"A Fat Rant"

[9th Engineer]

Why do I care how I look or why do I care how others look?

[Aliantha]

others

[9th Engineer]

Part of being a professional is presenting yourself in a manner that reflects your position. There are certain cut-off lines for acceptable appearance depending on the situation. And I feel like we're missing each other on some critical thing here, because I'm sure you're not saying that I should think nothing of someone from my department showing up to a progress meeting in a sweat suit. Or for that matter if they just decided they weren't going to wash their hair or clothes anymore.

[Aliantha]

Well I guess on some levels that's true 9th. I just don't subscribe to those standards that's all. I know people who are in very 'professional' positions who don't either. I commend them for being able to get past all that power dressing bullshit and just do their job.

[bluecuracao]

Well...depending on the job, once you have it, you can probably dress anyway you like, if that particular environment allows it. But when you're trying to break in, you gotta put forth your best appearance.

[piercehawkeye45]

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

I don't know if I completely agree. I have many overweight and morbidly obese people who are perfectly content, on the outside. Inside? well no really knows if they are truely happy. Some people just have the ability to extrude a happiness about them that you know is the real deal, other merely put on a good front.

I think we misunderstood each other. I was saying that people who care too much about their appearance will criticize others. If someone is comfortable with their appearance, they will become more accepting and happier with themselves..

There is a limit, when people expect to get two airline chairs or theatre chairs for the price of one, we now have an issue.

[Kitsune]

Originally Posted by 9th Engineer

Even though she never says "so don't bother!", she digs into it pretty strongly without differentiating between fad diets, crash diets, or other alternatives to just relegating certain foods to the 'once in a blue moon' bin.

I feel she is not only saying "don't bother" I feel she is, at the very least, being highly disingenuous when she implies that being skinny requires "two thin parents and four thin grandparents" or that one's quality of life does not suffer from being overweight. Both of these ideas are absolutely false and are hardly good ideas to convey to people in today's culture of inactivity and fast food. While she is correct that the overweight should maintain high self esteem and not let the opinions of others prevent them from being happy, it is absolutely wrong to extend that to suggest that people should automatically consider their condition genetic and that there is nothing they can do or should do.

She also rants that being overweight does not mean one is ugly, selfish, or lazy, but I'll only agree with the first two ideas -- being overweight almost certainly, barring any exotic medical conditions, stems from inactivity coupled with poor diet.

"...does not reflect on your character..."

I'm sure Joy would hate to hear that being morbidly obese reflects just as much on one's character as smoking two packs a day or being an alcoholic. All are chemical addictions, all are preventable, and all can be treated. We come in all sizes and no one should be discriminated against, but generating false excuses for an unhealthy lifestyle runs contrary to common sense.

[DanaC]

She also rants that being overweight does not mean one is ugly, selfish, or lazy, but I'll only agree with the first two ideas -- being overweight almost certainly, barring any exotic medical conditions, stems from inactivity coupled with poor diet.

No. It stems from a lack of the right kind of activity, coupled with poor diet. To suggest that someone who is overweight is necessarily lazy or physically inactive is an oversimplification of an often quite complex situation. You can spend most of your day on the go, but if it isn't the kind of exercise that increases your heart rate it's unlikely to burn off many calories. A lot of people who are overweight are very, very busy people. And a lot of skinny people are idle bastards, who do all the wrong things, eat all the wrong foods, drink too much and smoke too many cigarettes.

This kind of nonsense really puts me in a bad mood. What the fuck gives us all the right to moralise, come to conclusions about the lifestyle choices and make judgement calls on the characters of people we meet based on their fucking weight?

[Undertoad]

If all the other human frailties and habits produced visible results so quickly, we would all be so harshly judged.

Greek salad is good and if I eat a whole one I am full... I'm a really big guy. That is a stupid statement on it's face. I would have said so, in those words, and laughed if I felt like it. "What a stupid thing to say, hahaha! Greek salad fills me up and it tastes good."
I am also uninterested in worrying about embarrassing people or not, I would have called them on it, very politely, continued to labor the point logically, unemotionally, until they conceded.
I am overweight because"
First, I eat the wrong things
Second, My genetics (perhaps interchangeable with the first, but this is a very LARGE part of it)

I, and this is the truth, eat very little... but when I do I tend to eat the wrong things. If I ate more often and the correct things I would lose weight. But, due to being in so much pain, I have very little appetite. Also due to that, I tend to eat what is convenient, the wrong things.
If I did not, I would be thinner. Not thin, due to my genetics, I will never be that.
I do think that people who are VERY thin are obsessive and freaky, because those I have met who are VERY thin are obsessive and freaky.
But, not people who are built to be that way, genetics again, you can tell, they don't look unhealthy and they EAT.

[cowhead]

in the words of Foamy the Squirrel...well.. just watch it.. yeah I know all the 'hot topic' trendy kids are on the bandwagon now... but.. it's still funny

http://scarysquirrel.home.comcast.net/fatkins1.html

[Kingswood]

People's weight varies for many reasons.

Some people eat the wrong things and therefore weigh more or less than the average.
Some people have metabolisms that work differently and therefore weigh more or less than the average.
Some people are unable to find the time to look after themselves properly and therefore weigh more or less than the average.
Some people conform to different cultural expectations and therefore weigh more or less than the average.
Some people reject the norms of society in preference to their own personal happiness and therefore weigh more or less than the average.

People who eat a healthy diet and get enough exercise may still be overweight because they have inherited an efficient, thrifty metabolism. For such people it is as wrong to vilify them as it is to vilify someone on the basis of race or gender: people cannot change the genes they inherit.

Other people may be overweight because their lifestyle may make it difficult for them to find the time to be more healthy. They may lack the time to eat healthy food or to take exercise. For such people, society as a whole has failed them. A society that finds it acceptable for people to work more than 12 hours a day andor work six or seven days a week should not be surprised if this causes some people to lack the time to look after themselves properly.

Some people may come from a different culture with different views on body weight. It is difficult to undo the effects of upbringing in the same way it is difficult for someone raised in a lipophobic culture to adjust to the norms of another culture with a more accepting view of overweight people.

Some people are overweight because they choose to be. Such people have a different view of the world or themselves to the norms dictated by society. They have made their own decision and are well aware of the risks. Many smokers smoke for the same reason.

We should remember that the current "thin is healthy" view of modern society is overly simplistic. Medical evidence shows that under some circumstances being moderately overweight is healthier than being too thin. Thin women are more prone to osteoporosis in later life. Chubby people have a better prognosis after some medical treatments than thin people. So being a bit overweight is not particularly harmful as long as the overall diet is healthy and some exercise is taken. However, regardless of one's weight, it is always wise to keep an eye on one's health by having the appropriate medical checks done regularly.

[TheMercenary]

Some people eat to much.

[Kingswood]

Originally Posted by TheMercenary

Some people eat to much.

Not all such people get fat. Many teenagers have hollow legs.

And there are people who eat like birds and still gain weight.

It is not just food intake that determines weight. It is food intake and metabolism.