as someone who gained 80lbs in over 5 years in remission from AN while eating reasonably clean and an appropriate amount for maintenance, this take is horse shit.
of course, people with a disability or chronic medical condition can thrive with the proper resources.
with the proper resources.
WITH THE PROPER RESOURCES.
WITH. THE. PROPER. RESOURCES.
doctors failed to diagnose me with biliary stasis and (eventually) cholecystitis for 5 years. I went to the ER 3 times, once with a GI BLEED. my blood work had a slight neutrophil elevation. I asked about it. they said it was so mild, it was probably nothing.
I went to my regular checkups. my liver function tests were always normal! nobody noticed that there was upward trend or, if they did, they blamed it on my gradual weight gain. I was asked about my diet. I said i eat a ton of fruit and whole grains, hardly any fast food, almost no soda, 3-6 ounce protein servings, and I have a pretty bad sweet tooth but I usually bake from scratch. I guess they thought I was lying, because when I complained about abdominal pain and assumed I had a gyno issue, ultrasounds always showed that I was constipated.
I was eating 1600-2100, almost always over my fiber requirement, 20-30% fat. but you know, constipation couldn’t possibly indicate… idk… a systemic problem…
and I had no energy. chronic muscle and joint pain. I was doing everything right. and just 6 months ago, I went to the ER in an ambulance because I had literally hundreds of cholesterol gallstones. my gallbladder was completely firm but not swollen, so five ultrasounds didn’t catch it. while I was in post-op, I learned (not from any of my doctors) that unhealthy weight loss can cause biliary stasis.
and wouldn’t you know, the year I stopped restricting was the same year i started getting really bad "menstrual cramps" for the first time in my life.
when I went home, I didn’t know what to improve upon. so I just started subbing out some of the butter in my homemade baked goods to greek yogurt. when I got ice cream at the store, I got light instead of regular. that was it. I lost 10lbs in a month because I could digest fat again.
I am finally starting to feel better. I wasn’t the problem. I got fucked.
instead of telling people on the internet to just do better, mind your business and go be better than the clinicians that failed me. as a medical professional, it is your job to give people the tools they need to care for their bodies. you have more than a grocery list at your disposal.
and you know, fatphobia is rooted in outdated junk science. kinda scared about you being a dietician but whatever.
inb4 cholecystitis isn’t a chronic illness; it’s extremely common, and labeled as a generous physique disease, even though it can cause w8 gain, not just be caused by w8 gain. due to my particular circumstances, I was going down the chronic illness rabbit hole to figure out why I felt so awful for so long in spite of taking good care of myself.
having trouble managing weight isn’t just a contributing factor of health, it can be a symptom. in roughly 25% of the OW/ob3se population, their w8 factor is completely benign! this is why OW and ob3se patients, especially those complaining of chronic illness, need to be treated with the same level of urgency and care as standard size patients. automatically blaming things on w8 and diet is a poor practice that puts lives at risk.
total BF% and BMI are obsolete as health measures. the only f4t measurements that are relevant to your health are subcutaneous/visceral ratio and WH ratio.
