Don't be over weight

[Yer_Blues]

So what do you say to people who eats 6 healthy meals a day, and works out regularly, cardio and weight training? There are 1000s of these people physiologically unable to lose weight. How do you, or any of you who feels you have the right, pass judgment on these people you don't even know?

Few and far in between. Every hurting, self loathing fat person makes defense mechanism-esque excuses and blames circumstance and genetics to a large degree for their situation.

 

Regardless of the hand you are dealt, you can improve it. You may not be able to get all body fat off of you, but there is simply no chance that a large portion of people are walking around hopelessly fat with no possible options. I used to think that I had made legitimate efforts and losing weight and failed... only thing I failed at was setting my sights too low, underestimating what I was capable of, and procrastinating/making excuses.

 

I am all about sensitivity to large people, and I agree that about not passing judgement on people without knowing their situation. That was my whole argument. At the same time, I do hate excuses when they are used as a reason not to better oneself. Excuses/circumstances that led people INTO their current position, I sympathize. Nobody is perfect and those who have these problems are no less than anybody else. But you have to overcome it.

[Feelin Frisky]

... But you have to overcome it.

 

To the point of being "cut" (bariatic surgery, lap band et al)? Who else is to say for anyone else when the time has come and that they must just get surgery because they can't control their food/pleasure mechanism? I get your point about excuses but there is some for real stuff about what people have to face some times to get any sustainable traction on controlling their obesity. There wouldn't be a "bariatric surgery industry" if this weren't so. Insurance companies are paying billions of dollars and doctors are making careers out of "cutting" people stomach's down or banding them. It's not all just an eating choice or a life style choice--it's a sentence for some folk. Even then, a lot of them still manage to get heavy again. Surely after choosing to undergo surgery no one would deliberately chose to return to obesity--it's an incessant drive that defies the logic of the unafflicted.

[Yer_Blues]

To the point of being "cut" (bariatic surgery, lap band et al)? Who else is to say for anyone else when the time has come and that they must just get surgery because they can't control their food/pleasure mechanism? I get your point about excuses but there is some for real stuff about what people have to face some times to get any sustainable traction on controlling their obesity. There wouldn't be a "bariatric surgery industry" if this weren't so. Insurance companies are paying billions of dollars and doctors are making careers out of "cutting" people stomach's down or banding them. It's not all just an eating choice or a life style choice--it's a sentence for some folk. Even then, a lot of them still manage to get heavy again. Surely after choosing to undergo surgery no one would deliberately chose to return to obesity--it's an incessant drive that defies the logic of the unafflicted.

Are you saying they magically get fat while staying active and eating properly, or that they manage to fall back into old habits? My GP used to tell me that in no way could he ever comprehend obesity as being a choice. After all, nobody would choose to live that way and accept all the consequences. Bull ****. I chose it. That kind of thinking is pleasant and wonderful, but it won't produce the drive you need to face it.

 

You always do what you want to do. Do I accept there are some people with genuinely physiological problems that prevent them from being at "healthy" weights? Yes, but it's a very small number. Why do you think obesity has become so prevalent only in very recent years? You think our genetic structure or the frequency of these issues has been changed in some vast way?

 

It's the way of life and bad habits and bad mental health that is responsible for most cases. And the solution is to want to be healthy more than you want to be fat. ****, at one point my family was considering such a procedure as you are describing. If the financials were right, who knows. I'm glad it didn't happen. Some people probably need it, but what would they have done if it wasn't an option?

Edited December 11, 2010 by Yer_Blues

[Vesna]

Repeating.... when did I use the term hating?

GP, you have opened up a seriously fetid, argumentative, bigotted, hateful, angry can of deep-fried worms with bitter salt on top. I didn't see the hate in the words you used to start this thread, nor did I even interpret it as hate. I will agree with you, however, to the bitter crappy end of this thread.

 

Now go and reward yourself with a 100% bran sugar-free donut topped with crushed linseeds, followed by organic wine. Make sure you open the bottle yourself, lest someone else pisses in it.

 

Since joining LS I have to say this is the nastiest thread I have had the dubious pleasure of joining in so fat, oops I meant far.

[Vesna]

Might sound like. NO it is the over generalization of somebody who doesn't have a clue about real life or for what people in certain SES actually deal with. And it appears the blissful ignorance you had in childhood you have embraced right into adulthood.

I may appear to have embraced this supposedly vapid and shallow ignorance into adulthood, but that ignorance has been replaced with the stark reality I see around me.

 

Did I hit a nerve?

