Are fat people just lazy and make excuses?

runningforthetrain

ilex70 wrote: »

I wouldn't say that.

I would say that "fat people"-

*do not want to change as much as they want to stay in their current comfort zone
*want to change, but are working with bad information
*are struggling with life situations, physical limitations, and/or mental health problems that make weight maintenance difficult, or just not as much of a priority. Because when the house is on fire who gives a damn about dirty dishes in the sink?

Spot on.

ChxSurf782

The easiest answer here is "yes". To what degree that is true varies by individual.

In general, those who buy-in to a lifestyle change of regular exercise and eating smart are not obese or won't be obese for long if they keep it up. It is the individuals who want instant gratification in their results or think they can drop 20 lbs and go back to their old ways that just end up fat again.

I realize there are some outliers with thyroid issues or other medical limitations, but for the vast majority of fat people you will find excuses, laziness, resistance to change, fear of the unknown, and possibly addiction.

butterfli7o

I_Will_End_You wrote: »

Some are, some aren't. /thread

This.
I totally accept and own the fact that I became overweight by being lazy.

butterfli7o

flippy1234 wrote: »

It has to be a mental decision. Until your head is in the game, nothing will work.

And this.

oocdc2

Serious answers from my own experience:
1. I didn't know how to lose weight long-term. I got bad advice my whole life from my father and well-meaning friends and relatives, so I would lose a few pounds, but then gain it all back and then some. MFP was the method I needed--when I found the proper method (e.g., CICO, monitoring my sugar intake), I lost the weight.

2. I needed to lose weight for myself and not for others. I think this is why competitors on "The Biggest Loser" gain their weight back after the show--they are doing it for themselves in part, but doing it on national television suggests other non-sustainable motives, as well.

3. Losing weight just wasn't a priority for me for several years. I had (still have) a disabled husband, two children, full-time work, college that then led to a second job--I sometimes didn't get a shower when I wanted one, let alone energy to care about my weight. When my kids got to be school-age and could put themselves to bed (more or less), I could focus more on me.

A wise person once said, "People do the best they can with what they have." The older I get, the more I find this to be true. The "fat and lazy" person just might not have much life-wise to work with.

Rachel0778

I honestly got fat because I WASN'T lazy. To try to reduce the amount of student loans I needed in college I often took 17+ credits while working 2 part time jobs. I also had a 45 minute+ commute to campus since I saved money by living at home. Because of my crazy schedule and workload I ate a lot of cheap convenience foods. I also started using food to self sooth when I was highly stressed.

Now that I have a steady 40 hour a week job it's so much easier to find the time to prep homemade foods and exercise daily.

I look back at that time in my life and wonder how I kept it all together. I am forever grateful that I did though since I can now live debt free.

ElizabethOakes2

It's not my place to judge anyone based on their weight, fitness level or anything else. I don't know their struggles or the problems that they're facing, and frankly, neither does anyone else.
My frustration is when I see my overweight friends doing crash-dieting or falling for expensive cleanses because they are so desperate to lose weight that they can't seem to do it healthily. They aren't lazy. They want change. But they just don't know how to get from where they are to where they want to be.

faithsstaircase

I personally love when people make generalizations. It really helps society as a whole.

Some fat people are fat because they were lazy and made excuses. I'm one of them. Some fat people are fat because they have legitimate physical or mental issues that contribute to their weight. I'm one of those as well.

Some skinny people are lazy and make excuses. Some skinny people have legitimate physical or mental issues.

No generalization is going to help someone reach a goal. So true or not true, it doesn't matter one damn bit. Find your motivation within, and love yourself enough to try. Screw everything else.

ChxSurf782

lemurcat12 wrote: »

Is she thin because she is high energy or is she thin because she seems to subsist primarily on coffee, alcohol, and smoking weed?

Alcohol is a depressant and overindulgence definitely hinders fat loss.
Smoking marijuana is mostly linked with being a depressant (and hallucinogen) and has no tangible effect on adipose tissue.
Coffee is likely not the cause for her being "high energy," as regular coffee drinkers develop a tolerance to the stimulating effect; this typically maintains a baseline of normalcy vice a noticeably "energetic" effect.

afatpersonwholikesfood

MynameisChester wrote: »

afatpersonwholikesfood wrote: »

Troll?

Frankly, I'm surprised I even got started again this time around. I'm extremely glad I did, but losing and regaining large amounts of weight multiple times starting from the early teen years (I remember counting calories for the first time in 5th grade) had mentally killed me - I decided my brain was broken, and I would never be able to permanently change my weight.

It was 7 years between this time and last time. Laziness had nothing to do with it. I wasn't physically capable of the things I am now, but I was constantly busy between work, keeping a home, dealing with family, etc. My house was always in immaculate condition, and I worked (as I do now) two jobs - one of them physical. It was very difficult for me to keep my house up to my standards and then clean at a resort every weekend, but I did it.

