the population is overweight.
I've seen a lot of studies on nutrition and it seems that the amount of people who gain weight for other reasons - including medication - is not that high.
 

SomeRandom

Still learning to be wise
Staff member
Premium Member
There are different reasons people gain weight and shaming people doesn't help anyone. But coddling them makes the problem worse. The vast majority of overweight people are that way simply because of their habits.
I've been to North America many times and had the opportunity to see how it works. I actually just came back from a trip to Canada, and believe me, it wasn't easy to come back to France the same size.
It's not hard to understand why there is so much obesity: over consumption of food and high calorie drinks - and most of the food is processed. Add the lack of exercise and poor sleeping habits and there's the reason why such a huge percentage of the population is overweight.
I've seen a lot of studies on nutrition and it seems that the amount of people who gain weight for other reasons - including medication - is not that high.
When I visited my family in California years ago, I gained like 5 kilos (11 pounds) in 2 weeks.
That was mostly my fault admittedly
See, I wanted to try all the different fast food that the US had but isn’t a thing in my own country of Australia. (Sonics, Chick Fil A, diners etc.)
Not only were all the portion sizes way bigger (their small would be our medium) but it genuinely made me sick. Like it was literally too much grease for my stomach to handle after a while. Way more processed than even our fast food.

At home I can eat fast food all the time and it doesn’t bother me, nor do I gain much weight from it. Mainly because my job is fairly physical and I have a fairly high metabolism.
But 2 weeks in the US and I gained weight almost by default.
 

VoidCat

Pronouns: he/him/they/them
From my view weight isn't always a good indicator of health. I know plenty of slightly obese people who are very healthy. Then you have me- a 98 pound person who is underweight and am unhealthy in a number of ways.

Sometimes weight sure can alone cause health problems. But not always. I wouldn't judge anyone for being chubby nor will I assume just cuz they are overweight they unhealthy. Healthy for them due to genetics and frame might be a little overweight.

I mean I'm underweight no matter how much i eat I can't gain cuz of high metabolism. Some folk might be the opposite. Low metabolism no matter how little they eat they gain.

It all depends on a wide variety of factors if being overweight is unhealthy for someone or not.
 

RestlessSoul

Well-Known Member
Several years ago I quite quickly lost about 25% of my body weight. The reason? I'd stopped taken a medication.


Conversely, over a decade ago now I put on several stone in a couple of years. Despite my best efforts, a fairly healthy diet and a modest amount of exercise, I’ve been unable to shift it. The reason? I stopped smoking (tobacco, like all recreational drugs, can be a form of self medication).
 

VoidCat

Pronouns: he/him/they/them
From my view weight isn't always a good indicator of health. I know plenty of slightly obese people who are very healthy. Then you have me- a 98 pound person who is underweight and am unhealthy in a number of ways.

Sometimes weight sure can alone cause health problems. But not always. I wouldn't judge anyone for being chubby nor will I assume just cuz they are overweight they unhealthy. Healthy for them due to genetics and frame might be a little overweight.

I mean I'm underweight no matter how much i eat I can't gain cuz of high metabolism. Some folk might be the opposite. Low metabolism no matter how little they eat they gain.

It all depends on a wide variety of factors if being overweight is unhealthy for someone or not.
Allow me to add a resource to my thoughts here:
Rethinking Fatness: Why Everything You’ve Been Told About Weight May Be Wrong
But researchers at UCLA and the University of Minnesota evaluated nearly two dozen studies and concluded that there was “no clear relationship between weight loss and health outcomes.” In other words, shedding pounds didn’t meaningfully lower blood pressure, diabetes risk, or cholesterol.

Equating being heavier with having poor cardiometabolic health and being thin with the opposite is way off the mark, researchers at the University of California concluded. They pored over data from more than 40,000 participants in the government’s annual National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and found that nearly half the people classified as “overweight” (and more than a quarter labeled “obese”) had perfectly healthy blood levels of lipids and glucose, meaning they were cardiometabolically fine. Meanwhile, a full 30% of the “normal-weight” participants had unhealthy levels of these markers.The bottom line: Weight alone is not indicative of health, so nobody can tell whether or not a person is healthy based on their weight
 

Secret Chief

nirvana is samsara
Conversely, over a decade ago now I put on several stone in a couple of years. Despite my best efforts, a fairly healthy diet and a modest amount of exercise, I’ve been unable to shift it. The reason? I stopped smoking (tobacco, like all recreational drugs, can be a form of self medication).
I've been told that smoking is used (or was) by some young women to suppress their appetite in order to keep slim. With the reduction in smoking in the UK I suspect it's not as prevalent as it was.
 

