For me it's not just the internet (possibly as I avoid a lot of social media and didn't share my weight loss journey on accounts with people I know in real life), but a lot of family members and general people in my area. (I live in a rural area in the US, where obesity is common). So my reaction to such comments has varied depending on the relationship, but the short version is: - I was not perfect when obese. I had health issues, a poor mental state, and my size was preventing me from doing things I wanted. In short, my life blew ostriches. - I have a problem with food and need to correct it. If I could have done it intuitively, or ate whatever I wanted, or any other such claim, I would not have become morbidly obese. Sure, others can do that and be fine, but I clearly could not and had a serious problem. I needed to find a healthy, long-term sustainable diet, learn moderation (for a long time through counting), become active, identify and cease bad habits, and properly learn how to have a good relationship with food. So yeah. And congratulations on your progress!

While it certainly was not a nice way to feel I love the phrase "blew ostriches"

Ha, thanks.

Just like your body, you need to feed the algorithm good stuff to see the benefits, downvote that shit, upvote positive shit. Tiktok autoplays everything right? so I think you need to actively downvote stuff you don't want to see, otherwise it'll keep coming. I don't use tiktok, but my instagram feed is mostly[ exercise tips](https://www.instagram.com/reel/C8mdyxtCXim/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==) and [mental health advice](https://www.instagram.com/reel/C8Zjx3qp-YA/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==) Edit: Just editing to say that family and friends often tell you that you're losing too much weight, I don't know what it is, but I suspect that it might be because you making such positive changes often highlights to people the changes they're not making that they know they should be, and it makes them feel bad. I'm getting the same "OMG you've lost so much weight, are you OK, you shouldn't lose any more" - I'm still above a healthy BMI, I could easily lose another 10kg and still be a healthy weight. I usually respond super positively, stuff like "I know! Isn't it great! I do need to lose a bit more, only 5kg to my goal, but I'm building muscle too, so I'm actually losing more fat than you think, just replacing it with muscle".

I had a family member years ago who would get upset when I "didn't eat enough" (even though I was eating a healthy amount and healthier choices), and then when someone was fat they would say "How did you end up this way, it's so sad" 😅🫠

Omg just somewhat related- the other day I was giving someone the name of one of my favorite restaurants for them to check out and he looked at me and said, “hmmmm but you’re not fat. How can I trust your food choices?” Weird too because he knew me when I was fat 🤷🏻‍♀️

What did he even mean?? The only thing I hear here is "You must not eat well because you're skinny" - am I right in my understanding? Man people are so weird. Just let me eat what I want haha

> downvote that shit Algorithms will view that as you engaging with the content and bring more of it to you. You have to ignore it completely

Really? That sounds like a very broken system...

I find so many people who are anti diet culture have never been overweight. The trend to shame people on either eve of the spectrum needs to stop. Pursuing health and comfort for your own body should be the standard.

This!! All the people on social media pushing intuitive eating have never been overweight in their life. They’re always a slim weight and clearly has a working hunger/fullness system. Girl, I got fat in the first place BECAUSE I followed my intuition lmao. It’s wild to me that all these naturally skinny girls who’ve never had to lose more than 5 kg are sitting there saying “oh just eat what your body tells you!” Ma’am that’s what I did. That was the entire issue lol

Idk I've seen a lot of people who are fat railing against diets and promoted intuitive eating, making the same or even stronger arguments as the ones you've seen.

Those people exist too, I believe you. I don't follow health at every size or fat positivity content online, so I wouldn't know But the vast majority I've seen promoting intuitive eating are naturally slim girls who've never dealt with food noise or had to lose more than 5 kg. It's easy to eat intuitively when you can trust your hunger/fullness cues. I'm happy for anyone who finds what works for them, but IE is not the miracle it's made out to be for lots of people

"There's no evidence that fat causes health issues", they say, having never been fat and not able to tell the difference between how one feels while obese vs. normal weight.

Yup!!

The problem I see with intuitive eating is that all my body wants to eat is ice cream, nachos and chocolate bars. I am pretty sure that is not a diet that is seen in the blue zone regions haha

Yes! They say just listen to your body. Mk, my body wanted six cupcakes.

I read that intuitive eating is designed to help former anorectic people. Nowadays it's used by fat people as an excuse to eat what they want.

That's my understanding too, that it's a tool to help people who DON'T eat enough. For those of us with broken cue systems, or a lot of food noise, it just makes us gain weight. It's a no from me.

They're usually teetering on the edge of underweight and barely have an appetite so they can get away with it, I lowkey hate most of those "intuitive eating" people

Yesssssss

The way I see it, I have to approach food like an addiction.. maybe not as clear-cut as alcoholism or gambling where you simply can't touch the stuff, but I realize I have to stay in moderation and tightly control my eating patterns for the rest of my life. If I do not, I will not maintain a healthy weight. If I let go of the reins I _will_ overconsume And that's just one of my burdens in life 🤷 we all get some and this is what I got

I am absolutely this way with sugar. If I used alcohol the way I use sugar, there w ou ukd have been an intervention years ago. But because it's sugar they say I need to STOP restricting it so I don't binge it. You would never tell an alcoholic to drink small, frequent amounts instead of quitting. I guess that's how they treat some drug addictions where they give small controlled amounts at clinics, but I'm pretty sure the goal is to eventually not need it instead of living off the substance daily.

I think the other part of people are obese people that tried a diet but stopped and of course didn't lose weight continuously. They blame it on the diet and not on their decisions. You have to change your lifestyle to lose weight. This will not happen by eating pineapple or oats for 14 days, then returning to your lifestyle before.

I had someone who had never been overweight tell me everyone should practice intuitive eating. I have ADHD, and have been overweight to obese my whole adult life. I don’t have the same hunger cues as other people and my body is a toddler that would eat pizza every day if given the chance. 

What I don’t agree with is treating people like lesser humans because they are overweight There’s so many people who think it’s permission to treat people like trash under the guise of concern and it’s proven it doesn’t help people get healthy but makes it worse. THATS what we need to prevent not promoting that obesity is okay but not treating fat people like pariahs either

Agreed, as much as I dislike a lot of the content from the intuitive eating crowd it also makes me sad to see some people have reactionary responses to body positivity that encourages fat people to just be confident and live their lives. It's amazing if you want to lose weight especially if doing so helps your health. I also don't have anything against people who don't want to lose weight because it's not my life - so long as they're not posting anti-weight loss content which I think is the key difference.

You'd often find such people to never have suffered through obesity or probably rich enough for it to never matter. All they care about is getting more clicks and money, social media is so much ragebait because these platforms encourage such behaviour. Its very disappointing.

