Season 4 Finale

 In the final episode of season 4, Asher recounts his personal growth over the past year and has a message for 2025. WE WILL NOT BE SILENCED. Season 5 launches on Wednesday the 15th January. 

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Transcript

0:42

Hi everyone and welcome to the final episode of the Fat Doctor podcast season four. This is the season four finale and by that I mean, uh, it's the end of the year and so next year we'll call season five. Um, so this is, this is me ending the year. On a, on a, with a bang. Or not with a bang, with a fizzle. But it's alright. Um, I'm, I'm really, I've run out of things to say. I've also got a nasty cold coming on. Um, and I have to go and spend a couple of hours this afternoon at my youngest child's birthday party. Christmas fair and which is fun because it's the nativity play followed by, um, you know, a bake sale and a few other bits. And listen, I've been doing this now, like my oldest is 18. Um, I've been doing it for quite a while. The nativity becomes a bit, I mean, it's cute and everything, but it becomes a bit boring after a while. And since my youngest is not one of the cute ones doing the nativity and it's just a narrator, I'm, I'm, I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna lie. I'm not very enthused about it, but I'm going to go. I love her, and I don't want to let her down, and I've got a cold, I'm feeling rather crappy. So, I'm not promising a huge big finale, I'm, like I said, we'll just, we'll just, we'll just get through this, shall we? Um, oh dear, I'm really, I'm really, Really biggin it up, aren't I? I'm really making you feel like you're glad you're here. Okay, listen. What I wanted to do was I wanted to take a look back at the year. Not that I like to reflect too much, uh, at the end of the year. Like, I know everyone's really into sort of the new year and the new year is a new beginning. For me, um, new beginnings start in, you know, uh, at the beginning of the zodiac calendar. So, uh, in Aries season. So right now we're like, like, you know, We're in Sagittarius season, about to head into Capricorn. This is not the time or, nor the place to be like, Woohoo! I've got loads of edit. Quite the opposite. I don't have any energy. We're not supposed to have any energy at this time of the year. For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, we only have a few hours of light every day and um, we're really not supposed to be doing much with it. So I, I'm not going to be all like, Oh, I've got so many plans for the new year. I don't. We'll talk about that. Big plans in April, uh, until then, until then, I thought it would be a good time to reflect though, over season four, over, uh, it's been, it's been an interesting year for me personally, for us as a community, certainly geopolitically, it's been a very, maybe interesting is the wrong word, but you know, it's been a year, that's for sure. Um, and I wanted to share some personal stuff, if that's okay, but also I think some community stuff and, and perhaps. Some political stuff, not too much political stuff. Um, there lies danger. So I'm gonna be very careful about what I say there. But, um, I learned a lot about myself this year. And I have to say, Interestingly enough, even though this has been one of my more challenging years, certainly of my adult life, this has also been one of the best years of my adult life. I am more myself, the authentic version of myself, now than I have ever been. I feel more free, um, to be me, to just be me. be the person that I'm supposed to be, that I am, without having to, um, perform for other people. I feel authentic and that is great. Um, and that, I guess, had a lot to do with me coming to the realisation, probably earlier this year, at the beginning of this year maybe, that I was neurodivergent. Rather like a few years ago when I realised that I was transgender, it was a missing piece of a puzzle, that. really made sense all of a sudden. I was like, Oh, that, that explains so much about my life. Um, so that was a really important journey for me. And a lot of people who follow me, I've noticed are going through a similar journey or have been through a similar journey. I think we tend to attract one another right into our little bubbles, into our little communities. So I'm not surprised that a lot of you are like, yeah, that happened to me too. Um, I'm glad to be part of the club. I, yes. You know, you can, you can call me a stereotype. I've always felt like I was a stereotype, you know, like, um, that's fine. I I'm, I'm all, I'm, I'm fine with that. If you think that I'm a stereotype, queer, neurodivergent, transgender car, I'm jumping on every single one of the bandwagons, obviously that's why I'm doing it to get attention. As if I don't draw enough attention to myself anyway. Um, no, no, I, honestly, seriously, this has been quite an enlightening year for me and I have learned a lot about myself and these are things I wanted to share, not in a kind of like, look how amazing I am, in a, hey, I learned these lessons and I want to share them with you because maybe you're going through a similar process or, you know, you, you maybe not, You've not got there yet, or you're, you know, a few steps behind me on your journey. And I just wanted to encourage you. There are a few things I learned this year that were so, have, have really helped me to live a more authentic