I'm glad for your commitment! Some people just shrug and say " well being overweight is just who I am". If I can ask, what helped you get started again? Was it an epiphany, get help from someone, etc?

Part of it was just feeling all the stress on my body and struggling with it every day.

Part of it was reading HAES literature. The idea that it could still be worthwhile to do good things for my body even if my weight didn't change much really took hold of me.

I switched to whole grains and began loading up on produce and doing gentle exercise months before I decided to tackle my weight again.

viren19890

I was not fat- as in when I would wear a shirt- one wouldn't be able to see my stomach but when I was 25 lbs heavier than I am now. I genuinely believed that I need to exercise more to lose weight.

I did strength training 5 days a week and boxing 1 day- so I was working out 6 days a week and was heavy.

It was so much later I realized that weight is 100% diet dependent. So May 2015 until Dec 2015- I did strength training and boxing 5-1 days a week and nada -I even gained 4 lbs during that time period and since Jan 5-2016 until now I'm down approx 25lbs.

LoL I even use to get out of my chair every 20-40 mins to move because I thought that caused weight gain.

Sometimes it is simply not knowing -I use to read every damn article on bodybuilding websites too lol and spent countless money on supplements as well

zoeysasha37

Well sure, plenty of people make excuses. I constantly hear stuff like "I'm a food addict ! I can't help myself " and other excuses. I know I made plenty of excuses in my past also. I just try not to worry about what other people are doing or not doing and leave them alone. Who cares if someone is lazy ? Who cares if they claim they are a food addict or whatever the newest trendy excuse is ?
I worry about myself and don't really care if other want to be lazy. That means more room at the gym for me and less of a wait to get on the equipment that I want! So yeah, let them stay home and be "addicted to food " while I have the gym to myself !:)

nixxthirteen

Well. I am fat because I was raised not being taught portion control or anything about nutrition, well into my 20s. The things I know now mostly come from finally getting so sick of it, and doing countless hours of my own research. These forums have been incredibly eye opening and useful.

But I am also very lazy. I have never enjoyed physical activity, for one (being fat made me embarrassed to take part in gym classes etc etc because growing up overweight does WONDERS for confidence...). I also used to hate to cook, which is HUGE because most convenience food and take out have a massive amount of calories.

I 100% agree that a person's head needs to be in the game before they can commit to this journey. And they need to open their minds and be willing to throw away any preconceived notions of food and "healthy" and calories etc. if they hope to be successful.

alone_aqua

I know a LOT of skinny people who are lazy. There's not just fit or fat there's a huge grey area in-between - appearance alone doesn't reflect someone's habits and priorities.

jgnatca

A highly energetic (and dead) fat person.
Chris Farley.

http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--anD3zDUF--/199stwgyb08mkgif.gif

Lounmoun

"Are fat people just lazy and make excuses?"
I think statements like these are lazy and excuses.
People get fat when they consume too many calories for their activity level. That is what fat people have in common.
They may be ignorant of the amount of calories they are consuming or burning. They may not care about their weight. They may blame weight gain on something else because they read a book or article that told them the wrong things. They may work hard and be extremely earnest but still be eating too much.
Quite frankly many overweight people have done some very unsustainable, punishing restrictive diet and exercise plans multiple times because they believed some crappy person selling a book, shake or gym membership who told them they'd lose a bunch of weight fast. That is not lazy. It is wishful. It is depressing. It is infuriating.

DrifterBear

Anytime a person ends up with a problem that they want to change, they are 'lazy' if they don't change it and disciplined if they overcome it. It doesn't matter if you're overweight, skinny fat, stuck in a job you don't like, in a bad relationship, etc. If you identify a problem, you must take responsibility to to make a change. Otherwise, you're complicit in your own misery.

rob1976

The majority of people that I've experienced are simply resistant to make lasting, permanent life changes. They want to eat garbage before taking a half-mile stroll after dinner and have that be enough to be fit and healthy. It doesn't work that way.

jgnatca

Another athletic and fat comedian.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roscoe_Arbuckle

When I was obese and sedentary the effort required for regular exercise was a big unknown for me. It was both much easier (you can start slow) and much harder (it takes a freak load of exercise to burn 200 calories) than I imagined. Now that I am on the other side of achievement a whole bunch of exercise goals now feel achievable.

For someone who has repeatedly dieted and "failed" it takes particular determination to pick it up again.

mkakids

Depends on your definition of lazy.

I was not lazy, but I did eat too much and chose to not exercise. Choosing to not exercise doent make me lazy. Choosing to not control my eating also does not make me lazy. I was OK with my weight, even though I was fat. It wasnt like I kept complaining about my body or weight, but didnt do anything about it.