Community

afteil

Hello, for those of you who dont know me (and im sure many of you dont), my name is Amy. I am 22 and a full time student, and I have been overweight for most of my life. But this post isnt really about me. Today as I am sitting in my schools library, watching biggest loser with a MFP tab open, right across from me there are 3 overweight women at a table together. 1 has a big gulp from 7-11, 1 has a double gulp, and one has a soda from weinershnitzel, and they all have fries (and maybe a burger) that they are eating. And all it did was made me sad. I know what being overweight has done to my life and to my body, and I can only imagine that the journey that they might have taken to get to where they are now.

So, MFP, I have a question for you. Are you doing this journey alone? Or do you take your communities with you? How do you respond when you see things like that, where you know someone is doing themselves harm, but dont know how to approach them, or even if they should. Do you let worry or fear that they might get angry keep you from talking to someone about their weight loss?

As I type this, I know I am too afraid of insulting them to go talk to them, and I feel slightly hypocritical- being overweight myself telling someone else that what they are doing is wrong. But I hope that in the future, I will regain my confidence and be able to be a positive influence on the people around me (even if they are complete strangers)

kgs0201

Honestly I don't think I'd have the guts to do that with a complete stranger but I have been doing it with my family. Most of the time they don't listen but I think that my success is helping to motivate them. It's sad that our world has gotten this way and we probably do need more people out there trying to make a difference.

Kwilliams75

I wouldn't say that I reachout to the community but I will share a great healthy recipe with dieting and non-dieting friends! Not sure that I would ever be able to approach someone cause I know I would be pissed if back in the day someone approached me and probably even today!! I think it is best to stick to sharing your knowledge with friends, co-workers and family that I know are trying to learn a new lifestyle. I hope that be reaching out to them they will pass it on to someone else and hopefully reach a person that really needs the info!!

afteil

The only thing I really think about is that yeah, I might be insulted if someone came over and talked to me about me weighing too much, but if someone had come up to me years ago and shared their success with me, and offered me help, support, and encouragement, maybe I might not have waited to get my life under control

cenafan

I would never approach a stranger about their food choices. Funny...that hidden tv show about putting people in unique situations just did this. A waitress/waiter told an overweight woman she shouldn't be ordering the food she was...did she want a salad. And the show taped the reactions of the other patrons. It was interesting to see how people reacted. When it was a male waiter, people were annoyed saying how rude he was. When it was a cute young female waitress...the reaction was totally different. Interesting social experiment.

ANYWHOOOO.....

I would not talk to strangers about this. People need to start their own journey. Strangers and friends could have told me I was a blimp and it would not have changed my path until I was ready to. Instead of feeling sad for them (cause you can't change them) feel good about yourself...knowing that you are making healthy changes.