How taking fat shaming to heart backfires for health

[Independent voter]

If you know any fat people you know it's very hard to talk to them about their weight, this article says maybe you should lay off.

The doctor said I should lose 20 pounds, I did but even that small amount of weight was a struggle that required changing the way I lived. I gave all the sugar I could and that worked for me.

I have a thick skin and if someone at work were to call me a "fat f'ck" I would reply "your mom didn't call me a 'fat f'ck' she said I was 'the best f'ck ever!'". "Then she baked me cookies." But not everyone is like me.








http://www.cbc.ca/news/health/weight-stigma-1.3966705

Internalizing fat shaming — being judged differently because of weight — can be particularly damaging to a person's health and well-being, doctors and other experts say.

They were interviewed ahead of Eating Disorder Awareness Week in Canada, which wraps up Tuesday. The week, declared by the National Initiative for Eating Disorders, also involves lobbying for better ways to support people with eating disorders.

In Canada, the U.S. and much of the world, there's an expectation of extreme thinness, said Dr. Scott Kahan of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.

People who experience fat stigma have higher blood pressure and increased stress hormone levels that increase their risk of health concerns, Kahan said.

"There's been two studies showing that it actually increases the likelihood of premature death," said Kahan, also director of the National Center for Weight and Wellness in Washington, D.C. "It also predisposes to unhelpful behaviours, so it increases the risk for binge eating. It increases the risk for emotional eating. It decreases motivation for exercise."

Burlesque dancer fat-shamed online tracks down teen abuser, calls his dad and principal
Discrimination no joke: obesity forum

There is a common misconception that stigma might help motivate people with obesity to lose weight and improve their health, Kahan said. But that's inaccurate, and such discrimination can have the opposite effect.

Psychologist Jennifer Mills at York University in Toronto conducts experiments on body image and eating behaviour.

In one experiment, Mills and her team brought participants into the lab and had them complete one of three tasks: read a mock newspaper article about the dangers associated with obesity, read about the dangers of sun exposure, or do a word search as a neutral control.

"What we found surprisingly was reading the anti-obesity article, it made people feel worse about themselves," Mills said. "Right after reading the article, it didn't change their eating."

The findings show stigmatization of obesity in the media probably isn't helpful, she said.

"We don't want people feeling discouraged," Mills said. "We want people feeling like they have some control over their lives."
Not the type of reassurance needed

Jill Andrew, whose doctoral research focuses on women and beauty, helped organize a petition aimed at getting discrimination based on size and physical appearance included in the Ontario Human Rights Code, and supports similar #Sizeismsucks movements in Manitoba, Alberta and British Columbia.

Andrew said she was recently ill and needed emergency surgery. As she was on the surgical table, she heard the team talking about fat felines.

"They're talking about their cats and their pets, and their pets that are 'obese,' she said. "Their pets that are lazy. And I'm sitting there or lying there thinking to myself, 'What do you think about me?'"

A few hours earlier, Andrew said the surgeon spoke to her about how surgery tends to be more difficult in "people with abdominal girth."

"When you're in a life-defying moment and this is the person you're looking for to save you, this is not the type of reassurance or reinforcement that you need."

Why willpower isn't enough to keep the pounds off

This idea of wanting to "size down" cuts across different ethnic, religious and class lines, Andrew said.

Growing up, she said, relatives sometimes told her to suck in her stomach.

Kahan has specialized in obesity for more than 10 years. While more information is emerging about the health effects of weight stigma, he said few physicians and dietitians pay attention to stigma and help those experiencing it to get past it with counselling.

For family member or friends wanting to help someone with obesity and concerned about their weight, Kahan recommends against giving advice.

Instead, "I would offer your empathy and support," he said.

[Gamdwelf]

There's nothing we can do to help fat people

Taco Bell and pizza is just too good.

[Deleted]

Cool story, go to the gym or wherever you prefer and apply yourself. Hey, you're overweight. Did you know there's an easy solution to this problem? It goes like this: perform physical exercise and consume less calories. "What? That's it? No way, I've got to try this out myself!"

I've been overweight myself for a few years. For most people it's a choice, nothing more.

[Gamdwelf]

Cool story, go to the gym or wherever you prefer and apply yourself. Hey, you're overweight. Did you know there's an easy solution to this problem? It goes like this: perform physical exercise and consume less calories. "What? That's it? No way, I've got to try this out myself!"

I've been overweight myself for a few years. For most people it's a choice, nothing more.

That's too hard when I can get like 4000 calories for 5 bucks at taco Bell.

[Ayla]

Ironically, when I went to university I avoided my 'freshman 15', my second time at post secondary I didn't. I'll take it off when I'm done school in may.

