Overweight... The new normal !

Dagreth

Speaking of the movie Wall-e, all the people too lazy to use their own feet is not too far off the mark. I went to the fair, and you can not believe how many people use scooters to get around, and I'm not criticizing people who actually need them, I am talking about people who forsake their own legs so they can get around. How insulting to people who have no choice in their own mobility. Wake up world, wall-e might not be that much of a stretch.

supplemama

I teach and one thing I have noticed is how fat children are nowadays. I remember being a little kid and there being like one or two fat children in the whole entire school. Now it seems like half the school is fat. And I never, ever saw a morbidly obese child when I was growing up. Now this is so common there are enough of these kids to run TV specials about them.

I'm no conspiracy theorist but a tiny part of me wonders if the obesity epidemic is part of a plan at population control...this generation of young people are the first who WON'T have a longer life expectancy than previous generations, and that's mostly due to obesity-related illnesses and disorders. Tragic.

sarahpetway

I hate how people are so quick to call thin people out for being "too skinny" or yelling at them to eat something! The reverse would NEVER happen...if I called people fat and told them to stop shoving crap into there mouths I'd be totally out of line.

RoadsterGirlie

LOL Sarah, I've started to do it anyways the minute somebody accuses me of being too skinny. I've really have lost my patience with people.

sarahpetway

LOL Sarah, I've started to do it anyways the minute somebody accuses me of being too skinny. I've really have lost my patience with people.

At least I'm not the only one who feels this way

Kim55555

I've been in the situation when I went with a friend to a family function and there was a buffet, she was doing slimming world, doing really well and had just gone down from the obese to overweight category, and she was choosing foods and sticking to her slimming world thing. I was still healthy BMI but I'd gained half a stone from an injury so I was eating clean...
WE WERE RIPPED TO PEICES by overweight people telling us we need to eat all the pies basically, we must be malnourished and anorexic and whatever else they read about in some gossip magazine and had no clue about. Is there really that much of a lack of knowledge out there that people can be overweight to obese and be blissfully unaware and even criticise people who are trying to do something about their own weight? And god forbid you should be a healthy weight and want to maintain that!

How annoying for you! Wow I've never been attacked in that way before

I've started a new job and I've been here 8 weeks and it usually takes people a good few months to get used to the foods that I eat but I get frustrated when I get the same people over and over again make comments about how healthy I'm eating. I dont think they say it in a nasty way, but it just gets annoying hearing it all the time.

If I did the same thing and told them what I thhought about what they were eating they wouldn't like it. If I see someone eating junk food I dont make a remark to them about what they are eating yet they think its perfectly fine to say something about my food. lol I try to quickly prepare my food and peel my eggs before someone comes in the kitchen, get in quick and out quick so as to avoid it. Maybe its because i'm out of the norm in what I eat. I eat lean meats, egg whites and salad a lot of the time for lunch.

I think people are just being curious rather than nasty to me but it still gets frustrating hearing it over and over again. Oh well, they'll get used to it and eventually stop bugging me. I eat 3 small lunches throughout the day and they often say now is that breakfast or lunch and comment about the time on the clock that im eating my lunch. I say i eat when im hungry I dont look at clocks. i also like to eat small meals every few hours, thats what i like to do. lol next time i eat at 11.00 i will say it is supper haha.

Some people are clock watchers and wont eat lunch until it says 12pm well I follow the signals of my body as to when i need to eat.

Kim55555

In reply to those saying I am judging. Well come to think of it i guess yes i am judging as in im making an observation.

Natashaa1991

eeerm... are you talking united states?

Kim55555

I hate how people are so quick to call thin people out for being "too skinny" or yelling at them to eat something! The reverse would NEVER happen...if I called people fat and told them to stop shoving crap into there mouths I'd be totally out of line.

yeah exactly!

Kim55555

eeerm... are you talking united states?

Im from australia.

Natashaa1991

i'm from a tiny country in Europe, Serbia and i live in China. Not too many overweight people although there are some, maybe like 20% obese and very few morbidly obese. I have never seen a person in a wheelchair just because they're fat. although my American friends tell me it's perfectly normal. In Serbia everyone would look at you like you're some kind of alien.

raeleek

This is not normal. It's obviously not normal because the vast majority of posters are pointing out how horrible it is and how they hate being called skinny. If it were normal no one would care. If this were normal the plus size sections would be half as large if not larger than regular sections. This is not normal because when those people in wheelchairs drive by everyone stares or makes remarks.

I don't know why this would even be a surprise to anyone. The world in general is getting bigger. We live in a world where for most part technology does everything for us. The jobs that used to be manual labor are all done by machines now. We drive everywhere to avoid walking even if it's less than a mile. This is also not isolated to the United States. We don't get together and socialize we are on the computer (guilty).

What I am noticing as normal though is people going out of their way to point out just how fat someone is and call it truth or an observation rather than acknowledging that maybe they could have some decorum. Rude is normal cloaked in "honesty". There is almost this air of self-righteousness.

This is not an attack an any one person but lately I have noticed so many people on here being mean and spiteful and I wonder why that is ok? Almost everyone is entitled to their own choice as far as what they do with their health and well-being. Even if we don't agree with someone else's choices it is not our job to make others feel sub human.

BinaryPulsar

Thanks for sharing, interesting thread. I'm going to read more later.

