First of all, I love that song in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane!
On a serious note, about your post, I certainly can relate to what you are saying. While I've not done Weight Watchers, I consider it one of the safer programs around. I think using a program like WW and losing 1-2 pounds per week is generally thought to be the safer way to go when it comes to dieting. Well, WW calls it a "lifestyle change," but I think we can safely say that if one is counting points, one is dieting!
. I think a 10% weight loss sounds like a very reasonable goal. I appreciate your honesty in your conflicting feelings.
One reason I started this thread was because I was so disturbed by hearing people describe very low calorie diets (e.g. 500-800 calories a day, as well as injecting pregnancy hormones) as healthy. I believe that rarely contributes to long term weight loss or to health in general. I believe that in the long run such programs generally lead to malnutrition and a host of other medical problems. I also rarely believe that diet pills and weight loss surgery, particularly the more invasive permanent types, are healthy. I also am wary of people online congratulating one another for losing weight. We really don't know if they are bulimic or anorexic, and I think it's particularly scary when people lose a lot of weight in a short period of time. That can contribute to many health problems and also have the long term (e.g. five year) side effect of significant weight gain. If someone is more active and is eating healthier and that is what they want, great, but let's not automatically assume someone's weight loss is a healthy thing. As women, we are taught to assume that, but as a feminist I questioned it and came out strongly as believing that someone's weight does not always correspond to someone's health. I believe that one's health is much better served by considering the big picture of one's life, not just the numbers on the scale.
I think it's very possible to be fat positive and also lose a little weight at a healthy pace. I believe in Health at Every Size (HAES), and what this means to me is that one doesn't use "weight loss" as a proxy for health. Instead, if one seeks a healthy mind, body, and soul, one does healthy things for oneself, in the area of exercise, eating, and being kind to oneself. Part of being kind to myself was to start this thread, a place where people can celebrate themselves and love themselves where they are now, regardless of whether they are working on new health goals or not. I do not believe thin equals healthy any more than I believe that fat equals unhealthy. I believe that it's all very individual.
Thank you for posting. Sometimes I get a little lonely in here
Quote:
Originally Posted by lettertodaddy
This year life threw me a bit of a curve health-wise. I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (on top of the osteoarthritis I already have), and it seems the RA may be to blame for nearly closing off one of the carotid arteries in my neck, which makes my blood pressure skyrocket. As a result, I signed up for Weight Watchers again about 10 days ago, just to try to ease my joints and to help my blood pressure go back to normal.
I'm conflicted because I've been fat my whole life, and I've always considered myself a fat positive person, yet here I am giving money to the diet industry. I feel dirty, like I'm betraying fat positive politics even when I know taking off 10% of my body weight will make a tremendous difference to the pain I experience.
Have any of you ever gone through that? Having to lose weight for physical reasons (I can't bring myself to say for 'health' reasons) and feeling bad about it?
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