In Defense of Fat People

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<p>I have wanted to say this forever, but I couldn’t, because I was fat. In the past 6 months I have gone from a size 16 to a size 8 (and still losing!), and I am a normal size, so now I can say it.</p>

<p>Fat people are one of the last groups who it is socially acceptable to criticize. When you are fat, and people say, “Overweight people just need to eat less and move more; it’s not that complicated,” you can’t say a thing.</p>

<p>Once my weight loss started to be apparent, people started asking me, “What are you doing to lose weight!!!” I always say, “You aren’t going to want to hear this…it’s diet and exercise,” but really that isn’t the whole story. I have taken anti-depressants for menopausal crazies for several years. I was not thin before I started taking them, but I got much heavier after. And when I would try to diet (and exercise) while taking them, it was extremely difficult to lose any weight at all. </p>

<p>Awhile back, my dr. switched me to Welbutrin, an anti-depressant that is often associated with weight loss. I started to diet and exercise and the weight pretty much fell off. I could tell the Welbutrin raised my metabolic rate, because I have trouble going to sleep at night (note the time of this post) and wake up early. I also seem to always be tapping my foot, which I never used to do. And the big thing was that I’m just not hungry most of the time. It’s really easy to diet when you aren’t hungry and when you are burning more calories!!! When I realized that, I had an epiphany. </p>

<p>My mom has always been a normal weight, and she is never hungry. She’ll fix a big meal for the family and then won’t eat or will just have some small portions (not like anorexia, just like she is eating an adequate amount of food and that’s enough). I remember reading once about dieting and keeping weight off, and the dr. who was quoted said that no one is going to walk around being hungry long term. They might do it for a period of time to lose weight, but that for most, it is not sustainable. That’s true. And before this medicine, I was pretty much hungry all the time. So now I am getting lots of praise for the weight loss and I can tell there are people who think better of me because of it. But they shouldn’t. It’s true that I have focused my efforts and am basically following a low-fat, low-calorie diet, but I am only able to keep to it because I’m not all that hungry anyway.</p>

<p>So, if any of you are a normal weight and you think poorly of overweight people, I would encourage you to think about them the next time you find yourself really hungry (surely you are sometimes!), and realize that they feel that way much of the time.</p>

<p>Okay, I feel much better now. Thanks for letting me vent! :)</p>

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<p>I’m a size 16 and don’t consider myself fat or abnormal, especially since most people look like me! Congrats on your weight loss.</p>

<p>I still feel it is socially acceptable to criticize smokers, by the way, and my H is an ex-smoker who had an awful time quitting. I can’t believe any rational person would intentionally smoke! I guess that’s how some people feel about us overweight folks.</p>

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<p>timely…thanks for posting. That is great information for all of us. I’ve been the same size most of my life and until I hit my 40s never had to even watch what I ate or exercise. Both of my children take after my husband’s side of the family and both struggle off and on with weight. To give a clue, my son was almost ten pounds at birth and he was the smallest of the nephews.<br>
I definitely have seen that things like genetics and medication can pay a big role. It isn’t always just eat less and move more. We shouldn’t assume that overweight people are just lazy and don’t make the effort to lose the weight.</p>

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<p>timely–my sister had a similar experience with Topamax. She lost about 80 pounds just because she wasn’t hungry any more. Not much exercise, just didn’t feel like eating. I am thrilled for her, and it illustrates the same thing you said–she definitely experienced a metabolism change.</p>

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<p>Thanks for posting. There are so many factors to a person’s weight. Yes, there are people who overeat high calorie foods and never exercise, but there are so many other reasons. </p>

<p>My college roommate was a size 20 and I weighed about 95 lbs. We ate almost every meal together in the dining hall and ate pretty much the same things. We didn’t snack much outside of the dining hall meals (no money.) Neither of us really “exercised” but we both walked long distances to classes on a large campus. I didn’t gain weight and she didn’t lose weight. No fairness to it, but it did teach me not to assume a heavy person is eating all the time.</p>

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<p>Thyroid hormone imbalance can also cause weight gain/loss, as TSH is directly related to metabolism. All things being equal, when I was hypo(thyroid) I gained weight, and when hyper(thyroid) I lose weight with much less effort than when my thyroid hormone levels were normal. It made me realize that factors other than caloric intake and exercise influence weight.</p>

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<p>I’m hypothyroid - when the doctor was suspecting a thyroid issue, the only thing that didn’t point toward hypothyroid was that I hadn’t gained weight. I said, “Right, because I’m eating *almost nothing *because when I eat anything I gain weight!”</p>

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<p>For normal people (i.e. didn’t just quit smoking or something) it is about eating less and moving more. Actually, it’s not just about eating less, it’s about eating SMART. Ban processed foods and soda from your diet and see how much weight you lose in a month. As much as I’m all for personal responsibility food companies ARE to blame for obesity, at least partially. There’s a reasonable connection between them advertising to kids, kids buying the junk, and then the kids getting fat. Ideally, you should never eat food that requires an ingredient list (other than bread), but I limit myself to no more than 5 ingredients I can’t pronounce.</p>

