This Woman's View

Seriously Kate Harding, over at Kateharding.net, you missydo, are not fat. You may be overweight by certain standards (which I’m sure we both agree are bullshit), but you’re not fat. I am fat.

I’m sitting here reading Harding’s post on Don’t You Realize Fat is Unhealthy and I find myself shaking my head at quite a few things, and nodding at very few things. I think its important that you read the post, although I’m going to cut and paste parts of it here to pick it apart in my own response.

“In fact, fat people live longer than thin people and are more likely to survive cardiac events, and some studies have shown that fat can protect against “infections, cancer, lung disease, heart disease, osteoporosis, anemia, high blood pressure, rheumatoid arthritis and type 2 diabetes.” Yeah, you read that right: even the goddamned diabetes.”

I’m gonna call BULLSHIT here. Total and complete BULLSHIT. Studies were done with PhenFen too which showed it was safe. You remember PhenFen, eh Harding? You’re my age, so you must. Weight can also affect a lot of other things, like my problem with fertility. And exacerbated my spondylosis. Being overweight may not affect those issues you list in your post, but being fat does. And you’re using the word fat and using the term “except in the extremes”. Well that’s 30% of Americans who are, like me, F – A – T. So you’ve just told 30% of people it might be safe to be fat because a few studies showed it might. Yu make no mention about which extremes you mean, I can only infer : morbidly obese. And while heart disease is overplayed in the media about weight there are a lot of health issues associated with being FAT, which I know first hand (the fat and the health issues =P).

Ohh I can already tell this gonna be ass post. I’m peeved!

“2. Poor nutrition and a sedentary lifestyle do cause health problems, in people of all sizes. This is why it’s so fucking crucial to separate the concept of “obesity” from “eating crap and not exercising.” The two are simply not synonymous — not even close — and it’s not only incredibly offensive but dangerous for thin people to keep pretending that they are. There are thin people who eat crap and don’t exercise — and are thus putting their health at risk — and there are fat people who treat their bodies very well but remain fat. Really truly”

This whole paragraph is mostly true. There are a lot of “skinny fat” people (people who look thin or normal but are not healthy because they eat crap and don’t exercise). Most of those rail thin models (btw I have a revolution on going: Send a model a Ding Dong and I hope you take part), and quite a few celebrities. You can be healthy and overweight, you cannot be FAT and healthy. And while Kate Harding would like you to believe that most of us fat people don’t sit around eating Hostess cupcakes all day while watching TV, we do. (or at least I did and my sister and my mother and grandmother etc..).

The minority of skinny people can eat anything they want and not gain weight. The minority of fat people can watch what they eat and still be fat. What Harding didn’t write in that article is the words minority and majority! The majority of fat people do not exercise nearly enough, or at all, and eat crap. Or the eat normally but are inactive. And if they don’t eat crap they eat too much of good food! Period. What everyone should note here is that this includes SIXTY FREAKIN PERCENT OF THE POPULATION!! *deep breath*. If you’re fat and you’re buying what she’s selling, then you’re selling yourself short.

“3. What’s more, those groups do not represent anomalies; no one has proven that fat people generally eat more or exercise less than thin people. Period. And believe me, they’ve tried. (Gina Kolata’s new book, Rethinking Thin, is an outstanding source for more on that point.)”

I can prove it. Go to Sparkpeople.com and read the blogs there by the members. You can read how people gain their weight back by stopping exercise or going back to old habits. You can read the posts about never exercising before before joining Sparkpeople. Seriously spend your time reading those articles. You won’t need to listen to some random media biased articles, or studies designed to prove fat is destroying the world. Read what real fat people really say! 90% of the people there put down the following: “When I stopped or started exercising my body changed.” “When I started writing down what I ate, I realized how much more it was.” !

Hey Harding you gonna put the truth in your lil blog there or .. you just aiming to please fat people who are sick of dieting?

“4. Diets don’t work. No, really, not even if you don’t call them diets. If you want to tell me about how YOUR diet totally worked, do me a favor and wait until you’ve kept all the weight off for five years. Not one year, not four years, five years. And if you’ve kept it off for that long, congratulations. You’re literally a freak of nature.”

100% correct here, on the first part. Diet plans do not work. Being a fat person puts you in that genetic suckass place where you can stay fat or you can watch your calories for the rest of your life. Nothing wrong with either of those plans, if a) you’re healthy and b) you’re happy. If you’re not healthy or you’re not happy, like say 90% of us fat people, you’re gonna end up like the majority of dieters back at whatever weight you were or even more. Its not a diet, its a life plan! Your whole life. And if you stop even for a few months, you’re going to gain weight. You’ll never be thin and happy or fat and happy until you understand that no magic can make you thin or keeps you fat. Aint that good news?

“5. Given that diets don’t work in the long-term for the vast, vast majority of people, even if obesity in and of itself were a health crisis, how the fuck would you propose we solve it?”

Well you don’t solve it by telling people its OK to be fat! And ffs you don’t put yourself in the same category as obese people and write a blog about staying fat! I don’t care what the B(ullshit)MI tells you. You know and I know that you don’t fit that category.

You can start by telling people that if they want to be healthy than and changes they make must be for life. They can’t ever stop. Like Alchoholics.

“6. Most fat people have already dieted repeatedly. And sadly, it’s likely that the dieting will cause them more health problems than the fat.”

Here Harding, you and I agree 100%. But there are healthy ways to lose weight, not everyone needs them, but there are. And if all people starting a diet understood that fads don’t work, quick doesn’t work and if the media quit promoting ridiculous things like The Biggest Loser (and never showing the losers who gained it back), then maybe there would be a better understanding of weight loss. If there was a disclaimer on every “diet” food or package or plan which said: “the minute you stop watching what you eat and exercising you will be fat again, or even fatter”, then maybe dieters would think twice about starting the “diet” and think about what they want long term.

Numbers 7, 8 and 9 will get no argument from me. (I’m not quoting them, you’ll have to read them for yourself) They are horribly and completely true. I have been so discriminated against for being fat, its not even funny. Today, for instance, I took a 40 minute long walk and not one person could look at my face but when they walked past they turned around to look at me. I have doctors that blame every problem (for fucks sake even a urinary tract infection) on my weight. That is ridiculous! No one deserves treatment like that! No one!

Weight loss is a choice. Being fat is a choice (for the majority(sheesh I could feel Harding or her fans shaking their heads from here in Sweden))! I’m gonna repeat myself here, because its so damn important, if you do not want to be fat you will have to change what you eat and how much you exercise for the rest of your life. It won’t be just until you lose the 50 pounds. It won’t be until you can just run that marathon. The minute you stop, your genetics will come back and bite you in the ass.

So before you listen to some woman ranting about how fat is great, or some other woman about how fat is bad, decide for yourself. Are you happy being fat?

Yes? Stay fat! And read her website. Fight for your right to be fat and happy!

No? Find a diet and exercise plan you can stick to for your whole life!

It is just a matter of time, patience, control, and pride. Eat less and exercise more and keep at it. If you don’t have a favorite sport, just get some discount aerobic clothing and get your butt moving. Try different things, but get on a regular schedule and don’t quit until your exercise becomes routine. Starting is more difficult, when you are not in shape, but with time you will get in shape, and you will feel and look so much better. Stop whining and get moving! ”