Why does Candy hate fat people?

[Deleted08]

She wrote :

I think many modern people suffer sickness and disease due to being too sedentary.

Yeah because my genetic fibromyalgia is totally due to me being lazy lmao lol! Being active is important but not all of us can do it.

This is far from the worst thing she's written about obesity but I get the "holier than you because I exercise" vibe from her like a mofo.

I just wonder if anyone gets why she is so anti-fat... (hope this came out clear, in the middle of fibro fog)

[Hane]

Funny you should mention this today. Today, which is my 60th birthday, I spent having a cardiac stress test. I'll be following it up with a nuclear stress test over the next couple of days: I have a family history of cardiovascular disease.

And I'm heavy. The only health favors I've done myself are never smoking, drinking very little, and avoiding recreational drugs.

I have a sedentary job, and don't exercise to speak of. Yeah, that's smart. The food I eat is healthy, but I eat too much of it. That's smart, too.

I vehemently oppose the current culture of fat-bashing, with its underlying excuse of "But we're SO worried about your health!" (which is all too often a freaking lie).

Yet here I am, face to face with the fact that my exercise and dietary habits are contributing to health risks.

[quinoa mama]

I just went to her blog and found the post you are talking about. Here, almost halfway down for those that don't have it: http://www.joyfulchristianhomemaking.com/

I don't have a problem with this post. I hate fat shaming, and I am a fat person. I am NO fan of Candy or fundamentalism. I read this post as positive encouragement to get active for good health.

[lemurknits]

Because Fundies like to pretend everything is perfect.

[rock_girl]

Does she have a history of making snarky comments about fat and fat people? Because that post seems in line with most things I've read about fat acceptance. Note that Candy doesn't talk about bmi, or waist measurement. She makes a point of noting diversity in body size and asks her readers what they feel their healthy body weight is without offering judgement.

Whatever weight you are, being sedentary does nobody any favours. There's nothing wrong with acknowledging that. Everyone should, assuming they've the ability, work toward being as active as possible.

The only issue I have with her post is that she recommends taking up jogging. It works for some people, but if you're unfit and overweight, you're going to put a lot of strain on your body. Better to start with low-impact exercise and work up to running.

[Cran]

Candy has, in the past, put herself on a pedestal because of her supposed perfect lifestyle, which involves (or so she tells) a lot of exercise and healthy eating. Coming from her, I find this statements offensive, but only because she was my gateway fundie and I've read her extensively.

For her, overweight = lazy = sin = go to hell.

Irony of it all: She is trying to lose weight ALL THE TIME (the elusive five or ten pounds) and never manages it, because her eating habits are not healthy at all. She used to post what she consumed, and even apart from their carb-ladden daily fare, it was awful: Junkfood, sugary soda and little to no vegetables and fruits all the time.

I think she keeps her acceptable weight only because she does indeed exercise a lot or is incredibly lucky with genes, and her obsessive quest to have the ideal body has something of disordered eating about it.

And remember the time she was so big on modesty and then posted pictures of herself in scant/exercise clothing on some fit people site or other and claimed it wouldn't violate moesty because it was to log her progress only?

[RosyDaisy]

Hey, Candy! You are an ignorant bitch. Obesity is a complex medical condition, not that you would ever agree with that. So, why don't you pucker up and kiss my big fat ass.

Yes, the cat's out of the bag. Rosy here is obese, but I'm working with my doctor to get healthy.

[snarkbillie]

I'm obese and healthy. I have a normal blood pressure, normal cholesterol, when I'm not injured I can run a half marathon in a reasonable time, my heart scan looked great. Obesity can be a symptom of other health issues like being sedentary or eating a terrible diet, but being obese alone is not a death sentence and does not tell you ANYTHING about someone's habits or whether or not they are healthy. I eat better and exercise more than most thin people I know. I am obese because of genetics and medications and certain medical conditions that would affect me the same whether I was 'fat' or not. Did you know that yo-yo dieting can be more harmful to your body than being overweight? My body sticks at about 200lbs no matter what I do unless I starve myself or do something idiotic like take stimulants that actually can and do harm your heart! I've quit trying to "lose weight", instead I try to eat right and exercise and fuck the rest of it.

[ilovetchotchkes]

Fuck you Candy.

The ONLY "chronic" health problem I have is asthma. And I had that when I was slender as well.

Not only is my blood pressure not high, its borderline dangerously low. (90/60 on average! it never got above 110/70 while pregnant!)

