19-year-old who documented 120lb weight loss called FATPHOBIC, accused of promoting ‘diet culture’
A 19-year-old who documented his 120-pound weight loss on TikTok is being called ‘fatphobic’ – with critics accusing him of promoting ‘diet culture’ and ‘praising thinness.’
Mark Gaetano originally gained attention online for posting videos of himself doing hilarious impressions.
But after losing 120 pounds, he said he felt ‘proud’ and wanted to share his weight loss journey with the world.
He decided to celebrate his transformation with his four million followers by posting a few clips of himself before and after the weight loss.
He also shared a video of himself dancing, while the words, ‘Down 120 pounds and officially not over weight anymore,’ flash across the screen.
But the response he received for the videos was far from what he expected. Mark was shocked when he began to get a lot of backlash for posting about his weight loss online.
A 19-year-old who documented his 120-pound weight loss on TikTok is being called ‘fatphobic’ – with critics accusing him of promoting ‘diet culture.’ He is pictured before (left) and after (right) his weight loss
After losing more than 100 pounds, Mark Gaetano said he felt ‘proud’ and wanted to share his weight loss journey with the world. He is pictured before (left) and after (right) his weight loss
He decided to celebrate his transformation by posting a few clips of himself before and after he lost weight to TikTok. He is pictured before his weight loss
But the response he got for the videos was far from what he expected. Mark was shocked when he began to get a lot of backlash for posting about it online. He is pictured as a child
People started slamming him, and some even called him ‘fatphobic’ and accused him of encouraging eating disorders. He is pictured before (left) and after (right) his weight loss
People started slamming him in the comment section of the videos, and some even made TikToks about him – calling him ‘fatphobic’ and accusing him of encouraging eating disorders and praising diet culture.
‘Your celebration of thinness is inherently problematic because you are positioning thinness as something that should be glorified, as an accomplishment,’ one person said.
According to Mark, however, he lost weight in a healthy way after he started to face some health problems of his own at the beginning of the year.
He told NBC during a recent interview he decided to switch to a healthier lifestyle after he noticed he was getting out of breath while walking up stairs and felt his heart pounding in his chest while doing no physical activity.
In a YouTube video, he also claimed that he was so unhealthy at one point that his hair began to fall out.
He said he wanted to become skinnier so he could one day participate in the CBS reality show Survivor, which requires you to compete in physical challenges against the other contestants.
He began exercising and dieting, upon the recommendation of his doctor. He credited calorie deficits, intermediate fasting, and exercise as the three things that helped him lose weight.
Now, he has responded to his haters, and he said he is ‘sick and tired’ of the narrative that was being pushed about him on the internet
According to Mark, he lost weight in a healthy way after he started to face some health problems of his own at the beginning of the year. He is pictured as a child
He told NBC he decided to switch to a healthier lifestyle after he noticed he was getting out of breath while walking up stairs and felt his heart pounding in his chest. He is pictured before (left) and after (right) his weight loss
After facing criticism online, Mark decided to respond to his haters in a video. And in it, he said he was ‘sick and tired’ of the narrative that was being pushed about him on the internet.
He said he ‘worked hard, put in discipline, and tested his self-worth’ to lose weight, and that he deserved to ‘flaunt it’ because he’s proud of his ‘personal health advancement.’
‘Since my body has become a topic of discussion I feel this is necessary,’ he began. ‘At the start of the year, I made the conscious decision to lose weight to better my health.
‘Over the past year, I have worked hard, put in discipline, and tested my self-worth to lose 120 pounds.
‘Because I put so much work into it, I’m going to flaunt it because I’m proud of a personal health advancement.
‘But according to some folks, me being happy about my weight loss equates to me being “fatphobic.”‘
Mark said he was aware of fatphobia in society since he experienced it himself. He explained that as soon as he lost weight, he noticed a difference in the way he was treated by the people in his life and by strangers.
He continued: ‘I am not going to sit here and let this narrative persist. Last time I checked, the body positivity movement was designed to celebrate all body types.
‘But it seems like people that are part of this movement are quick to discard me now from that movement because I’m “thin” now.
He credited calorie deficits, intermediate fasting, and exercise as the three things that helped him lose weight. He is pictured before his weight loss
He said he ‘worked hard, put in discipline, and tested his self-worth’ to lose weight, and that he deserved to ‘flaunt it.’ He is pictured before (left) and after (right) his weight loss
He said: ‘According to some folks, me being happy about my weight loss equates to me being “fatphobic.”‘ He is pictured before his weight loss
‘I still have battle scars from my weight loss. I still have stretch marks, loose skin – things from my weight loss that I will live with forever.
‘I am very much aware of fatphobia in society, in fact, it’s been proven to me through my weight loss.
‘The differences in the way people treated me when I was bigger compared to now are very telling. And I’m very closed off because of it now.’
He reiterated that he did not have an eating disorder, and said that he was ‘disheartened’ over people questioning his morals.
‘I do not hate fat people. I am not anti-fat. I am simply proud of my personal accomplishment,’ he said.
‘I will forever be an advocate of the true meaning of the body positivity movement. I am 100 per cent against coming for someone’s appearance. And will remain that way until the day I die.
‘One aspect of the body positivity movement is to not comment on people’s bodies. So quit adding commentary about my body, it’s completely against what you fight for.
‘For people to sit behind a screen and try to act as my nutritionist and my dietician is absurd.
‘You simply do not have the credentials to sit here and tell me whether or not I have an eating disorder.
‘The fact that you would invade into my personal health to tell me I have an eating disorder is insane. Stop doing that. Cut it out. I’m sick and tired of this narrative being pushed about me.’
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk