Response to the Marie Claire Article

There has been such a buzz in the blogosphere and Twitter about Katie Drummond’s article in Marie Claire. While I may be a day late in writing about this, I am just now getting the chance and want to address it because I feel that it brings up some important issues that I want to express to my own readers out there. While I am not familiar with the bloggers mentioned in the article, I feel like it is not only an attack on those bloggers but on the rest of the healthy living blogosphere also.

The article is very one sided, which can be seen in the very beginning of the article when Drummond describes the Healthy living Summit as a place, “for members of an insular food- and fitness-obsessed blog world.” Is the healthy living blogosphere full of men and women that are obsessed with fitness and healthy eating? While I have noticed behavior on blogs that I find questionable, I don’t think that this behavior is the norm. I think that the overall healthy living atmosphere promotes just that- healthy living. I acknowledge Drummond’s opinion in the article about the potential for eating disorders being glamorized in the blogs as some bloggers become internet celebrities, and that some of the behaviors exhibited could be portrayed as healthy living when in actuality they are side effects of an eating disorder. This is a very scary thing, but not one that I have noticed often.

What I find remarkable is that obesity is such a problem today and when a supportive community pops up online, Drummond chooses to highlight the negative aspects of this community instead of pointing out the positive. At the end of the article there is a statement from Marie Claire acknowledging the hundreds of responses that they have received to this article, which is really what any publisher is looking for. Marie Claire is certainly getting attention, good or bad- it’s publicity for them. While Drummond appears as a savior, bold enough to confront an issue potentially endangering women everywhere and reveals the seemingly monstrous world of healthy living blogging, it is ultimately bad publicity for the blogosphere. It is one sided and it is unfair.

I am a weight loss blogger but I am on my journey to hopefully become a healthy living blogger someday as I learn how to live healthfully. I cannot express my gratitude to the healthy living and weight loss bloggers out there. It is you who have enabled me to lose the most amount of weight I have ever lost. It is you who have taught me that this is not ultimately about the amount of weight lost but about living a healthy and balanced life. It is because of the healthy living bloggers out there that I am becoming successful in this and my life is improving because of it.

I wish that Drummond would have shown this side of the story. How many success stories have you found on blogs? There are so many and I think that the prevalence of success stories far outweighs the “food and fitness obsessed.”

Drummond does make a valid point in her article, but how she portrays the blogosphere is a half truth and an immense discredit to the healthy living bloggers out there. Marie Claire’s statement at the end of the article: “This is a controversial subject, and we always welcome a good debate. Like every article published in Marie Claire, this one was researched and edited carefully over the course of many months, and we stand by its content.” If This article was researched “over the course of many months” I don’t think that Drummond would have been so biased in her article.

What does this mean for me? I am one of those “food obsessed” bloggers out there who takes pictures of everything I eat. Am I food obsessed? Yes, that’s how I got to 288 lbs. I don’t think I will ever NOT be food obsessed, as will many other people out there. This is reality. Many women and men struggle with obesity and there’s a reason behind this and I don’t think that everyone has an eating disorder. Whether it’s body chemistry or some other science I don’t understand, I think it means that some of us have to be conscious of everything we are putting into our mouths and that we have to force ourselves to exercise sometimes- is there anything wrong with writing about it? There is a point where healthy living and eating becomes obsessive- and I hope that none of you reach that point. I don’t feel like I’m obsessive about it- but I am trying to be accountable. I am not perfect and I do not claim to be an expert on health, fitness or healthy eating. My little spot here in the blogosphere is meant to hold myself accountable and to show others how losing weight works for me. It’s about common sense- do what works for you.

This community is full of support and success and I am angered that someone outside of this supportive community felt the need to attack it.