Fat Pagan Pride

[pt_tangles]

I know I shouldn't have, but I have been reading the blow-up about the 'Pagan Obesity Problem' and the equally hyperbolic responses that claim that any mention of obesity causing health problems is body shaming and that obesity isn't really a health problem, it's a discrimination problem and if everyone would 'mind your business', then everything would be magical and puppies would shoot out of rainbow unicorn asses.

Uh, yeah.  Calling absolute bullshit on that one.  You are never going to convince me (no matter how many interwebz links you find) that being morbidly obese is healthy.  Your skeleton was not meant to carry 400+ lbs for 70+ years.  There have been multiple studies that show that things like cholesterol aren't weight related, they are gene and diet related.  That's old news.  But that isn't the only measure that decides if a person is healthy.

Also, if I read one more Fat Pride article that says, "I tried starving myself on an 800 calorie a day diet and exercise around the clock, and I didn't lose any weight', I think I will scream.  How can you live in such a tiny bubble that you don't know that starvation diets cause you to gain weight rather than lose it.  Your body is programmed to store fat to save your life in the case that food sources become scarce.  The minimum daily caloric intake for women is about 1200 calories a day (I know this because my journalling app kept yelling at me when I was too sick to eat much of anything for about a week - also, I looked it up).

And you know what?  Assuming that everyone who thinks that obesity is unhealthy is trying to shame you is not Fat Pride.  It's not any kind of pride.  It's a defence mechanism built upon years of hurt feelings.  Spitting venom at the 'norms' or whatever you want to call the 'others who aren't your kind of other', is not the way to deal with hurts.  It's not activism.  It's not pride.  

I'd say that it's about time that both extremes of this issue 'get over themselves'.

Comments

[pj]

I used to have a nervous foot rocking thing. I either rocked at the knee or shook at the ankle. I remember it drove my mum nuts that I "just could not sit still". I retaught myself not to do it when I became a manager years ago and was required to sit in meetings and "look professional". Hands folded in lap and feet still. I started to put on weight. Seriously, I did! So, if you;ve no time for dance you may want to try to create a habit of foot rocking and see if it removes any calories.

Yes, I do realize how ridiculous that sounds, but that was the only thing that had changed. Now I sit on my ass far too much for my age and caloric intake, but that came about in the last couple of years, not the first 10 pounds.

[elf]

Thanks, but, um, no. I don't twitch when I'm sitting. I do the opposite of twitching. I can type at the computer it the same position for so long that when I do move, I get disoriented because my inner ear has reset to the position I was in.

It's not so much "no time to dance" as "can't dance from 9-11 pm on Monday nights," which is when it's held at the place I used to dance. Can't stay up that late anymore. (I'm often up that date, but I can't be *active* that late and then deal with public transit to get home.) So I should maybe look around and find some other dance group/meeting/something that happens weekend afternoons or early weekday evenings. Wouldn't be Irish ceilidh dancing, but I'm not picky about that part.

I've considered getting one of those walking-exercise things for the house, because there's nowhere nearby that's remotely pleasant for just walking, and I could put a shelf on it for my ereader. (Part of me thinks "NO! You should be outside IN NATURE, not exercising in your house!" and another part thinks, "You should be EXERCISING, which is more important than location. It's not like you're considering spending less time outside in order to exercise.")

[pj]

LOL on the "um, no". I can't recreate the habit myself. Whatever it was in me that caused it has long since vacated the premises. I need to find a new way.

I think you should do whatever is easiest to do for getting the exercise you wish. I engage in the self-sabotage of where and how my exercise being so important that I remain on my ass. I have it down pat and fighting that has thus far still been unsuccessful as I prefer *anything* to focused repetitive time slots of exercise.

[pt_tangles]

I have that same problem when I look to indoor exercising. It feels like cheating because I'm not outside. I get the same feeling when I'm indoors on a nice day. Like I'm taking it for granted by not being out there all day when it's nice.

[pt_tangles]

I read somewhere that people who fidget apparently have less weight problems in general than those who don't. Weird, eh?

[pj]

Every movement expends energy. People who fidget are rarely still and that adds up. Plus fidgeting when the urge struck had psychological benefit for me as it released nervous energy.