and content and peaceful life. And the first thing I learned about this year was boundaries. Now I've, I've heard of boundaries before, and they're somewhat of a buzzword for quite some time. And I knew about them, but I don't think I really understood what a boundary was. And as the autistic part of my brain likes to just explain things. You know, very rationally. So when I think about boundaries, I think about fences, I think about having a property, this case, the property is me and, um, needing to kind of like protect the property with a boundary to stop people just being able to walk in and walk out. Now, most people. Are not conscious of the fact that they're trespassing on your property, right? Like most people are not deliberately trying to get in to do anything nefarious, but unless you have a fence, they're going to trample all over your property. They're going to come in and out of your garden because they don't know it's that it's your garden, right? Like, how do they know? So you've got to have a boundary that's like, sorry, for those of you who don't have gardens, by the way, this, this analogy doesn't work if you don't have a garden, but like, you know, you need to have like something saying, Hey, this is my property. You can't enter here. You know, you can. Walk around it and so most of us like in my house. I have a fence. It's about six foot tall It's made out of wood. You can see through it. Like it's not I'm not like trying to hide anything It's just a sign. Hey, do not pass any further. Do not come into my garden and there's a gate There's a gate so I do let people in to my garden You are some people are invited in but otherwise no now I am aware that there are some people out there who don't give a shit about my Gate or my fence, who could easily climb over it if they intend to get into my house and steal my stuff. They don't care about a fence. But that's not why I erected the fence. Right? The fence isn't there to stop th from getting in.'cause these will get in one way or another, the, the, the fence is there just to say, Hey, this is my property. And I guess that's what a boundary is for me. Now, that's my analogy is like, it's just a, oh, this is, this is me. This is my space, this is my energy, this is my peace, my comfort, my joy, and, uh, I'm protecting it. You know, and like if I open the gate and let you in, you can come in. But otherwise just steer clear of this personal space of mine. Um, I just didn't know what boundaries were. I didn't get it. I didn't get that people , that you could keep people out And, um, once I started to, to learn that, and I think at the beginning of the year, you know. The boundaries went up and they were quite dramatic. This was not a six foot wooden fence. This, this was like a wall with a moat and like, you know, archers standing at the top of the, of the wall, like just, just roaming and keeping watch. Um, because I. I had been, I'd gone through years and years, no, even decades of people trampling all over my, um, personal space. And once I decided I wasn't going to do that anymore, I think, you know, like, I was like, right, boundaries. And over time, I've managed to chill a little bit and my boundaries are More relaxed, but it's been a learning process, but at least I have them. I'd rather have very strong, inflexible boundaries and piss people off than not have boundaries at all. I certainly learned that, um, I learned the importance of be, the importance of being resourced, that I cannot achieve anything unless I prioritize my own rest, unless I earn my own money.'cause I've got paid my bills first and I can do stuff for other people and I wanna do stuff for other people, but it's me first and then everyone else. Um. Excuse the snotty tissue. Ugh, I hate colds. Um, I learned about prioritizing rest. I learned about how to rest, how, what rest looks like, you know. Sometimes it's sleeping, but sometimes it's just being intentional about not doing stuff, you know? And I learned all sorts of different rest practices that I'm trying to incorporate into my life. But sometimes, you know, I don't have time for yoga nidra and that's okay. Sometimes I forget to do yoga nidra. Sometimes I get out of the habit of doing it and it's a great thing to do. I love it. Um, But also, um, prioritizing rest is sometimes saying, Ah sod it, I'm not going to do that piece of work. I'm just going to go downstairs and watch TV instead, or I'm just going to snuggle in bed. I've got myself a little snuggle chair with a little quilt throw type thing that I can snuggle into and, um, Just not, not constantly being on the go. That, for me, is the importance of rest and prioritizing rest. And also protecting my energy. Um, one of, a good friend and some, a member of my community was, um, talking to me about this during Fat Festive and Fierce. Uh, we were talking about the holiday period and she said, uh, something about limiting her exposure, toxic energy, kind of like if there's been a chemical spill. Um, The way of dealing with that is to limit your exposure as much as possible. Um, and I like that. I really like that analogy because sometimes, no matter what we do, no matter how hard we try, like acid or chemicals suddenly just gonna get spilled all over the place like a big ugly mess. And Our job, our response to that needs to be limiting our exposure because the more you're around the toxicity and the fumes and the, and