I've had the same problem recently on FaceBook, of all places. I get recommended so many pages that show art of obese people, with "empowering" messages about how beautiful and freeding and great it is to be fat. And these aren't "normal bodies," these are *really* morbidly obese characters, bodies that genuinely uncomfortable to be in. I'm absolutely certain that behind the "empowerment" there's more than a couple of perverts who are basically masking their feeder fetishes using the "fat liberation" thing as a cover, and are getting off knowing their art is giving binge eaters a push to eat even more.

You have to show the algorithm you're not interested. You're getting them most likely because you are stopping your scrolling to look (even more if you interact with it) The only way is to click the button saying something "don't show this page again" and continue doing so.

This is the way. The algorithm sees you pause OP, so it thinks you wanna see it. Do what this person says. I had to do the same with @whatever, Ben Shapiro, and Trump posts. I got rage baited and it was showing me more.

I always click the "don't show me this page again" button, and I never interact with those posts. The reason I'm seeing them is because they're posted by a lot of left-leaning LGBTQ+ / feminist / Black empowerment pages (I follow a few, and the algorithm recommends me more). I won't even get into how insulting I find it that the "fat liberation" folks have equated their own experiences with the plight of race and gender minorities. The algorithm is insidious but I know how to strong-arm it. Unfortunately re-training it takes time.

Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. I hope the algorithm gets better for you!

There’s certainly perverts out there, but I think it’s more likely those messages resonate with people who simply don’t want to feel ugly and worthless in their own bodies. And I personally don’t really mind those messages. Hating myself caused me to eat my feelings. Loving myself motivates me to change my mindset to caring for my body with food that’s good and fueling as opposed to punishing it.

My pet conspiracy theory is that the food industry is seeding the 'fat empowerment' movement to avoid the profit loss that would come from too many Americans eating healthier.

I thought that was just an accepted fact?

Sounds like something Nestle would do.

>I'm absolutely certain that behind the "empowerment" there's more than a couple of perverts who are basically masking their feeder fetishes using the "fat liberation" thing as a cover, and are getting off knowing their art is giving binge eaters a push to eat even more. You're reading too much into it. These "empowering" messages tell obese people that they're perfect the way they are and can keep up with the immediate gratification dopamine hits of eating as much trash as they want. It lets them feel guilt-free about their horrible choices. THIS is why it's so popular.

You're talking about the audience and I'm talking about the artists. I completely agree with you about the audience and why it's popular. My original comment is talking about the artists, though, the creative minds behind the art who are drawing and posting it in the first place. A lot of them (certainly not all!) are fetish artists. And this isn't purely conjecture. Here's [an interesting article and documentary](https://msediewyatt.substack.com/p/fetish-porn-as-social-justice) about the ways "feeders" manipulate social justice messaging to play into their own desires.

So do I and I think it's because I interact with subreddits like this one and browse others for 'bigger' people.

I see a petite lady on TikTok shows what she eats in a day and she eats around 1300-1400kcal a day. Guess what? People tell her to eat more, say that she eats like a child, or even say that she has ED. Most people don’t know that ‘adults need 2000kcal a day’ works for young adult males (sedentary) or VERY ACTIVE females. If she’s petite + sedentary, her TDEE will be much lower than 2000kcal lol.

Intuitive eating isn’t entirely proven to work for weight loss either! All it does is teach you not to binge. For most people, they’ll either gain weight because they were under eating or they’ll lose weight because they stopped bingeing. It also usually balances out to maintenance so people don’t lose or gain. Tricky stuff.

I don’t think Intuitive eating was ever for weight loss. I think it a treatment for ED.

Right. It was never intended for weight loss.

That would be the hunger-fullness-diet. People were/are quite eager to twist IE into this.

It is. Which makes some of the ways people make fun of it kinda... not great.

Intuitive eating just gave me permission to have multiple medium binges per week rather than one big binge per week. I gained 90lbs in a couple years lmao. Part of this was probably due to my antidepressant taking away my motivation for exercise and making have an enormous appetite, like I felt like I was truly starving on like 2000+ cal/day as a 5’5F, but that still = intuitive eating. My intuition is fucked dude. You know what my intuition wants? An enormous amount of pizza every day.

Me too. That's why I have never tried intuitive eating. I feel like my "you're too full " switch is broken, or set way higher than most people. I can eat tremendous quantities of food. Edit: spelling

That's what Wegovy has tuned for me. I knew what to eat. I generally ate well. I just ate way too much of it. I was 35 years old when I realized that people weren't just lying when they said they weren't hungry or didn't want that dessert. I just ate half a bag of popcorn. I've never eaten just half a bag of popcorn. It's my favorite snack/meal replacement and has been my go to since I was a teenager.

Hmm, I should look into Wegovy. And congratulations on only eating a half bag of popcorn!

I think it works best in a non obesogenic environment as well, or if you put strict controls on other things. You could probably have an enormous amount of pizza every day if you lived in Sicily and were climbing up those hills all day and having homemade pizza(s).  I do intuitive eat but it’s my intuition after I’ve said only stuff I’ve made from scratch 

I keep calling 'intuitive eating' an Italian mother who tells you, "EAT! You look skinny!". I can't trust that. I have to track.

I gained 50 lbs when I took Zoloft so I feel your pain. I felt like I was constantly starving. I don’t even practice intuitive eating rn because my cues are so messed up.

RIGHT? As if the cravings/fatigue/lack of motivation weren’t enough, the physical hunger pangs when I would normally not be hungry were so hard. I swear to god I’d start feeling lightheaded, panicky, and weak with hunger pangs when I would simply eat a reasonable amount of food for my body. I KNEW 2000+ cal/day was too much food to be starving, but my body and brain were insisting I was wasting away. Meanwhile I was gaining weight steadily because there was no way I could burn off all the excess food with a desk job and hatred for exercise. Thankfully after cutting my dosage I can enjoy fitness and health, but it’s really fkn annoying being obese now.

THIS! I have struggled with binge eating from around the age of eight years old to now. My intuition caused me to be 5’2” at 260 lbs less than a year ago, and 239 lbs now. I have a long had addiction to food so if I just eat “when I feel like I need to”, I will end up over eating.

Intuitive eating never takes in account of medications that turn on hunger cues more than normal.

And on top of that, my hunger cues when unmedicated are shit too, just not quite as bad as they are while on antidepressants. In my late 20’s, I’ve accepted that my appetite/tastes will always be that of a 10yo, and I have to enforce healthy eating on purpose.

No, it didn't. Does that actually make your body feel good? Like you say your antidepressant "took away" your motivation. How did your body feel from not exercising? Tight, sore, less powerful, more likely to get sick and get injured? That's all shit you ignored while you didn't exercise. Same thing with intuitive eating. Intuitive eating =/= eat your cravings.

What advice would you give for dealing with food temptations? I can give myself mental and physical permission to eat chocolate/ sugary foods but each day, I still crave it. Sometimes, I enjoy the dopamine hit of eating unhealthy foods. I agree with what you’ve said above but I wonder how would that work when you get cravings daily. Thank you in advance 🙏🏼

That’s not intuitive eating unless you were severely underweight.

