Mo Pie’s post, Understanding Weight Loss, reminded me of something that has bothered me for a long time, even when I was an earnest and sincere advocate for WW instead of a bitter, jaded, angry person. It’s this whole magical “10% of your body weight” concept. There is this idea in dieting land that losing 10% of your body weight is a magical, wonderful goal that, if achieved, will result in lowered blood pressure, lower cholesterol, reduced risk of diabetes, smaller clothes, increased happiness, 15% more making out with hotties, your dream job, untold riches, never having anybody’s crotch pushed into your face during your rush hour public transit commute, and a spontaneous understanding of the inner most secrets of the universe. Weight Watchers even gives you a chintzy little key chain once you’ve lost the equivalent of 10% of your starting weight.
Mo touched on the bothersome nature of the 10% ideal when she said, “Of course, if someone is obese and does ‘lose 10-15% of body weight,’ they are still visibly obese. Just from looking at them, nobody can tell that they are actually following society’s dictates. This underscores yet again how counterproductive the culture of shaming and mockery is—what if you’re vilifying someone who’s already lost weight, hmm?”
But I think what really gets me is the underlying message of the 10% weight loss goal: no matter what you weight right now, it’s not right. Whatever your weight happens to be, it’s not healthy. You’re not really happy. You’re not really attractive. Whatever your weight is, you are not as healthy, happy, pretty, and perfect as you are supposed to be.
Because what you are supposed to be is always, always less.
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April 24, 2008 at 2:56 pm
worthyourweight
Amen to this post!
Plus, (IIRC) according to the research Gina Kolata refers to in Rethinking Thin, it *still* takes a Herculean effort to lose even 20 pounds and keep it off. For some, 20 pounds is 10-15 percent of their body weight.
The sad thing that’s lost in this “lose 10-15 percent” BS is that incorporating enjoyable exercise/activity/movement will result in the health improvements attributed to the weight loss. Glen Gaesser makes this point well in his book Big Fat Lies. It’s metabolic fitness, and it doesn’t require stenuous exercise.
April 24, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Eve
Hmm…yes, that gets me as well. I once had a dream (back in my bad old fat-hating, self-hating days) in which I was the same size I was at the time, but had just lost about 100 lbs. And then some dumbass had the nerve to tell me to lose weight, and I broke down crying and said I’d already lost 100 lbs and they should f the hell off. Which was weird, because I’ve never lost that much weight…I think my mind was trying to think up a scenario where it would be ok to be the weight I was.
Anyways, if the obese are supposed to lose 10%, and they’re still obese after losing that 10%, shouldn’t they try to lose another 10%, and so on ad infinitum? Seems to me it would be better to get more exercise and eat healthily and not focus on weight if the goal is improved health.
April 24, 2008 at 3:12 pm
OTM
Seems to me, too.
April 24, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Tari
Preach on.
You know what strikes me funny? The way it’s framed as “losing just 10% of your body weight” sort of assigns ownership to the highest weight - that’s the one that’s “yours” before you start dieting or whatever. Either the whole concept is bogus (I know: duh) because there’s no fixed starting point and thus no possible clear-cut endpoint…..or there’s just the one weight that’s “yours” - and if it’s mine, why give it up for someone else’s?
WW can fuck off - this weight is mine, and I’m keeping it!
April 24, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Cindy
I commented over at BFD, but I did the whole WW thing. I never did reach goal. I had to drop my calorites to 900-1000 a day to lose any more weight, all while keeping up my steady workout with The Firm (which is very, effing strenuous aerobic weight training.)
I don’t remember being hungry.
I remember being pissed off. Having to write down everything I ate. Having to track my exercise as if I were some sort of effing lab rat. Spending 20 hours a week of actual labot in diet, exercise and logging said diet and exercise. (I won’t even go into the psychological prep for eating out or meeting friends at a tavern. A glass of fine wine will never be the same — GASP! You shouldn’t DRINK your calories!)
And the money I spent to sit in those patronizing meetings. And I never did look like a Self magazine cover model. Not even at 120 lbs. and lifting weights everyday. Still chubby.
