A fitness writer has claimed that obese people ‘take twice as many days off work’ as thin people, and are ‘lethargic and lazy’.
Samantha Yardley, 34, from Coventry, who is a freelance fitness writer and sub-editor at Muscle & Health magazine, appeared on This Morning where she claimed that obese people are lacking in ‘self-esteem and have the wrong lifestyle’.
She admitted that she would choose a thinner person over a fat person for a job, confessing she believes it needs to be ‘more inconvenient’ to be overweight and that obese people should ‘take responsibility’.
The entreprenuer who runs her own fitness website previously hit the headlines when she told MailOnline that she would never hired someone who is overweight, and tries to avoid working with anyone struggling with weight issues.
Samantha Yardley, 34, from Coventry, who is a freelance fitness writer and sub-editor at Muscle & Health magazine, who claimed obese people ‘take twice as many days off work’ as thin people and are ‘lethargic and lazy’
She admitted that she would choose a thinner person over a fat person for a job, confessing she believes it needs to be ‘more inconvenient’ to be overweight
Speaking on today’s show, Samantha said: ‘We are all judged on how we look. I wouldn’t judge someone for being a little overweight.
‘But if it was someone who was extremely obese, I would think they are lacking in self-esteem, maybe they have the wrong lifestyle, maybe there’s an underlying problem.
‘If you look at the facts, people who are obese take nearly twice as many days off than those in a healthy weight range for a start and being larger, you are more lethargic and more lazy.’
Samantha didn’t give any justification for the claim that obese people take more time off work, but host Ruth Langsford interjected: ‘That word will offend a lot of people, why have you decided people who are overweight are lazy?’
She appeared on This Morning where she claimed that obese people are lacking in ‘self-esteem and have the wrong lifestyle’
Host Ruth Langsford (pictured) interjected after Samantha called fat people lazy, insisting: ‘That word will offend a lot of people, why have you decided people who are overweight are lazy’
After agreeing that ‘lazy’ was a ‘strong’ word to use, Samantha went on: ‘I think you know for a fact, someone who is obese is not going to be out running every morning. You are more lethargic, you don’t have the energy, that is just a fact’.
She went on to advise that obese people: ‘I think it’s a difficult pill to swallow but take responsibility and start eating a little bit less and moving a little bit more.
‘You will literally add years to your life and if that’s not enough, think of the people around you.’
Viewers users took issue with her arguments, and took to Twitter to brand her ‘ignorant’ and accused her of spreading ‘hate’ and rhetoric which promotes ‘body issues’.
Viewers users took issue with her arguments, and took to Twitter to brand her ‘ignorant’ and accused her of spreading rhetoric which promotes ‘body issues’
Samantha argued that ‘we all make subconscious’ judgments on people we meet based on their weight, and once again urged overweight people to ‘take responsibility’.
Host Eammon Holmes quizzed her: ‘You would choose a thinner person over a fatter person for a job?’
She replied: ‘Yeah I think there are certain subconscious processes we all make before we speak to someone.
‘I’m not trying to encourage people to judge people on the way we look, but there are certain things we have the ability to change, just make a lifestyle change take responsibly.’
She went on to insist that it needs to be more difficult or people to be overweight, and encourage creating a calorie deficit to lose weight.
Host Eammon Holmes quizzed her: ‘You would choose a thinner person over a fatter person for a job?’
Herself a size 10, the fitness writer revealed in her opinion, a size six is ‘a bit to small’, while those who surpass a size 16, ‘need to make some lifestyle changes’
‘I think if you’re obese you knock eight years off your life, said Samantha, ‘And we’re all creatures of habit.
‘We take the path of least resistance and we need to make to more inconvenient to be obese .
She added: ‘I think you don’t necessarily have to have abs and work out everyday, you have to work out a little bit more and eat a little bit less and create a calorie deficit.’
Herself a size 10, the fitness writer revealed in her opinion, a size six is ‘a bit to small’, while those who surpass a size 16, ‘need to make some lifestyle changes’.
She said: ‘I know this will get me into trouble, but maybe a six is a bit too small.
‘But 6-16. When you reach 18, you need to be making some lifestyle changes. It’s generalising and it’ll get me into trouble, but yeah.’
Samantha previously told FEMAIL that she doesn’t condone ‘fat-shaming’ and insisted her mantra is born out of a desire to ‘inspire positive change’.