[pureinheart]

I have a question. Say that person A is obese, and person B is not. They eat the same exact foods, and the same amount of each. Just because person B doesn't physically show it, does it make them more healthy because they are skinny?

 

I don't believe so. I am 103 pounds, and I eat terribly. I eat a lot, and the majority of the time none of it is 'good'. I actually just got done eating a bowl of leftover cake batter (and it was damn good!). Because of my genetics, I don't gain the weight that most others would. I believe I am actually less healthy than some obese people.

 

So, I think the thread title should be, 'Don't be unhealthy' as opposed to 'Don't be over weight'.

 

Just my two cents.

 

Erica, this is wonderful...and like another poster meantioned steroids...steroids cause people to gain weight as a rule.

 

Sometimes I am skinny and sometimes I am overweight. I have Graves Disease, although think I am in remission right now. No matter what, I eat healthy. I never eat fried foods, rarely ever eat fast food, but when I do it is the healthier choice. I have not eaten any concentrated sugar products, meaning cakes, cookies, etc for over 30 years. I need to exersize more, but have bad knees from being hyper...I just have a hard time sitting down (thank God for LS:))...I don't eat dairy and a salad bar is like candy to me. Even with this I am overweight right now.

 

During skinny times, in my mind I was judgemental towards heavier people...I think we should all be careful as it could happen to us.

 

I want to add that some people eat too much at times for comfort, because they are hurting...how about some compassion, as we don't know what another person is going through.

 

From experience I can tell you that during my overweight times I suffer greatly in my mind...there are some that just can't help it.

[bentnotbroken]

I may appear to have embraced this supposedly vapid and shallow ignorance into adulthood, but that ignorance has been replaced with the stark reality I see around me.

 

Did I hit a nerve?

 

 

Not at all, just opened a can of disgust.

[pureinheart]

Repeating.... when did I use the term hating?

 

I did not hear hate in your OP, in fact even though I eat right, I am still overweight and it is freaking me out. I need to go on a partial fast or something (I have a hard time fasting completely as I am hypoglycemic).

 

I appreciate you saying something....I needed to hear it:)

[hART]

Might sound like. NO it is the over generalization of somebody who doesn't have a clue about real life or for what people in certain SES actually deal with. And it appears the blissful ignorance you had in childhood you have embraced right into adulthood.

 

Thank you bent!

Vesna: It just so happens my intelligent engineer cousin and his engineer wife are rich and obese. They work hard and are great people. What about Oprah or Rosie O' Donnell? they are all rich and fat. What about Maya Angelou? What if I compared every skinny person to the infinitely vapid Paris Hilton? Hasty generalizations are known as a logical fallacy, because they cannot speak truth. Why post something without doing proper research? Oh yeah, its the internet...

[pureinheart]

GP, you have opened up a seriously fetid, argumentative, bigotted, hateful, angry can of deep-fried worms with bitter salt on top. I didn't see the hate in the words you used to start this thread, nor did I even interpret it as hate. I will agree with you, however, to the bitter crappy end of this thread.

 

Now go and reward yourself with a 100% bran sugar-free donut topped with crushed linseeds, followed by organic wine. Make sure you open the bottle yourself, lest someone else pisses in it.

 

Since joining LS I have to say this is the nastiest thread I have had the dubious pleasure of joining in so fat, oops I meant far.

 

You've been forunate, you should see the bashing that goes on...as others have said...you have a right to your opinion, and how you choose to say it.

 

For me, I see my own overweight as repulsive to me (not others)...and if something doesn't change quick in whatever for me, I will get heavier...I can't take this...I need a miracle. Period.

[Feelin Frisky]

Are you saying they magically get fat while staying active and eating properly, or that they manage to fall back into old habits? My GP used to tell me that in no way could he ever comprehend obesity as being a choice. After all, nobody would choose to live that way and accept all the consequences. Bull ****. I chose it. That kind of thinking is pleasant and wonderful, but it won't produce the drive you need to face it.

 

You always do what you want to do. Do I accept there are some people with genuinely physiological problems that prevent them from being at "healthy" weights? Yes, but it's a very small number. Why do you think obesity has become so prevalent only in very recent years? You think our genetic structure or the frequency of these issues has been changed in some vast way?

 

It's the way of life and bad habits and bad mental health that is responsible for most cases. And the solution is to want to be healthy more than you want to be fat. ****, at one point my family was considering such a procedure as you are describing. If the financials were right, who knows. I'm glad it didn't happen. Some people probably need it, but what would they have done if it wasn't an option?