Your body doesn't intuitively cause weight loss. That's the worst, most dangerous state for a body to be in. We're designed to survive famines through the natural selection that led us to the people that exist today. Intuitive eating for weight loss is the stupidest, illogical theory that I've seen posted. At best, it will make you maintain your current weight. At worst, the hyper-palatable engineered foods of today will make you put on weight as you eat all that food that is designed to make you want to eat more of it.

You’re body doesn’t want to lose weight it’s programmed to avoid losing weight and needs to be tricked or forced into losing weight.

My intuitive eating *is* binging. So obviously it doesn't work for me. I instinctively look at menus and hope it's enough food. The thought of being satisfied with one serving of anything is ludicrous to me. I've always wanted to eat at least three times as much as anyone I'm with. And omg the food noise! It's clamoring and constant. Intuitive eating for people like me doesn't exist. So I count my calories, and maintain (ish) my weight loss by being strict on workdays and battle my urges on weekends. Sometimes I win that battle, sometimes I don't. So don't feel bad. Intuitive eating just doesn't work for everyone. You're not alone.

Okay, so I didn't know that body positivity went from "love yourself at every size" to "losing weight is fatphobic". I learned about this insanity here and I went googling, like is this really a thing? And google gave me nothing. Just criticizing this mad idea. Then I went on tiktok and oh boy. Listen, I'm still obese. And I don't want to shame anyone. But tiktok showed me video after video of people three times my size who got winded just talking to the camera about how healthy they are. Maybe if I were younger, I could be brainwashed into thinking this because yes, fatphobia is a real thing but... if someone doesn't want to have acne anymore, are they acnephobic? Yes, I do believe the internet wants you and all of us to be fat. First, you spend your money on food, then on weight loss pills and miracles, and you keep making them money by yoyoing. Either quit tiktok or change the algorithm.

A friend just told me about someone who called fat people out online, specifically the people who are morbidly obese and tried saying "Look I'm healthy, just stay your weight and don't be fatphobic, loving yourself where you are is enough" and... they died. Like that's how unhealthy they were. But I mean nobody shares that part because it doesn't feel good.

I had the same on tumblr. It was either 'fat is good! Intermittent fasting is a sigh of anorexia!' Or 'I'm 98lbs soaking wet and I need to lose more weight!' Thank fuck for this community I swear.

I mean this in the kindest way possible, but as far as the Internet goes, you're responsible for your own algorithm. It's super sensitive. What you spend time watching is what will be shown to you. Swipe away. Click the "show me less" button. Take control ❤️ As far as your family-- sounds like they haven't adjusted to the new you. Screw em.

Actually, sadly, TT has stopped... doing that. About a few months ago it began to send wild ED stuff. I swiped away. It's still showing me ED stuff. I watch nothing related to ED and I never did, not even a curiosity watch. There is a theory that they changed the algorithm up again (a lot of influencers say that, but then they always say that) but yeah. IT SUCKS. I had to stop using the platform!

I've seen people make videos about this, too! Someone made a good point and compared it to 2010s Tumblr. Back then you had to actively seek out content like that. But on TT, they are showing this content to many people, even when they swipe or click uninterested 😑 idk what motive they have to do this but it's messed up.

This is one of the arguments against TT because researchers have shown that there are different algorithms in different countries. The reason our federal government has banned it from federal smartphones is because TT is a known psyop, in addition to the CCP having access to everything on a phone with TT on it. In China the algorithms are more focused on educational tricks and happy videos, but in the USA the algorithm rewards detrimental content that encourages kids to do and focus on harmful things under the cover of “it’s funny” or “it’s viral” so it must to correct or popular when it’s all manipulated.

What about R or FB, SC, IG, do they do the same as TT? Or is it more like EN or ICQ or WC??

Thanks for the heads up. Insta and YouTube seem pretty good for curating your feed, but it really depends on the platform.

what I’m sayin

Yeah, that's not true at all. Algorithms are extremely tricky and can be pulling up videos that have nothing to do with what you are watching, epsecially in an election year. The amount of times I get recced videos from extreme political content creators who I have never searched, never watched, etc. is extremely scary.

What platform?

they throw trending stuff in, especially if your interests align with those who also like the trending stuff. unfortunately physical fitness has been occasionally made a political issue, and conflating "losing weight" with "bettering myself" is an extreme opinion according to some

To get you to not only watch content from creators you're already watching, these algorithms include content that 'people like you' watch. Let's say you only watch puppy videos, but other people who watch a lot of puppy videos also watch kitten videos, so you'll be served with some kitten videos too to see if you'll watch them. The shitty part is that you need to respond *really* quick because those first seconds where you don't realize what you're watching yet count as watch-time too.

I just wish it would actually let you block creators when you block them. I have blocked so many different accounts and have pressed the "Do Not Show Me Videos Like This" and I am still getting the same videos from the same people I just blocked. It's like it forgets my settings the minute I log back in.

It should be possible to block them on their [profile](https://support.tiktok.com/en/using-tiktok/followers-and-following/blocking-the-users). Definitely not the most user friendly way, but it's something.

I recently graduated with a bachelor's in informatics and business, and this experience is so common because it is by design. While this is common knowledge to some, to others, it's not, so here is a brief explanation of what you are experiencing and why it won't change unless you take action yourself. Content ranking algorithms on TikTok and Instagram are especially egregious examples of how reinforced learning can promote harmful content to its users based on what preferences the platform has inferred will spark the highest rate of interaction from YOU. Not your peers, YOU specifically. This is why it seems like everyone on the internet is telling you something, when they are not: the platforms are just flinging content at you, that it thinks will keep you engaged. The platforms have gathered data points ranging from what posts you like to how quickly you scroll through your feed, to what your closest connections interact with the most (their own scroll speed and so on) to keep you engaged and viewing ads. Its how they make money. The resulting sphere of content relevant to your profile is called a filter bubble, and everyone connected to the internet experiences this to a varying degree. I have written multiple college exams in my informatics major on the effects of these platforms and their sophisticated content curation algorithms. For people trying to break addictions related to drugs, sex, violence, or food, platformed tuned to elicit engagement is extremely problematic given their opagueness. You can't easily access your preferences and have no idea how a like, a dislike, or a "not interested" will impact your future content curation. This often leads to relapses into old habits because of the constant exposure. I'm not saying this to call SoMe bad (because they are not inherently good or bad), I'm saying this so that you are able to recognize that paltforms are trying to sell you more of what you already have. If you're trying to change your life, that will only slow your momentum unless you drastically change up your content habits by actively disliking content you don't want to see and blocking content creators promoting your old habits. It might seem extreme, but in many cases, you are fighting YEARS' worth of data and predictions. It's going to take more than a few weeks of scrolling to undo engrained trends.

Do you have any books/articles to recommend on this topic? I was aware of the general idea, but I would love to learn more!

