Fat Girl Dancing and TV star Whitney Thore speaks out about her battle with polycystic ovaries

Weighing more than 27 stone, when Whitney Thore walks down the street people shout ‘fat ass’ or ‘fat b***h.

And while she can handle the abuse – having lived with it since her college days – she is also on the brink of diabetes and suffers from a hormonal problem that is exacerbated by her weight.

Yet, in revelation that will be shocking to many, the reality TV star says she has ‘no desire’ to be thin and that the link between obesity and health risks are exaggerated.

Ms Thore, 31, told MailOnline: 

‘I would like to lose weight, but it’s about my health. I have no desire to be thin again.

‘I would like to lose some weight so I can fit in a plane seat, so I can have children.

‘But as soon as I get to a size I’m happy with, which will be no smaller than 250 lbs [17st 12 lbs or 113 kg], I’ll be done with weight loss.

‘I think I look good and my boyfriend thinks I look good.’

Ms Thore, 31, sprung to fame last year when a YouTube video of her called A Fat Girl Dancing went viral, and has now amassed more than eight million hits.

But as the new series of her show, TLC's Fat Girl Dancing, is about to premiere in the UK, she says while she is currently trying to lose weight, she doesn’t want to be thinner than 250lbs.

At 5”3, weighing 250 lbs (17st 12 lbs or 113 kg), Ms Thore would still have a BMI of 44.1, which is in the morbidly obese category.

‘I believe BMI is bulls**t,’ she said.

She is now 380lbs (172kg) but at one point in her late 20s she managed to lose 100 lbs (45 kg).

‘When I lost the weight, I didn’t have high blood pressure or high cholesterol; I had no risk of diabetes; I could run five miles.

‘I refuse to believe there’s something wrong with a 250lbs person that has completely normal blood work.

‘I remember coming off the treadmill after running and going outside and someone shouting “fat ass” at me.

'I felt horrible, like no matter how hard I tried it would never be good enough and society would never accept me. 

‘But I was probably fitter than the person in the car.’

She believes the link between body weight and poor health is exaggerated, or more complicated than many think.

I think the way we look at health is skewed,’ she said.

‘I have a friend who has always been thin, but who is pre-diabetic, she’s not healthy.

‘When she goes to McDonald's, no one shouts ah her, no one says “do you realise what you are putting in your body? Go home! Exercise!” like they would if I went.

‘Thin does not equate to healthy, just like fat does not equate to unhealthy.

‘I firmly believe you cannot tell a person’s lifestyle from the way they look.’

In fact, many people who are overweight are suffering from medical condition, rather than laziness, she said.

She is  ‘living proof’ of that fact, as she has been diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a condition known to cause weight gain.

In fact, two thirds of women with PCOS are overweight or obese, she said.

As a child and a teenager, Ms Thore was thin, and dreamed of being an actress and a dancer.

Then, when she began college, she unexpectedly gained 100lbs in a year, with no big changes to her diet or exercise regime.

It was only in 2005 that she was diagnosed with PCOS, after what she describes as years of misery and depression.

‘I went to college and I put on 100lbs in eight months. By the end I’d gained 200lbs [91kg].

‘I was going to the doctors about other things, and no one thought it was strange.

‘It was obvious I’d gained a lot of weight, they said “you’re on birth control, you’ve been drinking, you’re at college, and your lifestyle has changed”.

‘I was eating and drinking a little more but not 100lbs [45kg] more, but I became too ashamed to go to a doctor for answers.’

She says people’s behavior changed towards her as she gained weight, and the fatter she became, the less self-worth she thought she had.

‘I had lost my identity. There was no place for a fat actress and fat dancer.

‘So I gave up on dancing which made my weight worse.

‘I had no friends, I was made fun of all the time.

‘I would see frat boys that I had gone on dates with in freshman year, and when I saw them again at parties they looked through me, they didn’t want to be seen with me.’

As she had gained weight so quickly, the experience of being suddenly fat was traumatizing.

‘It was like putting on a fat suit and going out in public,’ she said.

Finally, at the age of 21, she was diagnosed with PCOS by a nurse, after she went for a medical examination for another problem.

With PCOS, the body has difficulty using insulin, the hormone which normally helps convert sugars and starches from foods into energy.

Therefore a excess sugar remains in the bloodstream, which is sent to the liver, where it is converted into fat.

Having excess fat causes the body to produce even more insulin, therefore being overweight exacerbates the symptoms of the condition.

Miss Thore, who now lives in Greensboro, North Carolina, is angry she wasn’t diagnosed earlier, as she says is a textbook case of the condition.

She had irregular periods, thinning hair at the top of her head, excessive hair on her face, and weight gain, symptoms she believes should have alerted medics to her condition.

‘I began losing my hair and growing hair on my face,’ she said.

‘I had three periods when I was young, since then I’ve had 10 in my life.

‘I could absolutely been spared 10 years of depression if I‘d been diagnosed earlier.

‘There’s a link between PCOS and depression as it causes a hormone imbalance.

‘It’s all so clear in hindsight but at the time I thought it was all my fault.’

She added she was ‘relieved’ to be diagnosed, but the news was also scary, as women with PCOS have a higher risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and more problems with fertility.

Now she has a new boyfriend, Lennie, she is desperate to do all she can to improve her chances of having children.

‘I’m in love. I’m 31 and babies are on my brain,’ she said.

 Recently she had an ultrasound which revealed she did have cysts on her ovaries, a common symptom of PCOS that causes problems with fertility.She was advised that the best thing to do was to lose weight, around 40lbs.

‘I feel pessimistic seeing as I never had periods. But if I lose weight hopefully I will get my ability to get my period and get pregnant.’

Now, as she promotes the second series of her TV show, she is also running a dance class for bigger women.

‘You don’t need to be big in size, only big in character and spirit,' she said.

The class is based around building confidence, rather than technique, as above all, that is what fat people need, she said.

Recently, she posted a response to Nicole Arbour’s ‘fat-shaming video’, in which the Australian comedian said 'obese people should be made to feel bad about themselves' in order to make them change their 'bad habits'.

She said it is impossible to tell if a person has gained weight due to a medical condition from their outward appearance. 

And even if they are fat because they eat too much and do too little exercise, fat-shaming has little positive effect, she said. 

‘I’m not 300lbs only because of PCOS,’ she admitted. 

‘I have bad eating patterns, I don’t eat often enough – ironically, because people think I’m always putting food in my mouth. 

‘But when I gained weight if people had talked about my weight with no judgement or shame and helped me figure it out, I would have been encouraged to make healthy decisions. 

‘I take responsibility, I’m not going to blame mean people for my choices, but at the same time, its hard to make good choices if you have no self-worth.’ 

Overall, she wants to teach fat women that they can be happy. 

‘I lived in so much shame and darkness and depression for over a decade that I wasted 10 years of my life, and I'm happier now I've finally learned to love myself.

‘I want other women to love themselves, and to enjoy their bodies too.’ 

'Source; UK Daily Mail... 

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