There are more implications of health than weight.

An obvious point, but why do people still fat shame? Somebody who is under weight is prone to health issues as well.

To refer back to the heading, I refer to the wellness model of health. I know people who have under 10% body fat but are always stressed about life and working out. Likewise, I know people who are overweight, but are happily married and have children.

Before I started exercising, I was around 190 lbs at 5'6. My friend and I had similar diets, and he didn't workout. We ate junk food, drank pop, didn't eat vegetables, etc. Yet he stayed skinny. Someone like him wouldn't get called unhealthy because he's skinny. Someone like me would get fat shamed and get told "you're just making excuses", while my friend gets free pass because he's naturally skinny.

Anyway....I just wanted to make this topic because I was watching some youtube video related to this.

Most doctors know this these days, and don't measure health by BMI anymore.

Fat shaming is just the US's way of coping with it's rampant obesity issue.

People know that

I am underweight u know i need 20kilograms to be like a normal person but i ain't got no health issues ...

Man, tell that to my doctor. He fatshames the shit out of me just because of the number on the scale. Not even my appearance or other health factors matter to him. I hate the shit out of him

I didn't say all skinny people have health issues, I said they can be prone to them as well.

People with common sense know that. The problem is not health. These people who are at the gym 6 days a week or dieting and only eating baked chicken breast and steamed broccoli are likely not doing it because they want health. If they wanted health they'd exercise in multiple ways, not just on machines, and eat all sorts of foods, enjoying as much natural-from-the-ground food as possible and limiting their intake on processed foods because they know 'real' food is better for them.

What these people have an obsession with is not health. It's vanity. You don't take pills and powders and shakes to be healthy, you take them to be aesthetically pleasing. You diet and track daily counts to help on your road to becoming buff/thin/attractive in whatever way you aspire to be.

Out of a hundred people who work out regularly or 'eat clean', I'm sure if you asked them all why they want their 'dream body', 98 of them would say because they want to look good for summer or some other superficial thing. 2 might say something along the lines of "I want to be strong enough to throw a tractor tire" or "I want to be able to run a marathon in under 4 hours".

And in modern culture, your scale is your tell-all, just like your pant size is your tell-all. If you're over a certain number, you're not 'right' or 'good'. This is part of the reason why tall women especially struggle with numbers, because at 5'10 weighing 150 pounds would still make you slim, 170 would still see you at a healthy weight. But those numbers are simply devastating in the world of 5'3 115 pound people who are underweight at that already. We don't strive to be healthy, we strive to be skinny.

It's vanity, not health. Don't ever mistake why we're so obsessed with weight and numbers because if that was the real reason, most of us would be better off with a little jiggle than we would be at the emaciated weights that are considered the gold standard.

No. obese people are more prone to Health issues over skinny people.

To be quite honest, and I apologise if I'm offending anyone, but just because being underweight can bring health problems, that's not an excuse for being overweight; it's not an either/or situation, you can be at a healthy weight, and that doesn't require gym 6 times a week or only eating lettuce either...I don't think people should be "shamed" for being over/underweight by society but I do think doctors should put an emphasis in you having a healthy weight. People speak against doctors for always bringing up their weight (and I did too when I was obese because I felt like a tub of lard and it hurt when people brought it up...but guess what? It was my fault, not his) but now as a physical therapist I look at some situations and people are so hypocritical...

The other day I overheard a client yelling at my co-worker because she had gotten a knee replacement almost a year ago and she still had pain when walking for more than 10 minutes (but could cycle just fine for 2 hours) and that it was his fault for being a shitty therapist. Then you look at her, at almost double her target weight and sitting in the waiting room with a box of donuts...tell me you don't want to "fat shame" her. She wants to be fat? Go ahead, but she needs to stop blaming other people for her health issues...

sounds like a whole lot of butthurt

But why is it acceptable to make fun of skinny people whilst calling someone fatty-fatty-four-eyes is frowned upon?

Couldn't agree more.