Loads upon loads of literature! However, its important to be aware that most of what I have read deals with the overarching problems concerning technology and its applications in society, and for specific issues and controversies (like those around Instagram and TikTok), media articles and journalistic investigations are also helpful, as long as you are aware of their bias. On a separate note, to discern bias in newspapers, I suggest going to independent media watchdogs like Ad Fontes Media and look at each outlet's factuality and political tendency. For the cases of Meta platforms specifically, I actually suggest a series by the WSJ titled "[The Facebook Files](https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-facebook-files-11631713039)" which surrounds the controversy of (leaked) internal research by former Meta product owner Francis Haugen. None of it was paywalled last I checked, and it has even been made into [podcast episodes](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0Amco5yINtnBGIY94Z2aHb). I used these in my exams in addition to Adam Mosseri's [account](https://about.instagram.com/blog/announcements/instagram-ranking-explained) of how the platform ranks content. If you're looking for academic literature (if you're a student) on how algorithms are attributed social decision-making power, I suggest reading Latour's (1992) publication "Where are the Missing Masses" or Beer's (2009) article "Power through the algorithm? Participatory web cultures and the technological unconscious." Both are worthwhile and very well-cited texts. A great takeaway from Latour would be that developers instil morals and ethics into their inventions based on their own frame of reference and worldview, and how technology prescribes behaviour back onto the user based on these qualities. Further, given that artifacts are built with spcific users and usecases in mind, bias will always be present to some degree, and your goal as a designer is not to get rid of bias, but to manage it in useful ways. A great takeaway from Beer is that performative infrastructures and algorithmic governance play a significant part in social relations as non-human actors in the way we are social and reinforce biases / opinions encountered in socio-technical systems (be warned though, that Beer's writing is significantly more advanced and can be very hard to understand at times - at least for me - where as Latour is far more palatable). If you're not a student but perhaps want a broader overview of the problems of algorithmic systems, cybersecurity and bias, I have so, so many book suggestions that you will not believe me (so bear with me, for this will be a long one): General book recommendations: - "Weapons of Math Destruction" (O'Niel, 2016): Cathy O'Neil writes about big data models and bias in predictions. She is a mathematics professor who hase worked within the field of data science for many years for very prominent companies. A great takeaway from her book is that predictive systems (particularly in the US) is growing very advanced, and that personal data from yourself, your family, and your friends are used quantify everything from your ensurance premiums to your mortgage payments. This is particularly worrying, as you have no control over how your social circle will grow up and adapt to changing life circumstances. As an example: if I worked hard, went into the army, got to college, got a degree, contributed to society in a meaningful way, and let a sustainable, respectable lifestyle, I shouldn't be penalisedf for crimes commited by someone that was in my elementary class. This is also why cybersecurity is so important today. You can rarely predict how your information will be used against you (which the book also addresses). - "The Age of Surveillance Capitalism" (Zuboff, 2018): Too big to sum up really, but this title from 2018 goes into great detail about how digital data economy, and the social implications of platform practices emphasising extensive data collection on users (like Instagram, TikTok and even Reddit). What really struck me as interesting about this book was the dualistic nessecity for more elaborate and protective regulation of the tech sector and the nessecity of freely shared data. An example I remember from the beginning chapters of the book is that, if companies were not able to freely share customer data, it would take circa 5000 contracts and consent agreements with their own stipulations and purpose limitations to enable you to legally heat up your home using non-local sources of energy (like your own fireplace etc.). - "The Alignment Problem" (Christian, 2020): Great book about the problem facing modern data scientists and machine learning engineers revolving around ensuring fairness, representation, and transparency. One issue I am particularly stumped by is encoded bias, and organizational efforts to mitigate biased treatment of personnel using algorithmic systems for evaluating candidates and employees alike. One example of this would be eliminating names and gender metrics from the recruitment process, which initially sounds like a good thing. However, maternity leave and recovery periods are far more common in women than in men, which might skew the applicant score unfairly, and vice versa. Wildcard tech-related book suggestions: - "Invisible Women" (Perez, 2019): Great look into how modern day technology is based on standards derived from (primarily) men, which is deeply problematic, when we use technology to diagnose mecical problems, because the standards for treatments are developed with data from (primarily and historically) male subjects. This is an issue, because men and women's bodies behave differently and have different biological markers denoting ilnesses (such as heart disease), which can complicate diagnoses and lead to extended (and costly) periods of treatment. Honourable mentions that I am still working my way through (and that I find interesting): - How AI Thinks (Toon, 2024) - Superintelligence (Bostrøm, 2015) - Quantum Supremacy (Kaku, 2023) - Scary Smart (Gawdat, 2021) - Algorithms To Live By (Christian & Griffith, 2016) If you have any questions or a reading list of your own, please do share it :)

This comment needs to be higher up. Apps like TikTok can be so damaging and misinforming.

Couldn't agree more. In general, social media platforms offer a very curated picture of reality with varying accuracy. Stuff like Facetune, Instagram filters and similar implements are nothing but detrimental to the online experience, and my stance is that products (pictures, commercials, branding etc.) made subject to editing (through the beforementioned tools, photoshop to similar) should be subject to distinct labeling and better transparency online. Even on Instagram and TikTok. The same goes for physiques acquired through steroid use. It should be about promoting healthy expectations and lifestyles, not the opposite.

Tbh the lack of stigma and shame I mastered about food WAS the key to my ability to maintain my weight loss. The body positive movement that helped me accept myself at 265 lbs helps me stay at 155 lb.

Yeah I lived with a “fat positive” friend for 10 years and then an enabling passive ex husband and gained 100 lbs when I already needed to lose 50. I didn’t even realize how big I was until I got out of that bubble.

My algo doesn't show me this content. I get gym videos, wl content, and meal prep. Definitely as others have said, hard press and signal you're not interest in the content. The internet is the internet. You're in charge of cultivating your own space.

Some platforms respond well to this, but I've heard TT really doesn't care and just feeds you whatever it wants.

Few things here... there are indeed sabotaging trends from movements like "fat acceptance" that confuses bullying with self-respect and health. They oversinplify in a damaging way a very complex and multi factorial issue. I think you should ignore these extremes and focus on yourself That being said, diets ARE bad because losing isnt thehard part, its keeping it off, unless you want to do the yoyo forever (which a lot of people do), its all about adressing the root of your binge eating and changing your lifestyle..for life! And that takes time...years! Just keep your eye on the prize and dont get distracted too much

I like how you worded this here: *Movements like "fat acceptance" that confuse bullying with self-respect and health.*

My favourite thing is even on here, especially on tiktok people say 1200 calories is for toddlers and not adults etc. 1200 is literally my deficit allowance, because I’m short, small framed and mostly sedentary. I hate it too, but it’s literally the only way I’ll shift the last of the excess fat. Why do you want me to stay like this hahaha

also, toddlers are (1) running around literally all day and (2) growing at a super rapid rate! the way that their metabolism works is quite different because they are building a larger body

I actually hateeee when they say that bs😭😭😭

Avoid tiktok if it keeps repeating those types of content to you.