the acid eating away at the floor, like the worse it gets. So, you know, if you have a chemical spill in a lab, you've got to wash your skin, you've got to wash your eyes, you've got to leave the building, all of that stuff. So limiting your exposure. I really like this idea. I've been trying to practice that. Um, Over the last year, but definitely, like, hearing this analogy, I was like, oh, that's what I've been doing, yeah. When, when things get a bit toxic, I'm like, yeah, bye, I'm out. I didn't realise I could do that. I didn't realise I could just walk away. And one of the things I did is, um, that I love doing was that I got, I stopped following people on social media. I just, I got rid of them all. I culled, I was following like 400 and something people. I culled it down to a few. And the reason I did that was because it was just too loud. I just couldn't handle it. It was too much. And my, my poor brain was like, I can't handle this. I'm getting too caught up in it. Social media is not, is not helping me right now. It's hindering me, and I think it can do both. So I stopped following loads of people, curated my Instagram feed. Now it's a very nice, safe place. And yeah, I'm not following everyone, but it's okay. It's alright. You can just say no. Limit your exposure to stuff. And that leads me into the other thing that I learnt this year, which has really been a real wow moment, was that I am going to disappoint other people, and I am also going to disappoint myself, and that's okay. It is okay. To be in a place where you're like, you know, I could do that. I probably should do that, but I'm not going to do that. I'll end up disappointing the people I care about. I'll end up disappointing myself. Um, and that's okay. Cause I can't be perfect all the time. And sometimes I need to be, I'm going to use the word selfish, but, but I don't mean that in a negative way, you know, sometimes I just need to prioritize myself and, and to just be like, you know, I, I should be doing this, but I'm not gonna, um, and I'm disappointed with myself, but that's okay. It's uncomfortable. It's not very nice to, you know, let yourself down, let other people down. But sometimes. Needs must. And sometimes it's a choice. You know, I often talk about recycling. I'm going to be really honest with you people. Um, Sometimes I don't recycle shit. Sometimes I'm upstairs and I'm tidying up and there's a can and I'm like the recycling bin is downstairs. And in order to get to put this can, the recycling, recycling bin, I have to stop what I'm doing. I have to go downstairs. I have to put it in the recycling bin. And the problem with that is I have all DHD, which means when I go downstairs. I might not come back up for quite some time and I might forget the cleaning or I'll get distracted or, you know, whatever. So if I want to really just push through this and get this cleaning done, um, I'm just going to have to put the can in the actual bin, the regular bin, not the recycling bin. And that's a shitty thing to do because honestly going downstairs, um, putting it in the recycling bin is not that big a deal at all. I mean, this is a real I don't like using the word first world, but first world problem, isn't it? Oh, the recycling bin is too far away. It's not cool, but I'm not gonna lie. I do it anyway and I don't, I don't, I don't feel comfortable admitting that. I don't feel like this is not something to be proud of, but also it's my reality. It's what I do. A person I care very much about has become a vegan recently and, um, I know them very well and I, and, and we were talking about animals and our love for animals and I really do love animals and I also eat them, uh, and I think farming practices are disgusting, uh, absolutely disgusting, outrageous how we treat our animals and I still, I still buy farmed meat, I don't even buy like the organic, like, you know, lived on a big, uh, no, I don't even do that, I buy the cheap meat because, you know, meat's expensive and I, we could totally go and Meat free. Totally. It would be totally feasible, possible, in fact, I might even argue it's, it's kind of my responsibility to the planet, to, to my children, and my grandchildren, and my great grandchildren, like, to, you know, to go meat free, and yet, I'm not gonna, I don't even have an excuse, I'm just not gonna, and I'm disappointed with myself, and I imagine I'll be disappointing some of you, and that's okay. Growth. Um, so, this year, for those who haven't been paying attention, I quit. And I told myself I was quitting medicine because the GMC were making my life miserable, which they were, and nobody wanted to give me a job, which I didn't really try that hard to look for one, but certainly people were making it difficult to have a job. But the reality is that I quit medicine because People started treating me like shit. People could not handle a transgender colleague. They could not handle a colleague who was invested in social justice. They couldn't handle an outspoken colleague who was drawing attention to the, the massive flaws within the medical system. They just couldn't handle me. And they were horrible to me. Really horrible. Like, I look back and I'm like, God, you were real shitheads. Um, I'd love to name names. I'm not gonna bother because I'm not petty. Although, I, maybe one day I'll want to be petty and I will name names. But right now, it's not the time to name