Saturday, 07 November 2009

  • You are FAT!

    Last week in my abnormal psychology class we started up the chapter on eating disorders. Today we wen't over Bulimia and Obesity. Obesity is not regarded as an eating disorder yet but it's going under consideration. Our professor asked us our opinion on the subject and here is mine (real quick and short):

    I don't believe obesity should be looked down upon and obese people shouldn't be made to feel ostracized. But we should in no way help them feel better about their condition. By sugarcoating the problem we only become enablers. I might be fat but I don't want fat to be okay.

    First off we treat fat like it's a bad word by hiding it. Instead of fat we call ourselves "curvy," "plump," or title ourselves as "more to love."

    We need to stop covering up the truth with cute words and admit it: We are fat.

    I don't want it to be taboo.

    Here are the statistics so far:

    • United Kingdom 1980 - 2002 prevalence of obesity nearly tripled.
    • China 1989 1.5% of children considered obese. 2002 the percent rose to 12.6.
    • United States as of 2006 33% of adults considered obese.


    This is not a problem only in the US. This is pretty much world wide. But I think we all knew that.

    Whenever a fat post gets posted up on health kicker how many people do you see come out with "My whole family is big, it's genetic" or "I have a thyroid problem."

    It's not genetic. It's habitual. You do what your family does, and you eat what your family eats. If your family spends most of the day watching TV and eats out a lot or eats heavy meals regularly then its your habits, not your genetics that's the problem.

    I can't get a straight answer but from what I see only maybe 10% of women actually have a thyroid problem, and not even that full 10% equals to weight issues. I doubt that Healthkicker just happened to be where everyone with a thyroid problem congregates.

    I'm not saying there aren't people with thyroid problems and that there aren't people with genetic problems. I'm just saying it's probably not you.

    I'm saying take responsibility for what you've done to yourself.

    I don't remember fully but there was a story awhile back about a couple school zones that wanted to change the sizes on school uniforms to accommodate the bigger (read: fatter) children. Basically what would be medium sized uniforms would be labeled "small" and large sizes labeled "medium" and so forth. And I totally disagreed. If your child is a large, don't try to lie and make her feel better by reading a label that says medium. If she's fat she's fat and it's better she/he knows the truth and works on correcting their health.

    Basically: don't ostracize obese people. But don't sugarcoat the problem either. Because they'll probably just eat that too.

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Comments (64)

  • MangoWOW@xanga

    Well this one was certainly delayed. Anyways, before people get into it: my post is NOT bashing fat people, it's bashing people who lie to themselves to feel better. And no, cancer is NOT the same as being fat. 
  • Brilliant_Innocence@xanga

    I would say, don't ostracize, but don't be rude either.  People really need to learn when to shut the hell up and mind their own business.  I wouldn't be rude to anyone who said they couldn't lose weight due to a medical condition, because that's not my business or my place.  If someone wants to call themselves curvy, who cares? Get over it.  I'm not going to say, "no, you're just fat" and be rude like that.  Generally, a fat person, knows their fat, whether or not they use a "cutesy" term to cover it up.  So, people just need to shut up and leave them alone!  Get over it. It's not your place!  Focus on yourself and your health and stop focusing on everybody elses health and their shortcomings with it!
  • InfiniteLexi@xanga

    yeah, my mom has a thyroid problem and she's not fat at all...she's slightly bigger than what she once was, i.e. she gained maybe twenty pounds to her 120 lb self. having a thyroid problem doesn't mean anything other than it's slightly more difficult for you to lose weight.
  • shes_lump@xanga

    This post is well-written and makes a very great point! Thank you for writing it because it is exactly how I feel about obesity!

  • cornyonacob@xanga

    OMG WAIT. deja vu...?
    this was definitely posted somewhere else.
  • whitetrashpoet@xanga

    @Brilliant_Innocence@xanga - I think the idea behind the post is that if everyone who is obese attributes it to a medical problem, genetics, etc., that will foster the belief in any children they may bear, any obese friends/family, and it will continue the obesity epidemic, which is costly to everyone in the long run (health care costs, not to mention the fact that medical issues they may incur can cause pain to those who love them). If people could be more realistic about their weight, we could be a healthier nation/world as a whole. It's not about being mean or belittling or ostracizing, I think it's more about breaking the cycle.
  • BlistersAndCoffee@xanga