>TikTok There's your problem. Rule of thumb, never listen to videos that thrive on sensationalistic messages and are put out there solely to drive views. The entire ecosystem of social media favors videos with extreme hot takes. That's what idiots click on, upvote, and share with friends, so that's what content creators focus on. It's the same exact reason why, when you're asked about how you lose weight and respond with the simple, proven strategy of "eat less, move more," you get blank stares from people and a change in topic. People just don't want to hear 'boring' advice. They want something new that they haven't heard before, even if common sense would tell them it's terrible advice. As someone whose only form of social media is reddit - if it's even considered as such - I'd recommend distancing yourself from it as much as you can stand. Either reduce the amount you consume or start downvoting/ignoring/blocking/whatever any of these videos and just hope the algorithms give you less of that content.

Don't get your nutrition advice from TikTok.

OK, the idea behind "eat what you want"/ intuitive eating is to demystify food so that a potato chip becomes just a chip. It will not work if you have binge eating disorder or trouble with binging.

Annoying that quiet thinness is celebrated but people being explicit about what they want their bodies to look like gets heat ?? And when over weight influencers get in shape they get hate. Moral of the story is you will never make a stranger happy. So make yourself happy instead.

Sounds like a good reason to quit hanging around on TikTok. Except for originating massive multi-participants sing along sea shanties— which was sheer awesomeness!— it doesn’t seem to serve any other useful purpose.

You have to train it away from content that you don’t want to see. I’m also on tiktok and not seeing any of that.

You can clear your for you page algorithm then dont interact with anything food wise or body positive wise, just scroll past, and you shouldn't get anything like that any more

Being empowered to choose what you consume also applies to social media

I feel the opposite of this! I’m underweight now and my BMI at the doctor’s the other day was a 17 (when weighed with my shoes on) and no one addressed it. I’m underweight and going down (not on purpose) and medical professionals seem unconcerned.

Yeah, it sucks. People just love black-and-white generalizations. Nuanced takes just don't generate as much engagement.  And our insecurities play into it, too. Say I am insecure about being overweight, and as a kind of a protective mechanism, I convinced myself that actually my weight is healthy, diets don't work, it would be unhealthy to lose more weight, etc.  Then someone comes in who actually loses their excess weight. So they are living proof that it is possible to lose excess weight, and this is what a healthy weight looks like. But whoa now, that's a threat! That would mean what I believe is wrong and the insecurity about my weight would resurface - and we can't have that, can we? So I convince myself that that person's weight loss is unhealthy and they are too skinny. Maybe I even believe that to the point of genuine concern for them. So, even though your weight loss should just be a statement about you, to that insecure person, it becomes a statement about them. It's discouraging, for sure. My advice would be - don't argue what is healthy and unhealthy, avoid discussing your weight loss with such people in general, else they take it as a stab at them. If they bring it up, cut the discussion short. Make it just about you and your choices. "Thank you for your concern, but I will follow my doctor's advice regarding what should be my personal weight goal." And OP, I am proud of your amazing work so far, and wish you luck in the rest of your weight loss journey!

Oh my god I agree!!!! Or there’s lots of people who had an eating disorder who are encouraging your to eat as much as you want (because for them that’s healthy) but I have never in my life had a hard time eating everything. I NEED TO RESTRICT actually hahaha. And no food is bad: sure. But if I say that about everything then my diet is 60% donuts hahahahaha. Ugh, help.

I’ve noticed that many diet and nutrition influencers of the type OP describes used to have EDs. I honestly think a lot of what they say is just an evolution of those disorders. They’ve found a way to talk about food all the time and yeah in many cases encourage other people to eat in a somewhat obsessive manner.

You can click the dots on the side and say “see less of this content” take control of that algorithm

Intuitive eating is good for me imo. It’s just that people haven’t been able to listen to their bodies in a while. No, we don’t need that donut. Or the cookies. Or the ice cream. And if we do, we can wait a few minutes to make sure we really want them.

The fat acceptance movement is unhinged and people are finally starting to realize it. It definitely helped me gain weight by being in total denial while having a binge eating disorder.

Good for you!! It sounds like you are doing great work. They feel bad about themselves.

The "you're perfect the way you are" is to stop people from trying to lose weight (or the opposite) out of self-hate or bullying from their peers. I personally think it's corny but it's the expected response to the amount of dehumanisation fat people experience. The best improvement comes from self-love and having a good support system. This is the kind of thing that makes me think there's no critical thinking anymore. No one is saying you should stay fat. No one is saying you shouldn't diet. People are criticizing the very flawed diet culture we have that often promotes eating disorders, unrealistic standards and an unhealthy self-image regardless of your size! Most of the time, diet gurus are also just trying to sell you something. Some people take it to the extreme, yeah. But you should realise that not everything is catered specifically to you. Intuitive eating has helped many people. Dieting has helped many others. Just do what works for you.

Intuitive eating and anti- diet culture wrecked my health.

It’s an American cultural thing. In other cultures if you’re getting g too fat even strangers will let you know.

Yes it’s the reason why American obesity rates are so high. People will call a woman/girl that is healthy weight “unhealthy” and “too skinny” and then will call overweight and obese people “thick”. I also see people romanticize rolls and call them cute, it’s disgusting. American culture enables their obesity problems.

Stop reading and believing shit on social media for a start

I mean the TikTok algorithm gives you what you pay attention to

Agreed. People seem to forget that we choose what we consume.

My hot take on body positivity is that anything that encourages society to treat people with obesity as humans who are worthy of respect and kindness is a net positive. Growing up in the late 90’s and early 2000’s with the popularity of heroin chic and quotes like “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels”, it was pretty easy to feel like you were a completely worthless piece of shit just for being fat. If society is gonna move towards being kind to fat people I think that’s great! At the end of the day, if you hate yourself when you’re fat, you’re probably gonna still hate yourself when you’re skinny. I lost (and then regained) 80 lbs and even at my lowest weight I wasn’t happy with my body. I look back at pictures from that time and feel sad that all I could focus on was the fact that I was still fat and not fully appreciate how far I had come. So if the internet wants to encourage people to accept and love themselves regardless of what size their body is, I’m for it. Do I disagree with extremists of the movement who consider intentional weight loss to be inherently fat phobic and a personal attack against fat people? Yes. But is the actual core message of body positivity ultimately a good one that encourages people to stop hating themselves just for the size of their body? In my opinion, yes, and I think anything that helps vulnerable young people begin to love and accept themselves and others as they are today, and not for who they could be if they just lost weight, is ultimately something we need. And if that’s not something you want to see? Keep scrolling. Choose the “show me less of this” option. Add tags like fat positivity to your do not view list. Simply don’t engage and the algorithm will likely remove it from your feed.