[Underverse]

Maybe they don't change their habits after reading ant-obesity articles because they eat away their problems and stresses. That doesn't mean an anti-obesity strategy is wrong - it just means that it might be better if it was supplemented with strategies to divert solutions to stress away from food.

[Valech]

Don´t fat people have a thick skin per se?
jkjk

OT: I call bullshit. If you are fat, you most likely know, that you are fat. Since you know that you are fat, you either like it or dislike it. If you like it, you have come to terms with the fact and thus cannot be emotionally harmed if someone called you fat. He is right and it is your choice. However, if you don´t like it, you need to lose weight. If someone calls you fat or "tries to talk about your weight", you´d have to agree with him. He still is right. Being hurt only comes from either failing to realize, that you are fat or failing to agree with someone, that you are mentally to weak to change something in your life, that leaves you unsatisfied. Both is weak and I lack empathy for the weak.

[Hashtronaut]

Instead, "I would offer your empathy and support," he said.

There's different type of people personally, I don't like to be coddled.
They know they're fat, but people become fat (and I'm talking OBESE) for different reasons, being fat then tends to exaggerate the issues not really getting to the source of the issue (eating relives pain for these individuals/helps calm fear).

A person weak enough to reach a severe obesity issue where they're actually self-conscious about it, is a dangerous place. If you shame them (poke fun) they will most likely just withdraw into themselves. However it is important to be able to joke about things "owning up to the issue" in a way. Maybe not open with shaming/making fun, instead draw them into help with empathy/kindness but joking about things in a light-hearted positive sense can help rising above fear of discussing the issue.

[Deleted]

That's too hard when I can get like 4000 calories for 5 bucks at taco Bell.

Wish I had a TB in my neighbourhood. It'd make reaching my daily calorie intake a lot easier.

If you want to help overweight friend/family member, shut the fuck up and start doing something with them. Go for a walk with them, encourage them to pick up a sport together with you.

If all you are willing to do is talking words then stop fucking pretending you actually care about them, and admit that you just like feeling superior.

You can't help people who don't want to be helped or just aren't ready for it yet. A friend of mine is overweight and I ask him at least three times a week whether or not he'd like to join me on my workouts. There's always some bs excuse.

[schwank05]

Im fat, 6'2" 300 lb. Do I know it yes, have I tried to lose weight of coarse. I fluctuate from 280-320, but It's very hard to eat right and work out when you work 12-15 hours a day and get home at 7-8 PM and have to try to find something healthy to eat that takes 1-2 hours to prepare and cook then work out before bed and when you get up at 6 am. I know it sounds like an excuse because it is. I just cannot justify taking what little time I have with my family and sacrificing it to workout.

[ItachiZaku]

Ironically, when I went to university I avoided my 'freshman 15', my second time at post secondary I didn't. I'll take it off when I'm done school in may.

Puke and rally was so much more efficient when you didn't eat, so many of us in my group actually lost weight.

[Gamdwelf]

Im fat, 6'2" 300 lb. Do I know it yes, have I tried to lose weight of coarse. I fluctuate from 280-320, but It's very hard to eat right and work out when you work 12-15 hours a day and get home at 7-8 PM and have to try to find something healthy to eat that takes 1-2 hours to prepare and cook then work out before bed and when you get up at 6 am. I know it sounds like an excuse because it is. I just cannot justify taking what little time I have with my family and sacrificing it to workout.

Have you tried working less?

[Deleted]

Then lay the fuck off. If he doesn't want your help or won't take you up on your offers of working out together, then nothing you say will make a damn difference anyway.

I would lay off, if he'd stop crying that he can't get any girls to like him. I *roll my eyes* everitim.

[Macaquerie]

I would lay off, if he'd stop crying that he can't get any girls to like him. I *roll my eyes* everitim.

Getting in shape just to pick up girls is a dumb motivation anyway, it has to be about a genuine desire for self-improvement. Wallow in misery long enough and most people come around, there's no need for you to keep poking him about it.

[zenkai]

Cool story, go to the gym or wherever you prefer and apply yourself. Hey, you're overweight. Did you know there's an easy solution to this problem? It goes like this: perform physical exercise and consume less calories. "What? That's it? No way, I've got to try this out myself!"

I've been overweight myself for a few years. For most people it's a choice, nothing more.

That's not 100% true. It's way more complicated than that. You can eat 1500 calories and exercise like crazy and you will lose weight but it's not something you can maintain realistically and you end up feeling like shit and burning muscle instead of fat. Also every ones body types are different, there are people like my son who lays around plays video games eats junk food and I could pick him up with one arm. While I know people who work their ass off eat one meal a day and remain overweight.

[Arewn]

-snip

being judged differently because of weight

-snip

For family member or friends wanting to help someone with obesity and concerned about their weight, Kahan recommends against giving advice.

Instead, "I would offer your empathy and support," he said.

