Dietitian Reacts to ‘Is Being Fat a Choice!’ (My Answer Might SHOCK You…)
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Hey everyone I’m Abbey Sharp welcome to Abbey’s Kitchen. In todays video, I am going to be throwing down some hot takes on weight, jumping off from the super controversial yet super fascinating panel discussion on the Jubilee series, Middle Ground.
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Abbey, re Set Point Theory about weight, I can’t figure out how to ask this question well: I’m wondering about how the weight of my size small body when I was in my twenties work within the theory compared to my size XL body in my thirties.
For many years I’ve held onto the hope that I get closer to my body that I knew and was a smaller size.
It’s hard to accept my obese body when it makes life a few degrees harder on a regular basis.
As with everything in life, it’s complicated
absolutely
Yup
I think if everyone in the world ate a balanced diet and moved their bodies, there would still be a wide range of body shapes and sizes!
1000%
There would be, but no one would be morbidly obese lol
So no one would have medical problems that make combating obesity obscenely hard? Genius take@@Taywanee
@@meanjustine8266it still comes down to a calorie deficit. People with health conditions can still lose weight.
@@Taywanee no, that is not the be all end all reason for weightlosss or gain. Try again.
Hi Abbey – I’d love to see a collab with a Marketing expert to discuss the positioning of “health” foods
Maybe The Financial Diet
I’ve always been skinny. I could eat McDonald’s every day and gain a marginal amount of weight, but still fall within my normal range. To say that the choices I make in the face of my personal obstacles will have the same outcome as someone in a different body is so reductive and absolutist. Bodies come in all shapes and sizes!
thanks for sharing!! Bodies are so diverse
I was the same! Until I started taking medication that made me crave food 3 times more often and 3 times more strongly. Gained more than 40 kgs in two years… but lost already half of that in a little more than a year ^^
I kinda get the vibe that Lauren puts most of her self-worth on staying slender
Mostly no. Even if it is a “choice” it’s so very ingrained in your being that it becomes not a choice. How you were raised, your income, your family history, etc etc it’s hard to separate it completely down to just choices. My friends who are thin eat less, they just do it automatically and always have. They don’t desire more. Obviously that’s not everyone and some people struggle really hard to maintain thinness BUT for some people, those choices are easier, sometimes so much that they really don’t feel like choices at all.
absolutely. exactly what i said as well
Probably the hardest video to watch I’ve seen you do. As a personal trainer I’ve felt in recent years when I’ve been struggling with my own motivation is the question, why do I want to be here? So much of what we face as trainers is weight loss focused and adherence is the biggest challenge. I’ve also changed my own attitudes about being overweight with much of my attitude has changed toward favoring ability and activity. It really only takes a couple weeks of increasing activity for your endurance to improve and with it is heart rate variability (which is among the biggest determining factors for survival of a heart attack). When we become more active our mood, attitude, outlook, etc all improve as does insulin demand within cells. Same is true when I eat better, I feel different. High nutrient foods with great satiety factors make you feel better. I think that if we focus more on how positive changes make us feel, how much more able we feel, then we are much more prone to want to make the changes, to stick to the changes. None of that comes from body shaming and I think lifestyle changes which make us happier is where it’s at.
Love your take on everything. Also, the 40-45 minute drive they may not have gas money for. It’s hard. Additionally, we have a honest food dessert in northern Canada with our communities out there. Try flying in food, not to mention all the PTSD from the trauma these people have been put through. Our last residential school was closed in 1996. Real issues, its not always a choice. I should be positive! We are making leaps and bounds with how we view people and in our health. We are going to figure out how to honour and bless each other and celebrate the wins we all get in life. The skinny, the fat and all the in between.
so well said
I’m so tired of (mostly skinny) people centering people’s whole identity around weight. There are many other characteristics that should be nurtured, encouraged or promoted that might be even more important than body weight.
Also, being skinny doesn’t necessarily equal being healthy. I’m underweight due to an illness, but you wouldn’t notice it because I look very healthy. However I have been very close to losing my life because of my health issues, and I feel embarrassed, even a bit angry/upset, when people compliment me on my weight.
ABSOLUTELY. this is why we should NEVER comment on peoples weight loss.
I was shocked and disappointed to hear that young lady justify shame as healthy and sustainable. I’m so glad you addressed that, Abbey. I really appreciate your work and this video!
right?! thank you
That also stood out to me. It made me sad for her. I wonder what stories she is telling herself that led her to those beliefs.