April 24, 2008 at 4:53 pm
Rachel
I’ve lost about 34 percent of my body and yet because I am still fat, I would still ostensibly get the lectures on how I should lose just another 10 percent and yet another until I am socially acceptable.
April 24, 2008 at 5:13 pm
fatgirlonadate
Such a good point. I’d never thought of it this way.
Besides, the 10% thing (”just 10% can make such a difference!” ) is no small feat. I weigh 300 pounds. Losing 30 pounds? Is not easy.
(Actually, in the last year and a half, I’ve lost 30 pounds - I was 328 at my heaviest. Didn’t try to lose it, it just happened. And you know what? I don’t think anyone noticed. I certainly didn’t; I didn’t change clothing sizes. So, damn, I did what I was told and turns out there’s no free toaster at the end.)
April 24, 2008 at 5:16 pm
fatgirlonadate
Ok, hmm. I just said that it wasn’t easy to lose 30 pounds, but that I did it without even trying.
But the thing is, I’ve spent my whole life trying to lose weight, and until last year I never managed anything close to that much weight loss. Hell, after I found out that I’d gone down 30 pounds I went on a little dieting streak and tried to lose some more - no luck.
April 24, 2008 at 5:20 pm
Zilly
Whatever your weight happens to be, it’s not healthy.
Well, obviously this would only apply to the OMG OBESE, silly. ;) Except that some of them might already weigh 10% less than they normally would. Those are exceptions, mind you, which nobody will know unless they start tattooing “I’ve lost 10% of my initial body weight already, please don’t ask me to do so again” on their foreheads.
And this:
You know what strikes me funny? The way it’s framed as “losing just 10% of your body weight” sort of assigns ownership to the highest weight - that’s the one that’s “yours” before you start dieting or whatever. Either the whole concept is bogus (I know: duh) because there’s no fixed starting point and thus no possible clear-cut endpoint…..or there’s just the one weight that’s “yours” - and if it’s mine, why give it up for someone else’s?
That’s just brilliant. I never thought of it that way! :D
April 24, 2008 at 5:43 pm
Devi
15% more making out with hotties
Which is why I tend to bang my head against the desk when I hear women say that they’ll finally start dating once the weight comes off.
April 24, 2008 at 6:01 pm
Meowser
I’ve probably lost that much since discontinuing antidepressants. I’m making out with the same hottie I always have, and just about as often. As for my dream job and untold riches, I’m still waiting. I never had high blood pressure or high blood sugar, and even the skinniest members of my family have elevated cholesterol. But if they want to fuck up my internal organ function, by all means they should continue to stress me out over nothing.
April 24, 2008 at 7:37 pm
OTM
Cindy! I know that anger! Man, WW made me furious by the end. I think that what finally did me in was being unable to do the very things that WW was supposed to allow you to do while dieting - going out with friends for dinner/drinks. Although I did enjoy the meeting when the “Leader” asked us what we did with our flex points and I shared with the group that I liked to save up all my activity points and flex points for drinking on the weekends. Note: said meeting was in central North Carolina.
So wait, fatgirlonadate, Meowser… are you telling me that you lost 10% of your body weight with… NO CONSEQUENCES AT ALL?????? Maybe what you need to do is lose 10% of your body weight.
Zilly, it’s true, Tari is generally quite brilliant!
April 24, 2008 at 11:18 pm
Meowser
I don’t actually know if it’s exactly 10% yet, but it’s close enough that I should be able to smell Valhalla. And either my nose is broken, or Valhalla is actually odorless.
April 25, 2008 at 2:20 am
Fatadelic
What gets me about the 10% thing is that whatever weight you are, 10% less is assumed to be healthier. So if you lose the 10% and your blood-pressure doesn’t drop and you don’t positively drip health from every pore? Well, you must not have lost the right 10%, so keep dieting.
April 25, 2008 at 6:21 am
DivaJean
My name is DivaJean- I endorse this posting and all the comments– and basically have nothing better to add.