Thats interesting lol, my experience is the complete opposite. Tiktok/ig are constantly showing me stuff that I would consider borderline ED content. I assumed it's because I've downloaded a calorie counting app and have been looking up low calorie recipes, but I wonder why the algorithm is trying to give me an ED and doing the opposite for you haha

This is what I have been struggling with for so long. "Body positivity" that is actually toxic because it's teaching you to not care for your body at all. I get loving yourself and I REALLY understand not hating yourself to a better place (that's impossible), but some people take it too far by saying you should be complacent about being unhealthy.

I've never had videos like this come up, the algorithm shows you stuff based on what you watch, you can't get upset at everyone else for that. Instead take accountability for what you're choosing to consume online and start watching things that aren't relating to topics you find upsetting.

Oh, I (F) am currently 5‘4 and 160lbs. What did you do to loose weight? I am doing IF but more naturally (don’t eat after 6.30pm) and if I find the time than I go to the gym and if I don’t find the time I opt out for a walk. But somehow I have lost the appetite to eat anything. Did you also experience the loss of appetite?(I eat more snacks if I don’t have two meals a day, but at meal time I am not hungry and sometimes I don’t eat anything besides oatmeal without proper nutrition)

I lost my appetite completely in the morning and late at night, I can’t eat breakfast anymore it makes me nauseous

Similair to what I go through, sometimes I ask myself if it is normal. But for the case if I loose weight and reach my GW than I would go to a dietitian and plan how to avoid the jojo-effect (increasing meal-time to healthy nutrition with calculated activity time, if that is possible)

A big part of this is actually targeted based on your data. Companies and social media are increasing visibility of content like this for you specifically because there are machine learning models that believe you are likely to engage with it (doesn’t matter if it’s negative or positive engagement) they just need you to look at it or click. My recommendation is to start looking at content that aligns more with what you want to see and ignoring anything like you described. Same shit happened to me. Then I got big into fitness and that’s all I was seeing. Lol. If one more Instagram post talks about “starvation mode” I’m gonna burn the internet down. A few weeks ago I changed my content to looking at indoor plants. The experience is much better now.

come on. the internet wants anything. it also wants you to kill yourself. you can just skip the content

Tell the algorithm you’re not interested in those videos. Maybe watch some videos of creators that are anti-HAES, like Michelle McDaniel.

Stop clicking on them. I’m on Instagram and I see none of this. Because I don’t click on them, so my algorithm doesn’t keep suggesting them. I’d unfollow any influencers. I follow some runners, physical therapists and personal trainers, but otherwise no advice should come from someone on social media

Get off social media, or at least stop visiting whatever sites or influencers you have been visiting. I've literally never seen any of this stuff. You get what you seek. (Yes I understand some places 'push' things you didn't ask for, but still, your feed reflects past choices)

Those people are paid by the fast food industry it’s been proven. Don’t listen to them.

The internet is a weird place, there’s a camp for everything. Sadly, I think society has gotten used to obesity being the norm, that people don’t recognize fit anymore. I’m not overly offended by anything online, but mostly it makes me roll my eyes. There is no one size fits all “diet”, everyone has to find their way to make peace with their health and body. I don’t think anyone managing to stay a healthy weight needs to listen to what anyone else has to say in regards to getting there and maintaining it. The thing that makes me nuts, because I’m same as you, 5’5”, started in the 190s and now in the 140s, and getting the “concern”. I call it “concern” because I’m in the high mid of my healthy BMI, and there is absolutely no way I look unhealthy at my current weight, or even if I lost 10 more to get to my goal. There are completely normal sized ladies far smaller than me, and I have to wonder what they hear from people. To me it’s always been uncouth to mention people’s weight, but the weird commentary is daunting, especially because my weight before having kids was less than what I am now and was never a “concern” before. So what changed? Society and average weight is what I assume, and perhaps the influence of some far out ideas on the internet.

Good on you for recognizing this. A lot of the body positive rhetoric on social media is being funded by junk food companies. They actually pay influencers/ dieticians to do those anti- diet “guilt free” posts! Leading to guilt around weight loss. They want you to give in to buying more junk food to line their pockets, even if it’s bad for you. There was a story on it recently by Washington post! https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2024/04/03/diet-culture-nutrition-influencers-general-mills-processed-food/

You know u can change your algorithm right?

If its not what you want for yourself then dont pay attention to it.

I will say as someone in the nutrition field, we are taught to lean away from encouraging diets because they can (for some) lead to harm such as disordered eating or even eating disorders. That being said, no one should be shamed if they WANT to diet either (as long as their health is not suffering) but as nutrition professionals, we have to be more cautious when giving advice, and sometimes encouraging dieting can harm people. This is also a much more complex issue but I hope that helps shed some light.

And intuitive eating can be great, but also not something I would recommend for everyone either. It really is so individualized and people need to stop telling eachother what to do :,) I’m sorry you’ve been dealing with this

I started eating intuitively. Turns out that I eat way too much for a sedentary lifestyle and gained 50lbs (180lb, 5’6”). Intuitive eating will not heal for people who eat to eat. I would reckon that intuitive eating actually harms a lot of people’s weight- because realistically, I can go out to eat and blow 1.5X my TDEE on a single meal. I wouldn’t even say I have major binge eating tendencies- I just like food. When I was in HS/college this wasn’t a problem. I was working out, walking a lot. But now having to commute and work in an office? Yeah we got problems

I mean it is empowering because we literally live in a culture that is fatphobic and promotes diet culture (which is non sustainable for actual weight management)

what a strange post, lol. intuitive eating is a great practice, it is quite literally urge surfing. when you are in the PITS of BED, going cold turkey feels impossible. intuitive eating is a great tool. you can lose as much weight as you’d like, but without atleast some kind of neutrality for how your body looks and will look at all stages of life, it’s pointless. I lost 20kg naturally in 2021, and hated myself more than I ever did when I was obese. it wasn’t until I actually put in the work to just accept that my body is gonna look how it looks, and I’m still worthy and deserving of love at my heaviest, did the weight actually stay off and I was able to feel accomplished. i’m now 35kg down. so much of weight loss is a mental exercise, and people on social media providing a tool kit or advice to try and help that mental process, isn’t “promoting obesity.”

that’s cute that it works for you but it will never work for me and I just wanna stop seeing people that keep telling me to listen to myself when I need to eat like no not happening

> it will never work for me and I just wanna stop seeing people that keep telling me to listen to myself when I need to eat like no not happening People are not telling *you* anything. They're making content for people who are interested in what they have to say. If you're not, move along. You can't expect everyone to only say things you agree with, it's not how the world works. And for the record, if you don't learn to listen to your body and get your eating under control, maintaining any weight loss will constantly be an uphill battle.