Her contempt for obese people, dressed up as concern for their health, looks a lot like a displacement of her self-contempt around her own body issues onto a “safer” target.
Not the first time I’ve seen this toxic attitude. I can’t stand concern trolling for this reason.
I sincerely appreciate this video, and your comments!
As someone who has been on both ends of the weight journey, I can attest that shaming is never, let me repeat, NEVER, the proper “encouragement” to get someone to change how and what they eat.
I have had such disordered eating patterns that my body doesn’t know what to do any more. I’m now on a “fairly restrictive” diet. My insulin resistance (I have PCOS, so that’s a given) has ramped up with menopause. I’ve been diagnosed as pre-diabetic. I’m struggling very hard to control it with diet alone, as I really don’t want to take another damn pill. To keep my blood glucose under control, I have to severely limit my carb intake. Do you know how hard that is? I can’t go fully keto because I don’t digest that much fat efficiently. That much fat Hurts. Actual, physical pain.
So, here I am. A middle aged woman, on the verge of being type 2. It’s truly a struggle to stay nourished, lose weight, keep blood glucose control, and have to read labels constantly, all while being shamed for being overweight, AND have family try to feed me pasta dinners.
I want to hide.😢
❤
Love the phrasing, “You can’t hate yourself into being healthier.” You can hate yourself into being skinner, but until you appreciate your body simply for being your body, you won’t feel comfortable in it or healthy. Grace for yourself is how you make positive changes
❤
Hi Abby. I’m a family nurse practitioner in primary care in a federally qualified health center. This means I provide health care to people in very predominantly. I have always appreciated your no guilt, additive approach to nutrition. To your point about choice related to weight I have patients who have to walk or take the bus to the clinic to see me. They do not have the privilege to drive as they don’t have a car to get groceries further away from their homes. Obesity is related to poverty so our continued placement of the responsibility for it on the individual allows the American government to continue ignoring public services that would create a healthier population.
Well said
I’m so glad you reviewed this! I was looking forward to it. And i thought your take was super interesting, respectful and helpful.
And then menopause happens and everything changes! It feels like I’m re-learning how my body responds to food, exercise, etc.
Agreed! My body has changed drastically since I started menopause 5 years ago.
Yeap, it’s a whole new ball game and learning what works from scratch.
Interesting timing – just finished this video and went to swim a few laps in our condo pool and got thin shamed for being a middle aged woman who “could still wear a bikini”, and told I would be warmer in the water if I had more fat. I don’t think I would have recognized it as such before, it’s so socially acceptable.
Regardless of whether it’s socially acceptable or not, or what kind of body shaming it is, I hate how common it still is for people to make unsolicited comments about people’s bodies.
But I understand you may feel more powerless when skinny shamed because the shamers may feel more entitled to shame you since it’s more socially acceptable.
Being middle aged also means an increase in people commenting about what they think is not age appropriate clothing. I’m started to move into middle age myself and noticed a huge uptick in comments regarding “age appropriate” clothing choices. I think the comment “could still wear a bikini” is in part fueled by ageism as there is a lingering belief among some people that middle aged women should not wear bikinis or skirts above the knee. It’s so strange that many people hate it when a middle aged woman “dresses too young” even when the woman in question still looks good in it.
One thing I rarely hear addressed is poverty. Majority of kids live below the poverty line – has anyone looked at food boxes and choices in schools? Very little fresh foods, produce or meats. Highly processed with the bulk of calories coming from simple carbs. Taste is a matter of habit. There is a societal component to the epidemic of obesity and diabetes that should be addressed.
Why did McDonald’s take salads away? Why are salads the most expensive thing on a menu? Why do food boxes never, ever include salads?
Yep these are all important pieces of the conversation
All that I know is that when I’ve been under a certain weight, it has taken all my energy and will to keep it there. It’s been that way my whole life. I have always been athletic and I ride my bike as transportation, but I’m still a large woman. However, at 54, having given up on trying to have a diet, I’m having a great life instead. ❤
THIS is advocacy. Thank you for using your privilege to bring awareness and compassion to people who’ve been silenced, stigmatized and shamed in this conversation. Thank you for educating others on food deserts/accessibility of food, sensitivity around body talk, genetic predisposition, etc. Been through eating disorder treatment 3x… and know many more who’ve lost their lives to disordered eating than to being overweight.
Absolutely!