| Weight Loss & Negative Influence |
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CrimsonAnimus
Moderator
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Posted: 12 July 2008 07:27 pm |
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I want to get something off my chest that has been bothering me lately...
First of all, being overweight does indeed have a negative impact on one's health, along with smoking, drinking, and various other things that people do to their bodies. It is important to take steps to improve one's health in all aspects of life.
However, there is a fine line between acknowledging that weight loss is necessary for health and being a "fat phobic". I have known many people who have been, including my grandmother, grandfather, as well as a close friend of the family.
I have grown up hearing that I was fat for most of my life, at school, from family, and elsewhere. Some of this was just human cruelty at its finest. However, there are those who claim that calling other people fat is beneficial, because it stirs within them a desire to change. That certainly has never been the case for me. All it has inspired for me was just more feelings of worthlessness, and to put it a bluntly, a habitual desire to die.
I have lost almost 100 pounds. I am healthier, yes, but I am still me. I was fairly happy with life before, and I am still fairly happy with life now. Losing weight doesn't cause some kind of magic wand to appear to make everything better. Overweight people are not always miserable, and for those who are, it often has little to do with their weight than it does other problems in their lives.
Further, said problems often directly contribute to their weight gain. It bothers me to hear people say things like, "Fat people must have no self-control when it comes to what they eat." For some, yes, this might be true, but why is it true? Often, there are other problems in overweight people's lives that cause them to give up. It's so easy for some people to judge what they simply cannot understand, or what defies what they consider to be "normal".
Do you know what overweight people really need? Number one, they need to find the willpower to change. Just because a person becomes overweight does not mean they do not have willpower. It just means that they made a decision for a certain period of time not to use it. We are humans - we are imperfect, and there is not one single person among us who has not experienced a lapse in willpower at some point.
Number two, people usually benefit from support. You can support a person without supporting their "habit". A lot of it has to do with attitude. A few encouraging words will go much further to inspire change within someone than a bad attitude.
Finally, the last thing most overweight people want is your pity. Further, pity is completely unwarranted. We are still human beings, with just as much to contribute to society as anyone else.
Anyway, I grow a bit weary with some people condemning overweight people in the name of health, when sometimes it is just pure and simple discrimination, and clearly comes off as such. No one benefits from such arrogance. Let he who is without sin cast the first stone...
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suenos
Moderator
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Posted: 13 July 2008 05:37 pm |
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Hey CrimsonAnimus:
totally agree with much of what you've said...different people are motivated by different things...and those things don't usually include being made to feel bad about themselves. But especially your last paragrah....I totally agree that people often hide behind fake concerns for someone's health to express what's really just a dislike of their appearance.......and it really bugs me when people throw around the terms "healthy" and "unhealthy" like they have some moral connotations - being fat does not make someone "bad" and bein thin does not make someone "good" - just different weights and body compositions.....all fat people aren't laying around on the couch all day eating potato chips and all thin people aren't out jogging 10 miles a day and eating apples - sometimes it's just genetics... all fat people are not unhealthy, or even unfit and all thin people are not healthy or fit. And truthfully, I've seen a lot of people (myself included) engage in some very unhealthy behavior in a effort to go from fat to thin... and yea, a lot of pure discrimination and #%@&! behavior towards others is acceptable........ but as long as we can hid behind the equation of fat=unhealthy=bad vs. thin=healthy=good, we can pretend that we care about the health of others say "that's just so unhealthy" when sometimes what we mean is "I think your body is too big or shaped wrong for my personal tastes" and not sound like total jerks.
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Forehunnerd
New Member
| Joined: | 26 June 2008 |
| Location: | |
| Posts: | 100 |
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Posted: 14 July 2008 05:50 am |
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I love your post here Crimson. It's great to see a thoughtfully composed essay from someone who has seen things from the other side. Even as you've continued to successfully lose weight, you haven't forgotten the sentiments that come from being in that state. My hat's off to you sir, You always have such great posts to read!
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cportwine
Senior Member
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Posted: 14 July 2008 02:53 pm |
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I totally agree with everything you said..... I don't really have any comments or anything to add, I think you pretty much covered it all.
WELL SAID!
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