names. But people were really shitty. Like, going as far as to be petty enough not to give me a reference. Who does that? I wasn't asking for a glowing reference, just a reference to say, yes, I worked with you and I was a safe doctor, but no, they wouldn't even do that. Um, and also it's a miserable job. It's a miserable, thankless job, and the people who work in medicine are not my kind of people. I don't want to be around all that toxicity. Like I said, I get to protect myself from that toxic energy. So really, my decision to quit medicine, it wasn't that I was forced, it's because I just didn't want to do it anymore. That's the reality. It made me miserable and so I left and I am so happy that I left medicine. I didn't realize, you know, it's really odd when I, um, when we moved into our, into this home, you know, it was, it was kind of an escape. We were escaping. We were literally fleeing . I needed to leave the life that I had sort of on the outskirts of London. I'd grown up in London. I lived on the outskirts of London. It was this kind of typical middle class rat race, keeping up with the Joneses. Um, life just, it was horrendous. It just wasn't for me. And I was tired of, you know, being on the outskirts, being treated like I was a. An animal in a zoo that people could look at. Um, I was fed up, fed up with it, fed up with that for my husband. I was fed up with that for my children. I was fed up with it for me and I just needed to escape. So we, we like ran away and it took me a few days to find this home that we have now. We weren't really planning. We were like, this one looks good. Fine, done. Um, So now that I've been living in it for the last two years, I realized just how amazing it is, and how perfect it is, and how the universe had a plan in this. This whole time, the universe was like, I know what's good for you. She knows shit. And she was like, this is the place for you. And so I would love to take credit, but nah, it was all, you know, that higher power that I subscribe to, whatever you want to call that higher power, who got, who did this for us. And. I feel the same way about leaving medicine and choosing to focus on medicine. On the fat doctor, which started off, you know, like I started off doing a blog. It was my way of surviving, um, COVID really was like, I just need to do something else. And there was a part of me that was like, my time in medicine is probably coming to an end. I think there was a, uh, an intuitive part of me that knew, um, could read the signs on the wall and knew that I didn't have many layers left in me and that I was burning out and I couldn't keep going, but I never once. dreamed it would be as good as it is. I love being the fat doctor. I love doing the podcast. I love creating the masterclasses. I love learning about shit and that's what I do. I spend a lot of time just learning, reading the research, understanding things. Um, I love advocating for people. I love Meeting people, talking to people, getting to know people, hearing people's story. I love, I've realized how much I love, I'm gonna use the word coaching because I don't know what else to use, but you know, the work that I do part diagnostics, but also it's about um, treating the whole person and, and, and asking the right questions and actively listening and validating people and encouraging people and as I said, advocating for people, like all of it. I just love all of it. I love it so much. I had no idea how happy I would be. And it feels like a purpose, you know? It feels like my purpose in life, dare I say it. A calling, if you will. People go, don't leave us! I'm not going anywhere. Um, and I've had to strike the balance between earning money and paying my bills, which is really important, folks, like I said. Me first, then everything else. So I need to pay my bills. And The only way to do that is to charge people money for the work that I do. And one day, I will be so over resourced that I will be able to pour all of those resources back into my community. And I will. I'm a decent human being. I might not recycle all the time, but I do recycle for the most part. And, you know, I probably should be a vegan. Um, and I'm not. But that's because I love food so much, but I also love fat people, and I love queer people, and I love trans people, and disabled people, and black people, and brown people, and indigenous people. I really do. I really want to give as much as I can to these communities, and I try and do as much as I can at the moment, but the honest truth is I need to be resource first. I would like one day to be able to say I made enough money to pay my bills. I'm not there yet. I believe I will get there. I'm not there yet, but, but I believe in 2025 that I will be able to pay my bills and not get into any further debt. Um, but hey, a lot of us are getting into debt, right? The world is an expensive fucking place. Um, so I, I'm not moaning. Uh, and, uh, Yeah, I just have great plans and, and exciting plans for 2025. Um, something else I really learned about was the importance of community. Intentional community, you know, and like finding a community that feels safe. I'm so lucky to have The Waiting Room. It's a small community, we meet up once a week at the moment. I'm glad we're doing once a week. We are there for each other. We understand each other. We care about each other. We bring. We each bring something unique and important to the table, and yeah, I love it. I freaking love it. I love spending time with my community. I love the fact that there is a fat, queer positive, trans positive, um, you know, social, socially conscious community of people who, um, are going to spend equal amount of times talking about, you know, activism and justice as they are talking about cake and Geez. That's, that's my sweet spot. Food and activism. Justice. Like, somewhere it has to be in the middle. If we can find a way to marry those two together, I'm in. So, community has been a real lifeline for me. Um, but man, all of that was happening, you know, with quite the political backdrop. 