Race, weight, diet

[sarahmichigan]

This Big Fat Blog post is mostly about being appalled that some journalist is saying that Fat Acceptance is "disempowering" and that higher body self-esteem in minority populations is misplaced and dangerous. However, the very long discussion in the comments about eating disorders, dieting, and the "intuitive eating" approach were incredibly fascinating to me.

Many people hear about the Overcoming Overeating Approach, or even try parts of it, and think it doesn't work because they still overeat, even after they "legalize" all food and stop dividing food into "good" and "bad" columns. They feel the MUST have some food restrictions, calorie-counting, etc. in place or they'll overeat. My contention, and that of several other commenters, is that you're not seeing the full picture if you believe you'll be "out of control" in your eating habits without outside, arbitrary limits. "Legalizing" foods is just part of the process-- you also have to understand when you're eating for emotional reasons rather than for hunger. You need to examine the politics about weight, fat, food, and gender in this country (Fat IS a feminist issue). Legalizing all foods is just one of many steps to undoing all the sick cultural conditioning we all have pounded into us about food, fat, weight, and morality.

The comments by the registered dietician working with eating disordered clients who was a binger herself are incredibly touching.

http://www.bigfatblog.com/archives/000488.php#comments

Comments

[sarahmichigan.livejournal.com]

I think it's the same with any acceptance movement, "Yay, I'm gay!" eventually fades to, "Yeah, I'm gay. And what's your point?"

I'm fat and I'm proud! eventually will fade to, "Yeah, I'm a big girl. So what?"

I dislike make us/them statements like "we're heavy but THEY're morbidly obese," particularly since obesity and overweight are 90 percent social constructs and 10 percent medical reality. Further, if I start thinking that way ("Well, I'm OK because I'm 200 lbs. At least I'm not 250 lbs.") it's not healthy, because I used to think that 200 lbs. would be the Worst Thing Ever when I weighed 170.

I can't make arbitrary cut off points that xxx amount of pounds is always healthy while xxx amount of pounds is OK. Do I think some weights up at the statistical extremes are pretty much always unhealthy (let's say Guiness World Book weights like 800-1,000 lbs)? Yes, but I think there's a big gray area between 150 lbs. and 400 lbs. probably, in terms of the "Can you be fit AND fat?" debate.

I think many obese people are unhappy and have low self-esteem, but it's hard to tell in the chicken-egg equation which came first. Are they unhappy because they're fat or because of fat discrimination and bullying? both?

[bernmarx.livejournal.com]

I don't use a weight to classify someone as morbidly obese, and you're right that there's a gray area. I've known several people who get winded and raspy from standing up, because of their weight -- that's unhealthy, regardless of the number on the scale. I can get around the day without generally feeling tired, although I think I'd feel better at 220#. My doctor wants me at 210#, and he can go blow himself. :D

As with most chicken-and-egg scenarios, I think the answer is, in many cases, both. Some people start out perhaps a little overweight, and learn to tie that weight with other things wrong with their life, especially when other kids tease them. The depression and the overeating become joined, and evolve together. Then it becomes a cat-rat farm: If they lost weight, they'd feel better about themselves, which means it's their fault their sad because they haven't lost the weight, and so they eat to make themselves feel better. As someone who has battled depression himself, I know that, in those case, just identifying the cause doesn't go a long way towards fixing it -- I have, and still sometimes do, identify as "a depressed person," and one anxiety I have is what will happen if I stop being depressed? I don't have labels for myself (although I'm developing them) that translate to "a content person." Having the realization, "I'm 450# because..." isn't useful in my opinion unless there's another thought, "I've become 280# because..." ready to take its place.