Monday, August 14, 2006

Fat Bugs

I'm not sure how I feel about the idea of people taking up the idea that "being fat" really is a disease, but at least somebody's digging into some of the complexities of the what's going on.

The most unhealthy I've ever been was also the thinnest I've ever been.

Related note: Women who feel good about their bodies are more likely to eat well.

Gee, you think?

As a former binge eater, I can tell you that a lot of the binge triggers have to do with stress, carb addiction, and - a really low sense of self-worth. Why should I take care of myself, my body, if I'm fat and therefore worthless?

I really want the way we talk about bodies to change, because this shit is really counterproductive. Self-hate sells a lot of diet products, make-up and hand lotion, but it pretty much kills you in the quality of life department..

2 comments so far. What are your thoughts?

Anonymous said...

... I mean, a lot of people are working on figuring out exactly what's going on. This article is just one recent example. Sure, the popular media (and, sadly, many doctors) are just making shit up, but there's a sizable and active group of scientists doing pretty sophisticated analyses of weight gain and loss and the body mechanisms associated with them.

Kameron Hurley said...

Heh. Yea, Kristy - one of the big symptoms of diabetes that's not harped on enough is dramatic weight *loss.*

And it's not necc. the "being overweight" part that'll get you type II - it's eating too many carbs and not exercising enough, so your pancreas starts burning itself out. For many people, lots of carbs and not a lot of exercise will also mean a higher weight.

Also, the more research I've done, the more I'm seeing that people who are predisposed to gain more weight that other people also have a genetic propensity for diabetes; so, for better or worse, the genes for diabetes and weight gain/weight retention are likely related to one another; so you'll be more likely to be overweight if you have diabetes, and have diabetes if you're overweight.

They told me that when I dropped from 215 to 175 in 8 months, I should have come right in, but hey, I was losing weight! I *must* have been healthy!