Do you think fat people "ought" to lose weight?

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candistyx
candistyx Posts: 547 Member
in Chit-Chat
If someone is fat, and doesn't have health problems because of being fat, do you think they "should" lose weight? Would you in any way look down on them or reject them if they chose to live with their weight instead of struggling to change it?

Why or why not?
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Replies

  • PJilly
    PJilly Posts: 21,740 Member
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    If someone is fat, and doesn't have health problems because of being fat, do you think they "should" lose weight? Would you in any way look down on them or reject them if they chose to live with their weight instead of struggling to change it?

    Why or why not?
    There are all kinds of things all of us "should" do to better ourselves, so in that respect, I think someone who is carrying too much fat would be better off if they lost it, whether or not they're experiencing health problems. But do I look down on someone or reject them if they choose to live with their weight? Absolutely not. There is so much that makes up who a person is, and I am much more interested in content of character than someone's physical appearance.
  • McKayMachina
    McKayMachina Posts: 2,670 Member
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    No way. If a person is genuinely happy (no self-delusion), then fat oughtn't matter. Morbid obesity...maybe not so much...just because a lot comes with that which affects others.
  • FearAnLoathing
    FearAnLoathing Posts: 4,852 Member
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    If someone is happy they way they are more power to them
  • missxchelly
    missxchelly Posts: 180
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    That's a personal choice. Not a choice that should be made dependent on what other people may think of them.
  • bluefox9er
    bluefox9er Posts: 2,917 Member
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    If someone is fat, and doesn't have health problems because of being fat, do you think they "should" lose weight? Would you in any way look down on them or reject them if they chose to live with their weight instead of struggling to change it?

    Why or why not?

    before I call anyone '' fat'', I take a long hard look at myself first. losing weight is a personal choice. i don't wander around hotel foyers thinking someone should wear a blue suit instead of a black one.
  • jbucci1186
    jbucci1186 Posts: 440 Member
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    their choice
  • Qarol
    Qarol Posts: 6,171 Member
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    You really don't know what kind of health problems the weight can cause. They may not be experiencing any symptoms now, but that weight is causing problems.

    Either way, I don't much care what other people do about their bodies. I've only got enough energy to care about my own.
  • candistyx
    candistyx Posts: 547 Member
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    is it possible to be overweight and not have ANY health problems because of it? I think even if they don't have any now, they will later.

    either way, i view it like smoking cigarettes- their choice.
    Yes, even obese. An obese person who is fit is at lower risk for obesity related diseases than a sedentary thin person.

    And I am obese and perfectly capable of moving around (and completely "proportional") so I don't buy it if anyone says that an obese person would be too limited by their fat mass to exercise to fitness because its totally untrue. Maybe a 500lb person is so limited, most people under 250... completely capable of exercise imo, unless they also have other problems.
  • Seajolly
    Seajolly Posts: 1,435 Member
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    Hmmm... Never really thought about it before because I've never really known an overweight or obese person who didn't have any sort of health risk associated with their weight. Even if someone doesn't have any health problems currently, being overweight increases their risk for many things: type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke, metabolic syndrome, certain types of cancer, sleep apnea, osteoarthritis, pregnancy complications in women, etc. So to me, it's better to try to lose weight just to avoid those increased risk factors.
  • horsepullerlovesme
    horsepullerlovesme Posts: 228 Member
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    i think it is ur choice. nobody should judge u for what ur decision is. they should respect it. but my personal decision is that i want to be sexy and being fat for me is not sexy. i feel gross. so i would chose to lose my fat. :flowerforyou:
  • 2bFitNTrim
    2bFitNTrim Posts: 1,209 Member
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    I don't pick and choose my friends & loved ones based on how they look, and wouldn't reject someone because of it. However, just because someone is overweight and does not have health problems now doesn't mean they won't in the future. I love my husband very, very much. He is obese and had been for years, without health problems until a few years ago he was diagnosed w/diabetes, and since then, he has deteriorated. He has failed to follow doctor's orders to lose weight & he is paying a big price for it (and the family too!). He has been hospitalized 5x this year for heart issues.

    No, I don't reject people who are obese/overweight. Beauty is skin deep. But I don't know if you can be very overweight without suffering some kind of health problem down the road.

    Just my 2 cents worth. :flowerforyou:
  • elmobabie84
    elmobabie84 Posts: 112
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    If someone is fat, and doesn't have health problems because of being fat, do you think they "should" lose weight? Would you in any way look down on them or reject them if they chose to live with their weight instead of struggling to change it?

