A not so inspiring weight loss story

I read an article on CNN today about a woman that lost 170 pounds.  This article was supposed to be inspirational.  I was not really inspired.  OK, I was inspired a little bit.  I have to give the woman props for losing 170 pounds and keeping it off.  But when I was finished with the article, I thought, she really needs a trip to Green Mountain.  Or maybe even, she needed a trip to Green Mountain long before she lost the weight.  Here is the link to the article.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/03/health/weight-loss-fitness-studio/index.html?hpt=hp_c4

First of all, there is nothing in the article about how being 310 pounds affected Deidre's health.  It is all about how she was humiliated by the way she looked.  She wouldn't wear a bathing suit, she wouldn't ride on a plane.  From a young age, she was programmed by her mother to believe that her weight was bad.  Her mother would measure out her Cheerios when she was in the fourth grade and by the time she was in high school, she had tried "just about every diet out there."  At one point, her parents and sister tricked her into a weight intervention. 
It is obvious from reading this article that Deidre's family was not supportive of her.  She says "they did not intentionally try to hurt my feelings but they were trying to wake me up."  I felt sad for her when she said that she felt that her father, a smoker who died from coronary heart disease, was disappointed in her and felt that she had let herself go.  "He was always so proud of me for my job accomplishments, but he could never understand why I couldn't get that part right." How could she "get that part right" when she was taught that her weight was bad from a young age and the only way to be accepted by her family was to lose weight.
Deidre comments that now that she has lost the weight, her relationship with her family has flourished. 
Family support and acceptance is so important to accepting ourselves and our bodies.  I am sure that Deidre is not the only one to have an altered relationship with her family because of her weight.  I, myself, have felt judged in the past by my family because of my weight (and I'm not just talking immediate family, I'm talking extended family also).  Offhand comments, being teased by family members, helpful suggestions on new diets or ways to lose weight (which are never helpful) are just some ways that family members try to "help."  These methods are not helpful and they only help reinforce to the overweight individual that their weight is bad and there is something wrong with them because they can't seem to lose weight.  That is not to say that family members cannot be helpful to an overweight individual.  They can be supportive, not constantly surround the individual with unhealthy food choices, be available should the individual want an exercise partner.
Finally, now that Deidre has lost all this weight, her family says that "We finally got our Dee back. Her personality is back. She's her bubbly normal self.  We're definitely closer."  It took Deidre losing 170 pounds to finally find acceptance from her family.  
You might be asking yourself how you can support your overweight family member.  First and foremost, accept and love them for who they are.  They are a person, with feelings and emotions.  Fat does not insulate us from hurtful comments.  Never make your overweight family member feel that your love is conditional on their losing weight.
Accept that being overweight and being unhealthy do not go hand in hand.  There is a whole movement out there called Healthy at Every Size.  What is Health at Every Size?
1. Accepting and respecting the diversity of body shapes and sizes
2. Recognizing that health and well-being are multi-dimensional and that they include physical, social, spiritual, occupational. emotional, and intellectual aspects
3. Promoting all aspects of health and well-being for people of sizes
4. Promoting eating in a manner which balances individual nutrition needs, hunger, satiety, appetite, and pleasure
5. Promoting individually appropriate, enjoyable, life-enhancing physical activity, rather than exercise that is focused on a goal of weight loss"  (http://www.themilitantbaker.com/2013/01/what-fuck-does-no-diet-talk-mean.html)

We can be beautiful and healthy at any size.