<p>For the record I lost about 60 pounds in a year. It comes with its rewards-biggest one being I get to go shopping. And no, I don’t think poorly of overweight people-having been there I know how hard it is to lose weight. But my problem seems to be I’m starving all the time.</p>

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<p>I’ve posted this before, but I agree about all the “ingredients” adding pounds. I had a bad reaction to some food I ate at Chili’s and asked them for the ingredients so I could try to figure out what I reacted to. I thought - beef quesadillas - beef, cheese, tortillas…to what could I have possibly reacted? Here is what is in their quesadillas:</p>

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<p>^^^^That makes me want to vomit!!! Yikes!</p>

<p>Very nice, very true comments on this thread. Definitely true that some people just don’t have the genes to be “thin”. On the other hand, I truly believe that “we” are a nation of overeaters, underactive movers and bad nutrition choosers. I love when I see programs in schools that positively promote good nutrition and exercise. I think your body learns to crave what it gets used to. If you fill your bod with carbs and calories, it will crave those foods. If you fill your bod with fruits/vegs/grains, you will crave those. So much can be a mindset.</p>

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<p>I think we’ll be a saner, more healthy country when we acknowledge that both are true–that, yes, some people process food/calories differently from how others do, and will probably never be as thin as others, but that notwithstanding this fact, it still behooves *all of us *to eat in a more healthy way.</p>

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<p>I use to be anorexic. And it’s a fat persons world. I use to be so ****ed off when I would be trying to buy foods to gain weight and everything is low fat this and low fat that.</p>

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<p>So, according to this thread, it is OK to critize smokers and fat people, but not the pills poppers? Basically, one can do anything as long as it is not visible. How hypocrite!</p>

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<p>^^I think you are right, Garland.</p>

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<p>I would also like to add that just because someone is thin, this does not mean they don’t get hungry or that it comes easy for them. I am thin, but I work out pretty vigorously 5-6 days per week (with the most important sessions being my strength training workouts). I get hungry just like the next person. However, when I eat I choose very wisely (in contrast to various times in my life when I did not do that and was a good 20-25 lbs. heavier). Anyone who is hungry (vs. bored, upset, angry, etc.), and I mean truly hungry, should eat! Just don’t eat junk. It would be hard for anyone to overeat vegetables. Grab a small apple or some fresh berries instead of the chips, salted nuts, or candy bar when you want a snack. I love a small tossed salad in the afternoon now instead of my cheese and crackers. I eat more times per day now than when I was heavier. I just make sure that I’m not eating junk- i.e. processed foods high in fat, sugar, salt.</p>

<p>I don’t agree with the typical weight loss mantra of “eat less, move more.” I actually eat MORE volume now than when I was heavier. For me, it’s eat less junk, eat more whole foods, and move more. Decrease your calories by increasing your consumption of fresh whole foods as a substitute for processed foods. That’s a whole lot easier for me than eating crap which only stimulates my appetite for more of the same.</p>

<p>I read a good guideline once-don’t eat anything your great grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food. I guess that means the Cheetos are out. What is a cheeto anyway?!</p>

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<p>“Eat less” CAN mean different things.</p>

<p>Eat less quantity of food.
Eat less high calorie/fatty food.</p>

<p>It’s subjective.</p>

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<p>We hear a lot about “genes” causing obesity. The obesity rates have only skyrocketed in the last few decades. Our genes have NOT changed significantly in that time. I agree with you that it’s WHAT we are eating which is the problem, compounded by the fact that our lives are significantly less active than previously, both in the work place and in our leisure time. There are certainly people who by virtue of their genes are never going to be SKINNY. But genes don’t doom anyone to morbid obesity. When genes meet a diet high in processed foods, fat, and sugar, then add insult to injury with a sedentary lifestyle, bad things happen.</p>

<p>I saw missypie’s Chili’s post in another thread and was disgusted, though not surprised. I recently read David Kessler’s book on this very subject, and I believe this is a widespread phenomenon which is contributing significantly to our health problems. If we go back to whole foods and get read of the “faux foods” in our life, I bet we’d see a huge reduction in the obesity problem in this country.</p>

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<p>abasket,</p>

<p>True, but many people think “eat less” means deprive oneself of food. If you are making healthy choices, that’s not necessary. There is no need to go hungry in order to be thin.</p>

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<p>I’ve had a non-functioning thyroid since I was nine years old and so have struggled mightily with my weight and all sorts of other attendant health problems. The most helpful thing for ME is to count my calories. I find it very hard to keep track if I don’t make a serious effort to pay attention. My husband is morbidly obese and it breaks my heart to see him suffer. I wonder what comes first. The weight or the depression.</p>

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<p>Sorry, but for many of us this is simply not true.</p>

<p>THIN is skinny. THIN is not fit. There is a lot of room for healthy weight between morbidly obese and THIN. The problem is that it is no longer considered good enough by magazines and media. Thereby driving people to unrealistic expectations, yo-yo dieting, and unmaintainable diet habits.</p>