"This is for all the Fat Girls"-Camryn Manheim

Fat Acceptance….
One of my favorite bloggers, Kelly, posted about the Fat Acceptance Movement. While she has a personal blog, she also contributes to www.groundedfitness.com, and she is working on a fat acceptance post for that site. She asked her readers, their opinions on the fact acceptance movement. Most of the readers responded with something along the lines of “ We shouldn’t discriminate against fat people, but fat people shouldn’t really ruin their health with being fat either.” I want to know how many of the posters are fat. Or obese. What is fat anyway? What is obese? Who decides? Ok..before I get ahead of my self…I’m addressing this later in the post.

I wanted to comment, but I was 10 minutes away from a staff meeting, and there was no way I was going to be able to form my thoughts about the fat acceptance movement, write them coherently and then post them. So I’m posting them here.

The Fat Acceptance Movement. Fat. Fat being adipose tissue on your body. We all have adipose tissue. We all have fat. So, would accepting our fat, just be the acceptance of ourselves has humans? Of accepting that no matter how much we work out, or count calories our eat frozen meals chock full of sodium and other unpronounceable chemicals, that we will probably still have fat, because we are designed that way. Fat keeps us warm, and soft, and you know..human.

But that of course isn’t what the F.A.M is about …it’s about accepting those who are large, who have to ask for seat belt extenders on planes, all the while hoping that we aren’t relegated to the middle seat, or that maybe no one is next to us, because those seats? Yeah..the arm rests aren’t that comfortable when they are digging into your hips. I’ve never had to ask for a seat belt extender, but why should I have to? It’s about realizing that fat people, are people first. Just like people with disabilities, or gay people, or black or white or red people. That hearing the word “fattie” muttered by a passer by, is just as hurtful and inappropriate as calling the pretty girl you are jealous of a slut, or calling the adult with downs syndrome a retard. It’s about recognizing that discrimination is alive and well in our world.

Let’s talk about me for a minute, I am 5’7” and when I weighed myself this morning I weighed 240 pounds. At this time last year I weighed 260. The last time I weighed under 200 pounds was probably in the seventh grade. I wear a size 18/20 and sometimes a 22 depending on the store (usually, the cheaper the clothes..the bigger the size I wear).
And if that was all you knew about me, you would say I am fat, and probably unhealthy.

But what if I said none of that…what if I said I was 25 years old, and I started gymnastics at age 3 and continued until 12. I can still do handsprings and backbends and the splits. Just don’t ask me to vault! I played soccer from age 6 through 17. I did pilates through college and went to the gym about 3 times a week. I currently get up at 5:20 am, and go to the gym before work, four to five days a week. I also walk my dog about 2 miles a day. I don’t count calories, but I eat pretty healthy, making sure to eat 5-7 servings of fruits and veggies. I don’t eat white bread or high fructose corn syrup. I have 2-3 drinks a week, don’t smoke and get 7-8 hours of sleep a night. And if I told you only that….would you know that my BMI is 37.6? That means I am on the high side of obese. Morbidly on some scales.

For me to have a “healthy” BMI, I would have to lose 100 pounds. 100. 100 pounds. That is the size of my college roommate. Have you heard those commercials on the radio that say “Are you 100 or more pounds over weight? If so you would be a good candidate for weight loss surgery.” Now, this might be my own prejudices coming out, but to be honest..I don’t think I qualify for weight loss surgery. I honestly think the doctor would look at me, and look at my fitness level, and my healthy heart and regular cholesterol and blood pressure levels, and I believe if they were worth their salt, and moral they would tell me to get out of their offices. That having the surgery would create more health problems for me than not having it. You know it isn’t a walk in the park right? That having the surgery doesn’t automatically make your life easier.

My whole point on this is….numbers. You can’t live by them. You can’t judge someones fitness level, or fatness level on their BMI, or weight or pant size.

So, in my opinion claiming that there is an obesity epidemic based on increasing BMI levels in America is totally crap. Check out this website, are those people labeled obese the people you think of when you think of “obesity epidemic?” No. Those people look healthy to me. Some of those people have already lost half of their body weight through diet and exercise, but as far as statistics are concerned..they are obese and contributing to the epidemic. The F.A.M. is about debunking that crap.

People in this country are bigger than they used to be, they are getting fatter the media tells us. What a strange concept. Could that be due to the fact that our society is no longer agricultural? That most of us work at a job that is considered sedentary? That while we are in an “obesity epidemic” the government is cutting funding for PE programs in schools? That kids aren’t being taught the value of physical play, they are being taught that it’s way more important for everyone to perform well on a standardized test, because lord help us if any child is “left behind.” That is a completely different rant.

Is it any surprise that we are obese when our food industry is run by corporations that lobby for their position on the food pyramid? That our foods aren’t whole and pure in their nutrients. The other day, I was buying dog treats for my dog, and found they had a better nutritional line up than Nabisco Brand Cookies. Or, at least, were less chemically enhanced.

Fighting the obesity epidemic is fighting the symptom, not the cause of our problem. We should be sending lobbyists to Washington to fight for PE in our schools, not to convince the government that High Fructose Corn Syrup is “natural.”

I realized that I’ve sort of veered away, but in my mind this is all connected. Yes, I am fat according to society. But I am also fit. More fit than my 100 pound college roommate. Yes, people should strive to be healthy and do the best possible things for them. The F.A.M is trying to tell people that you can do that, and be Healthy At Every Size.
In Kelly’s comment string, someone brought up the point that people who ascribe to the F.A.M movement get all angry when people who are fat try to lose weight. I don’t know if this is true, and to be honest…I don’t spend that much time on F.A. blogs, so I don’t know, but I think their true anger is that fat people feel like they have to be skinny, that the world tells them that skinny= worth it, and beautiful, and smart and socially acceptable. So they try hard, and sometimes fail at getting there. People shouldn’t have to be skinny. They should be healthy…and it isn’t the same thing. Dieting your life away isn’t healthy. Not eating birthday cake at your own birthday when you want to isn’t healthy. Eating McDonalds everynight isn’t healthy…….two sides the coin right?

I am not disputing that there are unhealthy people. There are people who eat nothing but junk and don’t get in any exercise, drink to much and smoke. And just like people who have healthy habits, they come in all shapes and sizes. Tall, short, skinny and fat.

This post, even though its looooong..is just the tip of the ice berg. The Fat Acceptance Movement is no different than the Feminist Movement, or Race Movements, or movements for Regligous freedom. It's about recognizing that we are different, that no one is inherently a bad person for having a genetic trait that they can't change, it's about realizing that Health and Beauty come in all shapes and sizes....