Health at Every Size

This video is about Health at Every Size. It is about why it is important to work with and surround yourself with people who understand body diversity when you are in recovery from anorexia.

[@chrissylivingston5021]

I have two friends who were classified as overweight before their anorexia and one had divulged with their doctor that they only eat one meal a day and exercise if they eat more. His response was a congratulations on her self control for one meal while also informing her she can still exercise even if she doesn’t eat more... deeply disturbing and makes me realize how unnecessarily and unfortunately privileged I am to have been taken seriously.

[@wolfytg]

Preach it my lady! I have people praising me for being so tiny and I honestly believe that if I hadn't told my PCP I was diagnosed with Anorexia he probably wouldn't have batted an eye at my weight or vital signs. I absolutely hate how people view the appearance of others and put them into categories of healthy and unhealthy, especially medical professionals. My dietitians certainly did not help me in my fight against my ED by giving me a meal plans, calorie limits, and weight ranges.

[@Goalartzo]

My identical twin sister almost lost her life to anorexia and was admitted to inpatient for several months. At the same time I had EXACTLY the same disease but I was 'better' at not giving in to it, so didn't become as critically underweight. Therefore I was offered NO support or treatment and here I am 8 years later still battling every day.

[@elevenbyfive]

When i was leaving an inpatient admission, i was sent to see the dietitian (who they didn't let you see until discharge!) and i told her i had challenged a lot of my fears this admission and was eating chips and cheese and all kinds of fear foods, and she said, ooooh no that's so unhealthy. You need to be watching your fat intake and bla bla and you don't want to let your weight creep up into an unhealthy place... And that one statement, coming from someone i saw as an expert basically undid all of my hard work and i relapsed badly. And even while she was,saying it, there was a part of my brain going WTAF????????!!!! Also, it infuriates me that the degree of support for anorexia sufferers is inversely proportional to our weight. If anything, it should be the opposite because we usually find it harder the more our weight increases because we don't have our coping mechanism any more. But they think health is simply body size.

[@deyaniraramos1396]

Fuck, that's messed up..or the dietitian I mean...I'm sorry that had happened to you...I'm glad you recognize (at least now) how irrational that was. I understand, we put our trust in these people and they do this..!? Uugh...your strong!!👍😎

[@lenajazuk4231]

I can’t agree more!!! Its really to admit that even experienced professionals who work with ED patients base their treatment on the number on a scale and a lot of times if we are at a healthy BMI they are skeptical if we are actually aware of what we eat and trying to dig for some binges were are not aware of or underestimating our daily calories or emotional eating we supposed to watch out for which also makes us to start questioning that maybe we are overeating which creates a total mess in our heads My therapist casually mentions about not to overeat so I don’t end up with binge eating disorder which I intuitively think is wrong If I’m a normal size, with anorexia I feel like I haven’t been trusted and that is certainly leads to more stumbling rocks in recovery

[@emilyfarrant784]

This is so true, and great to hear! I was worried it was just me who was confused by the stupidity of it all... If anorexia is a mental illness, why does the physical size even come into it before someone can be diagnosed?! I was a bit overweight when my anorexia started, after years of being encouraged to lose weight I finally started to, and found more and more ways that worked (aka more and more anorexia behaviours). Almost everyone around me could see that I was miserable, and having a really bad time, and I myself had already figured out I had all the symptoms of anorexia - but because I wasn't underweight, all I got was encouragement to carry on! Only when I had reached a really low weight did anyone start to view it as a problem and not some great achievement, or something just to be proud of. In my opinion, it was too late by that point as the anorexia had already messed up my head and it's now something I'll probably never truly be free from. I wish people would show more consideration for people who are clearly restricting or over-exercising and suffering with an eating disorder, and not just say they're looking great, or even ask them for tips!

[@sarahpelletier8653]

That’s so true! Last time I saw my doctor, he told me that I didn’t have to worry about my weight because my BMI was now... 18!!!

[@finallyfreeacademy]

Love you so much, your honesty is so refreshing. My dieting started at 11 when I was deemed overweight. I was healthier then than I have been in the 15 years since! Loved Dr Linda Bacon’s book on the subject too.

[@katrinaamirs9246]

a part of me really loves this movement and another part is rebelling against it because that's not what I grew up with ..exersize - good, fat belly - bad, unsexy etc. Getting compliments while being anorexic didn't help, either. But all the compliments in the world are not worth living in mental (and, well, physical) hell. Thank you for spreading the word, Tabitha

[@emma_xx_xx5908]

Shame most people don't agree with this :(

[@suzannechalkly9393]

Can I just say, I ♥️ Dave and Stinky! I love animals and I believe that they help my recovery to a certain extent. I have two kittens and I love that they scream at me for food! I so wish I can still do that!

