The FastDay Forum

I love that @barbaritaMay the Fast be with you! wd make a great signature!
I don't feel particularly fed up Barb..i just wanted someplace to connect with folk here with lots weight to shed..
With all the Fastiversaries coming round of all the magic folk who've been here a year and proved to all of us this WOL works and is sustainable,i wasnt noticing much posting from folk who were still in earlier stages of their journey..
People who like me,Look,Feel and just ARE fat, no two ways about it.just another fact of life like having freckles or brown eyes! They might be peed off about it but they weren't gonna deny they had a weight prob...they might be posting but i wasnt coming across them,
and i just wanted a place to talk with them like in any other Tent.
Two stones down from now, i wont think of myself as fat tho i will be aware i' m still not slim! To get those two stone down, i not only need the success stories, i also need to discuss with others who are also working to get two,maybe three or even more,stones down
Onwards and downwards as always! X pS and all you Slimmer Sis-stars always welcome here..love to hear your stories,theyre so encouraging!

Yes, I get it, CandiceMarie. That's why I am only popping in, rather than rolling out my swag in this tent. I no longer have a lot to lose, although I am still fat. I have a bit to lose. In the context of this forum i don't see that you are sad or angry or are saying anything about your lack of moral fibre. The world might say that about fat people, but we don't. We've been there! You just want a group of people who are in the same space as you. We have 3 different groups in the forum: the people who are not and never have been fat and are doing 5:2 for health reasons; the people who have already lost the weight and are in the maintainers tent - possibly eating cream buns - and us, who are still trying to lose weight. Well done setting up this tent. I hope it will be a support for those of us still struggling with weight. We have special issues and we understand each other. I keep putting myself in and out of the tent, not sure if I belong on not.

@Sallyo rolling out yr swag! I love that expression! Is it a Tassie saying? Havent heard it before
Roll it out whenever you want to! love having you here
I like your classifications ..i particularly admire those who do 5:2 for the health benefits and are slim anyhoo ..like @callyanna who is tiny!
Folk like me who still have lots to lose are slightly in a minority here which goes to show how well 5:2 and its variations work! I' m so glad to have so many role models here and i wonder if this place is pretty unique in that.
Specially coz i can look back and see,for example,@PennyForthem s postings from last year and compare those with her postings now and feel very spurred on by the difference for her in last spring and this spring ( hope you don't mind me bringing you into it Penny)
Makes this place a positive treasure trove of help,and is also the reason i erected this tent...could be a very encouraging place for any shy newbies to start out on their journey..x
Feel great this morning..a good night's sleep for once and yesterday's fast done and dusted! Hope yours went well too Sally! X

I won't be joining this tent under its current name, even though I still have a lot of weight to lose. I find the title offensive and objectifying and I believe it sets a bad model for younger women who are less sure of their relationship to their bodies, and also for those of us who struggle with their own inner voices to speak positively to themselves.

Jools, We all have different points of view on what we find offensive or offputting.
I am sure the mods would have pulled it if the title really is offensive, and they havent so far.
I feel i have nothing much else i want to say to you on the subject except ..
Young women ( or men) or people of any age,with plenty of confidence / lack of confidence/
lots of weight to lose/ little to lose /....etc etc
could be just as upset/put off / intimidated/overawed.......by titles here about running,walking,hiking,having fastiversaries,reaching goals,falling off the wagon,getting back on the wagon,overeating,undereating,bingeing...etc etc etc

Equally, anyone can be inspired/ feel included/ encouraged / spurred on by any one of those titles too!
Many would frown on a fasting forum full stop,saying that it doesn't give a good example to younger women ..or to anyone else.

Please forgive me if i don't respond to anything more from you on the subject of the post title Jools, i am not being rude, i do understand you have a different point of view from mine,maybe others do too but no one has said so....but i just don't have anymore words to add except to say,it's fine if you don't visit..we are free to pick and choose on here where we want to contribute / not contribute .

I think its all freedom of speech. Unless someone is insulting a person directly its not an issue. I am a firm believer of if something offends people, they should avoid looking at it. I am fat, I look fat and I feel fat. There is no getting away from that so I don't see why its offensive. This is not an attack on your right to express how you feel Jools, its just to way I see it.