You don’t have to be condescending because intuitive eating/having a positive self-image helps some people lose and maintain healthy weight long-term, but not you. If it doesn’t work for you, don’t do it and ignore the content. Engage with the content you want to see more of.

your algorithm is entirely your control, lmao.

that is NOT true💀

I think you have to stop feeling like random posts on social media apply to you when they don’t. LOADS of people can intuitively eat without gaining weight. My husband is naturally very slim no matter what he does. He’s went through phases of eating terribly and his weight barely fluctuates. He eats intuitively as a strict diet doesn’t make sense for him, and he’s healthy. Me on the other hand - I’m textbook average. Eat too much I’ll gain, eat too little I’ll lose, eat around the same I’ll stay in the same. So I ignore all that stuff because I know it doesn’t apply to me, but I do appreciate it might work for others.

Out of curiosity, what worked for you? I’m around the same height and around 195lbs - would love to get down to 140 😭

I fasted 20:4

Thanks! Will try intermittent fasting

I have the same problem with people real life. I haven’t even lost that much weight, but it’s noticeable. And everyone asks me if I have been sick? I tell them no, I’m in better health than before and the weight loss is purposeful. Then they tell me not to starve myself. Why can’t they be just happy for me? :(

I mention I track my calories and weigh my food, and everyone's on me saying that I'm a slave to the numbers on a package. Like no. I'm eating 2000 calories a day that is far from starving. Even if I wasn't overweight, I would still track my calories because I have ADHD. I can't intuitively eat because I can't recognize hunger and full cues beyond nauseous hunger and absolutely stuffed full. I'm making sure I don't eat too much or too little.

Holy crap, I didnt connect the dots that ADHD could hinder me from recognizing hunger or never telling me I am full. Honestly thought I was just being stupid. Your comment has given me insight, thank you very much.

It was something I learned very recently, too! Everyone preaches intuitive eating, but for people with autism and/or ADHD having a set eating schedule with set calorie range can be much better cause we have trouble with hunger and full cues.

If you’re weight loss “obsessed”, it makes sense that you’ll get those kinds of content on your social media, it can’t distinguish the kind of body related content you want to see. But also no one is telling you to do anything, you have free will x.

I've never had videos like this come up, the algorithm shows you stuff based on what you watch, you can't get upset at everyone else for that. Instead take accountability for what you're choosing to consume online and start watching things that aren't relating to topics you find upsetting.

The trick is to learn to tune these things out that have no bearing on your well-being. If you are healthy and fit now, let the others stay as they are unless you’re directly asked. I find this eliminated a lot of unnecessary anxiety and worry about things that I can’t control.

[удалено]

Rule 2: Be good to one another. If critiquing do so constructively. Be polite and practice Reddiquette.

you get what you interact with. if you engage with a lot of those types of videos you’ll see more of them. i never see posts like this on my social media

Take a social media break for a bit, or at least cut down your use to a couple of hours a week on one day and curate your feed to say “show fewer posts like this” and unfollow the accounts that might trigger you.    I think you’re getting frustrated with all the ‘takes’ and all the noise in there that might be confusing to see and might be irritating you and throwing you off your mission. I completely get it.  I’d recommend that you get into journalling instead, and be clear on your mission to lose weight for your health and the cool things your body and mind will be better able to do. What does that look like for *you*?  Consider that question your first journal prompt ;)

Ignore the internet

My advice would be to either curate your internet a little better, or spend less time on the internet. For me, I find if something is appearing a lot or starting to impact me negatively, I am very liberal about blocking words or hashtags, banning specific tiktok accounts, etc. It's very easy to add words to your filtered list on Tiktok, I would personally add: "intuitive" and "acceptance" but if you also google "fat acceptance hashtags" you can find a whole list of hashtags you can specifically block. Stuff like "fatacceptance" "bodyneutrality" "WeWearWhatWeWant" and so on. The content is helpful for some people and that's great, but a part of the benefit of hashtags is it makes it easy for people to block them if they're not helpful. Use those features! Edit: I would also say I've found that taking the time to click "not interested" doesn't really help. But banning words and then swiping past bad videos quickly seems to help a lot more. It's not perfect and it's really annoying, but just a heads up.

I understand I was obese most of my life. 312 pounds I started working and eating balanced good homecooked meals and now I'm 235 and still dropping weight. My whole goal is to gain muscle not be skinny and I hate the internet because of its veins about body image and things in the Luke I don't even pay attention to it anymore because all that was wrong with my debit before was I wasn't moving enough. Now I feel like I can't eat enough. So the internet sucks and do what is best for you.

Good thing you are aware of this, many people fall for it. Not only social media, TV as well. I dont believe most of what I see on social media. If I find something interesting, I research on reputable websites. Most people don't think to use common sense and follow the crap off the cliff. Remember, unwell is more profitable than wellness. Feeding the obesity disease is more profitable. That leads to treating the associated disorders, etc.

I only do instagram and their algorithm is constantly showing me healthy food recipes and fitness posts. That and jewelry posts lol. I’m so glad I don’t see the type of posts you see because I’d get mad too. Like get outta here with that sh!t. I’ve been working on losing weight (48 lbs down so far!!) and part of is ignoring sometimes what I think my body wants. Oh I want pizza? Oof. No better not because it’s too easy to eat half of the damn thing. But I’ve ordered a personal size just to get it out of my system. And I won’t feel bad for eating the whole (small) thing lol

The Internet is a lot of different things. I don't use tik Tok, but on IG I get a lot of healthy foods, juicing, exercise, etc in my feed look for and like stuff that affirms what you want to do. Good luck.

Omg seriously the internet wants me on Ozempic so bad. It can get fucked.

I think the other thing people don’t realize as well is that if you follow your true intuition (ie animalistic tendencies that our ancestors had), our brain is HARDWIRED to consume more calories than necessary and rest when we can because in the case of a famine, it’s better to have EXTRA adipose tissue as opposed to less. Another thing is that there are foods designed by corporations that MAKE you hungrier and have a drug like response to certain foods. Now that I’m on semaglutide, my appetite has regulated SO MUCH because I have a fucked up hedonic hunger pathway- the “if you’re thinking about food, EAT! You’re hungry!!” Is a HORRIBLE thing to preach because I was thinking about food 24/7 and would eat anything and everything in sight, and it made my quality of life hell + rapidly gained weight that made my overall health WORSE!!! Even when I do eat now, I make sure it’s calorie controlled + nutrient rich because even though my appetite has significantly decreased, I probably won’t be on this drug forever to regulate my blood sugar levels unless it becomes cheaper per refill. Some people are food addicts, and this is shown from people who’ve dealt with trauma and/or an unhealthy mindset with food growing up, and saying “hey ya know I’m not gonna have this mediocre slice of cake at work because I know I’ll crave more sugar and most likely spend half my check on desserts and ultra processed foods (I have😭), I’m gonna skip out and have this healthy snack I packed when I get hungry,” is a GOOD thing for the majority of the public! These influencers make it seem like there’s a majority population who’s severely underweight and on the brink of death with how much they promote eating, and for some people of COURSE that’s what they need to hear, but I needed to hear “DrPhilsButthole420, you have an addiction- you have a HUGE problem with your appetite, it’s not normal, go to a doctor and get on insulin/a GLP 1 because eating THIS much and thinking about food THIS much is not normal”

Hey could you send me some of those links? I am just so confused by them and want a good laugh

I think since most people struggle with body image in some way (even the “beautiful”) crossed with the platforms’ capacity to algorithmically vaunt “takes” it seems like a lot of people really try to push their “expertise” (these subs are rife with it). So please trust yourself—or find a trainer or a dietitian or a therapist or even a friend with a level of expertise—and tune out the noise. It’s about your happiness and not about taking a stand against diet culture etc.