BinaryPulsar

Just my 2 cents on the subject matter:

People tend to talk a lot about how people that are small must eat very little and starve themselves to be so small.

Then if you try and explain that you do eat regular amounts of food, they say you must be genetically gifted and can eat whatever you want and don't need to work at it.

Reality is that some people are naturally small in size. And they still need to eat healthy foods, in moderation, and keep up with fitness (and work very hard at it). Being small and being fit are two separate things (and people can use that concept to insult a small person's fitness level as well).

Most of the judgement comes from people placing their own issues onto strangers they don't actually know. It can be a strange experience to encounter that. These are not complaints, just observations. I think it is important to understand this and not to allow other people's issues to bring us down. If people feel the need to behave this way, they should find healthier ways to deal with these issues and emotions.

It was informative to read everyone's thoughts and experiences and I appreciate all the sharing. It helps to learn about people and to help me understand the issues people deal with that may be different from my own perspective.

deb3129

I remember a cartoon movie a few years ago called "WALL-E." The future people were so fat they had to ride around on vehicles to get around. That was 2008. I took that as a serious sign as to what we're becoming. Not just a laugh fest at the movies.

I thought the exact same thing when I saw the movie. People in general are becoming less and less active and fatter

Qskim

This is not normal. It's obviously not normal because the vast majority of posters are pointing out how horrible it is and how they hate being called skinny. If it were normal no one would care. If this were normal the plus size sections would be half as large if not larger than regular sections. This is not normal because when those people in wheelchairs drive by everyone stares or makes remarks.

I don't know why this would even be a surprise to anyone. The world in general is getting bigger. We live in a world where for most part technology does everything for us. The jobs that used to be manual labor are all done by machines now. We drive everywhere to avoid walking even if it's less than a mile. This is also not isolated to the United States. We don't get together and socialize we are on the computer (guilty).

What I am noticing as normal though is people going out of their way to point out just how fat someone is and call it truth or an
observation rather than acknowledging that maybe they could have some decorum. Rude is normal cloaked in "honesty". There is
almost this air of self-righteousness.

This is not an attack an any one person but lately I have noticed so many people on here being mean and spiteful and I wonder
why that is ok? Almost everyone is entitled to their own choice as far as what they do with their health and well-being. Even if we
don't agree with someone else's choices it is not our job to make others feel sub human.

This isn't a thread aimed at a particular person but society in general.

A lack of decorum would be if I particularly pointed out to someone they were overweight which I don't think anyone on here would do for the same reason as I - having been in their shoes (still am in overweight category down from morbidly obese) but also in consideration of their feelings. The point is... How far does society let this go? Will morbidly obese become the new normal? Is this ok? For health no! As an acceptance of who each of us are maybe but education about self worth also needs to encompass the importance both in mind and body of looking after yourself physically so that you are a whole person. Fully functioning AND fully self loved.

Wall E is interesting point... Technology, as another poster has said has made our lives easier. I think we are a world adjusting to this new age, looking for a balance. It will come but it needs debate and awareness. What I find interesting is that just as technology may contribute to lifestyle and weight gain, as shown by MFP and fitness devices, it can help us pull ourselves out of this too. Technology also provides an opportunity for mass awareness and education.

It's not bashing to point out where society is failing us ...where we need to become vigilant in a new age. It's not bashing to suggest that in spite of the abundancy of choice available to us now we still haven't found parity for ourselves. We all hated the fashion industry parading thin unhealthy models. But so too - do we want overweight unhealthy role models as a norm/example for our kids? It's not repulsive it's just not quite "right" as much as thin/anorexic models arent. I want to see women/men who are whole..have a healthy balance of self esteem and self responsibity.

The imbalance is not just with ourselves but with the world/environment too. Instant gratification is the name of the game these days. Food choices and convenience therein is half our problem. We should be angry about the economic machines that drive our thinking for profit regardless of what it is doing to ourselves, our children and the environment. We've tipped the scales too far in another direction. How far do we let this go? What are we waiting for before we say enough is enough?

RoadsterGirlie

This is not normal. It's obviously not normal because the vast majority of posters are pointing out how horrible it is and how they hate being called skinny. If it were normal no one would care. If this were normal the plus size sections would be half as large if not larger than regular sections. This is not normal because when those people in wheelchairs drive by everyone stares or makes remarks.

I don't know why this would even be a surprise to anyone. The world in general is getting bigger. We live in a world where for most part technology does everything for us. The jobs that used to be manual labor are all done by machines now. We drive everywhere to avoid walking even if it's less than a mile. This is also not isolated to the United States. We don't get together and socialize we are on the computer (guilty).

What I am noticing as normal though is people going out of their way to point out just how fat someone is and call it truth or an
observation rather than acknowledging that maybe they could have some decorum. Rude is normal cloaked in "honesty". There is
almost this air of self-righteousness.

This is not an attack an any one person but lately I have noticed so many people on here being mean and spiteful and I wonder
why that is ok? Almost everyone is entitled to their own choice as far as what they do with their health and well-being. Even if we
don't agree with someone else's choices it is not our job to make others feel sub human.

This isn't a thread aimed at a particular person but society in general.

A lack of decorum would be if I particularly pointed out to someone they were overweight which I don't think anyone on here would do for the same reason as I - having been in their shoes (still am in overweight category down from morbidly obese) but also in consideration of their feelings. The point is... How far does society let this go? Will morbidly obese become the new normal? