I commented recently at length on one post that has had nearly five thousand looks so far, in which the writer (and I prefer not to name her here) rather virulently went after bodybuilders and thin girls. I’m both. However I’ve also been obese. My choice to lift weights has nothing to do with her argument that the ONLY reason I do is is my ego. Not even close. I like being strong, grew up on a farm, and it’s a value set. Slinging weights has always been fun, and as part of an exercise program, is the flip of aerobic work for long life. Plenty of research around that, nobody has to agree with me.

The comments made in that article are pointed, angry and border on vicious towards those who are, who prefer, who would like to be thinner. All that does is justify one more place to hate. While I agree wholeheartedly, and regularly write about how thin does NOT equate to fit, I decry the personal and wholly unnecessary attacks on anyone’s body for any reason, other than to express anger and disgust at one’s own. Been there, understand it, but to your point, Michelle, that very behavior twists body positivity into just one more source for hate.

A while back, I read a piece by Your Fat Friend about a friend of hers from college. It was painful to read, for eventually her friend got bypass surgery, and was lost to the world of the thin, including dumping the author. While I don’t argue anyone’s right to do what it takes to feel better about their bodies, what saddened me about the story was the friend’s wholesale dumping of their connection. As if her being obese made her less worthy of friendship.

There is no excuse for body shaming for any reason. Singer Adele, who lost some forty pounds recently, has been both praised and attacked. I looked up her diet (https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/diet-nutrition/a30447497/what-is-sirtfood-diet/) and am just as disappointed with that as I am Keto and other fads which simply do not teach ordered eating or healthy interactions with food.

The point isn’t thin. The point is fit. Functional fitness. You can be a size 20 woman and an endurance runner (yes you can). I realize it doesn’t sell stupid shit but the point is coming to terms with what we have. I have done that. It took forty years and all my teeth — disordered eating writ large- but I got there.

There’s nothing positive about a movement that gives people permission to attack others for choosing differently. That’s just hate in another form.