    Why or why not?
    i think it should be up to that person as to whether or not they choose to lose weight. i'm overweight and comfortable with it. but i chose to lose weight because i was starting to get back problems and knee problems. and one day i want to have kids :bigsmile:

    i wouldnt nor could i look down or reject someone if they chose to live with their weight intead of attemting to get "healthy" in the terms of society. if they think they are healthy then there is no changing how they think.
  • hikeout470
    hikeout470 Posts: 628 Member
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    Yes, because it reflects a lack of caring for ones self, and this will eventually cause health problems. In turn it will hurt their family member(s) who are in the position to care for that person. They will carry the constant burden of worrying about them when they get older. Waiting for the heart attack, stroke, fall down the wooden stair case that they insist on living with, whatever.

    Having this experience in my family, I can say this causes tremendous worry and heartache. I feel it is the most selfish form of acting out that a person can do.
  • CodyD18
    CodyD18 Posts: 161 Member
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    If they are truly happy then sure. I'm not really sure how someone can be fat and healthy. Even if they're young and it doesn't effect them it will eventually catch up to them.

    It also depends on how "fat" they are I guess. Either way, they can do what they want. You can't force someone to want to lose weight.
  • candistyx
    candistyx Posts: 547 Member
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    Hmmm... Never really thought about it before because I've never really known an overweight or obese person who didn't have any sort of health risk associated with their weight. Even if someone doesn't have any health problems currently, being overweight increases their risk for many things: type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke, metabolic syndrome, certain types of cancer, sleep apnea, osteoarthritis, pregnancy complications in women, etc. So to me, it's better to try to lose weight just to avoid those increased risk factors.
    Being overweight is decreased risk of mortality than normal weight (obese is a different matter).
  • myofibril
    myofibril Posts: 4,500 Member
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    No, it's a personal choice and should be respected.

    Neither is it "wrong" for people to remain fat. Wrong denotes a moral judgment. Weight, diet, training, nutrition and so on is not a moral issue. Any attempt to make it so should be strongly resisted. Some people will try their upmost to make it so though.

    However, if people moan at me about how unhappy they are to be fat whilst stuffing multiple servings of cake down their cake hole and say how unfair it is that they are overweight then they shouldn't be surprised if I tell them to move the hell along. I have a low tolerance for the "life is so unfair" routine. Try being born in Rwanda through no choice of your own. Now THAT sucks...
  • Seajolly
    Seajolly Posts: 1,435 Member
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    Being overweight is decreased risk of mortality than normal weight (obese is a different matter).

    Can you please share articles and studies done on this? I have never heard this.
  • candistyx
    candistyx Posts: 547 Member
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    I feel it is the most selfish form of acting out that a person can do.

    So ...methamphetamine abuse, anorexia, having unprotected sex with strangers, dangerous driving, cutting - all these things PALE in the face of the great evil that is being 200lbs? Really?
  • mamacremers
    mamacremers Posts: 183 Member
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    My husband is exactly this way, he's genetically inclined to have low blood sugar, low cholesterol and low blood pressure. He's in the category that's past obese, aboug 330, 6'4". He doesn't NEED to lose weight to be healthier, but I think he should because it would be so much easier for him to function. I think it's easier (for me anyway) to do things with the weight off, like walking at the zoo, mowing, going for walks - all those things are a chore for him. But now, I think his body is finally getting affected. His acid reflux is getting out of control and I've heard that weight is a contributor. When we were talking about it, he was like "don't you have reflux sometimes? and I said no." I know that sometimes a person is just acidy and weight doesn't have anything to do it, but sometimes weight is the cause.

    I don't look down on him or reject him. I know he wants to lose, he sees what I've done and wants to do it too. He just "isn't ready" to commit to it yet. Once he says he is, I'm going to help him every way I can.

    Sometimes I have a personal problem seeing people that are super heavy. thinking, how can they do that to themselves. Then I mentally slap myself in the face and think that I don't know their story and how they came to be how they are. I think it's terrible for me to think that way and even though I sometimes have a problem with those thoughts, I keep myself in check.

    and that's me being COMPLETELY honest...
  • 12by311
    12by311 Posts: 1,716 Member
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    If someone is fat, and doesn't have health problems because of being fat, do you think they "should" lose weight? Would you in any way look down on them or reject them if they chose to live with their weight instead of struggling to change it?

    Why or why not?

    I truly do not care.

    I do not have any obese family members, however, if I did, even if they didn't have health problems at the time I would be worrying that it would come later in life if they didn't change their eating habits.

    On the flip side, I have family members that fall within a healthy weight range and eat crap all the time and are perfectly healthy now, yet I have worried and talked to them about what they are eating and how it may effect them one day.

    So...it's more about the types of food a person eats than weight for me.

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