So, Boys and Girls, you want to know what compounded my resistance to having examinations of my plumbing, besides having PTSD surrounding sexual assault?
That's right, size shaming.
If I hadn't had to worry about size shaming, I might not have waited nearly 30 years between exams.
I might have been less reluctant to talk to my doctor about what was going on with me.
So, you see what size shaming does in a medical context?
That's right. It makes larger people reluctant to see a doctor, or, even if they see one for certain things, they are less likely to be open about things that might involve exposing their fat body, because, oddly enough, people don't enjoy being shamed, ,particularly when they are vulnerable.
Size shaming doesn't work.
A "size normative" approach doesn't work.
Health at every size works.
If doctors are smart enough to get through ten years of rigorous schooling, why are they not smart enough to understand this?
My doctor cited the risks for endometrial cancer (which I may be in the early stages of, it hasn't been confirmed yet) as being a woman (duh), between the ages of 50 and 60, being white, and obesity. I asked her not to use the "o" word, and she has been respectful regarding that request. She made the mistake of thinking it was a "better" way of saying "fat," which I informed her it isn't. I may cuss like the proverbial longshoreman, but I think "obese" is a much nastier word than any f bomb I may drop.
Well, let's look at this. I can't much turn back the clock, so stopping myself from being between 50 and 60 is right out. I suppose I could get a really dark tan, but the likelihood is I'd end up looking burned rather than tan. Oh, and then there's that nasty fat. I could just get rid of that.
Not so much. Been there done that. Many, many, many times.
I developed bulimia when I was 12 years old and also started yo-yo dieting.
Funny enough, when I stopped dieting (at age 45), my weight finally stabilized.
The last time I dieted was when I tried Atkins again after I was diagnosed with diabetes. I did lose weight, but I don't think it had much to do with Atkins, which just ended up making me sick to my stomach from the Erythritol used to sweeten their shakes and bars. I think it had more to do with controlling my blood sugar in other ways. Because, shocker, insulin resistance can cause weight gain and make weight loss difficult.
I really wasn't looking to lose weight in any case, and I felt a lot better when I stopped doing Atkins.
I'm a living, breathing example of how yo-yo dieting destroys a person's metabolism.
I'm so stressed it isn't even funny. I also have a familial history of cardiovascular problems, which, in my case, is compounded by having diabetes. Yet if I were to drop dead of a heart attack, the stresses from having to work a minimum wage job to never make ends meet and my familial history wouldn't be cited. Nope, it would all be because I'm fatty fat fat.
It makes me so angry that I could spit nails.
Wouldn't it be nice if no-one felt compelled to fall into the yo-yo dieting cycle, which benefits no-one but the multi-billion dollar diet industry, ever again.
That's right, size shaming.
If I hadn't had to worry about size shaming, I might not have waited nearly 30 years between exams.
I might have been less reluctant to talk to my doctor about what was going on with me.
So, you see what size shaming does in a medical context?
That's right. It makes larger people reluctant to see a doctor, or, even if they see one for certain things, they are less likely to be open about things that might involve exposing their fat body, because, oddly enough, people don't enjoy being shamed, ,particularly when they are vulnerable.
Size shaming doesn't work.
A "size normative" approach doesn't work.
Health at every size works.
If doctors are smart enough to get through ten years of rigorous schooling, why are they not smart enough to understand this?
My doctor cited the risks for endometrial cancer (which I may be in the early stages of, it hasn't been confirmed yet) as being a woman (duh), between the ages of 50 and 60, being white, and obesity. I asked her not to use the "o" word, and she has been respectful regarding that request. She made the mistake of thinking it was a "better" way of saying "fat," which I informed her it isn't. I may cuss like the proverbial longshoreman, but I think "obese" is a much nastier word than any f bomb I may drop.
Well, let's look at this. I can't much turn back the clock, so stopping myself from being between 50 and 60 is right out. I suppose I could get a really dark tan, but the likelihood is I'd end up looking burned rather than tan. Oh, and then there's that nasty fat. I could just get rid of that.
Not so much. Been there done that. Many, many, many times.
I developed bulimia when I was 12 years old and also started yo-yo dieting.
Funny enough, when I stopped dieting (at age 45), my weight finally stabilized.
The last time I dieted was when I tried Atkins again after I was diagnosed with diabetes. I did lose weight, but I don't think it had much to do with Atkins, which just ended up making me sick to my stomach from the Erythritol used to sweeten their shakes and bars. I think it had more to do with controlling my blood sugar in other ways. Because, shocker, insulin resistance can cause weight gain and make weight loss difficult.
I really wasn't looking to lose weight in any case, and I felt a lot better when I stopped doing Atkins.
I'm a living, breathing example of how yo-yo dieting destroys a person's metabolism.
I'm so stressed it isn't even funny. I also have a familial history of cardiovascular problems, which, in my case, is compounded by having diabetes. Yet if I were to drop dead of a heart attack, the stresses from having to work a minimum wage job to never make ends meet and my familial history wouldn't be cited. Nope, it would all be because I'm fatty fat fat.
It makes me so angry that I could spit nails.
Wouldn't it be nice if no-one felt compelled to fall into the yo-yo dieting cycle, which benefits no-one but the multi-billion dollar diet industry, ever again.
~The Cheese Hath Grated It~
"If you are a fat person facing medical fatphobia and doctors who would rather risk your life to make most of you disappear, than help you live your best life in a fat body, life ISN’T supposed to be like this. It’s NOT supposed to be this hard. Your body is never the problem, fatphobia always is."
-- Ragen Chastain --
I've known many people who were skinny and yet really unhealthy, but always pushed their skimminess as a thing to emulate.
ReplyDeleteOne friend told me that whenever the family would visit her mother-in-law, the mother-in-law would always remarked on the weight my friend had gained over the years. My friend would always smile and say "yes, we can't all be as thin as you." She says that what she really felt like saying was "how's that osteoporosis treating you" and reminding her mother-in-law that the reason her son's eyesight is so bad is because Mom starved herself in order to maintain a thin physique while pregnant. But, being a civilized person (more so than the mother-in-law, I'd say) she refrained from speaking her mind.
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