You’re absolutely right, about people who are sticking to a low-carb diet and modifying their relationships with food. Stoid is doing nothing of the sort.
People aren’t making value judgments on low-carb dieting, they are criticizing her interpretation of it. She constantly makes excuses for everything she does. She has trouble taking responsibility for her actions, and if you read the thread carefully she finds elaborate ways of twisting things to be not-really-her-fault.
So let’s recap here:
Stoid is fat, she does an experiment for a month where she reduces her caloric intake by a couple hundred calories a day, and starts working out. But working out is outside her normal degree of comfort, and dieting is hard, and she decides dieting doesn’t work. Her “unfortunate” realization is that fat people have 1,000 times harder of a time losing weight because their bodies are broken. Also diets don’t work.
Someone suggests she read Taubes, and miracle of all miracles, he tells her in his book that she’s absolutely right! Good thing she is so welcoming of opionions that exactly mirror her own, demonstrating her ability to change her mind. He says calories don’t matter, not at all! Even in these studies that directly contradict his theory. Also Taubes is not a scientist of any kind.
We discuss Taubes. Stoid is impervious to any criticism of his theories, and there is much criticism. From many people who are very well versed in reading medical research. But Stoid is undeterred, demonstrating her receptiveness to opinions other than her own. Low carb is the One True Way. Because calories don’t matter. Fine, we say. We aren’t debating the low carb movement, we are debating Taubes’ interpretation of it, and also his blatant misuse of research to “support” his point. And Stoid’s sudden complete devotion to that particular interpretation.
What goes on a low-carb menu? Oh, cornbread. A couple meals worth. And fried food. But we can’t quite get that flour batter just, exactly right! What, carbs? No, it’s just cheese and peppers! All super healthy stuff after all. I mean, I could say that pizza is just bread and tomatos and cheese and some veggies, so it’s basically so healthy I should eat it every day. But that’s neither here nor there, Stoid’s diet is Very Low Carb. And well, whatever she wants really because even though calories don’t count, she aptly demonstrates that the actual caloric content of all of these carbs is pretty low in the grand scheme of things. She doesn’t realize that this is pretty much the exact opposite of the low carb diet she was touting, and a direct contradiction of the dozens of times she told us that calories don’t matter. This is pointed out to her, she accuses us all of misinterpreting her. Also, read the book!!!
So what we end up with is Stoid’s diet, where calories don’t matter except when they are being used to defend your choice of splurge-meals mere days after starting a new diet. Because dieting is hard, and healthy food tastes bad, and working out makes you hot. Being hot is uncomfortable. And when people judge her for her food choices, or judge your grandmother for her choices, well they should just shut the fuck up and respect her right to be fat. Because after all, it’s not her fault.