2024, I mean, fascism has been rising for a very long time. We saw it written on the wall years ago. In fact, it was inevitable. Um, there was, there was some element or there was some whisperings of equal rights. Um, in the UK there was the Equality Act in 2010, where certain groups of people's rights were being protected. Um, and people didn't like that, because the vast majority of people didn't fall into that category. And they, they were like, wait, you're prioritizing people other than me? Hang on a second. So of course fascism rose, um, and we all know, it was, it was inevitable. It was that kind of, the way the pendulum swings, you know, the response to progress is often, um, fascism, or the like. That's not been fun. For those of us with marginalised identities, intentionally marginalised identities, that's not been fun. Um, the weight loss industrial complex, especially the pharmaceutical branch of the weight loss industrial complex, has, has, is, it has been, and it, Has always been, but very much so in control of the narrative when it comes to fat lives and fat justice. They control the narrative in the mainstream media, and that's because they have all the money, and we cannot do much about the fact that they have all the money. Um, it's not a battle that we should be wasting time or energy on, I don't think, because I think they'll always have the money, it's just the way that the world is set up. Um, so yeah, because they have the money, and money unfortunately equals power, you know? Or can be, no, money doesn't equal power, but having a lot of money buys you power, in this current, you know, society we find ourselves in. So they control them, they control the mainstream. Dream Media, and therefore the narrative, and we are constantly being bombarded with, you know, stories, news stories, or, like, you know, it's, it's, it's subtle, we don't even realise it's happening, it's like this subliminal messaging, all the time, constantly, it is paid for, primarily by the pharmaceutical branch of the weight loss industrial complex, but also by the bariatric surgery branch, and also by by, you know, Weight Watchers and, and so on and so forth. But the pharmaceutical branch has been very loud these last few years. And yeah, they've, they've bought and paid for the narrative. Fat is bad. I mean, we, we know that, we've been taught that our whole lives, but they're really pushing the agenda. Fat is bad. Fat is the, fat is the cause of all, all the illnesses, you know. COVID pandemic, we'll blame it on the fat people, um, rising costs of healthcare, it's fat people's fault, nothing to do with the evil insurance companies or any of that stuff, no, no, no, it's to blame the fat people, it's not the pharmaceutical industry, it's the fat people. And so, yeah, they have the money and they control the narrative, but you know what they don't have? Is they don't have the backing of the people. The people, the issue is not so much That people support pharmaceutical companies because they don't, I, we saw this very recently when the CEO of a well known health insurance company. Company was murdered. Uh, everyone was happy. Well, I say everyone, not everyone, but most people were happy. Those of us who are like, Meh, murder is bad, but still, I can't say I'm unhappy about that. The CEO of that company is responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths. One could argue that the CEO of that company is part of a eugenics program. Um, that we're pretending is not a eugenics program, but very much is a eugenics program. So he died. I don't, I'm as unhappy about that as I am about the CEO Hitler died or any other fascist, uh, you know, they died. They're dead. Well, I suppose, you know, they didn't, they didn't die intentionally and they were murdered. So whatever, that doesn't matter. Their death does not bother me. In fact, part of me, if I'm honest, like I said, I'm allowed to secretly disappoint myself sometimes. I was rejoicing in that person's death. Um, but what I noticed was. Everybody agreed this guy's a dickhead. This guy is a quote unquote bad guy. This guy is a villain. Everyone agreed. Didn't matter where you stood politically or whatever because nobody likes insurance companies. Nobody likes pharmaceutical companies. Nobody likes the, the people who are making our lives miserable. And of course sometimes people are deluded into thinking that the very people who are making our lives miserable are the good guys. Um, propaganda will buy you a lot of goodwill, but up until a point, I just don't think there are many people out there who are like, insurance companies, yay, big pharma. Totally trustworthy. I mean, most people are smart. So I think for the majority of people out there, it's an ignorance. It's a lack of