this bothered me Saturday

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I swear to God, runners are some of the most fat phobic people I have ever met.

the kilted one

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Master of Prissface

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Point/counter point -

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Weighing in with my thoughts and opinions. Excellent points throughout this thread. My measly two cents:

1. It's easier to blame someone else for our misfortune/problems/etc. than it is to blame ourselves. (i.e., accept and take responsibity for our actions.)

2. People don't and won't change until they become miserable with their situation.

3. We live in a society that thrives on instant gratification. We don't think in the long term, we want results now. A healthier lifestyle is definitely a long-term thing.

4. Our society has gotten fatter over time in part because of our ingenuity at creating time-saving devices.

5. Everyone has it in them to live a healthy lifestyle. "Ya just gotta wanna!"

Master of Prissface

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Excelent

I agree shelfie, self modulation is key.

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Oompa Loofah

I want to give a different perspective on being overweight. I agree with what many people have said here--and I agree that America is becoming obese. It's not about societal norms--because I sure don't fit any--it's just about watching a beloved family member go to an early grave due to an unhealthy diet.

Here's something some may not have thought of:

CB is right--being overweight is as much an "eating disorder" as anorexia or any of the others. The weight is just as deadly as being underweight, although it is a slower death. Many times an individual has a traumatic event in their life at a young age (And I'm not making excuses for all overweight people) and they lose a will to live. If it was sexual abuse of some sort, they know that "being fat" is unattractive subconciously so they seek to make themselves unattractive so they will never be a victim again. It is also a type of comforting self-medication, so at first it serves a dual purpose. The worst part of this is that once the overeating begins--it is difficult to stop. And the individual begins to hate how they look and hate themselves and feel like a failure, so they eat more--at this point they've lost hope, maybe even a will to live. So it becomes a horribly vicious cycle.

Although some overweight people are there due to laziness, some are there because of their pasts. Some people have never been taught how to even eat properly. (this happens across the socio-economic strata) Next time you run into someone who is horribly overweight, stop and think about this person's past and things that may have caused them to hate themselves and hate life and use food as a weapon to slowly kill themselves.

Master of Prissface

You're absolutely right, Aire, I have seen that in my past work with abuse victims. They do tend to hide behind their weight as a protective measure and some truly don't care if it ends up killing them, and whatever happened to them is certainly not their fault. But that's where the treatment issue comes in, there are plenty of things out there to help them through the trauma issues and the other non-diet related reasons why they are holding onto that weight, and that's what has to be addressed first, because no diet, gastric bypass, pill, or milkshake on the planet is going to heal those wounds. But I don't think they are the people being judged, as CB says, here.....I think everyone's generalizing the comments that were made about people who claim they want to change but aren't willing to put the work in to do so, the ones that expect to pop "Exercise in a Bottle" and "Fat Trapper" once a day and lose 20 lbs a week without changing any of their habits, and then wonder why they can't, and worse, get all catty and rude with you, who is trying to make a difference and is sacrificing and doing the healthy stuff, like you're the bad one for getting thinner.

this bothered me Saturday

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