Fat

You know, it's funny. Despite the fact that the supermarkets here in France are full of tasty things like big jars of goosefat, which I'm fairly sure are not going to get the Heart Foundation tick any time soon, the only fat people I've seen in France have been tourists. They either have cameras around their necks, or are speaking loudly in English*, or both. Not to mention the fact that everyone is constantly eating pastries. 

I've been thinking about some of the ideas about fat acceptance, and while I'm down with some of them, as a feminist, like not policing calories, and not trying to conform to unrealistic patriarchal blah-blah about women's bodies, and that there are v more important things than how we look, and that no-one should be discriminated against for how they look, and that fat jokes are unacceptable, just like other discriminatory jokes are unacceptable (although I still love the one about the Catholic priest and the Rabbi on the train, remind me to tell you at some point), I am very much not down with some of the other ideas. 

One that I'm not down with is intuitive eating. I have some fairly major food intolerances - not actual allergies, in that my throat doesn't swell shut, I don't need a shot of adrenalin, and no-one needs to call an ambulance, but pretty bad intolerances. Watch me eat cheese, watch my body turn into an itching mess with no energy and an upset stomach. Ditto gluten. (Both of these are exacerbated by animals with fur, which given that I have five of them means I can get away with eating none at all at home, but some while I am on holidays, which considering I am in France, land of CHEESE eating and also bagettes, is good right now. But I digress). Despite not being able to tolerate dairy (specifically, beta casein) or gluten, you know what my body tells me it wants most of the time? A fucking cheese sandwich. The combination of the two things that will hit me hardest. Hi, thanks, body. I'd *love* to be too tired to get out of bed and raw from scratching. Pass that cheese sangwich, pronto. Sometimes my body also suggests that a healthy breakfast might consist of a pack of Chocolate Royales, and some sherbet. But if I eat that shit, I'm going to feel crap, I'm going to have no energy, and yes, I'm going to be covered in a nasty rash. Intuitive eating, my arse.

I am absolutely down with the idea that fat is not teh enemy. I eat it like mad, along with protein, vegetables, fruit, eggs, nuts. I try not to eat anything else. I don't beat myself up about it when I slip up, it's not about looking hot, it's about having energy, and not being sick. In essence, it's about delayed gratification. Sure, I can eat some cheese now and it feels pretty damn good while I'm eating it. But it feels much better when I have heaps of energy and am not covered in a rash. It's just that one requires me not to put a food in my mouth that for me, is a BAD food. Fat acceptance says no bad foods, no good foods, but it's just not true. In fact, I go a step further. It's utter bullshit.

I am so down with the idea of eating when you're hungry, not starving yourself, all that jazz. If you're hungry, eat. Pretty simple. But eat whatever you want? Uh huh. Sure. Not a good plan. I'm absolutely down with eating as much as you need to satisfy your hunger. But if it's not healthy real food, then you're getting instant gratification, but you're hurting yourself. 

And now, apparently we need to accept fat pets too. Which frankly, is ridiculous. Cats are one thing. Dogs, as I left a comment on that post saying (only it's been deleted, because I was not toeing the fat acceptance line), are another kettle of fish. When we got our dog, he was 2kg overweight. Unlike that post was suggesting, our vet did not try to sell us reduced calorie dog food. He suggested chicken, rice and vegetables. No profit there for him. At 2kg overweight, Casper couldn't breathe properly - he wheezed constantly - he could only walk about 150 metres, and his arthritis bothered him - a lot, because there was 20% extra weight he didn't need on his poor old joints. Oh, but we should just have ACCEPTED it because fat is not teh evil. Fucking ridiculous. And pointing out that our dog had health issues because he was fat - clearly that makes me anti-fat and a hater. Sheesh. 

Anyway, in future posts I will cover why health IS a moral issue. I think we've pretty much covered the body-needs-fuel bit - it's just when it's the wrong fuel, it's like putting diesel in a petrol engine. Also, we may cover cooking potatoes in goosefat, because I'm determined to do it at least once while I'm here. Those jars of goosefat look AMAZING**. 

*I use the term in a fairly loose sense.

** If you've been reading my blog for a while you'll know I don't believe there is any connection between saturated fat and health issues of any sort, and also that I don't believe in low-fat diets, which not only don't work but which also make you dried up and wrinkly, like a prune but less moist.