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Will it be a new buzz word in the battle of the bulge? Fatorexia, coined by British author Sara Bird is simple and catchy enough to grab on to the social lexicon quickly. In the same way someone who is suffering from anorexia might dismiss their unhealthy thin appearance as being to heavy, Ms. Bird discovered for herself she had the opposite problem. A former 140 pound part-time model, Bird had piled on another 100 pounds to her 5’10" frame with the passing of time. But she didn’t see it, both via self denial and clever ways she subconsciously hid her extra girth.
In this San Francisco Chronicle story, Bird talks about the subtle things she did that fed her "fatorexia" issues. Avoiding full length mirrors, wearing lose fitting clothing that featured elastic waistbands instead of form fitting lines, and piling on eye catching jewelry and flashy fabrics to draw attention away from those extra pounds. Plus, she just preferred not to acknowledge the fact that she was in the obese category. Even when she was forced to place talc on her thighs to prevent chaffing when they started to rub together, she convinced herself that she had just gotten a little heavier. But, she was obese and a trip to the doctor for a check-up hammered the point home.
While we might agree that fatorexia is hardly in the same league as the clinically proven and life threatening issue of anorexia, it does hit home on the fact that as a society, we are every day getting more and more complacent with our extra pounds. Bird drives this point home with statistics and great quotes. A 2008 study by the British Medical Journal found that 25% of over weight or obese people did not view themselves as too heavy. If you are 5’10 and 238 lbs as Bird was, you are either overweight or an extremely ripped (and height challenged) outside linebacker in the NFL.
So, how do you get out of your fatorexia funk as Bird did when she lost 20 lbs? It takes a brush with reality, whether it be a doctor visit, a look at some old pictures from college, or a comment from one of those kids who hasn’t learned to censor his social commentary yet. The biggest thing Bird says is to embrace that reality and make subtle changes to reset your expectations. Her 20 pound weight loss was due mainly to getting some exercise walking her dog and some better eating habbits. No huge changes, no stomach staples, no crazy maple syrup diets.
If you live in an area like Houston, Texas, your perception is going to be challenged by your environment as well. When you see lots of other plus sized people around you, the chances of viewing yourself as truly over weight or obese is much lower than if you lived say in Boulder, Colorado with its active population. You need to set your expectations based on guidance from a physician. Sure, the BMI index gets a bad rep for true accuracy, but that is mainly from people who are active and muscular. If you don’t exercise much and your BMI is 29, it isn’t because your muscle density. It is a good baseline to establish if you need to look deeper and visit your doctor for advice.
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