"Hating On Fat People"

  • Don't you just love it when science confirms what we already know here at 3FC?

    http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2013...paign=20130726
  • omg, for every study that is eye opening, I swear there's a study like "you needed a study to confirm that???" Not just about weight, but many things. Yeah this is kind of "duh!"

    I also read a study years ago that showed that children of overweight parents are more likely to be over weight....gee, ya think!! (And no the study wasn't focusing on genetics or environment, just that concept in general.)
  • Kind of unrelated but I have noticed that blondes typically earn more tips at my job than those of us with brown/black hair. There's some sort of male psychology behind that I'm sure but I don't think it's intended discrimination.

    And on a side note: Holy crap, Missy when did you make it to 130p?? I totally missed it. Congrats!
  • I didn't realize that it made fat people fatter. Wow.
  • It's not all that surprising, really. Speaking for myself, my overeating had a lot of shame, guilt, depression and a variety of other negative emotions all mixed in. Getting shamed, stigmatized and frankly, abused, by other people just added to that miasma. When I look back at my eating habits when I was at my heaviest, it becomes obvious to me now that I was committing suicide by food.

    Heaping abuse and negative crap on someone who is already suffering is just not a good idea no matter what the problems are.
  • Nova - Thank you! I hit the low 130's a few months ago, and I've been bouncing between 130-135 for a while now. I had a lot going on the past two months and have been taking an unofficial maintenance break.
  • Although this isn't really news to us (I knew before I was 8 that teasing made me want to eat), I'm glad the research is FINALLY being done to educate the medical community.

    The apparently obvious does need to be tested though, because a recent review of the research has found that daily weighers lose more than less frequent weighers which is contrary to "common wisdom."

    I'm glad that researchers are finally asking the questions that dieters have pondered for the last 200 years.

    Sadly "our" knowledge is 200 years ahead of the "science." It's going to take years for the medical community to carch up.

    We ARE the experts.
  • That explains away all of my preteen/teenaged years and much of my life as a young adult. The discrimination has always been clear and strong; I certainly didn't have enough self-confidence to ignore the bullies, and often until the last decade or so, honestly believed I didn't deserve any better.

    It's rather tough to escape that. Being afraid to try new things over feeling ridiculous because of your size, especially anything even remotely physical. Not knowing where to turn for comfort when you don't have any close friends; it's all too easy to rely on food. And when you don't have the necessary tools, support, information, and even when your own doctors are into fat shaming, how on earth is any amount of motivation going to last? You're fat. You're ugly. Don't bother wearing a dress, no one wants to see you in that. I don't care how hungry you are, you need to learn to control yourself. Take that food home if you're going eat it, no one wants to see you stuffing your face. You should work out, but not in front of anyone; who wants to see you gasp for breath and jiggle everywhere? Don't you dare touch that ice cream, doing so means you have failed. We hear such things so often that sometimes we even start telling ourselves how miserable we should be just because we're overweight.

    Shaming never helps; it just turns people further away. And supposedly using it as motivation is just an excuse to be cruel; in my experience, more often than not it's all about keeping the status quo so the bullies can hike up their own egos. I've known people that have used my weight/size as a way to feel superior over me and watched them completely lose their minds as I was losing weight. I consider myself very lucky that there's no real negativity like that in my life right now and that I finally have to tools and support to succeed.
  • Quote: Kind of unrelated but I have noticed that blondes typically earn more tips at my job than those of us with brown/black hair. There's some sort of male psychology behind that I'm sure but I don't think it's intended discrimination.

    And on a side note: Holy crap, Missy when did you make it to 130p?? I totally missed it. Congrats!
    This is not scientific but I did a short stint as a brunette for a while (I'm naturally blonde) and it was the worst time ever. No dates, no boyfriend, I was a a total walflower. I actually really liked the way I looked as a brunette buy apparently no one else thought so.
  • Quote: This is not scientific but I did a short stint as a brunette for a while (I'm naturally blonde) and it was the worst time ever. No dates, no boyfriend, I was a a total walflower. I actually really liked the way I looked as a brunette buy apparently no one else thought so.
    I actually found the opposite. I used to work at a pub and I got hit on way more as a brunette than as a blonde.
  • Huh, the hair color thing is interesting! Scientific or no, I think there's some truth that we can glean from personal stories. Anyone know of any studies done on hair color and perceived attractiveness? I'd be interested to read one.

    I'm naturally brunette but am a dyed red/auburn with a streak of blonde, and I love it! I wonder if women find that they are more confident with a certain color and that relates to getting hit on? Hmm, very interesting.
  • I almost always have felt more attractive after I get a hair style or color change, and it always felt like I was getting more positive male attention, unless I didn't like the change. Then of course I felt like any attention was negative (they think I look ridiculous) attention.

    I also think skin tone makes a HUGE difference. I have very, very pale skin, so while I look good in most shades of blond, and many shades of red and light brown, I look drab in medium browns and like a corpse in dark browns and blacks.
  • I read that study as well, and I was a little surprised. I must just react differently, but when I am harassed about my weight it makes me self conscious and I don't eat as much out of fear of hearing MORE rude remarks.
  • Quote: I read that study as well, and I was a little surprised. I must just react differently, but when I am harassed about my weight it makes me self conscious and I don't eat as much out of fear of hearing MORE rude remarks.
    Maybe you do react differently, or maybe you don't. The study didn't really prove that people eat more when harassed, only that they gain more.

    Stress hormones are known to adversely affect metabolism. Insomnia and sleep deprivation also reduces metabolism.

    It's quite possible that even people who eat less when stressed would be susceptible weight gain due to the metabolic suppressing effects of stress hormones.


    Regardless of the effect on weight, chronic stress causes a wide range of harmful and damaging effects. Even for those who lose weight in response to stress, I would doubt that it ends up being beneficial weight loss. I suspect that the damage outweighs any potential benefit.

    I'm certainly finding that true. For the first time ever, I'm learning to lose weight without the negative self-talk (my self-harassment has always been far worse than any bully could dish out).

    I don't just think, I know that reward works far better than punishment. I've known this since freshman year psychology classes (I have a BA and MA in psych).

    Behavioral Psych 101 teaches this - and that punishment rarely extinguish behaviors, at best they generally only temporarily suppress the behavior, and when a behavior is rewarded and punished simultaneously, the reward usually trumps the punishment.

    In fact, it can even strengthen the behavior. If two sources of food are available to rats, but to obtain one the rat receives a shock, initially the rats will avoid that food, but most will "take the shock."

    In humans, and in rats the perceived risk can even be a stronger reward. A food that's difficult or painful to acquire is often perceived as more rewarding (it becomes more valuable because it's difficult or painful to acquire).