 

Judging everyone else by one's own experience is what the prejudice against the obese is grounded upon. The bottom line is that obesity happens aplenty to millions of people all whom are unique individuals with differing imperfections, differing cultures, differing access and differing drives. I don't think anyone is so "right" in their perception that they can damn millions of other people. There's even evidence that persons who were bottle fed instead of breast fed missed out on a necessary substance called colostrum which helps a child develop the "off switch" to food seeking. Thus people have long been damned to obesity before they are old enough to have the language of choice and social implication in the minds. Such people and many others who do not develop the "off stitch" mechanism, face the equivalent of addiction every day--and it NEVER goes away. Judge not lest ye be judged. No offense.

[bentnotbroken]

GP, you have opened up a seriously fetid, argumentative, bigotted, hateful, angry can of deep-fried worms with bitter salt on top. I didn't see the hate in the words you used to start this thread, nor did I even interpret it as hate. I will agree with you, however, to the bitter crappy end of this thread.

 

Now go and reward yourself with a 100% bran sugar-free donut topped with crushed linseeds, followed by organic wine. Make sure you open the bottle yourself, lest someone else pisses in it.

 

Since joining LS I have to say this is the nastiest thread I have had the dubious pleasure of joining in so fat, oops I meant far.

 

I am sure there are many more. When I was a child I used to wonder why poor people were fat and lived in dirty homes, while the rich were slim and had clean abodes. Ah, such was the blissful ignorance of innocent childhood

 

And your contribution to the nastiness was exceptional.

[hoping2heal]

Thank You Johan,V, et al.

 

Over simplification isn't possible. It is this simple...don't over eat, and do exercise. Do it or live unhealthy and die early.

 

Make excuses (a missing "off switch" ?), and you'll put yourself in an early grave. Simple

 

If you wallow in the thoughtless PC lie that fat is attractive, then your life will be lumbering and shorter.

 

B4 PC...we had 2 fat kids in my school, they heard the uncensored opinions everyone had of the overweight. Nobody wanted to be them, and everyone took pains to be active and not over eat. Now the schools are full of unhealthy kids.

 

Stop the gluttony and sloth, your life will be better, Don't do it because of my blunt post. Do it for you. Don't let the politically correct or the slender haters delude you. Get healthy.

 

The families who live on processed and nutritionally deficient foods like macaroni and cheese, ramen noodles, and hot dogs because that is what they can afford for the money they have and the mouths they need to feed. What should they do? Or the ones who do not have access to a safe and affordable means of physical activity. ?

 

How about them? I suppose there is always walking but climate does not always permit that.

 

Being overweight will increase your risk of many health disparities and will reduce the length of your life. There are certainly people who could afford to eat healthy and join a gym or some type of program or have access to a place where they could exercise even if it was free. They could do all of that and they choose not too. However, even that is not always a black and white issue either. There can be complex psychological reasons for overeating and compulsive eating, etc.

 

Then, there is the first group I mentioned. Who for environmental and economical reasons eating healthy and staying fit is not that easy. In fact, not hardly even possible at all.

[Gold Pile]

The families who live on processed and nutritionally deficient foods like macaroni and cheese, ramen noodles, and hot dogs because that is what they can afford for the money they have and the mouths they need to feed. What should they do? Or the ones who do not have access to a safe and affordable means of physical activity. ?

 

How about them? I suppose there is always walking but climate does not always permit that.

 

Being overweight will increase your risk of many health disparities and will reduce the length of your life. There are certainly people who could afford to eat healthy and join a gym or some type of program or have access to a place where they could exercise even if it was free. They could do all of that and they choose not too. However, even that is not always a black and white issue either. There can be complex psychological reasons for overeating and compulsive eating, etc.

 

Then, there is the first group I mentioned. Who for environmental and economical reasons eating healthy and staying fit is not that easy. In fact, not hardly even possible at all.

 

Oatmeal for is healthy and cheap. Water is healthy and cheap at the tap. Thats just 2 for example. A bowl of fresh cut fruit @ the market costs less than a mcmeal deal number 6. In my area a bare bones gym membership costs $10 a month, thats less than 2 Mcmeal deals. I have (for many years) about $50 dollars worth of weights at home. Push ups are free. With a $24.99 bar ...pull ups can be done at home. People walk in the mall when the weather is bad.

Making excuses for someone not to exercise isn't doing them a favor. As for your complex psychological problems, the cure is still simple, not easy, just simple.