knowledge. It's not an intentional choice. Oh, we choose to believe, you know, we choose the pharmaceutical industry over the rights of our friends and loved ones. No. It's a, it's a, it's a lack of understanding and an ignorance. And the thing that makes me happy about that is that the more we talk about it, the more people. Eyes are opened. And people's eyes are opened. I am hearing story after story. People coming to me and saying, you will not believe this, Asha, but a healthcare professional that I came into contact with knows who you are. Or said to me, oh yeah, no, we don't do weight here. Or, oh absolutely. Or someone was saying like they, they went to, to get um, an x ray or an imaging of some kind and needs to have a gown and the person brought the gown in, looked at the gown, then walked straight back out, came in with a bigger gown, didn't say anything, just walked in, gave him the bigger gown. There was just no conversation and this person was just like, isn't that amazing? Because that is not my usual experience. People are listening, people are paying attention. The more people hear the message, the more they go, Oh, wow, that's crap. No, we ought to do something about that. Not everybody. I mean, you're going to have the naysayers, you're going to have people who are part of the weight loss industrial complex who are going to shout very loud and say, but you know what? Those people are not the majority of people. And there are a lot of people out there whose, whose hearts and minds you absolutely can reach just by sharing the message. Like you don't have to do anything other than be like, read this, look at this, check this out. Um, one of the things I really want to focus on in the new year is. is the basics, you know, I think as part, I've, you know, you've all been following me on my journey. I learned the basics and then I learned more and more and more and more and I forgot about the basics and I forgot that there are people who are just right at the beginning of this journey and I want to provide more and more resources for those individuals. So I'm going to be focusing on like the importance, the basics, the fundamentals, um, to help people that of course, no way the that I'm writing is very much that. Like, chapter two right now, we're talking about what controls weight, um, why you, why you didn't fail the diet, the diet failed you, um, basic stuff, but really important stuff. So yeah, getting the message out there, it is making a difference, and so that's making me, that's, that's giving me, Something to look forward to, you know, I'm seeing, I'm hearing the stories, I'm hearing the reports of positive changes within the healthcare system. I know it's a tiny drop, I get it, it's nothing compared to what needs to be done, but it's something, it's more than it used to be. Um, people, there is, what I'm saying is, it's possible to make a difference. And if one of us tries, you know, but if all of us are trying, then I think we can make a difference. I really do. I'm feeling very positive about it and the Association of Weight and Size Inclusive Medicine has just been formed. This is exciting stuff. The Association of Weight and Size Inclusive Medicine. I am very much looking forward to working with this organization, certainly a member of the organization, and to work with this organization because it's the Association of Weight and Size Inclusive Medicine, folks. Isn't that amazing? Um, look at the work that NAFA's been doing. Passed a law in New York City. Size discrimination is no longer legal. Isn't that amazing? Yeah, it's just New York City, one could argue. It's just only one city in a very large state in a very large country. But what it was the first one just takes one and then the next and the next and the next and the next and it's kind of like a snowball effect. So I am so excited about the work that is being done. And since we don't have the money that we do have. The important thing to remember is that we cannot be silenced. And that's the thing that I want to leave you with at the end of 2024, at the end of season four, is the importance of not being silenced. This year, I decided that in order to continue with this podcast, I was just going to switch on my mic, write a few notes and start recording. I wasn't going to try and be perfect. I wasn't even going to try and be good because that was asking too much. I was just going to show up consistently and talk. And not be silent. And I'm very grateful to those of you who listen to me every week and tuning in. And some of you even sent me your Spotify raps and my podcast was right near the top. I was, I was number one for some people and number two from some others. And I was like, wow, that's exciting. And some of you are really listening and I appreciate that. Um, but actually the most important thing is that I'm showing up consistently and saying something. I'm not allowing my voice to be silenced. And on that note, those of you who know, I have been investigated twice now by the General Medical Council. Uh, the General Medical Council are responsible for many things, but they basically hold our license to practice medicine. Um, so they hold our registration, so even to be a doctor, yeah, and also to have a license. So you can have a registration, in other words, I'm a doctor, I'm registered, I'm a registered doctor, medical doctor, um, but my license is something I have to