>

90% of diets fail because people start one, lose some weight, then stop the diet and go back to what they were doing before. That isn't the diet failing, that's someone failing to maintain a healthier diet. To actually keep the weight off, you have to make a change to your diet that you maintain for as long as you want the weight to stay off. A lot harder to do, but also infinitely more successful at losing weight and keeping the weight off
/u/CondorLane (OP) has awarded 2 delta(s) in this post.
All comments that earned deltas (from OP or other users) are listed here, in /r/DeltaLog.
Please note that a change of view doesn't necessarily mean a reversal, or that the conversation has ended.
^Delta System Explained ^| ^Deltaboards >

Maybe to change your view in a different way - "The US" gave up on obesity a while ago, this stuff didn't stick the fork in it. Policies that continue to create food deserts, defund school lunch programs and health education, and commodify exercise in trade for driving everywhere all do way more for "the US" as an entity to ignore another one of our epidemics.  
Anything body positivity from a social standpoint is just normal folks trying to cope with the situation in one way or another. >

It is not "healthy at any size". It is "Health at every size".
And all it means is there are things people can do to develop healthy habits no matter what size they are. 
It also takes the focus away from weight loss as the goal to developing long term healthful habits as the goal.
That's all. It's not saying it's healthy to be morbidly obese. >

You’re right about that, there is a health at any size movement and I agree with it’s premise, but I’ve seen “healthy at any size” as much as I’ve seen “health at any size”.  They’re of course very different ideas. 
I don’t know if lots of people on the internet have just misunderstood it and think the movement is about saying it’s healthy to be 300lbs, but I’ve seen plenty of people saying exactly that. >

I'm curious, can you show there actually IS a movement "healthy at any size"? 
Because people saying that on the Internet means nothing in regards to if there's an actual movement. 
Personally what I see is those who don't approve of the movement claiming that based on their misunderstanding that but I haven't seen people actually in the movement claiming that. >

I’m referring to things like this. I don’t know who that Twitter account is btw but was looking for that image. >

Wow, what are you talking about specifically? 
Because I just see fat people being bashed? >

The fat shaming in the comments is vile - that’s why I added the disclaimer that I am not on side with bullies like that.  These debates are always difficult because I do not want to place myself in a camp with people who believe that being cruel to people will improve their health. 
But the image itself is what I’m talking about - that’s a very clear statement to me that is telling people it’s healthy to be very overweight.  I’ve seen people share that image both disagreeing with the premise and celebrating the idea that it’s not unhealthy to be very overweight. >

"Just the image and the headline" is the point, though.  It's a very popular magazine very clearly making a point.  You can say the related article contradicts the point the cover makes.  But don't pretend that the cover isn't saying that obesity is healthy.  It's a great example of the OP's point. >

Y'all act like all skinny people are automatically healthier than all fat people. 
Plenty of skinny people are unhealthy and live unhealthy lives. Plenty of fat people are doing just fine irt health and live overall healthful lives.  
What's wrong with saying you can live a healthy lifestyle at any size? >


Y'all act like all skinny people are automatically healthier than all fat people.

Show me where I said this?  Or is it just an attempt to deflect from my point? >

My approach, to help me Get healthier. was really people in my family not treating me any different bc of my size, just as a human and it takes away the pressure of HAVING to loose weight, and instead perusing health and weight loss being a symptom but unfortunately 99% of peoples experiences are not the same >

Omg yes!!! I lost weight when I decided I didn’t want to put pressure on myself anymore. From the ages of 8-28 I had body image issues and disordered eating.. one day I took a leap of faith. I was always afraid of accepting my body because I was worried it’d make my weight go even more out of control. But I had a hunch that by no longer stressing about it, I’d stop stress eating and crash dieting and all that nonsense. And it worked lol. I weigh as much as I did when I was 14 (31 now) before I started gaining weight due to pressure to lose weight, but I absolutely do not restrict what I eat nor do I exercise. I want to now for health purposes but man. You don’t need to do anything crazy. It’s literally just.. don’t put pressure on yourself and others!!!
Don’t get me wrong, it took effort to not care. To shut off those thoughts and habits of being cruel to myself creep in. But it was effort better spent than crash dieting and fighting an uphill battle. >

I fully understand why you would think this way based on the name of the HAES movement. It is, unfortunately, well-intentioned but poorly named. 
If you dive into it, it isn't "BODIES are healthy at every size", it is "bodies can DO HEALTHY THINGS at every size". Which is a completely legitimate statement. There is always something you can do to improve your health, be it exercise, eating healthier, meditation, drinking more water, etc.
The name, which can be misleading, does get used by some people as an "excuse" to turn a blind eye to the effects of obesity on their health. However, I wouldn't consider those people to be representative of the HAES movement because they have not understood its purpose. I say this as an obese woman - I can do things today while I'm still obese that are going to positively affect my health. I don't need to wait until I'm "average weight" to do healthy things. 
I saw the same confusion with the BLM movement. There were many people who misinterpreted the name until they actually dove into it to understand what BLM's goal actually was, only to realize they actually did side with the movement.    And of course, there were those that twisted its meaning to suit their own agendas. Racists gonna racist I guess. But I digress. I think you've just misinterpreted the HAES name and have seen some posts by those that have twisted it to excuse themselves from any responsibility for their health, and thought they were representatives of the movement when they are not. >


"BODIES are healthy at every size", 

This is the motte.  

"bodies can DO HEALTHY THINGS at every size". 

This is the bailey.
But the motte is real.  One of the principles of the movement is to "reject the ... pathologizing of specific weights."
That means denying that it is unhealthy to be too fat. >


It worries me because it’s essentially actively encouraging people not to even try and fix the problem, condemning them to an old age of serious health complications.

See... here's the problem: more than 90% of diets fail, with people regaining their weight within 5 years. This is actually worse for you than never losing the weight in the first place, as most (but not all) of the damage comes from gaining weight, not being a particular weight. Yoyo dieting is far more hazardous to health than staying fat.
So... for more than 90% of people, they actually would be better off with a different strategy than "lose weight". 
What's that strategy? Having a goal of not gaining weight, taking long term sustainable lifestyle changes to achieve that. Add manageable amounts of exercise to your lifestyle. 
I.e. try to be "healthy at any size". 
The alternative is well known and happens most of the time: the cycle of lose weight, backslide on a holiday or due to illness/etc., get depressed, self-medicate with food, gain weight, lather, rinse, repeat. It doesn't matter what people should do, only what they do do. 
That phrase doesn't mean there are no risks to being fat (although, the majority of the risks are getting fat). They mean that working on being more healthy at your size is more important than trying to change your size. 
The obesity epidemic in the Western world is largely one of having things too well. High calorie delicious foods (of poor nutritional value) are incredibly cheap, and people rarely have to engage in strenuous exercise in order to make a living. Fixing that is not about willpower or dieting. It's not plausible that people's "willpower" has changed significantly since the mid 70s when this epidemic started... And dieting has never worked. 
So education, encouraging active lifestyles (and supporting those economically) and reforming (i.e. massively regulating and removing subsidies) our food system are the solution to the obesity epidemic. 
Dieting isn't the solution, never has been, and never can be, except perhaps for 10% of the population. 
Changing your lifestyle to overall be more healthy at your size, improve your mental health, and once you're happy with yourself, take some steps to lose a little weight... and then lather, rinse, repeat that, is way more likely to work.