Should We "Celebrate" Bigger Bodies?

Almost anyone can lose weight, even disabled people. I've seen the most impossible body transformations from the least likely people (thyroid problems, missing limbs, etc.), so I believe that there are no excuses. It's all just a matter of will and if you're willing to give it your all. I am also speaking from personal experience.
So no, while I do think overweight people can be very beautiful (I am very much in love with one as a matter of fact), it's just a huge health risk, and the whole "oh skinny people can be unhealthy too" is just a poor petty excuse because those health issues are on a totally different level.
But don't take my word for it, talk to a professional.

 

The problem area always seems to be between what the BMI and society says is healthy. For example, I know a young lady that, for her height would be considered overweight, but that's because she's a curvy and thick woman. Not fat, not pudgy, just really curvy. Her body is fine, though she's about 6 pounds overweight according to the BMI, but she wouldn't be accepted by a typical modeling agency.

She isn't fat, just shapely, and that can distort a BMI scale.

 

So, my deciding to devote of my spare time and energy (and given that I'm chronically ill, energy is at a premium) to such things as my work, my hobbies, my study and my loved ones, rather than my abs, means that I only deserve to see myself represented in the media as the "oh my god, I fucked a fat chick?!" morning after horror gag. Thanks for reinforcing 95% of the media I see and absorb on a daily basis.

 

People seem to miss the point that not all overweight people are even remotely unhealthy, as if they talk about us chubbies as if we're freaking obese lmfao Which again, not all "technically" overweight people will ever be at risk for heart disease as long as their health is intact. People act like having any fat is automatically unhealthy and dangerous which is fucking ridiculous and unrealistic (and again proves an agenda).

Women can NEVER win when it comes to our supposed "health". The media wants us to be stick thin (incredibly unhealthy and dangerous) yet have super huge tits which is unrealistic and impossible without being overweight to some degree. Seriously, fuck ignorant people.

 

Thats probably because a lot of us have been fat too but managed to realize the problem before it got worse.
If you guys can please point me towards any legit sources that say obesity and overweight-ness don't mean health problems, please do so.
I am genuinely interested.
Otherwise, this whole thing is becoming more of a "I am going to pin the blame on society even though its mostly my fault" scenario.
I hate how people villanize health just because it's too challenging.

 

We should celebrate any body type that is healthy

We shouldn't celebrate an anorexic little stick frame, we shouldn't celebrate someone who is at a serious health risk for being overweight.


I think the real issue though isn't about what we celebrate but what we shame.

If we weren't shaming people's bodies than more people would be at healthy and normal weights because they wouldn't feel any pressure to skinnier and they wouldn't be so far lost in self esteem that they start stress eating.


It wouldn't help everyone, but I think it'd cut the numbers down a good bit.

 

Chubby =/= Obese

Nobody promotes obesity. Everyone should be at at healthy weight and exercise. The problem is that you simply do not know what someone's health or health problems is by looking at them, unless they are obviously obese. A belly can stick out for various reasons, and someone can move past the BMI without being unhealthy for various reasons (muscle for example, and genetics also come into play).

Obesity will always cause health issues, but chubbiness will not always cause health problems. I'm chubby, not obese, and my thicker belly purely exists because of medication I take. I actually exercise and eat better even more now as a "fat" person, where as I was killing myself when I was "average" weight because my lifestyle and diet patterns were so shitty. Average weight people can suffer from heart problems too if they have shitty diets and their fast metabolism prevents you from seeing it on the outside.

I don't promote bad health, the difference is though that I'm not hypocritical about it. I tell obese people to lose weight. I tell underweight people to eat better. I tell people they should stop smoking and drinking (including soda) if it becomes a bad habit, because every single one of these people are fucking up their health and lives. However, people only care about "fat" people, even if said fat person is NOT obese, only has a SLIGHT belly, and might even be in better shape than said skinny person who sits on their ass all day. Funny how a we all tell fat person about their heart problems and should stop (which is true) but an alcoholic who damages their liver will get defensive if you want them to get help, because It's "their choice". Either way, all health should be promoted.

Also, I actually don't promote my own weight and I work harder to lose weight every day. I'm simply sick of the people who ONLY are concerned simply because of my weight even though I was at risk for heart problems and health risks regardless of what my weight was purely because of lifestyle. You want to care about my health? Then you should care regardless of what my stomach looks like.

 

people should celebrate who they are first, I dont see size as an issue if people are happy the way they are .

 

I think people actually do care about the health of others - not out of concern for the person, but because higher obesity rates lead to higher health care premiums. The extra health costs from obesity amount to $190 billion per year in the US, exceeding the health costs of smoking. That's not something to celebrate.

 

I think the point that is being made by Fallingdown7 is thin does ≠ healthy, but in our society this is basically the dogma thin = healthy.
Surely being overweight *is* an added health risk to a generally healthy/fit person, but a person who is slim is not automatically healthy either. Eg. the phenomenon of "skinny fat"- people how have too much fat for their general body composition, despite being classed as slim.

A normal/slim weight person and an overweight person can be just as unhealthy, if
1) they don't excercise- are not fit
2) eat a bad diet.

Furthemore weight is not an adequate predictor of healthy or dangerous levels of fat.
Eg a person within the normal weight range might carry too much internal fat + be undernourished in terms of nutrients + have bad cardiovascular health.

