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Im fat and Im proud

I've been closer to underweight than overweight most of my adult life, never been anywhere close to obese. I did however gain north of 15 kilos in a matter of months after being put on Methimazole last year (for hyperthyroidism). But even then I topped out at a BMI slightly north of 26 (low end of overweight, quite a bit smaller than the average American (28.5 BMI)). I'm happy to report that I'm currently well within the healthy range again after losing 2/3 of the weight. It was more a matter of me being forced to be cognizant of caloric intake for the first time in my life peaking my interest in the topic. Then I went down multiple rabbit holes (The Body Positivity movement, HAES (health at every size) and so on) as I have a tendency to do.

In regards to my running experience, I would never advice anyone that is as ill suited for it as I was at the time (under trained, mobility issues etc.) to take that hobby up if their main goal is to lose weight. Lower impact steady state cardio (walking or biking for instance) would be far better suited for that purpose. Not only did running increase my appetite significantly, injuries put me out of commission for weeks on end. Every thing is good now though and I really enjoy it(!), as a matter of fact I'm starting a new 5k program this week with a modest time goal of sub 25 minutes.

As for me being Anti-American? Sure, whatever! What am I not against at this point? The point however is the predatory mechanisms through which unhealthy foods and food habits are being exported from the capitalist center to more peripheral regions. Capitalism is making us fat and America just happens to be the center of said system.

Invoking personal responsibility in order to stifle any criticism of the underlying structural issues is just dumb. Yes we all bear personal responsibility for what we put into our mouths, but there's a reason so many are failing and that's worth looking into don't you think?