[hoping2heal]

Oatmeal for is healthy and cheap. Water is healthy and cheap at the tap. Thats just 2 for example. A bowl of fresh cut fruit @ the market costs less than a mcmeal deal number 6. In my area a bare bones gym membership costs $10 a month, thats less than 2 Mcmeal deals. I have (for many years) about $50 dollars worth of weights at home. Push ups are free. With a $24.99 bar ...pull ups can be done at home. People walk in the mall when the weather is bad.

Making excuses for someone not to exercise isn't doing them a favor. As for your complex psychological problems, the cure is still simple, not easy, just simple.

 

You are making assumptions based on where you live. Where you live that gym is that rate and food costs that rate. There is a whole other world out there who lives in different conditions and with different situations than you.

[bentnotbroken]

You are making assumptions based on where you live. Where you live that gym is that rate and food costs that rate. There is a whole other world out there who lives in different conditions and with different situations than you.

 

 

Hell some rural areas don't have gyms period. And food prices are rising daily along with other costs of living. There are ways to do better we all can...but the assumption that sloth and gluttony are the only reasons for the epidemic of obesity is as foolish as the assumption that arrogance and stupidity are the only reasons for others making naive statements.

[pureinheart]

Oatmeal for is healthy and cheap. Water is healthy and cheap at the tap. Thats just 2 for example. A bowl of fresh cut fruit @ the market costs less than a mcmeal deal number 6. In my area a bare bones gym membership costs $10 a month, thats less than 2 Mcmeal deals. I have (for many years) about $50 dollars worth of weights at home. Push ups are free. With a $24.99 bar ...pull ups can be done at home. People walk in the mall when the weather is bad.

Making excuses for someone not to exercise isn't doing them a favor. As for your complex psychological problems, the cure is still simple, not easy, just simple.

 

In my area, there is a swap meet every weekend down the street from me with about 15-20 fruit/veggy stands before you enter...oh man, everything from a to z. Everything is about 1/4 of the price of the grocery stores. The only expensive fruit there is the coconuts (2$ a piece), although I spend the money because the coconut water is really good for you, and I always feel rejuvenated after drinking it...I buy about 20 of them and freeze the water.

 

Costco sells big things of carrots for really cheap, so I buy a couple of those and juice carrots and apples together and get about 8 "Smart Water" bottles full for 12$.

 

I heard a doctor say that beans, rice and potatoes are very good for you and they're cheap.

 

A gym membership is a waste of money for me because most everything you do at the gym I can do at home...

 

That's my story and I'm sticking to it:D

[Yer_Blues]

Judging everyone else by one's own experience is what the prejudice against the obese is grounded upon. The bottom line is that obesity happens aplenty to millions of people all whom are unique individuals with differing imperfections, differing cultures, differing access and differing drives. I don't think anyone is so "right" in their perception that they can damn millions of other people. There's even evidence that persons who were bottle fed instead of breast fed missed out on a necessary substance called colostrum which helps a child develop the "off switch" to food seeking. Thus people have long been damned to obesity before they are old enough to have the language of choice and social implication in the minds. Such people and many others who do not develop the "off stitch" mechanism, face the equivalent of addiction every day--and it NEVER goes away. Judge not lest ye be judged. No offense.

I'm not judging, that's not what its about. I don't see fat people as guilty in any way. It's a personal choice based off of personal factors.

 

This off switch terminology is a hilarious oversimplification. Binge eating, emotional eating, etc. have been around before and will continue to exist. People have been fat in the past and will continue to be fat. The reason that so many people are fat now is LIFESTYLE, not genetics or PURELY environmental factors. Now, I sympathize with all those environmental factors that make the process so difficult. I don't sympathize with people who think they are helping other people by discouraging them, however.

 

Smoking cigarettes for example is terribly addicting and horrible for your heatlh. I again don't see anything "guilty" or "wrong" innately with cigarette smokers and will befriend them without hesitation. However, I still think despite all the negative consequences and suffering involved with quitting, it should just be done. Addiction this, withdrawal that... there's nothing to prevent you from just NEVER doing it again. If that's what you really want...

[Gold Pile]

Hell some rural areas don't have gyms period. And food prices are rising daily along with other costs of living. There are ways to do better we all can...but the assumption that sloth and gluttony are the only reasons for the epidemic of obesity is as foolish as the assumption that arrogance and stupidity are the only reasons for others making naive statements.

 

How much is oatmeal in your neck of the woods? I've met some very fit, very scary dudes in the poorest of neighborhoods. They're from 1st, 2nd , and even 3rd generation welfare mothers. They seldom own a car, if they do it's a shab-wagon. They usually don't finish high school. With all the strikes against them, they still manage to get fit, very fit.

