Jezebel 
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New York, 5:38 AM
Mon Dec 21
18 posts in the last 24 hours
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12/02/09
I understand that the man that this story is about was obese because of physical injures, but I am wondering about the rest of us.
Is it really ok for us to overconsume food while other people starve? I feel like the environmental movement could be used with this...take only what you need. Shouldn't everyone (whether fat or thin) be held accountable for taking too much? If someone is overweight (not overweight) because of overconsuming resources shouldn't they correct that for the sake of the world instead of being accepting of their own behaviors?
Have we gone past ACCEPTANCE into JUSTIFICATION for our unsavory, privileged behaviors?
Who are we to start a "movement" of no restriction while so many others are without?
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12/02/09
A lot of this is class based, and it's not about the amount of consumption, it's about the type of consumption. I've never owned a car, and the years I've gained the most weight are the years when my public transit situation (which has always involved some element of walking to/from/between public transit) was super complicated, because when I was an hour and a half each way getting to and from work, I was much less likely to turn around and spend an hour at the gym, and spending an hour a day at the gym is pretty much the only thing that keeps weight off of me.
12/02/09
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12/01/09
how does one plead with a loved one to live healthily and lose weight without laying on the guilt? like shriver, i've lost one loved one this year from complications that were most likely caused by obesity and i can't stand the thought of losing more.
i don't care what waist size or dress size they are, i just want them to be healthy and right now they aren't. =(
12/01/09
A size 14 is not obese. It is not "fat" except by Anna Wintour standards. God forbid the entire world come to that...
However, when I have a patient with early stage lung cancer who can't receive treatment because she weighs over 300 lbs and can't fit in the radiation therapy machine, that is a bad thing from a health perspective. When you have to be on daily insulin injections because your pancreas has "given out," that is a true health issue.
It is very important that everyone recognize their own healthy weight, and fight to maintain that. Living a full life - not fitting in a size 6 - is the ultimate issue.
12/01/09
12/02/09
Yes, being plump used to be considered beautiful in days gone by, and in some cultures, it still is - but I can't think of a culture that celebrates being morbidly obese.
12/02/09
These also coincidentally may be the neighborhoods where safe parks to run in are at a premium.
12/02/09
Anyway. Of the many, many Food Lions and Bottom Dollars I've been to, the Bottom Dollars always seem to have the nicest, freshest fruits and veggies for cheaper. Their selection is slightly decreased, but they still have things like mangos, pineapples, etc... just not tomatillos and other such fairly exotic stuff. Usually I end up going out of my way to shop at Bottom Dollar (( the Food Lion's closer )) whenever I need more fruits, because the Food Lion versions are more bruised and rot faster.
12/02/09
I'm not saying that all lower-income neighborhoods are the same. I am saying that food deserts do exist, and that I happen to live in one.
12/01/09
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12/01/09
As for her friend recently browbeaten into a "successful" liquid-only diet by his doctor - I'd like to check in with him a few years ago and see how that's going.
12/01/09
12/01/09
eta: um...just in case /sarcasm
12/01/09
12/01/09
But fat shaming, which is the real target of the HAES movement, isn't really a good tool to help people find the path to good health.
Ms. Shriver reminds me of someone who rails against the drug legalization/decriminalization movement because she lost someone to drug abuse. Such people assume that without the legal sanction against drug use, their loved one would have died even sooner. This is not a logical conclusion to draw. Nor does it follow automatically that without the social sanction against being obese, people will abandon their diets and quit the gym. Sanctions of this sort serve to marginalize people, which makes it harder for a person who's obese or drug-addicted to talk about their health, on account of all the emotional repercussions that come with shame and judgment, etc.
12/01/09
12/01/09
It blows my mind.
12/01/09
12/01/09
Take a skinny person who is maintaining an unnatural weight FOR THEIR BODY and highlight their poor hair and nail health, their lower bone density, their low iron, or even their decreased energy levels and inability to sustain short exercise.
