Watching FA Bloggers on You Tube

I realize this is old news, but I thought Monique and Rachel came across remarkably well in that show, and I have to admit that of all the FA bloggers these two are the ones I disagree with the least. Rachel's history is, I believe, that she did at one point diet down to "normal weight" with a very restrictive and low-calorie diet combined with plenty of high-intensity aerobic exercise (running I think). What happened was that she couldn't keep it up without making herself ill and deteriorating into an eating disorder. I'm no expert, but I believe that this is what might well happen if you use too drastic methods for weight loss for an extended period of time: your metabolism slows down (thyroid ceases to function normally), and the more you restrict your diet and increase your exercise, the harder it becomes to loose the weight or even maintain it - and in the end both your physical and mental health will suffer, and you run the risk of malnutrition, injuries and burnout. This is why very low calorie diets, detox-regimes, liquid diets etc should never be used without medical supervision (in my neck of the woods VLCDs are recommended only for the very severely obese), and especially not combined with a strenuous exercise regime.

"HAES" (health at every size) and "Intuitive eating" then? Sure, both sound lovely at a first glance. Of course you should exercise for pleasure and general wellbeing rather than just for weightloss, and eating when you are hungry and stopping when you are full is very sensible. However, HAES and the FA's interpretation of intuitive eating don't stop there.