 

The vast majority of people able to see this thread are in an environment adequate to support fitness. Sure you can find micro-exceptions.... you can't jog outdoors in Antarctica, a certain Pacific atoll only has coconuts to eat. You can focus entirely on these exceptions and scream that the thread is invalid, once again you've stared down the solution to your issues. Focusing on the real problem is the only way you'll ever fix it.

 

On your own , with the help of some of us here, or with a Physiatrist's guidance .... however you do it..... it will ultimately come down to a simple solution. Eat healthier and exercise, or live a diminished, shorter life. The solution and some support is right here but all you do is fight it. Undoubtedly you've come across this solution to your condition before, where has fighting it left you? I'm not polite about the issue, none the less I do (in my flashes of reflection) feel for an intelligent, if angry, person trapped in your situation. I wish you well, Happy Holidays.

[theBrokenMuse]

Undoubtedly you've come across this solution to your condition before, where has fighting it left you? I'm not polite about the issue, none the less I do (in my flashes of reflection) feel for an intelligent, if angry, person trapped in your situation. I wish you well, Happy Holidays.

If you have been following the thread, she isn't overweight, two of her siblings are.

[Gold Pile]

If you have been following the thread, she isn't overweight, two of her siblings are.

Hi Unbroke,

Her tone indicates that the issue is hitting closer to home.

 

This thread has run it's course, I hope they lock it.

[bentnotbroken]

How much is oatmeal in your neck of the woods? I've met some very fit, very scary dudes in the poorest of neighborhoods. They're from 1st, 2nd , and even 3rd generation welfare mothers. They seldom own a car, if they do it's a shab-wagon. They usually don't finish high school. With all the strikes against them, they still manage to get fit, very fit.

 

The vast majority of people able to see this thread are in an environment adequate to support fitness. Sure you can find micro-exceptions.... you can't jog outdoors in Antarctica, a certain Pacific atoll only has coconuts to eat. You can focus entirely on these exceptions and scream that the thread is invalid, once again you've stared down the solution to your issues. Focusing on the real problem is the only way you'll ever fix it.

 

On your own , with the help of some of us here, or with a Physiatrist's guidance .... however you do it..... it will ultimately come down to a simple solution. Eat healthier and exercise, or live a diminished, shorter life. The solution and some support is right here but all you do is fight it. Undoubtedly you've come across this solution to your condition before, where has fighting it left you? I'm not polite about the issue, none the less I do (in my flashes of reflection) feel for an intelligent, if angry, person trapped in your situation. I wish you well, Happy Holidays.

 

Well when you are worried about paying your mortgage, keeping your children safe, having enough gas to get where you need to be, fighting to keep your head above water and finding the things you need for daily survival...the length of life is NOT a priority. Your circumstance isn't the the circumstance of everyone or even half of the people.

[theBrokenMuse]

the length of life is NOT a priority.

I know this is a bit OT so I apologize but personally, I don't want to live so long that I end up rotting away in a home someplace as my body slowly breaks down, anyhow. Sure, there are people that live to a ripe old age without many health problems but I have seen far too much of the opposite. I don't want to get the point where my QOL goes completely down the tubes as I become more and more helpless or dementia sets in, leaving me without my dignity.

[bentnotbroken]

If you have been following the thread, she isn't overweight, two of her siblings are.

 

 

Thank you for reading. It angers me that my family and others are judged as "less than" because of their weight. They are college graduates, with loving families. They contribute to their community and love the Lord. Yet because they grew up poor(the dumb ass remarks about low income) and have health problems they are deemed slothful and gluttonous. My tone is damn well hitting close to home.

 

My siblings mean the world to me. The people I work with mean the world to me. And no I am not overweight...never had that problem but I have others. Will people who suffer from arthritis be next? What about short people, that's me? How about those pushing 50? That's me too.

 

And I am not polite about what I believe is hatred toward people who are overweight or any other aspect of being diminished as a person because of a physical attribute. Merry Christmas to you also.

[bentnotbroken]

I know this is a bit OT so I apologize but personally, I don't want to live so long that I end up rotting away in a home someplace as my body slowly breaks down, anyhow. Sure, there are people that live to a ripe old age without many health problems but I have seen far too much of the opposite. I don't want to get the point where my QOL goes completely down the tubes as I become more and more helpless or dementia sets in, leaving me without my dignity.

 

 

My children and I have discussed this very issue. I come from a family where the women live a very long time...90+ years. And it might be an issue that I will have to face. So far that hasn't been an issue with the older people in our family. There are enough of us that someone has been able to take care of them without putting them in a nursing home.