The Hammer

[REDACTED]
Premium Member
When I was talking to a schizophrenic I met while in the army (who was later released due to his mental health issues), he told me that one of the main issues he had from antipsychotic medication was the significant weight gain despite barely eating anything. And he was still overweight in the army despite working out regularly and eating very little.

Yup, I went from 163lbs, to 188 (which is overweight for my size) w/o changing my diet or eating habits, and remaining fairly active.

The culprit, is my mental health medication. It's annoying, but It's a fact of taking them.
 

RestlessSoul

Well-Known Member
I've been told that smoking is used (or was) by some young women to suppress their appetite in order to keep slim. With the reduction in smoking in the UK I suspect it's not as prevalent as it was.


A female friend of mine, a heavy smoker, gave up for several months, went through the withdrawals, overcame the craving - and went back on the cigs because she couldn’t find any other way to lose weight.
 

The Hammer

[REDACTED]
Premium Member
The term should probably be "weight respect", as opposed to "fat acceptance"... Because it's not about accepting anything. It's about respecting someone, a human person, regardless of their health or lifestyle choices that may have led them to becoming obese or overweight.
 

Hockeycowboy

Witness for Jehovah
Premium Member
There are different reasons people gain weight and shaming people doesn't help anyone. But coddling them makes the problem worse. The vast majority of overweight people are that way simply because of their habits.
I've been to North America many times and had the opportunity to see how it works. I actually just came back from a trip to Canada, and believe me, it wasn't easy to come back to France the same size.
It's not hard to understand why there is so much obesity: over consumption of food and high calorie drinks - and most of the food is processed. Add the lack of exercise and poor sleeping habits and there's the reason why such a huge percentage of the population is overweight.
I've seen a lot of studies on nutrition and it seems that the amount of people who gain weight for other reasons - including medication - is not that high.
I agree, eating out & convenience seem a high priority for many people here in North America.
It is, though, no doubt a combination of issues.... there certainly are (prepared) food choices on the market that are geared toward convenience, which usually means unhealthy....AND there’s been a definite rise in medication usage over the past 100 years; more and more people than ever before are facing mental health challenges, and many (the majority?) of the medications treating those conditions produce weight-gaining side effects.

And of medications designed for maintenance of other health issues, some induce lethargy, robbing patients even of the desire to move around.

I have a problem with my food choices...my wife & I rarely eat out, but I do like quick high-caloric foods, like salami and cheese! It’s just very convenient! So we’ve started buying more fruits for something quick to eat.

Take care, my sister.
 
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Guitar's Cry

Disciple of Pan
The thread and the video aren't advocating weight-shaming, they're just pointing out the absurdity of celebrating something that should in fact be treated as a problem regardless of the causes.

Just because we're not pointing our fingers at something doesn't mean we have to start clapping.

I will review the video again, but in context, Mahar has specifically suggested fat-shaming before:

“In August, 53 Americans died from mass shootings. Terrible right? Do you know how many died from obesity? Forty thousand. Fat shaming doesn’t need to end it needs to make a comeback. Some amount of shame is good. We shamed people out of smoking and into wearing seat belts. We shamed them out of littering and most of them out of racism. Shame is the first step in reform.”

Bill Maher Asks People To Fat Shame More, Here Is The Response

I also think he is purposely misstating the issue; He is connecting how a person looks (where he discusses the ads of brands like Nike and...Victoria's Secret?) to celebrating unhealthy lifestyles. The fact that he points out a lingerie store as being something that should be focused on fitness suggests something about his image of beauty, and that how a person looks determines their health, and that different body types shouldn't have representation in the media. This is often untrue since a person's health is far more complicated than how they look, since both a healthy diet, healthy exercise, and healthy weight are dependent on the individual: Can you be overweight but healthy?
 
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Exaltist Ethan

Bridging the Gap Between Believers and Skeptics
I have bipolar disorder and I take medication for it. Most medications don't affect my weight whatsoever. However, I have found that since taking ZyPrexa once again I have went from 150 to 200 pounds. I take ZyPrexa at night and after I take it I often feel the urge to eat my "fourth meal" that wasn't there before... No kidding, if I add another meal into my diet I go from 150 pounds to 200. Simple math people. But ZyPrexa is a great medication for me mentally and it helps slow my head down after a long day after doing nothing.

Plus, I actually don't mind the extra weight. I can still walk the same amount. I have a bit of a gut now and my mediums have become large shirts but it's really not a big deal. Most of the weight went to my gut so my pants only went to a 32 to a 33 in waist size. I still feel relatively healthy. ZyPrexa is great as a counter against some of my manic symptoms, such as anxiety caused by OCD and insomnia.

Simply put, I'd rather keep the extra weight and eat more if it means I can stay on my current medications. If it gets worse though... Then I'll revaluate it at that time.
 
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