Katie Hopkins: My Fat Story

Those of you who live in the UK and Ireland may be aware of Katie Hopkins
Hopkins first became known when she took part in the 2006 series of The Apprentice
Now she writes a column for the Sun newspaper
From the start she was controversial
Making comments about over weight people
She was also accused of classism
As she once said she judges her children's class mates by their first time
Saying she had no time for people with names like Tyler or Chardonnay
She seems to have courted the media over the years
Pushing peoples buttons just to get a reaction
She doesn't seem to be very popular with the public to say the least



Over the last week I have seen her advertise her new show quite heavily on the Tv station TLC
It was called Katie Hopkins: My Fat Story
Basically it was a two part reality fly on the wall documentary
About Katie (40) wanting to prove a point about obesity
The point being that if you 'eat less and move more'
Then anyone can lose weight
Katie wanted to gain 3 - 4 stone over a 3 month period
In order to lose it all again
To show that anyone can lose weight if they put their mind to it

Katie started off standing 1.7m tall
And weighing in at 125 pounds
At one point she stood
In her underwear
In front of a football team
And asked them what they thought of her body
The general consensus was that she was too skinny
One even said she bordering on 'anorexic'
Katie is big in to exercise
And runs a lot
She is very active in general
And seems to have no inclination to gain extra weight
In her own words
She describes that she has a 'very functional' relationship with food
That it is fuel for energy and nothing more



So she set about her goal to gain an extra 3 - 4 stone
In the beginning she found it very hard to gain any weight at all
She increased her calories to 4000 a day
And after 2 weeks had gained nothing
How annoying I thought to myself (Not!)
So she increased her intake to 6000 calories a day
And cut out all exercise
She began to gain weight

Katie was being monitored by a doctor
Who was watching her weight
Her body fat
And her bloods
Before she started the challenge
For her height
Katie was medically underweight
But even so
She was advised that this challenge could be detrimental to her health
But Katie was very single minded
And was determined to prove her point

She seemed to have little or no sympathy for over weight people
Calling them 'lazy' and 'slobs'
She regularly went on a rant about how it was easy to lose weight
And she couldn't understand why so many people were now clinically obese
She couldn't seem to accept the fact that some people were more inclined to gain extra weight
Or that some have an emotional relationship with food
And could even be addicted to food
She seems to think that what is true for her
Is a universal truth
And is the same for everyone

A month in
And Katie begins to gain weight
We saw her standing in front of the mirror in her underwear
Professing how fat she had become
But to me she looked far from fat
She looked healthier in my opinion



Katie met many people through out making the documentary
She met a woman who has struggles with her weight her whole life
And who some years ago, had gastric bypass surgery on the NHS (UK health service)
Katie was angry that she a 'tax paying citizen' had to pay for this woman's surgery
When if she wasn't 'lazy '
Could have worked off the weight herself
Katie seemed to have no comprehension that some people genuinely needed medical help to fight the battle of the bulge
And she certainly had no sympathy or empathy for them
She also met some fat activists
And insulted them right to their faces
One of the activists became very upset
And said she was going to phone the police to report Katie's insults as a hate crime
Katie asked her if she wanted her to bring her the phone
As she probably couldn't make it that far
How brazen can you get

At the end of the 4 months
Katie had gained 3 stone
I thought she looked well
Not over weight
Just healthy and full figured
So then she set about losing the weight
And it did come off very quickly for her
She set up her own Fat Club
Where 4 members of the public joined her in her quest to lose weight by simply eating less and moving more
By the end of the 3 months
Katie was a healthy 136 pounds
And she seemed to be ok with that

This documentary was shown over two consecutive nights
I guess it was sort of like car crash tv
You know you shouldn't watch
But you can't quite help yourself
Sometimes the things she said sounded like someone who is eating disordered
At one point she was wearing an arm band that counts your steps
The daily goal was 10 000 steps
Katie's goal was to do 20 000
In a strange way
What she was doing was very obsessive
And she seemed to contradict herself a lot
At the end of the show
She seemed satisfied that she had made her point
But did admit that the weight issue was not quite as black and white as she thoughts
As a person
Katie is rude, patronizing, insulting, ignorant and single minded
I found myself wondering why do over weight people bother her so much
And why did she feel compelled to do this challenge
It's clear to me that she says and does things to get a reaction
And attention
She seems to have built her career on this
She's great to have on a chat show
As she will say lots of controversial things
And wind people up no end
She is what we call a 'shit stir' in this country
While I was watching the show
Two members of my family got up and left
As they found Katie 'intensely irritating'

I really feel for people that struggle to maintain a healthy weight
In my mind eating disorders and over eating are on the same spectrum
Eating to the point of obesity
Or starving yourself to the point of emaciation are similar
And I know only too well that I could easily be one of those people who weight 400 pounds

I don't think Katie Hopkin's show proved anything
I don't think it was helpful
Or insightful
Or even interesting
I think it was a vehicle to promote her own sick ideas and opinions
And I am fully aware that in writing this post
I am doing exactly what she wants
Giving her attention and exposure
So I will stop now
And never mention her again