LogFAQs > #961420285

synklare posted...

I don't typically base it upon simply looking at somebody.

Prior to a serious back injury years ago, I was a fitness instructor. When dealing with consultations and drawing up regimes, I'd ask people to be as honest as possible, and fill out food diaries for a length they felt was reasonable based on what they wanted from me.

Many had bad eating habits, some had underlying medical conditions.

I'd get as much information as possible, have people fill out health-questionnaires and PARQ forms to let me know if I should be referring them to their GP first before going on any form of regime or plan with me. Would have been pretty daft of me to suggest nutritional changes or exercise plans to people that could be detrimental to their health.

okay, in that case this is perfectly reasonable. the image I had in my head was of you giving fat people unsolicited advice as they walk past you on the street.

My post above is more so on the topic of being "fat-phobic". I don't vibe with the idea of adding phobic to things because it's a cop-out to escape discussion of a variety of subjects. There are people deserving of the mantles, sure, but it's a common tactic to shy away from any discussion.

I do understand this, though it's much more productive to think of such terms as descriptors of behaviour than indictments of character; and if it's detrimental to conversation, it's largely because the people displaying such behaviour misinterpret it as the latter and throw a fit.

on that level, it's still very much possible to engage with what people say in spite of any such prejudices. I generally don't even use that kind of language, but it's still very, very common for people to throw a similar fit -- this leads me to believe that it's not actually related to -phobias and other related words. but I don't know.

I've always felt that BMI was a crock of shit myself as well, I liked getting people to a place where they, as an individual, felt comfortable but would always suggest optimal paths to get there and any potential improvements that could be had. BMI is outdated as fuck as there a lot of variables it doesn't take into account.

obviously improving one's diet and exercise is beneficial health-wise. those benefits don't necessarily translate to someone's weight though. I think fixation on weight, as opposed to general health, is... well, unhealthy. I sometimes think of it as an individual mindset thing; though it's also a broader systemic issue