And yes, i'm "obese". By about 30lbs, but I am in that category. Although, I think BMI is a bunch of bullshit, if you look at my bone structure, I am not a delicate thing with my broad shoulders and hips, I'm built to till fields, and birth babies. I seriously have a pelvis you probably could drive a mack truck through.

And yes, I know for a fact that if I went on a diet and worked out like a maniac, it would fall off in a heart beat. However, I am not doing that, not because I'm "lazy" but because I do not want to endanger my youngest child's food source. When she weans, I'll consider going on a diet simply because type II diabetes runs in my family on my dad's side and my dad is overweight and "pre diabetic". There's also heart issues. If something were to happen cardiac wise, and I was 150lbs I would not get the fat shaming lecture from doctors that I would if it happened at the weight I'm currently at.

[pixydust]

I'm also obese and healthy. Blood pressure is great (but I am really salt sensitive, so I have to watch it), cholesterol is slightly elevated (just had that tested for the first time ever), & my liver and heart are happy. I do have asthma, but like Tchotchke, I had it when I was thin. So why am I obese? Well I think that I have PCOS, but good luck trying to get an OBGYN to listen to that after you tell them that you have 3 kids!

[Closed Womb]

A favorite quote of mine:

"The only thing that you can tell from looking at my body is what size I am, and what your prejudices and stereotypes about my size are." - Ragen Chastain

[ilovetchotchkes]

I'm also obese and healthy. Blood pressure is great (but I am really salt sensitive, so I have to watch it), cholesterol is slightly elevated (just had that tested for the first time ever), & my liver and heart are happy. I do have asthma, but like Tchotchke, I had it when I was thin. So why am I obese? Well I think that I have PCOS, but good luck trying to get an OBGYN to listen to that after you tell them that you have 3 kids!

With both kids, at the initial ultrasound, I had polycystic ovaries, but none of the other symptoms of PCOS until I hit a higher weight. But really, honestly? I'm 99% sure I'm done having kids. And once i'm done breastfeeding, If I go on a diet, I'll be FINE.

And I know someone with diagnosed PCOS that got pregnant with both kids the first month they tried. PCOS is one of those bizzare disorders that affects women across the spectrum so differently. :( And the most frustrating thing- is you never know. You could have all of the symptoms, or none of the symptoms aside from cystic ovaries and infertility.

[pixydust]

With both kids, at the initial ultrasound, I had polycystic ovaries, but none of the other symptoms of PCOS until I hit a higher weight. But really, honestly? I'm 99% sure I'm done having kids. And once i'm done breastfeeding, If I go on a diet, I'll be FINE.

And I know someone with diagnosed PCOS that got pregnant with both kids the first month they tried. PCOS is one of those bizzare disorders that affects women across the spectrum so differently. :( And the most frustrating thing- is you never know. You could have all of the symptoms, or none of the symptoms aside from cystic ovaries and infertility.

I have all of the symptoms except infertility and high blood sugar (it's actually low). I have hellacious ovarian cysts, they've been diagnosed, but no one wants to say it's PCOS! Drives me batty.

[jjmennonite]

A favorite quote of mine:

"The only thing that you can tell from looking at my body is what size I am, and what your prejudices and stereotypes about my size are." - Ragen Chastain

:clap:

I am overweight AND very active and healthy. To all you who said you are obese and healthy, I just read about a study that shows obese people can be healthy and I can't for the life of me remember where I read it or what any details were on that premise.

[cindyluvs24]

I suspect Candy was once overweight and given hell for it.

[Shasta ODonegal]

Cindy probably nailed it.

My bad thought: Candy is very stupid and thinks heathen fat people want to eat her because of her name.

[fundiefan]

Candy's husband likes small women so she has spent her entire adult life trying to meet his ideals, whatever the cost.

She's said she was never his type and she's mentioned his comments to her about her weight at times.

Candy is obsessed with becoming her asshole husband's ideal, even though she'll never get there, and in order to make herself tolerate her life, she has to drag others into it with her. It's her only way to be validated since her husband will never tell her she is hot or sexy.

[shesinsane]

Why does it makes itself so tempting and delicious? Why does it comes in so many tasty varieties? Why does it mix so well with cookies, cake, and ice cream alike? It's so bad for you but tastes so gooooood.

Oops, I was responding to why does candy hate fat people. :D

[Shasta ODonegal]

Heh!

And how sad is it that she feels compelled t o make someone happy who seems to have no interest in making her happy?

