HAES & School
So, I've set up an interest meeting for the HAES group. It will be next Wednesday and I'm really hoping people show up! I've had a few people email and say they will try to make it, but regardless want to be kept in the loop. That is encouraging. :) I've logged onto a yahoo group called fat studies and already have a community member who responded that she has been a patient at our clinic and has done some teaching of our students about size issues. She is also interested to find out what we are up to. :) That makes me happy. I would love to see this group move beyond our school and touch the community as well. We'll see what happens. Right now, it will make me so happy to just have a few people who will stand up with me and start to make some changes in the minds of my peers.
I've also been reading this blog about obese women related to pregnancy and childbirth. Wow, some of the things they are told are super crazy! Like they will die if they have a baby. They can't have a baby vaginally. They should abort. (that one makes me so sick). Because of this blog, I've decided to do my research paper for my last Natural Childbirth class on obesity in pregnancy and childbirth.
This all has started to galvanize me. I am sick of the idea that people get treated poorly, or don't get treated medically at all, because of their size. That people are afraid to go to the doctor because they know that they will not get treated at all, merely get a lecture about losing weight. Heck, most of the time they aren't even given a clue as to what constitutes a truly healthy diet (though many of them already know). It isn't about losing weight, it's about improving health. Doctors are often well meaning, but most, even obese doctors, do not really understand that.
Fear of fat also hurts thin people. Such stress is placed on not gaining weight. I've seen polls where people were less scared of losing limbs or DYING than they were of being fat. How fucked up is that? People kill themselves or destroy their health to become or stay thin and it is so crazy.
I know a lot of people will tell me that willpower will get the job done, dieting, restricting, exercising. Do all of these things and even lazy fat people will lose weight and become "healthy" thin people. Well, let me just say, even when I was eating well and exercising every single day, I never got below about 250 lbs which is still 75 lbs higher than the BMI that would get me barely into the "normal" weight range. I was fit, I could hike and bike. I walked all over Europe. I could ride my bike up the long, steep incline of the bridge over our town's train station (something I couldn't do when I arrived). I felt great. In fact, I bet most doctors would have thought I was just a little overweight even though my BMI at the time was still above 30 (which is considered obese). On the other side of that, I gained weight while not eating more than normal and still exercising daily. So many factors go into weight gain and loss that it needs to stop being used as a measure of health.
I have a close friend who is vegan, who eats mainly fruits and veggies, cooks amazing and healthy meals for herself, exercises almost daily and her BMI is probably still overweight or obese. She's also tall and muscular with broad shoulders. She will likely never fit into that static "normal" weight range. She is healthy and beautiful. I've known people who are lectured to gain weight because they are thin enough to be thought anorexic. They are not.
Healthy people are, get ready for a shock here, diverse in size and shape. I know that on this journal, I am probably preaching to the choir, but I'm also trying to talk through my thoughts and the information I am receiving. If people are interested, I can put up a filter. Otherwise, I'll just cut the posts so everyone who doesn't want to read my HAES rambling can just slide on past. :)
Ok, I'm going to read about EKG's. My life just doesn't get much more exciting than this. :)
I've also been reading this blog about obese women related to pregnancy and childbirth. Wow, some of the things they are told are super crazy! Like they will die if they have a baby. They can't have a baby vaginally. They should abort. (that one makes me so sick). Because of this blog, I've decided to do my research paper for my last Natural Childbirth class on obesity in pregnancy and childbirth.
This all has started to galvanize me. I am sick of the idea that people get treated poorly, or don't get treated medically at all, because of their size. That people are afraid to go to the doctor because they know that they will not get treated at all, merely get a lecture about losing weight. Heck, most of the time they aren't even given a clue as to what constitutes a truly healthy diet (though many of them already know). It isn't about losing weight, it's about improving health. Doctors are often well meaning, but most, even obese doctors, do not really understand that.
Fear of fat also hurts thin people. Such stress is placed on not gaining weight. I've seen polls where people were less scared of losing limbs or DYING than they were of being fat. How fucked up is that? People kill themselves or destroy their health to become or stay thin and it is so crazy.
I know a lot of people will tell me that willpower will get the job done, dieting, restricting, exercising. Do all of these things and even lazy fat people will lose weight and become "healthy" thin people. Well, let me just say, even when I was eating well and exercising every single day, I never got below about 250 lbs which is still 75 lbs higher than the BMI that would get me barely into the "normal" weight range. I was fit, I could hike and bike. I walked all over Europe. I could ride my bike up the long, steep incline of the bridge over our town's train station (something I couldn't do when I arrived). I felt great. In fact, I bet most doctors would have thought I was just a little overweight even though my BMI at the time was still above 30 (which is considered obese). On the other side of that, I gained weight while not eating more than normal and still exercising daily. So many factors go into weight gain and loss that it needs to stop being used as a measure of health.
I have a close friend who is vegan, who eats mainly fruits and veggies, cooks amazing and healthy meals for herself, exercises almost daily and her BMI is probably still overweight or obese. She's also tall and muscular with broad shoulders. She will likely never fit into that static "normal" weight range. She is healthy and beautiful. I've known people who are lectured to gain weight because they are thin enough to be thought anorexic. They are not.
Healthy people are, get ready for a shock here, diverse in size and shape. I know that on this journal, I am probably preaching to the choir, but I'm also trying to talk through my thoughts and the information I am receiving. If people are interested, I can put up a filter. Otherwise, I'll just cut the posts so everyone who doesn't want to read my HAES rambling can just slide on past. :)
Ok, I'm going to read about EKG's. My life just doesn't get much more exciting than this. :)