My uncensored opinion on fat shaming – why people need to shut the hell up

Anyone who has ever had the short sightedness to say that ‘fat people’ are a drain on the NHS purely because of their body size need to do some more research, thankfully, I have the blog post for you. 

It is rare for me to link to other people’s posts but in this instance I think it is an important read (link at the bottom of this post)

“Why being overweight might not matter as much as you think” – Tom Ewer

A fact that some people are slowly coming to realise is that it is lifestyle factors and nutrition quality that determines a persons health, not their body size.

Yes, ‘fat’ people can be unhealthy, as can ‘thin’ people.

Thin people can have type 2 diabetes that costs the NHS money
Thin people can have heart attacks and strokes that cost the NHS money

However thin people can, socially, get away with eating junk food because thin = healthy.

And yes, I say ‘get away’ with it because when you are classed as a ‘fat person’ the overwhelming and impossible to ignore viewpoint from everyone is that you shouldn’t eat.

You don’t deserve to eat because you have enough body fat to survive a few weeks without eating so stop taking up the precious food sources that ‘normal’ people need in order to survive.

What fat shamers seem to be unaware of is that it is possible to eat a healthy diet and get overweight. Calories count and if you are eating too many healthy whole food calories you can gain weight.

Not to mention the other lifestyle factors such as lack of sleep and stress that can lead to weight gain.

Does the ‘fat persons’ diet of whole foods make them less healthy than the skinny person who eats take-aways and drinks excessively every weekend?

Of course not.

But that doesn’t seem to translate to most people.

Sometimes I wonder if people assume that all personal trainers are in this industry to change the fat people into skinny people.

To rid the world of fat people so that we don’t have to deal with them.

So that magically our NHS will be unburdened from all these health related diseases that fat people inflict upon themselves and their families.

And maybe that is true for some people.

Me? I focus on health.

If you are healthy, happy, active and eat right that is all that matters to me. If you want to be a size 6 or a size 16, if that is healthy for you then let’s go for it.

Why is this message important?

Because frankly, I think we’ve had enough of this black and white thinking. Health doesn’t equal being skinny, it doesn’t mean being fat (whatever your interpretation of this is) means you are unhealthy.

We have made it that way and now it is socially acceptable to ‘fat shame’ anyone who we deem to be overweight.

We need to stop this fat shaming and this belief that

in order to be accepted as a human being

in order to have WORTH within ourselves and within our society that

we must be a certain size.

One of the comments on the Facebook page of this article is

“Sure, but it still is not physically appealing”

(the poor structure of this sentence has been kept for accuracy, but it pains me) 

My response to this, and other such comments of people disagreeing with me is:

Why does someone else’s weight matter to you?

Why does your opinion of someone else’s attractiveness matter?

If the only response is “because it’s bad for the NHS and their health” it’s time to dig a little deeper and address your own body image insecurities.

It’s time to realise that you’re not helping anyone with your opinion

you’re just being an arse.

Ainzlie xx

p.s: “Why being overweight might not matter as much as you think” – Tom Ewer