Many thin people believe that they “earned” their thinness from diet and exercise without realizing that behavior determines a very small percentage of variance in population weights.
By far the strongest determinant of weight is genetics, accounting for over 75% of individual differences in size. After that comes powerful social determinants of higher body weight like poverty and food insecurity, a history of trauma, and especially a history of weight-based abuse, like being forced to diet at a young age.
Healthful exercise does not typically result in long-term weight loss. Among other benefits, exercise improves cardiovascular health, helps people regulate their blood sugar, and for some people, it can improve mental health. But it simply does not cause long-term weight loss.
Neither does a “healthy diet,” by the way.
And hey, guess what? Lots of fat people “bust their asses” and are incredibly active and they… are…. still… fat!
Besides all of that, even if thin people did “earn” their thinness, it certainty doesn’t justify the social, economic, and material benefits that thin people enjoy, nor does it justify the rampant abuse and discrimination that fat people suffer.
Being thin is not an accomplishment and being fat is not a failure. Body size does not determine your worth. Period.
Just gonna chime in for my fellow thin folks with my own experience.
Right now, I’m in the best shape I’ve been in my life. I play roller derby, a competitive sport, and work out roughly 6 days per week with sprints, conditioning, etc. I am toned, have muscles and reasonable cardio endurance.
The worst shape I’ve been in was probably my junior year of college when I was abroad in Ecuador. I wasn’t exercising at all because foreign country + no time and I was eating a ton of carbs and very little diet variation.
I’ve also had periods in the middle where I’m being kinda active but not really and eating mostly healthy but nothing special.
In all of this, my weight has stayed between 130-150 pounds. Since I finished puberty, it has never been lower or higher than that. No amount of eating bullshit and not exercising made me go above 150. No amount of ridiculous cardio and strength training made me go below. My body just naturally wants to be somewhere around 140 pounds and I’m pretty damn sure nothing other than childbirth or medication that alters my hormones is going to change that.
This is pretty much what I’ve seen with my friends, family, et. People might gain or lose 20 pounds based on lifestyle choices (occasionally more), but by and large, that shit is because of factors outside your control.
So enjoy your muscles and your endurance and feeling good from getting sweaty. But don’t think for a damn second you earned whatever privilege your body buys you.
This is an excellent example of how weight set-point theory can play out in real life, thank you for sharing!
So once again: Being thin is not an accomplishment and being fat is not a failure. Body size is a value-neutral physical characteristic, it is not a reflection of your worth.