[JeanneD]

Candy's husband likes small women so she has spent her entire adult life trying to meet his ideals, whatever the cost.

She's said she was never his type and she's mentioned his comments to her about her weight at times.

Candy is obsessed with becoming her asshole husband's ideal, even though she'll never get there, and in order to make herself tolerate her life, she has to drag others into it with her. It's her only way to be validated since her husband will never tell her she is hot or sexy.

That's terrible. Now I feel pity for her instead of disgust. Or at least I would if she didn't project her insecurities on others. That's just in poor taste.

[Jessica]

Didn't her husband once make a comment about how she should lose some weight?

I really do feel for her sometimes. If I were stuck at home with four kids, no outside friends, no socialization other than grocery shopping and blog comments, knowing I'd never measure up to my husband's wishes, I'd say some crazy-ass stuff too (actually, other than the number of kids, I was there myself and I said some really mea things a few times! Hence the divorce...).

[Deleted08]

I know her mom is/was obese so that might of made her feel off about it.

I had NO idea about her husband, poor Candy :(. My husband used to say about me being chunky but now he likes the extra lol!

[YPestis]

I don't see anthing negative about the fundie's post on sedentary lifestyle. In fact, it's probably one of the most innocuous posts I've seen on a fundie blog! Has she made other comments about fat people? To me, obesity as a medical issue is separate from obesity as a beauty mark. Beauty is subjective, medicine is...evidence based.

Having extra weight is not unhealthy by itself (surprising to many people I suppose), but being *medically* obese is unhealthy and can cause long term problems later in life. The medical definition if obesity is having so much excess body fat that it affects one's health. It has nothing to do with bone size or extra water weight. It is not a healthy state, just as being extremely underweight is unhealthy.

It's not just blood pressure or cholesterol that one should look at. Being extremely overweight also wears down the joints at a faster rate, and overworks organs like the heart. Fat cells (adipoctyes) have endocrine functions and can synthesize estrogen. Excess amount of them will contribute to infertility (among other issues). For a long time, people thought fat cells were blank storage cells, but we are discovering they have many functions.

(I remember the endocrine effects of adipocytes were just hitting mainstream news media when I learned it as a med student. My mother was doing research on adipoctyes at that time and she asked *me* for my notes on it. She glanced over it and quickly tossed it back. Evidently, nothing we learn in med school is really *new* to people who research this for a living!)

I hate to think people treat the issue of fat as a cosmetic or moral failure. It is not. It's a complex social issue but which our society is very quickly facing. Fundies can't seem to parse out the complexity of obesity. I guess in such a controlled subculture, there are some that see food as a control issue, and obesity as the result of uncontrolled appetites. Sadly, people with eating disorders come in all sizes. To me, the main goal is to eat healthy, get exercise and avoid the issues associated with an unhealthy lifestyle. For MOST people who are of a healthy weight, they *still* won't look like the people on TV. People can't seem to separate weight from beauty. I guess not even fundies are immune to our weight obsessed society?

[Mustang Sally]

I thought the post was not specifically about weight or fat people, though Candy has definitely emphasized weight in the past. To me, it seems she sees keeping her weight in line as part of her duty to femininity.

Sadly, you don't have to be a fundie to see it like that. I think a lot of women do.

She seems to pride herself on her exercise and I think she seeks to motivate people to exercise more, which is like...okay, sure, if that's your thing...but she often comes off as a bit arrogant about it. And she acts as though it's so easy - "Just set a goal, reach it, and maintain!" Like, super easy guyz! Like, people haven't been trying to do this for nearly a century now and failing on a massive scale! It's easy! (If you're naturally average sized and you lose and regain the same 10 lbs, that is.)

[itsnikki05]

That's ok. She's just jealous of all the lovely "fat" women out there! ;) I'm included on that! I may be large, but I am fairly active, eat healthy, and have a full and wonderful life. She needs to stop taking out her insecurities on others. I don't understand it. I guess... partially because my husband loves me just the way I am. But also because.. I don't know. I just don't understand it. I guess for the same reason I don't understand "fat shaming" to begin with.

Edit: And I'm just as beautiful and feminine FAT as I was when I was skinny. Well, more so because when I was skinny I was a girl. Soon as I became a woman, I developed very quickly and even then was considered fat because I'm short (5'3"). Now, I know I'm at a larger end of fat, and would love to be down some lbs but I can't see where putting myself or other larger women down is going to help that any! I friggin HATE the "fat women aren't feminine" thing. That is such BS.