Another person might be overweight- but their weight comes from muscle, and their general body fat percentage is low, which is the case with a lot of athletes.

And yet another person might have been eating healthily for all their life and exercised for all their life, but an accident meant that they've put on a little bit weight- and they are overweight now.

I believe that the last case person health risk due to their extra weight is minimised due to a lifetime of healthy habits- good cardiovascular health, not much internal organ fat, etc- they just put on some extra layer, until they can work it off.

This person will have less health risk than the slim one who never exercised, has a high higher level of internal organ fat, bad cardiovascular health due to bad diet and so on.


Let's put it another way:

If we have two healthy, exercising, well nourished individuals, and we add extra fat to one of them -they might be at a little more health risk.

If we have two individuals, one who eats well, exercises, and is generally healthy, and another who does none of those things- the second one will be in worse health, even if they are slim- so 'slimness' is not the same as 'good health'.

 

It's not fair to assume because one is overweight that it is their fault, that their lifestyle isn't healthy. I eat right and exercise daily. My medications did a number on my body though.

 

What really makes me mad are people who advertise that being obese is healthy. Looking around a site like Tumblr shows so much misinformation about health it makes me sick. Making fun of people for their weight isn't good, but chances are that being so obese that people are inclined to comment is just as bad, if not worse.

With the rise in obesity comes a rise in type two diabetes (which was renamed from adult onset diabetes because so many young people were being diagnosed!) and severe heart problems in younger people.

I'm not saying that everyone who is fat is unhealthy. But glorifying obesity is no better than glorifying being incredibly thin.

(Further reading on health risks of obesity: Clinical Guidelines on the Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults - NCBI Bookshelf and
https://books.google.com/books?hl=e...nCf1ZF3tmLRjILkpOVlogdZZs#v=onepage&q&f=false)

 

I'm all for body-positivism! But no type of body should be "celebrated"; all should be accepted and respected.

When it comes to a larger person, I think it's not any better to joke about their weight as it is to tell a slim person to eat a burger or something like that.
Being big is no excuse for shame... I don't condemn anyone bigger than me, or smaller for that matter.
However, larger people tend to have health problems due to their lifestyle.

I guess if someone is healthy and happy with their body, then they are entitled to celebrating it. (I don't know if I made myself clear, and I'm sorry if I offended anyone - I clearly didn't mean to insult)

 

It technically is their fault though. If one burns the same amount of calories that they consume, they will maintain their current weight. Consuming more calories than calories burned will result in weight gain (and as such, the opposite goes for losing weight). Sure, certain medications can screw with your basal metabolic rate a bit, but you just have to adjust your caloric intake accordingly. There is no medication that can allow someone's body to defy the laws of thermodynamics, though. Fat can't be created out of nothing.

 

I personally don't think it's beneficial for the health of society to put so much political correctness into larger people. Yes they are humans and should be treated as equals, but we shouldn't be promoting it, just like tobacco can not really be advertised; at least in Canada, because it's not good for you.

The majority of larger people do not suffer from glandular problems, they are living unhealthy lifestyles that should be discouraged.

I'm sorry to say it but society needs to try and stay healthy.

The healthiest countries on earth have also the skinniest populations. Japan is a good example, many Nordic countries, surprisingly a lot of Carib island nations. Being paper thin shouldn't be promoted and being a little heavy shouldn't be the worst thing but being overweight should never be something that is promoted ever.

It iis just not good for the future of humanity to promote or encourage it, I think it's ridiculous when there are campaigns for larger people. They again should be treated equal, but to act like it's normal for a human being to bbe that size is ridiculous, we aren't meant to be large, we aren't bears that hibernate in the winter, we are meant to be moving constantly, it's good for your heart and just about every other organ in your body to not be large.

Skinny people can be just as unhealthy, so obviously the idea is to just be well fed, and be getting enough nutrition to get through the day and have the extra energy to fight off infection...etc. Nothing more nothing less should ever be promoted.

I doubt there's a single doctor in the world that would ever support any sort of encouragement of being obese, and none would support any encouragement of being skinny, my doctor has told me to eat more many many times so even smaller people can be considered in need of a lifestyle change.

I also don't enjoy being called skinny, so I sortve know what it's like to be called "fat" because both are just as degrading, the person is basically saying "what's wrong with you?".

I just for some reason take it as being encouraged to get more healthy, and larger people should take any insult to get back to a healthy weight, because it is attainable for most people you just need focus.

 

I think we shouldn't celebrate any body type. Any weight that doesn't lead to increased risks is, in my opinion, to be desired. =) But I don't think a healthy weight should be celebrated.

 

Depends on how big they are. If they're big to the point where it's taking a serious toll on their health, we shouldn't encourage it, but we sure as hell shouldn't shame them either.

The same logic applies to extreme thinness. It's OK to be over or under weight, but if it's extreme, we shouldn't pretend that everything's OK just for the sake of political correctness. Be realistic.

 

After reading through everyone's answers, my thinking is that the question is a little misleading. Bigger, per-say, doesn't matter. Healthy for your body type matters.

Should we celebrate bodies just because they're bigger? I don't think so. Should we celebrate healthy and inspiring people of different lineages/descents/genealogy/body types, absolutely, yes. If that means some people end up being "bigger" than others, so be it.

We don't need to advertise "big thighs" though just for the sake of big thighs :dry:

 

As long as you are healthy... Why not?