fatness / health poll

[keryx]

Out of curiosity & for the sake of debate, I bring you [drum roll, please?] a poll that looks quite similar to something I posted on body_positive months ago.

This, by the way, is a perfectly fine post on which to have a debate about fat and weightloss and such. Go to it should you wish.

[Poll #628628]

Comments

[hope-persists.livejournal.com]

i'd be almost apt to label losing weight as "mostly unhealthy" if done on purpose, because i don't think most people know how to go about doing it in a healthy, non-destructive sort of way. and i definitely believe that yo-yo dieting is unhealthy.

[hope-persists.livejournal.com]

also, i've been wondering what you thought of this:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051204/ap_on_he_me/fit_intuitive_eating;_ylt=Asb88hCC6x3G0KkcdqdhGS2s0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3b2NibDltBHNlYwM3MTY-

my thoughts on me 'gaining weight'

[crafting-change.livejournal.com]

I think weight is a very individualized thing. Because I'm prone to diabetes and heart disease via genetics, and I already have bad knees and chronic fatigue I do have to be careful. I don't own a scale, I don't diet, and generally I don't worry about the current size I am outside of the general self image issues that the current society pushes. But I am vegan, I do try to be active, and I take vitamins, meditate and do all of the things that keep me centered and yearning for a 'healthy' life.

[jadelennox]

this is a tricky poll. A diabetic should probably lose weight. A thyroid-less person or anyone else with a metabolic disorder needs to watch weight carefully, in both directions. A person who loses weight due to stress, poor health, or any form of weight-loss plan that isn't healthier eating and a reasonable amount of exercise should probably *not* lose weight. (And I define healthier eating as eating less saturated fats and processed foods, more fruits, veg, and whole grains, and never counting calories.) Other health conditions apply for other people. But assuming all else being equal, I don't think weight is a reflection of that much. If you have sudden weight loss or gain that isn't tied to an easily understandable cause (eg. increase or decrease in exercise; change in diet) it's probably good to ask a doctor. Otherwise, live a healthy lifestyle and don't worry about it.

That being said, every time my weight fluctuates my clothes stop fitting. Which has nothing to do with health but is why I hate both gaining and losing.

[keryx.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I posted something about that on body_positive. Basically, it'd be a fine concept if it weren't talked about as yet another weightloss diet. As an idea, it's somewhere between Overeaters Anonymous (which really, really wants you to have some kind of Freudian reason for being fat - okay if you do, but kinda silly if you don't) and the Health at Any Size people, who I think rock. So I don't hate it, but as long as people make eating well about losing weight, I think they're fighting the wrong fight (and for so many many people ultimately a losing one).

Hey, have you read Pattie Thomas's new book "I Take up Space"? I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on that, too.

[keryx.livejournal.com]

yeah, i've seen the effects of yo-yo dieting. not healthy. i think it fosters a sense of self-loathing that is extremely destructive to one's mental health.

[keryx.livejournal.com]

I think it's a tricky poll because it's a tricky idea. What you think globally about fat/health depends on how you define healthy, and then what you think specifically depends a lot on the individual body. At least, that's my perspective.