I really tried to watch this video with an open mind but it hurt my brain too much. I'm apologizing in advance to anyone who finds my post offensive, but this video is ridiculous and misses the point about acceptance and self-love with it's lame attempt at pseudo-science.
Dear Berta Lovejoy, nothing wrong with promoting love and peace, but please read a book.
This is not how the body works. A Y chromosome does not explain the passion men have for assaulting women. Not all men are assaulters (Does this even need to be stated?) Your body's ability to digest the food you eat to obtain nutrients has no connection whatsoever to the claim that added weight has no negative health effects.
Let's be more accepting of all different shapes and sizes. Let's be kinder to people who don't fit our cookie-cuttter expectations of attractiveness. Let's stop believing that we need to starve ourselves to be good enough. Let's be a little less obsessed with reaching a goal weight as opposed to other goals that are better indicators of health: blood pressure, cholesterol, body fat percentage, physical ability and cardiovascular stamina.
I work with a lady who competes in triathlons and marathons regularly. She does not look like the magazine covers for fitness and it's easy to see the shock register on the faces of people who ask her how her weekend was and she talks about her most recent marathon. Let's just be supportive over what she's accomplishing, and all the ways she shows herself love. She's a badass, and should be recognized for it.
But let's not be willfully ignorant about the effect that carrying too much weight has on the body. Genetically, I am probably predisposed to obesity. On both sides of my family, my relatives are morbidly obese. Heart attacks in their late 30s, knee and hip replacements in their 40s and 50s because their bodies could not handle the extra weight from a minor fall, heart disease and type two diabetes. You name a health risk associated with obesity, my family probably has it. My parents grew up in homes where their parents couldn't play with them, couldn't run around with them, couldn't carry them when they were small. My parents chose a different way to live, and raised me with the knowledge that part of self love was to give myself the best chance of surviving I could by what I put into my body and how I used it. Sure, my weight has dipped in both directions as a result of my lifestyle and emotional health, but I continue to educate myself on treating my body with respect that is ruled by ability and not by a number on a scale. I've been just as miserable at a size 00 as I've been as a size 10. I want to live as long and as happily as I can. That takes balance, a lot of work and honesty.
Let's absolutely be kinder, but let's not stick our heads in the sand and choose not to be honest about all the ways that living an unhealthy lifestyle (whether too thin or too big) limits us physically, mentally and emotionally. Medical health professionals should be warning us about health risks associated with our lifestyles. We should encourage the people we love to choose behaviours so they'll stick around longer.
Rant over. This video completely missed the boat.