Posted on 08/07/2004 10:23:23 PM PDT by familyop
The woman in the yellow shirt stood up and told of her life-long struggle against being fat, a fight that she had clearly lost. She was enormous.
'Every time I dieted I ended up larger,' she said as she broke into tears, 'If I were anorexic or bulimic, I would get sympathy. It is so frustrating.' She was applauded by 100 other very fat men and women.
'Here, you are in an island of sanity,' said Professor Paul Campos, author of The Obesity Myth and speaker at this annual meeting of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (Naafa) - activists spurring the backlash against America's obsession with weight.
Campos is their hero. His book has turned convention on its head, arguing that there is no obesity epidemic and fat does not have to mean unhealthy. His book has been a huge boost for association members who want an end to the obsession with weight and dieting and the marginalisation of fat people.
And fat people are finally starting to win a few battles: Campos's book is rising in the lists and generating a media buzz; the Atkins diet is waning in popularity after its founder's premature death; and former Cheers star Kirstie Alley, whose weight is a tabloid obsession, has landed her own reality TV show, Fat Actress, which sees her weight as a positive choice, not a reason for horror.
But Naafa is leading the charge. 'There are few more revolutionary groups in America today and revolution in this area is warranted,' said Campos.
Founded in 1969, it has several thousand members worldwide. At its annual conference in Newark last week some members had travelled from Canada and Europe. Delegates sported name tags emblazoned with the message: Dream Big.
Naafa hopes to provide a haven for very fat people away from the stresses of living in a thin society. At the conference were talks on how to lobby for fat rights, yoga classes, a pool party, a fashion show, a speed dating session, classes of beauty tips and fitness exercises. In short, they did most of the things that thinner people take for granted.
Marilyn Wann, a co-director of the association, symbolises its attitude of be healthy and happy with the body you have. Her T-shirt asks loudly: 'Fat!So?'. She says figures blaming obesity for hundreds of thousands of premature deaths in America are wrong: 'Where are all the fat dead bodies?'
She is appalled by the growing practice among the very obese to have part of their stomach removed in a bid to lose weight: 'That sort of surgery is simply stomach theft. Why would any human being need to have a healthy organ cut out?'
Naafa encourages members to organise to lobby for legislation to fight discrimination against fat people. Carole Cullum, a Naafa director and lawyer said: 'It is up to us to fight. We are in a struggle.'
Wann is more blunt: 'We are in the middle of a witch hunt and we are the witches.' She says that, like most Naafa members, she eats healthily and exercises regularly - yet is still fat. 'I mean, seriously, why would anyone choose to be this size in a society that hates them every hour of every day?'
Doctors and healthcare professionals believe obesity has become a global epidemic - and America is at the heart of it. They point to evidence such as the rise in obesity-related diseases, like diabetes. Some studies have shown that 135 million Americans are overweight and the numbers classified as obese have risen 50 per cent over the past 10 years.
The result has been panic. Makeover shows advocating plastic surgery are the latest television hit and bookshelves groan with the latest best-selling diets. In the Eighties, newspaper articles on obesity ran at about 60 a year; last year there were more than 7,000.
Campos believes America, Britain and much of the developed world is in the grip of anti-fat hysteria. He blames much of this on how obesity is measured, claiming that the standards are unrealistic.
He also claims dieting is responsible for making people fat by triggering a 'starvation response' in the body which, when dieting stops, starts storing 'emergency' fat in increasing amounts, a pattern repeated after each failed diet. That was the experience of Mary Ray Worley, 48, who as a chubby child started dieting at the age of eight - but each one only ended with her putting on more weight. Since discovering the association three years ago, she has changed her attitude to her weight: 'I don't hate my body any more. I honour it.'
Were there any Michael Moore sightings?
You don't "honor" your body by eating twinkies.
How about their joints? Do they last as long?
Being fat isn't healthy. It puts a person at risk for Type II diabetes and heart disease. Then there are the joint problems that come along with excess weight - hips, knees and back. Are these healthy things? "Diets" are no good - a person needs to learn to eat properly for life. When you "diet", you tend to go off your "diet", and then gain back all the weight you lost, and then some.
I just have a problem with people who are too fat to clean themselves after using the bathroom.
No.
Well the woman in the yellow shirt made a start.
She stood up.
Now all she has to do is start walking.
Exercise will help her stop wallowing in self pity.
I'll agree that you don't have to be thin to be healthy, and there are certainly some 'pudgy' people that I know that are quite healthy, they just happen to be over the average weight for their height. Indeed, being overly thin is probably just as dangerous to one's health as being morbidly obese.
That said, there really is an obesity epidemic, and for people described as "humongous", I can't imagine there's anything healthy about that.
Now all she has to do is start walking.
I really do not think that anyone who takes exercise every day, and eats fresh home made food, will have a serious weight problem. They might be chunky, but to be obese, one needs to be idle and eating highly processed food and sweets.
In all seriousness, I agree. ...felt terrible when I was overweight! It's hard on the knees, hard on blood cells, organs,...
It's easy to love my friends and family who are fat, but I do wish they would get into the habit of moving around more to play (tai chi, walks, etc.), get plenty of sleep to facilitate that, eat more varied things,...
But at the same time, I believe that we are a nation of hypersensitive people, and that prevents the flow of good and caring information. We all have our weaknesses, and it's time for a come-back in humor and discussion about those.
Aw-$hit - another Bill Fries fan shows up! Well, pard, let's hi-jack this thread! Add any verses you like, from any song...
Yer turn..........FRegards
Pathetic, sometimes I wonder about the members of this society.
(to me, this is 'RAP' music)..........FRegards
One person wrote: "Fat people have more fun!"
...and beneath it, someone else wrote: "...than what? Fat dogs?"
I agree. I have never seen a person in Africa who was starving that had a gland problem....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.