The fat activist/fat acceptance/thin privilege SJWs can all go to hell

@thegerg said:

@lostrib said:

The fat activist/fat acceptance/thin privilege SJWs can all go to hell

On that note, I find this amusing:

(Note: I don't support labeling strangers as lazy or gluttonous.)

dat facebook courage

Quite a few of post have disappeared from different threads.

I'm not stating it to be scientific fact, but I've made my rounds to the fitness forums and fit blogs and the like on the internet, and there are very few people who are aiming for a dream body are aiming for that specific body because it would put them at the peak of physical health and allow them maximum use of their physicality.

It's all about the aesthetics and how you look, and even those who trend-followingly say they're 'getting fit' will probably reveal at some point, if you ask enough questions, that their main goal is not just physical fitness, it's physical attractiveness that is at the forefront of their mind. Those who are obese and lose a significant amount of weight start out to do it for health, but once a socially-acceptably-sized body is on the horizon, the focus will likely switch to "I want to be hot".

Poke around on fitblrs and fitblogs, I'm sure you'll find a similar pattern.

Totally agree with you on this one. I don't go to the gym 4 times a week solely for my looks. Sure, it's nice to see physical results and improve your overall appearance, but to maintain a certain level of fitness and general health is my main goal. I have had multiple knee injuries in the past and if I don't stick with a routine, my body will feel the results and I could potentially aggravate the knee injury again. Plus, A LOT of people that go to the gym do it to increase strength and stamina. You'll always have those that do it purely to look better (that's why you see a spike in gym memberships at the beginning of every year and in Spring). But people lose weight for all sorts of reasons. Everyone has a different goal in mind. It's ridiculous to assume everyone goes for vanity reasons.

@jasean79: With me it's a mix of both as well; when I started I was just tired of being fat...when I got to my target weight I switched from "let's lose weight" to "I want to look good". That's normally how it goes I think, and in my opinion that's perfectly fine =)

Being skinny isn't necessarily healthy, but being fat is never healthy.

I would rather be skinny than fat. Fat people have nobody to blame but themselves for their weight. If you are trying to lose it, then great. Sadly i see people complain about their weight and eat a Pizza soon afterwardso_O

My point being though, a skinny person with an unhealthy diet will still get a free pass because of their size.

@lostrib said:

@thegerg said:

@lostrib said:

The fat activist/fat acceptance/thin privilege SJWs can all go to hell

On that note, I find this amusing:

(Note: I don't support labeling strangers as lazy or gluttonous.)

dat facebook courage

damn, did you read the comments? Every body rips on the two people who work out and try to make the heavy girl out to be a hero.

Maybe a big reason why society is so heavy is that people can't be honest with themselves.

Those two in really good shape obviously put in a lot of work, and the heavy girl did not, yet people just rage at the two who work out through jealousy. Two of the comments say they must suck in bed and probably don't have jobs.

Maybe if people took more personal responsibility and stopped ripping on others that do, they'd become better people themselves.

Since my post disappeared here it goes again:

People should be however they wanna be. If they wanna be fat, be fat. If you wanna be fit, be fit. If you wanna be skinny, be skinny. Everyone else should **** off.

That doesn't mean there's no consequences, and people will never not be judgmental, so your point is kinda moot.

So, you can't except the fact that you're fat and unhealthy?!.. simple fact what you are is what you eat. you can be skinny and unhealthy as well.

If that was a question directed at me, I have actually lost weight and gained muscle. I USED to go to the gym 4-5 days a week. Now I am at a steady weight. I have received loads of compliments. However....I just felt empty, something was missing. I stopped going to the gym and just jog outdoors and occasionally use my pull up bar and dumbbells.

TC should be more worried about health problems than weight problems..

Well to be honest I'd rather be skinny than fat if I had to choose which of the two unhealthy lifestyles If I had a choice. There's way more benefits to being a skinny person than being a fat person but both lifestyles are bad. What I don't like is when people try to justify being fat or skinny. What makes people think that justifying what they know is bad is good? I don't approve of fat shaming but I also think people who try to argue being fat/skinny is good aren't right either.

Also agree with what korvus said, blaming your obesity on others is something that isn't acceptable. Its okay to be fat but putting it on other people is just god dang stupid.