It’s OK To Be Fat

Fat people exist. Fat people have always existed. Fatness is partly genetic, partly not, and not anyone else’s business.

Yes, there is persistent societal pressure to change body weigh t. Still, body weight is not easy to change and changes are often not long-lasting. Fatness, like height, can be a measure of overall population health but is not easy to change individually. Societal stigma is not necessarily a useful measure of “right” or “wrong”.

Fat isn’t necessarily a choice. Not apologizing ? Is a choice. Standing up for yourself is a choice. Going swimming for fun is a choice. Getting on with your life, without weight loss, can be a choice. Enhancing your own health, without making weight loss the measure, can be a choice too.

“About all you can do in life is be who you are. Some people will love you for you. Most will love you for what you can do for them, and some won’t like you at all. You can’t let them stop you.” – Rita Mae Brown

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Posted

September 27, 2012

fat acceptance

Living 400lbs

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Comments

12 responses to “It’s OK To Be Fat”

Noel Lynne Figart

September 27, 2012

Good one! I think, though, that blanket permission to people who eyeroll and say, “Just eat less and exercise more” should have blanket permission to kick the speaker in the shins.

I have an exact idea of how much I eat as well as how much I exercise. And I ain’t exactly automagically thin!

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1. Living 400lbs
  
  September 27, 2012
  
  I’ve considered handing out cards that say, “I DO eat right. I DO exercise. This is how I’m supposed to look.” :)
  
  Reply
Twistie

September 27, 2012

Go tell it on the mountain, sister! Also, thanks for the linkback! I was kind of proud of that one.

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1. Living 400lbs
  
  September 27, 2012
  
  You’re welcome. :)
  
  Reply
2. closetpuritan
  
  September 30, 2012
  
  Yup, that was a good one! I made a small contribution to “examples of historical fat people” here.
  
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Rubyfruit

September 27, 2012

Love the entry, and all the lovely links.

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1. Julia Sullivan
  
  September 28, 2012
  
  Yes! It is a marvelous collection of links—thanks, Living.
  
  Reply
tehomet

September 28, 2012

Thank you for posting!

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Mulberry

September 28, 2012

I say, let THEM (you know who THEY are) apologize first. And inform THEM of that at opportune moments.

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Mich

October 5, 2012

I like the photo essay about “no fat ppl in the past”. I recently looked into buying a corset (you won’t believe how many styles there are), and they can go up to size 60, so obviously fatness has been around.

Keep up the good work.

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A Periodic Welcome Post | Living ~400lbs

April 28, 2013

[…] No. […]

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heather

April 3, 2014

Beautiful! Just what I needed to read today- thank you for your encouragement.

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