[@JadeEliot]

I absolutely love how your cat is named Dave!

[@loristarkey]

I love you and your videos!! Love Dave too!

[@maggiefraser8153]

Was at the gym yesterday and an older man asked me if I "come here every day" ... I said every other day, and he said "good for you!" I'm like. Do you see me? I'm in there every second day for HOURS doing cardio and I am SIGNIFICANTLY and obviously underweight. People are fucking awful. Open your damn eyes.

[@gannm1840]

I really saw just how heartbreaking thin privilege can be when I started talking to other women recovering from hypothalmic ammenorhea (sp? dang...) Often if a patient isn't considered thin enough--even if she had a recent history of weight loss and/or extreme exercise--she's put through unnecessary testing, stress, or even gets a totally wrong diagnosis. Or maybe she gets the HA diagnosis but is told to stop gaining weight before she gets her period back because the bs doctor thinks she gained too much. It's even sadder for women who want to conceive and have to jump through all these hoops trying to restore their fertility when they really just have a condition that's simple to heal with rest and food.

[@АнастасияГончарова-и8ь]

But how would you proof that being 'overweight' is ok for your health? For example, doctors always scare me with diabetes and heart diseases (I am 'overweight'). And my mum is also 'overweight' and she suffers from diabetes.

[@jinran113]

Hi, would you like to do a video about the grossest things ED made you do when you had anorexia? I watched several youtubers' video about that and I think it might be both fun and meaningful if you can also do this. I sometimes really think when you are in your ED, you don't even know you are sick. But if you can watch some others doing the same thing as you do, you'll know that's really strange.

[@TheBinski]

NICE try for a mic drop there Dave! Something I'd love to do is educate GP's about all this stuff. The things I've heard over the years... can cats just be medical professionals instead? Horses as dietitians. My horse would be BRILLIANT! He is the most intuitive eater I've ever met. :) Built for comfort not for speed. Cheers Tabitha, do visit Australia.

[@ZuzannaStella]

do you do online coaching?

[@ataridc]

How do you have an accent if you live in Colorado????

[@foxiefair123]

It has nothing to do with luck.

[@georgehatzimanolakis1904]

The insane amount of money spent on medical help for obese people already proves that larger people are unhealthy. We aren't talking about a few pounds either and no body else is. The plus size models are not a few pounds overweight and they are not healthy. They might not experience problems right away just like with smoking or drinking but don't tell me being over weight is any less worse because a study has come out that obesity is the second biggest contributor to cancer next to smoking. Do we have to be dickheads about it? no, but don't protect these people so they thing big is beautiful. Teach bullies that we have to be supportive OF WEIGHT LOSS and also endorse to overweight people that no one is perfect and we let our selves go but WE NEED TO PICK BACK UP some day soon. I don't know the best methods but giving unhealthy people safe spaces to love their obesity is like protecting fundamentalists even though religious texts are rampant with misogyny (and I'm not even a soyboy but some of the things are plain insane when you read into it).

[@katatara6447]

Health at every size is not the same as promoting obesity or denying the fact that there are overweight people in the world. There are overweight people, whose weight is higher than what can be considered healthy to their bodies, for sure. HAES only shows there are people who are not meant to be thin genetically. There are people who are their healthiest at a higher weight. There are people whose bmi falls in the "obesity range" (these days it's over bmi 25, but it was set to bmi 30 years ago, changed to 25 only to be easier to remember, guess it's so evidence based lol), and they are healthy. Yet they are forced to lose weight to reach a lower weight body which is unhealthy to their bodies. Does it sound like obesity promotion to you? Forcing someone to lose their natural healthy weight in the sake of being healthy at a skinnier body? It doesn't sound like health to me. It sounds like obsession and losing human sanity.

[@hattiewattie]

Well, as regards the term "dickhead", all I can say after reading your comment is people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones

[@katatara6447]

@@hattiewattie Nevermind. The amount of fatphobia in his comment is literally unbelievable.

[@saraallison9469]

Thin IS good, fat IS bad

[@katatara6447]

For who?

[@hattiewattie]

Could you elaborate?

[@chilltalkswellbeing]

no

[@marialange9509]

The brain needs fat to function