    Why is this reposted?
  • darkprincess1921@xanga
    There are health problems that contribute to obesity! Like diebetes, so before you go and call someone fat do your research. Someone with diebetes will gain weight very quickly and have trouble getting it off! There are other medical problems that have the same reprocussions on one's health. Ask your professor what the long term effects of Bulimia and Anarexia are. I will tell you; once you finally take in food (and not purge) you gain weight. Your body will store the fat in case you do it again! So trust me if you want to tell someone that calls themselves puffy that they are fat be ready. Trust me I would plant you on your ass for that! It's not only rude; but you don't have all your facts straight! Research, then post what you think. Until then post what you know not what you think you know!
  • hockeybaby0819@xanga

    When people say they are curvy, It doesn't necessarily mean fat.  There are people who are plenty skinny, but then have wide hips which makes them curvy.
  • anonymous

    @darkprincess1921@xanga - It's hard to take a comment about diseases seriously when the commenter can't even spell them correctly.
  • Imp_is_lurking@xanga

    No points for you. Compuslive over eating and binge eating, which LEAD to obesity are eating disorders.


    The state of being overweight, or obese is not.
  • Imp_is_lurking@xanga

    @BlistersAndCoffee@xanga - Agreed.
  • Imp_is_lurking@xanga

    @darkprincess1921@xanga - Amen.
  • Charmaine_Lim@xanga

    I am not against obese people, if they are happy with themselves then be it. But, they should be responsible for their own well being and do not blame on genetic or whatever.  We are the product of our own life style. 
  • MsKittyCatty@xanga

    I agree with this post. It was a year or two ago when I went into this store and saw a sign that said "Womens" I walked over there and started looking around I I was like "Huh? This is big ladies clothing!" And found the misses section. I was super annoyed. I mean, I'm sorry, but that is the Plus Sized section. I'm a woman too despite not being obese. All women's clothing is well, women's. There should just be the Juniors section, Misses section, and Plus Sized section. Calling the section Women's is like a compliment for being obese!
  • tobethinagain_xoxo@xanga

    THANK YOU! geez, i read an article a while back about how it's acceptable for us to be rude about those who smoke, but our society makes unhealthy overweight people practically "taboo."  i get the whole self-esteem thing, but being over weight is unhealthy.. and that's that.
  • Kaichiturtle@xanga

    @MsKittyCatty@xanga - Let's rename the Misses sections too cause what does a misses have to do with size?

    Juniors can stay the same, cause that refers to style than size.

  • Kaichiturtle@xanga

    @Brilliant_Innocence@xanga - agreed.
  • MsKittyCatty@xanga

    @Kaichiturtle@xanga - okie dokie
  • morbidcoronerchick@xanga

    How did you get this reposted???? Seriously! Stop bashing people unless it's for a good reason!

  • jenniferbcbg@xanga

    totally agree


    the majority of fat people are not fat because of health problems, but they simply have issues related to self-control


    i should know, i have struggled with my weight for the past four years or so. i was very, very skinny in middle school; then, with highschool came puberty and i gained a bunch of weight. i was never FAT, per se, more like a little plump. a lot of it was muscle, but still, i didn't like the look of it.


    anyway, i made a change to my diet and lost 14 pounds. it wasn't for medical reasons, it was purely aesthetic. look at that, people can lose weight! people should try it sometime..
  • MangoWOW@xanga

    @Imp_is_lurking@xanga - They want to make the state of being obese a disorder.
  • MangoWOW@xanga

    @morbidcoronerchick@xanga - It was posted on lovelyish first. Not a repost. I wanted it here first but they lagged pretty long so I thought they had just rejected it. I sent it into lovelyish and they accepted it right away.
    @BlistersAndCoffee@xanga - Same as above :/

    @Kaichiturtle@xanga - Im not surprised you didnt have the balls to say anything on my blog.

  • LouLouLouie@xanga

    Well I liked this article.
    I am sick of fat-acceptance. I am not thin. I am slightly overweight, but I don't kid myself that I'm just curvy or big-boned or "womanly".
    Heavy women are often embraced in the media for eing healthy and accepting themselves. I remember a post a while ago heaping praise on Beth Ditto for not being sucked into the image vortex of Hollywood. These people are not healthy role models. They are fat.
    If you choose to be fat, so be it. But don't expect society to maake you feel better about what you've done to yourself.
  • Duhiana@xanga

    @Brilliant_Innocence@xanga - fully agreed. 

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