Being judged unfairly or inaccurately because of weight is a problem. Simply being judged differently, though, is a reflection of a fact of reality.
People like surgeons are absolutely correct, I feel, in bringing up concerns related to weight. Ignoring the extra few inches of fat they have to go through isn't going to make the surgery go better.

Being supportive is of course the goal, but that's not necessarily mutually exclusive to giving advice.
It all depends on how you're being supportive. Because there are very useless ways out there to "be supportive". So don't just "be supportive", be productively supportive.

[AcidicSyn]

Im fat, 6'2" 300 lb. Do I know it yes, have I tried to lose weight of coarse. I fluctuate from 280-320, but It's very hard to eat right and work out when you work 12-15 hours a day and get home at 7-8 PM and have to try to find something healthy to eat that takes 1-2 hours to prepare and cook then work out before bed and when you get up at 6 am. I know it sounds like an excuse because it is. I just cannot justify taking what little time I have with my family and sacrificing it to workout.

I've been (still am in a way) in this exact same position. (6'0" endomorph build). I was hovering at around 280-300. I am still not as healthy as I would like because I do not do any sort of "proper" work out; haven't magically solved the problem of not having time and I refuse to be someone who simply has no free time at all and accepts that as life. Instead I do little things like taking the stairs, parking at the far end of the lot to make me walk, go for walks on my lunch break, etc. Since I work in IT, I also keep a set of 10lbs bells at my desk; I don't count reps or anything; I just play with them throughout the day. Little shit like that- it helped, but by no means actually solved the issue.

What actually solved the problem for me is in no way a solution that I can actually suggest to anyone; it's in many ways more difficult than actually working out and was a personal choice I made for my own reasons that just happened to have the side effect of weight loss- I went vegan. I shit you not I lost 70 pounds in 3 months. Now I hover between 195 and 210- perfectly healthy weight. I still have more fat than muscle, and that's something there are no tricks around forcing time to work out to achieve, but the weight issue itself melted right away.

My point here is- the food you eat is going to help with the weight ALOT more than working out will each taken on their own merits, this is not an excuse to not work out; we both *NEED* to figure that out and make time for it; in some capacity but food intake is more important imo.

Get yourself a crockpot and make your meals exclusively in that in order to cook good food without losing your time. Pay attention to *WHAT* you eat. If you are someone who eats alot of street food (Which I am guessing yes because of your severely limited amount of free time) then this is definitely something that you can do- it wont solve 100% of your problems, but it will add some extra years to your life for you to spend with your family down the road.

You'd be shocked at the variety of fantastic and diverse foods that are insanely low in fat you can eat cooked entirely in a crockpot. If you're someone who likes to cook that's an advantage as you'll quickly discover you can throw just about anything in a crockpot and set/forget then enjoy.

As someone who works that kind of a shift I sympathize; truly. Just know there's definitely hope, I did it; you can too and you wont lose a single extra second of your free time with the family.

[Drungan]

If you want to help overweight friend/family member, shut the fuck up and start doing something with them. Go for a walk with them, encourage them to pick up a sport together with you.

If all you are willing to do is talking words then stop fucking pretending you actually care about them, and admit that you just like feeling superior.

This dude gets it.

and no *wonna join me at the gym thursday?* is not the solution for a lot of other reasons then being *lazy*

To start with a walk 1 time a week is a good idea, running will hurt the knee's if they are very heavy.

Go out to eat at a good healthy place do not focus on what you eat just have a good time

Be aware that if you go into this it is for the long *run* they are not going to turn into a health temple the first month .... or year.

i could go on but ... this is a internet forum only a few might listen or even care... much more easy to go * Get on the treadmill fatty hurrdurr*

[Gamdwelf]

As someone who was at one point morbidly obese (now I'm just obese ), it's incredibly easy to lose weight - especially when you're fat.
You don't have to exercise at all (I haven't,) or even eat well (I don't) and I've lost 55lbs~ in 150 days simply by eating less.


Losing weight really is as simple as energy in, energy out. The more complex you try and make it in your head, the harder it gets.

There's no need to worry about macros, etc. when you're losing weight. Calories in, calories out. simple.

Uh...I'm hungry.

[urasim]

This dude gets it.

and no *wonna join me at the gym thursday?* is not the solution for a lot of other reasons then being *lazy*

To start with a walk 1 time a week is a good idea, running will hurt the knee's if they are very heavy.

Go out to eat at a good healthy place do not focus on what you eat just have a good time

Be aware that if you go into this it is for the long *run* they are not going to turn into a health temple the first month .... or year.

i could go on but ... this is a internet forum only a few might listen or even care... much more easy to go * Get on the treadmill fatty hurrdurr*

Can you loan me your ability to coerce people into joining me with excising? Especially when all my family are in another country.