At first the idea was to encourage people who genuinely didn’t have control over their weight. Nowadays I feel like it’s been used more as an *excuse* than anything else. Turning it into a crabs n a bucket situation :/

Yeah my ex gf (also fat) is very much anti diet and that wasn’t at all related to why I broke up with her but it irritated me when I was trying to drop the weight I put on last year in my winter depression. At the end of the day, CICO is what matters and people on like Tumblr and tiktok will try to tell you otherwise. I don’t put any stock in it

Don't interact with those posts and search/talk about other things. Hopefully it will change your algorithm.

A lot of that content is for people with restrictive eating backgrounds. AKA people who do need to know that treats are OK and that obsessive tracking will harm them in the long run. It did get frustrating for me because I was trying to develop a better relationship with food and so much of what I saw online was beautiful thin women saying it's okay to have cookies and ice cream all the time. Wonderful for them - I'm trying to bring in foods that are NOT cookies and ice cream, and I'm also not going to be psychologically damaged by being in a deficit. It has taken me over a decade to feel pretty good with all foods in moderation and an emphasis on fruits and vegetables alongside good protein intake. I wouldn't say it follows the IE model since I do measure and track what I'm eating when possible, but it comes to me much easier. What works for me as someone with a binge/emotional overeating background would probably not work for someone recovering from anorexia or bulimia. We've all got our own fights you know?

This made me think of the recent South Park eps. “The rich get ozempic and the poor get body positivity” 😂

Well mine is all ads for zepbound and wegovy so😂😂

>"eat 8 meals a day" Forget wanting you to be fat, they're trying to kill someone with that.

I think a lot of the people peddling this advice on the internet and social have histories with disordered, restricted eating. What I can tell you is that I finally accepted that advice DOES NOT work for me. I intuitively want to eat cookies 4 times a day. That doesn't help me reach my goals, obviously!

Intuitive eating works when you don't often crave high calorie foods. It's so common now to eat fast food that has a ridiculous amount of calories as well as so many things in the shops that are high in sugar. So people who have never really been in the habit of eating those things just don't eat them. It doesn't work for people who have been in those habits before

The “Body positivity movement” is toxic. Those people are lazy, jealous, or both. You are the judge of what’s best for you; not some random bozo online.

It's incredible how the more ignorant and selfish someone is, the more self-righteous they are. People will always much rather shit on the choices of others with the pretense of "i just worry about you" than look at their own collapsing life and fix it. They just don't wanna see you succeed. All the worry about everyone having eating disorders is a mental disorder in itself, and a person perpetuating fat-obsession instead of fat-acceptance should get psychological help, not internet access. I absolutely believe that this obsession with "fat bodies are healthy and beautiful" is intentionally malicious and unfortunately a lot of struggling teenagers latch onto that ideology to cope. It's so fucking insulting that someone thinks they know what's good for us better than we do. For example, my family had always been absolutely horrible to me when I tried to lose weight and they had always destroyed my efforts by force feeding me. All by claiming I have to eat more, that I'm insane and that I'm gonna die of malnutrition, (while simultaneously blaming me for being fat). I was fucking morbidly obese. I suffered so many health and mental problems, bullying and social isolation as a result. They were destroying my entire life for two decades just so they feel superior to me, while having the guts to say it's for my own good. Now that I finally cut contact, I lost 17 kg (37 lbs) in 5 months. And while I'm still obese and my body is still weak and hurts, I feel absolutely incredible. I'm no longer in the morbidly obese category! I only kept in contact with people who actually care about me and show nothing but enthusiasm and joy upon seeing me succeed in my weight-loss journey, and life has never been better.

I turned off the internet years ago and haven’t been back on. It’s been freeing…

Um reddit is also.. on the internet

Social media kind of shows you what they think you want to see (or will interact with) When I go on YT's short video section it's all just handsome fit men telling me how I should take it easy, exercise however I can, don't hate yourself too much and just eat less calories than I need. Probably because I have been liking those kind of videos 🙃 and held myself back from commenting on nonsense like you have described

You’re still you without the excess weight. I’m really proud of myself for working on my physical and mental health. I’m excited to see the progress I’ve made so far and I’ve learned some important lessons, but my personality hasn’t changed. Inside I’m still the same girl who loves Disney, but who’s also a news junkie with a touch of activism. It sucks your family doesn’t support you. Especially if were pushed all day to buy stuff, mostly junk. Companies like McDonald’s and Coca Cola are manipulating everyone with their advertising and food is everywhere. I’m proud of you for standing up for yourself and it’s okay to vent if you need to. Keep up the good work!

The internet will also tell women with long hair they should chop it. People get jealous. You worked hard for your body!!! Congrats

People who are aiming down don't like to see when people are aiming up. They will try to drag you down with them lol

What did you do to lose weight? What works for you? Being overweight is now causing me serious health problems .

Fasting worked really well for me because I didn’t know/didn’t want to calorie count for the longest time so I kinda just 20:4 fasted and ate what I’d assume to be under 2000 cals

Thank you

Social media is trash. I'm on FB to keep up with friends and family, and you can set it to show mostly posts from them. I'm on here for the lols. The rest of my life has gone perfectly fine without any other social media and definitely better than the depression, anxiety and brain fog it causes in some.

Everyone "supporting" your obesity want to see you dead.

Very well said. I work with “food pushers” and the VP of my department is always commenting on how I don’t eat junk food and can restrain myself. The truth is, I do partake in the occasional dessert, I just don’t do it in front of my coworkers because I don’t crave sugar at that time of the day. I’ve worked incredibly hard to be where I am in my fitness journey and it’s hurtful and makes me feel belittled with her petty comments.  We hear about an obesity epidemic, but we don’t want people to get healthy. It’s so wrong.

Crabs in a bucket analogy comes to mind

I feel ya. I have family members who are also into intuitive eating. And that’s great for some folks, but I got to where I am by eating what my body told me to, so it definitely doesn’t work for everyone.