Take a fat person who is maintaining an unnatural weight FOR THEIR BODY and highlight the joint stress and damage from carrying their weight, their diabetes, or even their inability to walk a short distance without becoming winded.
Those are failures of healthy at any size. I don't care if you are a size 14 and you have great blood work or if you are 2 and have great blood work. Why is that even a question of an issue? I don't care if you have cancer, that isn't weight related. If we are going to talk about weight related health then people should focus on weight related issues, not the OTHER health issues that are unrelated but for the fact that are in the person being talked about.
End rant.
12/01/09
The focus being on the choices and not the potentially misleading physical appearance. Am I making any sense?
12/01/09
At the end of the day, I don't know anyone who takes issue with a healthy fatty or a healthy skinny- and that is a good thing. However, I am unfortunate enough to know many who are quick to be terrible about an overweight person who has any weight related health issues. So that is an issue I would prefer to see addressed.
12/01/09
12/01/09
When 75% of the American population is expected to be overweight in 2015, you know a HUGE majority are being unhealthy at their size. This point really isn't up for debate.
And according to the American Cancer Society:
"Excess Weight is Linked to 90,000 US Cancer Deaths a Year"
You have no rant, this is senseless dribble at best.
12/02/09
12/01/09
The double standard is appalling.
12/01/09
As someone said down a ways, her brother didn't die of his fat. He died because he was unhealthy and had unhealthy habits by all accounts. Not because he was fat. While those habits may have contributed to his weight, his weight was not the main issue.
I am of what is considered normal weight, however, I am heavy for me. I gained about 20lbs in less than a year from a medical condition. And holy shit, suddenly judgy mcjudgerpants came out from everyone. My mom and dad called me chubby and fat, my co-workers told me I should eat better, and my guy friends were like "WOO HOO, BOOBS" (Some of my male friends are less than mature).
Oddly enough, HAES helped me accept the fact that my body was going through a bit of a moment. Bodies do that. You have health issues and stress and other issues. What I learned was that I shouldn't exercise because of the comments and try to lose weight, but I should exercise because it made me feel good. And you know what, I am (or will be once the doctor lets me again. Gallbladder polyps = Bitches) and it does make me feel good. And that's why I do it. I'm probably not going to lose weight until they get this health issue figured out, but who cares?
My worth isn't determined by a number on a scale or on the back of my trousers. And neither is my health. Because the number says I'm healthy, but really, that means absolutely jack squat.
/novel
12/01/09
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12/01/09
Boo. Mothers. Best cheerleaders, worst supporters sometimes.
Eh, I've stopped telling my parents stuff. My parents aren't very supportive of anything I do that doesn't fit into their nice little picture of me. That includes gaining weight or trying to belly dance. There's a reason my FB picture looks like I'm screaming in terror. ;)
12/01/09
I'm going to have to disagree with that. There are many more thin, angular villains in Disney than there are overweight. Cindarella wasn't fat, but neither was her evil step mother, or Maleficent, or Jafaar, or Cruella DeVil, or Scar, or a majority of the well known villains Disney is known for.
The only overweight villains from Disney I can think of are Ursella, the witch in Sword and The Stone, Pete, and that Russian guy from Pinocchio (the last two of whom I'd consider more burly than fat).
Usually rotundas (or fat) characters are considered more cute and endearing, so they fill in the more lovable supporting cast. Sultan from Aladdin, Pumba the warthog, Cogsworth from Beauty and the Beast, Pacha from Emperor's New Groove. The list goes on.
I'm sure I've missed quite a few but as an animator who's been trained in the style of Disney: Angles = evil. Round = cuddly.
12/01/09
It sounds like Shriver's brother made a lot of unhealthy choices, but his weight was not the only measure of those choices. Had he made healthier choices, would he have weighed less? Maybe and maybe not. I have no way of knowing. But the weight loss, if any, wouldn't have been the main thing -- it would have been the healthier choices. The point of HAES is to say hey -- even if doing some exercise and eating nutritious food never got his BMI to fall into the "normal" range, it's still worth doing, because his body still would have worked better.