Fat positive movement

I Criticize Fat-Positive Activists, but They Are Right About One Thing

As I have lost a lot of weight, I notice one thing they talk about often.

I have been overly critical about the Fat Acceptance or Fat Positive moment, and it is because the activists glorify obesity and encourage you to live an unhealthy lifestyle.

These fat-positive activists tell you that you do not have to listen to anyone telling you to eat less, to move more, and why obesity is unhealthy — because you can do whatever the fuck you want, right?

That advice is terrible and, not to mention dangerous. As someone who has struggled with obesity and yo-yo dieting since the age of 15 due to complications from poor mental health, trauma, and PCOS, hearing this terrible advice infuriates me.

I was at my heaviest in my life when I was pretty much dying from caregiver burnout before my son left home at 300 lbs. I cannot even begin to tell you how physically terrible that was for me. Forget about the mental aspect of it.

Being 300 lbs Was Extremely Painful

I don’t even want to know how many calories I consumed. Still, I am sure the loads of cortisol that were in my body were ruining my pancreas (well, I was insulin-resistant and now diabetic) and doing other damage.

However, I was in pain. Major pain, as my joints hurt, and it was painful to get around. My back was always hurting. I struggled to stand for long periods of time.

I could not walk up the stairs easily without getting winded. My back hurt all of the time. I was itchy in areas that I would not disclose (you get the idea). I could not walk much without needing to sit down.

Being 300 lbs sucks! And I would never recommend it to anyone. So how is being 300 lbs or being obese at all a form of “self-love” like the fat-acceptance activists say?

I have said all along they make excuses and justify lousy eating habits that they don’t want to give up, have extreme jealousy towards those who are thin, and have an intense hatred towards those who lose weight.

However, despite that, they are right about one thing.

Thin Privilege Is Real and Insidious

After my son left in the latter part of 2017, in January 2018, I knew it was time to stop being 300 lbs. I lost a crap load of weight by sticking to 1500 calories which was probably a big mistake because that was too much of a deficit.

Who knows how much I was eating before that? I should not have gone that low, but by September 2018, I noticed that people were being nicer to me.

Suddenly, men were holding the doors open for me, and service workers were more eager to help me if I needed help. Cashiers were ready to chat with me more. I could go on.

I wondered why, suddenly, everyone was no longer ignoring me and acknowledged my presence. It then dawned on me. Even though I was still technically overweight, I was no longer morbidly obese.

You can still be “acceptably overweight” and have others treat you the same way they would treat someone thin.

I decided to maintain my weight and did, for the most part, though I gained a little back in 2019, but in 2020, during the pandemic, I gained a lot back. I never returned to 300 lbs, but I was large enough again for people to ignore me.

Anyway, I yo-yo’ed back and forth between 2020 and 2022 until I decided to ask my doctor to go on Ozempic once and for all. Since my blood sugar came back as problematic, I was approved.

Let’s just say this time I wanted to lose about 70 lbs, and I have so far lost 40 lbs since January of this year, and I still have about 30 more to go.

People Are Being Nicer To Me Again

When I started my weight loss journey again with Ozempic, I thought to myself when it would happen that others would acknowledge my existence instead of treating me as if I am invisible.

It started happening last month. I had men open doors for me at the store or mall entrances.

The workers at regular-sized clothing stores were friendly if I walked into one instead of looking at me strangely. If I ask for assistance at the supermarket, the workers walk to the aisle where I need to find an item.

You get the idea! Others will accept you if you are at an “acceptable” weight. Therefore, there is actual discrimination against those who are quite overweight and obese, which is something that the fat-positive activists bring up.

I hate to agree with anything they say, but they are right about this because I have experienced it several times.

It is wrong. No one’s worth should depend on their size. Obesity is a complex disorder, but the truth is it is not healthy and should never be glorified.

There is fatphobia and a lot of it. You may not get bullied overtly unless you are morbidly obese (I am surprised I did not at 300 lbs, but my energy was likely so dark I scared others).

However, others ignore you because you are obese or significantly overweight, as they don’t acknowledge your existence. They treat you like you are invisible. That is wrong.

I don’t like the fat-positive community because they are vicious towards those who intentionally lose weight (as they say, that is fatphobic).

Still, they are right about thin privilege being a problem. It is, and I don’t approve of it.

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