Hi folks,

A few weeks ago there was a lot of controversy in the media about the topic of fat shaming

when Bill Maher, a talk show presenter in the US,

said it should make a comeback.

His argument, part founded on personal experience, was that people could benefit from this kind of negative driving force to act as a fuel to make them change.

My experience with people who are struggling with their weight management and body image is that

nothing…could be further from the truth.

What I’ve observed first hand for the last 10 years, is that no-one beats you up more than you already beat yourself up when you’re overweight, out of shape and desperately unhappy with yourself and your body.

so why would humiliating you and telling you what you already know inspire you to make a positive change?

Could it possibly be that in fact, hitting you where it hurts so much already will more than likely fuel even more self loathing

and perpetuate the vicious cycle of eating because you’re unhappy and being unhappy because you eat too much

Resulting in your body weight spiralling even further out of control.

Along the same lines, I’ve had clients who’ve told me that personal trainers they used to work with,

sometimes got angry and gave them a row if they hadn’t lost weight and hadn’t progressed as expected.

Now, it’s one thing for a public figure to give an unsolicited opinion but from a health and fitness professional whose care and guidance you’re paying for…this is reprehensible.

It’s crazy how some misguided people think that a sensitive, complex issue like being overweight or obese

which is actually a symptom of a deeper underlying problem caused by the perfect storm of environmental, mental health and genetic factors

can be solved as cruelly and bluntly by shaming and bullying you into changing.

That is not the way forward.

To help anyone with any behavioural change.

There is never any excuse to shame anyone about any aspect of themselves or their bodies

There is a simple solution though –

If you’re the one looking to take control of your body and health then you need to own it

And show commitment, patience and openness to learning how you and your body works

That together with compassion and support from the right people who get what you’re going through

and most importantly learning to be compassionate with yourself.

Will get you to where you want to be once and for all.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-49714697

Watch James Corden’s response here – it’s a shame he feels he’s failed and not got to the root cause.

We shouldn’t make a joke out of it – people often use humour to mask their pain