At 190 lbs (77 kg), I’m fat. Not “pleasantly plump”, not “vertically challenged”, fat. Around 50 pounds (23 kgs) more than I should be at.
“I want to normalise my body. And not just be like, ‘Ooh, look at this cool movement. Being fat is body positive'[; …] being fat is normal. I think now, I owe it to the people who started this to not just stop here. We have to make people uncomfortable again, so that we can continue to change.
Lizzo, to Vogue Magazine, via the BBC
Obesity is the number one cause of preventive health issues—think diabetes, heart and cardiovascular diseases, hormonal issues. Obesity is something that’s easily preventable if we ate the right foods, exercised, switched out our desk jobs for more physically active jobs.
I don’t think obesity is what feminists mean by “body positivity”. The movement was started so women who didn’t fit a European ideal of stick thin models—who are very tall or very short, who have curves, who have stretch marks from giving birth, who have wrinkles and age spots, who have freckles galore—could be proud of their bodies. It wasn’t meant to normalize obesity.
No, your genes are not at fault. Genes only account for a small part. Most of it comes from poor diet choices, too much eating, huge-ass mega portions, being sedentary, watching too much tv.
More people are now fat than underweight.
Regardless of the diet you eat, eat your goddamn vegetables. I don’t care if you’re vegan, keto, paleo, low-carb, whatever. Vegetables are the foundation for eating healthy, losing weight and keeping it off, and overall improving the quality of your life. Google how to make them tasty without adding all the oils and cheese.
Don’t normalize obesity. Ever.
Body positivity is for fit, healthy women who don’t fit a European ideal. It’s not about trying to normalizing being fat. Stop conflating the two.
Charleigh Copley 