I wanted to address something because I’ve been getting a lot of flack online this past week. I wrote a piece for You magazine about weight loss, and people are angry.
Your YOU article is great - and well balanced IMHO. I personally do eat all the time, but that could be because I have Gilbert's Syndrome, but hey, we're all different. All weight loss strategies will work for someone and no weight loss strategies will work for everyone.
What I picked up on though, from your post is that you said you had flack for posting about weight loss. I get that 'diet culture' is BAD. I agree. Diets don't work because they're not about YOU, at best they're just general advice that may work for some people. I said I had Gilbert's - I only found this out a couple of years ago; had I known decades ago I would have understood the desperate hangry cravings and may have been more equipped to work around them. So diets aren't about US and we don't necessarily even know ourselves well enough to know what our bodies truly need.
But what really worries me, from all over the (I agree, unnuanced) internet is that it now seems hard / risky / ill-advised to talk about weight loss. I'm sorry you got flack for writing about weight loss. I am sorry anyone is angry that a balanced, nuanced discussion of weight and weight loss exists.
Weight loss does not always equal BAD DIET culture. Talking about weight loss does not have to induce eating disorders or body image issues. We do need to find an emotionally healthy way to talk about weight loss to help the people that really want to, to build emotional and physical wellness.
40 million people in the UK are overweight or obese. 20 million people want not to be. 7 million people in the UK are on a 'weight loss programme' of some sort. (According to NHS).
These people need help. 20 million people want help. We have to be able to talk about the problem and the solutions and not be afraid to have the conversation in case we offend (the minority of) people who may not wish to lose weight or talk about it.
Personally, I can't stop writing about weight loss because losing my excess weight (85 pounds of it) radically changed my life and I want to shout from the rooftops so I can help other people liberate themselves from unwanted overweight too. My weight loss became possible via self-love, not a restrictive diet. I learned self-love first then I was able to lose weight. Yes of course I ate less and 'better', but saw this as a focus on wellness - with all the other benefits of treating myself well (as per your post - there are a ton of health benefits to treating ourselves well).
I haven't really talked about the problems I see with a minority trying to silence weight loss discussions / cancelling diet culture / etc... I have been afraid of being accused of supporting diet culture, of fat shaming, and a whole host of other things. But I am now so concerned we're unable to talk about weight that I really might just start shouting loudly about this.
Keep doing what you're doing. Your article was great and will help people.
I've done incredibly restrictive diets in my time, I've then completely rejected diets, and I've read a lot of content on diet culture, health, mental wellbeing etc.
I've now found a happy medium state, which is:
I personally feel better when I focus on balanced eating (nothing is off limits if I want it, but I try to structure my main meals around a good mix of vegetables, carbs and protein), regular exercise (a mix of walking and strength training with a PT) and do a bit of flexible 'intermittent fasting' (which is, usually I skip breakfast, unless I'm starving in which case I will listen to my body and eat, and never beat myself up for it).
I am trying to lose a little weight, but it's not my only purpose to being healthier, it's because I FEEL better and more positive about myself when I focus on my health.
I'm actually in the middle of drafting something about this.
The trouble with The Internet is there's no nuance.
As you say, there's no problem with trying to lose a little weight as a health goal, as long as that's not your *only* goal and you're doing it for the right reasons.
Neither you, nor 'You' were telling people they must follow this or that diet, or they must do XYZ to lose weight, you were giving science-backed information which refutes something which has become a built in belief to us all (that grazing constantly is healthier than square meals as it 'fires up the metabolism').
This grazing theory is what led me to eating even when I wasn't hungry and definitely did nothing for my health, so I was pleased to read your article on the science behind why SEAT is fine to do.
Brilliant article. Those that complained missed the whole point. Well said!
Rosamund,
Your YOU article is great - and well balanced IMHO. I personally do eat all the time, but that could be because I have Gilbert's Syndrome, but hey, we're all different. All weight loss strategies will work for someone and no weight loss strategies will work for everyone.
What I picked up on though, from your post is that you said you had flack for posting about weight loss. I get that 'diet culture' is BAD. I agree. Diets don't work because they're not about YOU, at best they're just general advice that may work for some people. I said I had Gilbert's - I only found this out a couple of years ago; had I known decades ago I would have understood the desperate hangry cravings and may have been more equipped to work around them. So diets aren't about US and we don't necessarily even know ourselves well enough to know what our bodies truly need.
But what really worries me, from all over the (I agree, unnuanced) internet is that it now seems hard / risky / ill-advised to talk about weight loss. I'm sorry you got flack for writing about weight loss. I am sorry anyone is angry that a balanced, nuanced discussion of weight and weight loss exists.
Weight loss does not always equal BAD DIET culture. Talking about weight loss does not have to induce eating disorders or body image issues. We do need to find an emotionally healthy way to talk about weight loss to help the people that really want to, to build emotional and physical wellness.
40 million people in the UK are overweight or obese. 20 million people want not to be. 7 million people in the UK are on a 'weight loss programme' of some sort. (According to NHS).
These people need help. 20 million people want help. We have to be able to talk about the problem and the solutions and not be afraid to have the conversation in case we offend (the minority of) people who may not wish to lose weight or talk about it.
Personally, I can't stop writing about weight loss because losing my excess weight (85 pounds of it) radically changed my life and I want to shout from the rooftops so I can help other people liberate themselves from unwanted overweight too. My weight loss became possible via self-love, not a restrictive diet. I learned self-love first then I was able to lose weight. Yes of course I ate less and 'better', but saw this as a focus on wellness - with all the other benefits of treating myself well (as per your post - there are a ton of health benefits to treating ourselves well).
I haven't really talked about the problems I see with a minority trying to silence weight loss discussions / cancelling diet culture / etc... I have been afraid of being accused of supporting diet culture, of fat shaming, and a whole host of other things. But I am now so concerned we're unable to talk about weight that I really might just start shouting loudly about this.
Keep doing what you're doing. Your article was great and will help people.
Totally agree!
I've done incredibly restrictive diets in my time, I've then completely rejected diets, and I've read a lot of content on diet culture, health, mental wellbeing etc.
I've now found a happy medium state, which is:
I personally feel better when I focus on balanced eating (nothing is off limits if I want it, but I try to structure my main meals around a good mix of vegetables, carbs and protein), regular exercise (a mix of walking and strength training with a PT) and do a bit of flexible 'intermittent fasting' (which is, usually I skip breakfast, unless I'm starving in which case I will listen to my body and eat, and never beat myself up for it).
I am trying to lose a little weight, but it's not my only purpose to being healthier, it's because I FEEL better and more positive about myself when I focus on my health.
I'm actually in the middle of drafting something about this.
The trouble with The Internet is there's no nuance.
As you say, there's no problem with trying to lose a little weight as a health goal, as long as that's not your *only* goal and you're doing it for the right reasons.
Neither you, nor 'You' were telling people they must follow this or that diet, or they must do XYZ to lose weight, you were giving science-backed information which refutes something which has become a built in belief to us all (that grazing constantly is healthier than square meals as it 'fires up the metabolism').
This grazing theory is what led me to eating even when I wasn't hungry and definitely did nothing for my health, so I was pleased to read your article on the science behind why SEAT is fine to do.
Brilliant piece! Well said