I've been watching this thread for a few days and giving my response some thought.
On the one hand, I'm pleased it was raised in the first place: it's brought out (I think) broadly the best in this community - including some past posters who we don't hear from very often - and a general consensus that we should expect better from ourselves and each other than the original tweet that kicked this all off.
This is a good thing.
The problem is, this issue is deep and complicated. We have all been fat shamed / diet shamed / mis-judged by people in positions of authority who are paid to help us. And, not only that, but in the process of being shamed, we've also been given - at times YEARS of - bad advice that has put our health and, at times our very lives in danger.
We forget that this forum is part of the leading edge when it comes to LCHF, and that the voices we raise here - in support, in sharing experiences, in giving encouragement - are part of the movement to rationalise LCHF (and other ways of eating) and move them from the "Fad Diet" list to the "Healthy Lifestyle" one - and we are seeing huge success when it comes to both our personal stories and the perception of Low Carb in the media.
But our resentment for the ways our health has been neglected and our lifestyles shamed is deep and hurts. Most of us have only followed what the Eatwell Plate and various doctors have told us to do. We've been watching This Morning and Delia and Bake Off religiously for years and we all thought we were doing the best for ourselves and our families. And now we're reluctantly at the front edge of a movement none of us particularly chose to represent: we didn't sign up for this; the NHS dumped us here when its advice - in spite of years of research to the contrary - failed us.
The difficulty with the original picture in the tweet that kicked all this off, is that without any kind of caption, that's a relatively smug-looking group of middle class white women all self-applauding after a hefty session of Putting The World To Rights. That image harks back to an uncomfortable past, where youth, diversity and experience went unvalued. But, worse, that picture does represent a hypocrisy: they're able to carry their extra weight without, apparently, a care in the world, yet we took their advice and now our extra weight is causing others to negatively judge us and will, if we refuse to change, kill us.
That's a hard truth. Especially when it comes to so many of the stories shared on this thread. I don't think it's especially shameful to feel resentment that some people can "get away with it" when we weren't able to - particularly when we were just following the advice women like this (including our loving post-war grandmothers and mothers) had always, always given us.
But, just as we always say when someone judges us for not being perfect-body beach ready, we don't know these women or their stories. We know they gave us bum advice for years. We know that advice has hurt us. We know that they're slow to change their tune. But we don't know them, and going after someone for their body shape alone - no matter the complex feelings behind it, no matter the justifications, no matter the context - is just plain wrong.
I'm relieved to see that, collectively, this forum reached that conclusion.
It's clear, however, that we have been hurt. And there is no single point of responsibility to blame. There is no Big Tobacco Conspiracy to take to court: the closest we have is Dieticians, whose organisations have sold seats to companies that peddle carbs. There's no real closure to that. There's no-one putting their hands in the air and saying "Wow, sorry, guys - we really got that wrong!", and that hurts us, too. So, occasionally, people lash out and point out uncomfortable truths about how we got to where we are. There's not going to be any single moment of closure here, just many little victories as things slowly change.
It doesn't mean we have to feed the trolls. It doesn't mean we have to stoop so low. It doesn't mean we all give up and go home. It doesn't mean we get to demand that everyone else changes their behaviour (including our Health Care professionals who are often stuck between a rock and a hard place). It's a complicated and emotive issue.
We've all made much progress and hard choices and huge changes. And after reading this discussion, I'm really proud to be a part of this community. Time to start healing, people. <3
Sock xx