renew every year. So those are two slightly different things. I have given up my license to practice, which means if I want to start practicing again, I basically have to Um, to, like, fill in a bunch of paperwork and do a little bit of work to get my license back on again. Because you do, uh, an appraisal every year, so basically I have to get reappraised. But I haven't given up my registration. Um, the only, the only way that I can give up, well, the only way I can give up my registration is A, refuse to pay for it. Or B, um, is if they take my registration away. And they have I've tried really hard to do that this year. They really don't like me talking out, speaking out. They have tried very much to silence me. In fact, I think people are doing this intentionally. Um, and so I wanna read, um, A letter, uh, not a letter, but I was, I, at the moment, I have been accused of anti semitism. Uh, I am being investigated for engaging in racist anti semitism across all my social media and continually attacking Jews online. Uh, that's what I'm being investigated by the GMC for. And they are upholding this complaint, even though it was made by a man named David McCulloch, who goes under. Canadian Gunny, uh, well, he was Canadian underscore Gunny, and then he got his count, uh, taken down by META. So now he's Canadian Gunny 2. And, uh, his bio basically just reads fuck Palestine. So You know, obviously a very serious person, who very clearly cares, um, about Jewish rights. Uh, doesn't really give a fuck that I'm Jewish, also doesn't give a fuck that my pronouns are he, him, because, obviously he loves to call me she. Um, Bit of a racist transphobe if you go check out his account, but maybe don't because he's not a good guy, Mr. McCulloch. But the GMC don't seem to care about that. They are upholding his complaint that I am spewing. What was it? Let me go back and read it again. That I am continually attacking Jews online and engaging in racist anti semitism across my social media. And some of you might be like, whoa, Asher, what? What's going on? Remember, I have already been sanctioned by the GMC for discriminating against people based on their race, gender, and sexual orientation because I have made comments about cisgender white men and that's not okay. Cisgender heterosexual white men, I should say, to be specific. Anyway, um, Here's what I had to say about this most recent investigation. I'd like to end by highlighting that prior to my social justice advocacy on social media, I maintained an exemplary professional record. I've never had a serious complaint raised against me, nor have I been involved in any significant untoward incidents. I served as a GP appraiser for many years, a role requiring the utmost professionalism and trust. However, since I began speaking out about social justice issues, issues. Individuals who disagree with my political ideology have weaponized the GMC complaint process as a means to harm me. Despite being a transgender, queer, Asian, neurodivergent doctor, I was previously sanctioned by the GMC for discrimination against me. Cisgender, heterosexual, white people, based on two tweets. These tweets, intended as a critique of systemic privilege, were interpreted as bringing the medical profession into disrepute. The GMC chose to apply the very rules meant to oppress, protect, marginalized individuals like myself. In a way that silenced me instead, now I find myself in a SI similar situation seems the GGMC is once again willing to silence doctors who challenge the status quo, regardless of the context or intent behind their words. These actions have ruined my career and I'm no longer able to practice medicine. This is not just or fair, and it runs counter to the very principles of medical ethics. The GMC is entrusted to uphold particularly the principle of justice. Justice is one of the four foundational principles of medical ethics and it demands fairness, equity, and protection for those who face discrimination or marginalization. I urge you to, I urge you to reflect on whether the way I've been treated by the GMC over the past three years aligns with those principles, as the GMC should be protecting justice, not using it against those who stand up for it. This is particularly significant given the numerous reports highlighting racism and other forms of discrimination within the GMC's investigative process, especially towards doctors with marginal identities like mine. It is troubling to think that such systemic biases might be influencing the decisions made about my career and my ability to serve patients. So I wrote that, and when I say I wrote that, I wrote some of that and ChachiPT wrote most of it, and I'm really proud about it, but the important thing I want you to take away from that is the Is that I will not be silenced and none of us should be silenced. They'll want to silence us. They will do everything they can to silence us. There are people out there that will weaponize the GMC complaints procedure over and over again to silence me. The GMC will uphold those complaints even though they are bullshit. Absolute utter bullshit. I promise you, if I was a cisgender heterosexual white man, they would never dream Never dream of investigating me. Of course, if I was a cisgender heterosexual white man, chances are I wouldn't be as invested in social justice. And isn't that the point? Those of us with the most marginalised, intentionally