Get Your Eyes Off My Fat Butt
Oh Goody. Another person has blogged about Americanus Fattus Slobbus. In his view, this is a problem that has "reached pandemic proportions." Winston (whom I've never met, but sounds like a nice person overall) thinks that our lardasses are going to tax the overburdened healthcare system to its limits and believes the media reports that seem sure that my occasional Big Mac will be the one thing that throws the planet off its axis.
I get so tired of these nosy, preachy things. I'm sure Winston is well-meaning when he tells us to eat right and exercise (Gee, thanks! Hadn't thought of that....). I know he doesn't mean to be accusatory or bossy when he advises us to
stay out of fast-food places completely. If you must go, have a salad or baked potato (not loaded) or something else from their lean menu, never say yes when asked if you want fries, and never biggie-size it.
I've been fat forever. I've NEVER heard any of this advice before. I appreciate someone finally taking the time to tell me.
Did you know that the appropriate portion of meat is the size of a deck of cards, or the palm of your hand? Did you know you burn more calories sleeping than watching TV? Did you know that I, and most fat people I've met, are walking encyclopedias of nutrition and exercise facts? Did you know that people like me often see the whole world as the modern-day equivalent of "Whites Only"? That we try and try to lose weight but don't always have success? That the recidivism rate for weightloss in the Obese catagory is higher than the recidivism rate for child molesters?!?!?!?(95% for the obese, vs. 35% for the criminal) Yep. If you are fat, chances are that any "skinny" phases of your life will be an anomaly. Those who lose more than 10% of their body weight and keep it off for more than five years are called....Nothing. Because those people DON'T REALLY EXIST.
It's not easy to lose weight. It's almost impossible to keep it off. The best that I and people like me can do is to control our eating, exercise, and pray that our metabolism doesn't get further messed up by well-meaning doctors with their prednisone and birth control pills and phentermine and whatever else they cook up to solve our "problem."
Maybe it's time to realise that there are people who are fat just like there are people who have brown eyes or brown skin. Maybe it's time to mind your own business. Maybe it's time for people to be as accepting of overweight Americans as they are of illegal immigrants.
UPDATE:
Elisa says that Round Is A Shape, but from the tenor of her post, it's not one she's really fond of. There's a lot of stuff about the (much under-fire) CDC study, and Elisa's opinions of where all these hideous fat people came from. (Hint: It has to do with
On the other hand, Aunt B. of Tiny Cat Pants and I are actually agreeing on something for a change.
posted by Kat Coble @ 5:12 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
I don't have enough Amen's for this post! Preach it Sister!
I especially loved the, "Did you know that I, and most fat people I've met, are walking encyclopedias of nutrition and exercise facts?" part. I was just thinking about that the other day while trying to psych myself up yet again to give it another shot (losing weight, being healthier, etc) and I came up with this excellent plan for eating and exercise when it occurred to me that I know everything I need to know about losing weight. It's the getting off my big butt and doing something about it that's the problem!
There's a recent book about the crew of the Essex, a wrecked whaling ship in the early 19th century, wherein the author postulates that Peloponnesian peoples--a chunkier lot, on average--are that way because they are the descendents of the survivors of shipwrecks. His theory is that people with higher metabolisms wasted away to nothingness before their boats ran aground on the South Pacific isle, while those who couldn't keep the pounds off had more fat stored up, and a metabolism that didn't consume it as quickly.
The point of all this? If all this skinny-centric talk gets you down, Tahiti awaits!
What an absolutely wonderful, real post.
Agreed, agreed, agreed.
Bob,
Props for trying to cheer me up with talk about a whaling vessel. ;-p
And didn't they eat people on the Essex? Folks like me would be sort of like their Emergency Livestock Cache...
The author's theory does make sense. I've read several books (some spurious, others not so much) with postulates for an envirogenetic rational for the dreaded Endomorph syndrome. It makes sense when you realise that I'm Germano-Welsh. Descended from people who lived in the mountains and had to be able to store food to live.
Malia,
If I had a dollar for every time I've had to psych myself up, I'd be able to buy a Maserati. I've found that in the last two years it's been easier to psych myself up when I'm only thinking about "feeling better" vs. "getting thinner." I always feel better when I exercise. I never get thinner. So, I aim for the attainable result.
Newscoma,
Thanks. In case you hadn't guessed, overweight is the chocolate chip cookie on my shoulder. Don't mess wit me, boyos!
Kat, thanks for the reference, I think...
I accept your critique without putting up a fuss. This is NOT a new subject, we're all tired of hearing about it, and there was really nothing new. I did this for a couple of reasons.
First, I did it for me. I've really been trying to psyche myself into the mode of doing something to lose the uncomfortable weight I've put on. Sometimes if I say it out loud in front of others, it puts a bit more pressure on to do it. Works for me.
Second, I really had started noticing just how many of us are overweight. I had never paid attention to that. But the more I sat and observed, the more I saw, and that was surprising. Just thought others who had not paid attention might be interested. Those annoying pollsters might be right about us.
No way, ever, should anything I say be interpreted as an attack or preaching, and I hope not nosy. That's not my style... that's not who I am. If you felt those things came through in this post, then I didn't do a very good job of writing it. My apologies! Come on back anytime and give me another chance. There's always something different, sometimes interesting, only occasionally boring.
Welcome. I wasn't being glib when I said you seemed like a nice person. I just wanted to get out there that while I had basic problems with your presentaton, you didn't seem like a jerk. (Although I was in a jerky mood myself.)
First, I did it for me.....Second, I really had started noticing just how many of us are overweight. I had never paid attention to that.
We who have been fat our whole lives see this a lot. There are those like you who've put on the standard slowing-metabolism Extra 20 (or 30) that all of a sudden take the weight issue personally. Like I said over at B.'s place it's similar to newly pregnant women suddenly noticing every pregnant woman out there.
But when folks start talking about extra weight as though it's a type of failure, it makes those of us who genetically weigh extra feel like scum.
Don't worry, I've not written you off at all and will visit regularly.
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