Fat acceptance– radical.
So I was checking out my comments the other day and found a blog called Fatadelic, where the author had posted about something I was previously unfamiliar with: fat acceptance. Basically the idea seems to be being happy with your body and not trying to change it for any reason. Now, for me, I can’t imagine ever NOT trying to change my body. My body is not just my body, it is a work in progress. The fit of my clothing is always different. I don’t seem to understand maintenance, it’s always gain or lose. Every action, every bite, is geared towards weight loss. This is my disorder. It is hell, in case you haven’t gotten that already from previous postings.
I don’t know how I feel about it. In a lot of ways, it sounds freeing, radical even, to be content with the way you are in all ways. Body acceptance, even fat acceptance, is definitely an important part of self acceptance. Actually the definition given in the post for “FA” is the desire for an end to fat discrimination at the person’s current size– this I agree in. No one should be judged for their body. Being “fat” does not necessarily mean you are lazy, piggish, or anything else– just that you are fat. However, I am also of the opinion that living a healthy life is important, and that does mean eating right and exercising. I also think that these things should be pursued not as a weight loss tool but as a way of life. Weight loss may come, but it should not be the goal. If you eat right and keep active at your comfortable level, your body will find its way to a size it is okay with.
“Dieting” is not good. It is a temporary change of habit with the specific goal of weight loss. Even for health reasons, it’s just a temporary fix that will feel more like punishment. Eat healthy, keep active, treat yourself when you really want it.
I don’t agree with accepting the health issues that come with any weight problem, under or over. If you have health issues due to weight, you should try and (here it comes again) live a healthier life, because obviously your body is not happy where it is and you CAN do something about it. But the realization that your body is not always a work in progress, that you are a worthwhile person no matter how big you are, is something I hope more people can take to heart. I’m trying to get there, to that place where I can see my body and my personality as “good enough”.
May 13, 2008 at 8:24 am
Thanks for the links and thoughtful comments. Most Fat Acceptance activists practice Health at Every Size, which could be summarized as trying to listen to your body’s needs with regards to food and exercise, so I don’t think that’s in opposition to eating healthily. The idea behind is that you treat your body respectfully no matter what size it is, big or small But eating healthfully and instinctively is not dieting (dieting = restrictive eating) although its also not binging. It’s having a healthy relationship with food and exercise without the goal of weightloss. A related idea is that you don’t have to wait until you’ve lost 20kg to live your life or buy that bikini and swim laps.
You also mention not putting up with health issues if they are caused by a ‘weight problem’. I don’t have an issue with people wanting to improve their health. But there are two things I’d like to note. Firstly, some health problems will not improve regardless of whether you lose weight or not. For example if you have end stage renal disease, losing weight is not going to improve your kidney function and so you have to accept a life on dialysis. Secondly, what I do question is whether weight loss will actually improve health, or whether fat is the catch all scape goat for all illnesses in fat people. Certainly doctors tend to diagnose “fat” for everything from flu to cancer (take a look at the actual examples at First Do No Harm,/a>). And there is strong evidence to suggest that the health risks to being fat are greatly exaggerated (see Shapely Prose and Junkfood Science).
May 15, 2008 at 11:16 pm
Most FA people will agree that you should take care of yourself, eat well and exercise, and from there let your body do what it does naturally. I don’t think you’d find anyone who would advocate refusing to change if it directly harmed your health (as you said - that’s over or under weight).
Thanks for not fat-hating. This came in through my Google alerts, and I’m always scared when I click on something about FA that it’s just going to be some other asshat talking about how all teg fattyz are just lazy and making excuses and blah blah blah they should eat less blah blah. So thanks for not doing that