marginalised identities are often the ones who are speaking out against injustice and therefore they're on the front line. Often the ones on the front line. We are the ones that are going to sustain the most amount of injuries. They will do whatever it takes to silence us, but I cannot stress the importance of this. They may have the money, they may have the narrative, they may hold, be, you know, they may be the puppet masters, they may control the mainstream media, they may be able to do all of these things, but they cannot and will not silence us. That's one thing they cannot do. They will try everything in their power and up until the point of, of, of intentionally allowing harm to come upon us through the healthcare system. That's one way of silencing us. is to harm our physical health. They will try, but they will not win. I will not be fucking silenced. The GMC can take my registration. They can shove my registration up their, you know what I was going to say, where the sun don't shine. I don't care. I will not be silenced. I will not back down. I will not be forced into submission. This message is too important. The, the way that fat people are treated within society is unacceptable. It is intentional marginalization. It is eugenics within the healthcare system. I don't care whether you agree with me. I don't care whether you agree that, you know, that there is a genocide going on in Palestine either. I don't care. Like I said at the beginning, I don't care. These are the facts. These are the truths. There's no denying what is going on. Whether you like it or not, this is the situation and this is the line. Either you agree with eugenics or you disagree with eugenics. Either you agree with genocide or you disagree with genocide. Either you agree with racism or you disagree with racism. Either you agree with fascism or you disagree with fascism. You can't Pretend it's not happening. It is happening. I don't care how, you know, the mental gymnastics that you want to use in order to ignore what's going on. You want to ignore it. You ignore it. That's your business. But that doesn't mean it's not happening. And as far as I'm concerned, you want to pick a side. You cannot straddle the line because if you're straddling the line, if you're pretending it's not going on, you are pro genocide, pro fascism, pro racism, pro weight stigma. That's pro eugenics. If you're ignoring the situation, then you are on the side of the oppressor. And if you are not ignoring the situation, if you disagree with what is going on, if you say yeah, I'm with you, Asha, I don't like fascism, and I don't like eugenics, and I disagree with all of these things, then you, you don't have to do anything. You just don't. Don't be silenced. Don't allow them to silence you. And I, with a caveat, put yourself first. I mean, I talked at the beginning of this podcast all about how I was putting myself first, and I was, I was prepared to disappoint other people and disappoint myself. I'm not asking anything from you. I don't, I'm not demanding anything from you. I don't think you have to do certain things in order to be part of this community. But just remember that they can take a lot of things from you, but they cannot take your voice. Wow, this was meant to be like a really happy, like, happy holidays message, a nice little wind down. Uh, wasn't expecting that. Not sure that I, um, not sure that I said exactly what I wanted to say, I'm not sure I was particularly eloquent, and that's because I'm tired and my throat, you can tell my voice is going. Um, so, I'm gonna end this now, with, um, my wish for you over the next few weeks, that you will rest. Dammit, rest. Just rest, please, please, rest. Protect your energy, protect your comfort, protect your peace. Prioritize it over everyone else. Find joy. Actively pursue joy. Grab joy like a bull by the horns. Are you supposed to grab bull by the horns, by the way? I'm not sure you are. But grab joy. Grab as much joy as you can over the next few weeks. Joy, joy, joy, joy, joy. And like, Not what other people think should be joyful, what actually brings you joy. Um, remember that you have a community, remember that you're not alone, and that actually doing life with other people is so much better, especially Started, the sneezing has started, but yeah. Community is important. Um, got so much to come in the new year. Gonna be starting off, um, literally January the 1st. No, January 1st is a holiday. January 2nd is gonna be the new I'm gonna have to reach for a tissue, guys. Got no choice. I think I have my body held out, but yeah, we're coming to the end now. So, um, We're starting off in January, on January 2nd, with the New Year's Same You Challenge. It's a 7 day email challenge. As long as you're signed up to my emails, then you're part of the challenge. You don't have to do anything, you just get any emails. Where I will be reminding you, that it may be the new year, but that you really don't need to change. at all and uh, it is the beginning of my kind of antidote to diet culture season, which begins, as we all know, post Christmas and January is the worst of it. So yeah, I will be providing as much anti diet content as possible in January, starting with New Year, Same You, 7 Day Challenge, so make sure you subscribe to my email list. Um, I, my podcast will be back on Wednesday the 15th of January, uh, and in the meantime, take care of yourself.