This is so unbelievably important. Back when I was properly obese (18st on my 5’5” frame) as opposed to just standardly chubby as I am now, I would not have exercised in public for anything. I bought an exercise bike and sweated out my shame in private in my flat. https://twitter.com/drsdeg/status/1288416164671037440

To suggest that people who have become obese BECAUSE they lack confidence and self-esteem (don’t be fooled by people’s acts) should put that fragile self-esteem to the test by going where idiots will shout ‘amusing comments’ at them is to fundamentally misunderstand the issue.

I was ashamed to be fat. And then ashamed of how I looked when I tried to make the effort to address it. Afraid that people would laugh (they do) and stare (they do). Society shames fat people - just look at the news reports of headless, wobbling bodies that will accompany this

To encourage us to point and stare and be ashamed on behalf of these poor, fat people who just can’t stop eating chips. Yes, eating too much made me fat, but being profoundly, profoundly miserable made me eat too much. Address that issue, and maybe the lbs will melt away.

But no one ever lost weight because some smug bastard lectured them. Fat people know it’s unhealthy. I knew i couldn’t do all the things I used to do before I was fat. I knew my asthma was worse, and that I was setting myself up for lifelong issues - I saw it in the mirror.

I know now that if I could shift the last two stone I would improve my health chances, but I also know now that living in a state of permanent misery and shame isn’t conducive to a healthy life either.

But that took a lot of therapy, discovering exercise I love, and having an absurdly happy marriage. Not everyone has access to that, and it’s by luck that I was able to afford access to private therapy. If Boris & co really want to help, maybe they could start wth poverty?

Cos being healthy costs. It’s why we now associate thinness with wealth when two hundred years ago, to be thin was to be poor and malnourished. Honestly, do they know absolutely nothing?

Sorry for the rant. But this is a highly personal and emotive issue for me, as you can probably tell.