I will dip into this tent and join you @CandiceMarie I haven't read anything to give offence. I have about 30lbs left to lose and I am struggling to lose but am maintaining where I have landed. At size 16 I feel good, I know I am healthy with regards Bloods, blood pressure and viseral fat rating. But I am still obese according to BMI which means I am fat, and no its not muscle its fat. I am pear shape so smaller on top than bottom. If I can get to BMI of 27 I will just be overweight. But then again if I have no health issues and I am satisfied with how I look in my clothes why do I care about numbers. Because that is how society today ditates it.

Chris x

I'm not staying either. Just wanted to pop in & express my support for @jools7 different point of view. I would encourage those of you who have never experienced weight stigma, fat shaming or discrimination based on size to try to see how perpetuating body hate is not helpful. I would invite you to read "Dances with Fat", a fat activist blog that explains where my point of view has been formed. I spent too many decades of my life hating myself & everyone around me because of a number on a scale. You cannot imagine how the name of this tent cuts my heart. I wish you all the best, but I am gracefully bowing as I leave & bid you farewell.

@Izzy I ' d never heard of Ragen Chastain so ive just googled the name..first thing to come up is
Hi, I’m Ragen Chastain. Dancer, Choreographer, Writer, Speaker, Fat Person. Welcome to my little corner of the web.
Mary Lynn,sorry but i don't feel for one moment i perpetuate body hate or any kind of hate..
Hate is a very strong word and one i don't use as it's so ugly x

I can see both point of view and am sending my love to everyone you lovely passionate articulate women. Can we agree to diszagree as I don't want to see anyone hurting here. I have heaps of respect for you

Very interesting points of view here and it's all, as far as I can see, about how we see ourselves and how we chose to describe ourselves - and, of course, how others see us as well.
What's that old adage? how I see myself, how I think others see me, how they actually perceive me...
I can describe myself as old... it's a word and it's not nice. But it's true.

I don't hate my body just my lack of self control. I have gained weight, my clothes are too tight, I cannot afford or justify a new wardrobe so need to shed the excess once more. Simples!

@CandiceMarie Looking at your tracker you started 5:2 nearly a year after me. I was in a similar situation - size 18/20/22 - it just gradually creeps up. For several years I had decided not to diet in any formal way but to accept that people should like me for who I am rathet than what I look like. However I began to include 'I'm fat' into my conversation and I still do but really to get it out of the way. I felt once it was acknowledged people could move past that thought and appreciate my other qualities. It seems that is what those who have met you have done regarding yourself.
Like you when I started I did not want to be 'thin' just 'not obviously fat'. My aim also was to get to an easy size 16. It took just over a year to get to that point. I feel so much better but on the occasional photo I allow I am still much bigger on paper than I am in my head if you know what I mean. I am sure you will get there too - the slow track is just as successful in the end.
When I got to my initial target I realised that I can do this so I have lowered my sights to a size 14. This may take a long time and I am not going to pressurise myself with targets. I think it is unlikely that I will ever reach a 'normal' BMI and at the moment I still feel I belong in this tent but hopefully not for much longer. You will also leave one day

More than ready to agree to disagree @gillymary! X hope everyone else too, as i don't want to be the cause of disharmony in this usually warm and happy home we all enjoy calling into for mutual support,advice and fun!

Thanks to all for joining in the debate and/or choosing to click " thanks" on comments.
N.B. A special thank you to @philxjr for bringing his male perspective into the mix.

Can we just say "Live and Let Live" now please..
and from now on use the Tent for the reason it was erected..
I.e., for those,who like me,want to talk about their IF experiences and general day to day ups and downs of having around two stone or more to shed ( or a bit less even,if you wish to talk here )
With plenty of pounds to lose and a variety of reasons for wanting to lose it,plus the patience and discipline needed to reach our goals,goodness knows,we have lots to discuss!
But if this isn't you or it's not your cup of tea,walk on by and i' ll catch up with you elsewhere for a chat and a laugh - no hard feelings! X

Amen, CD

Ballerina x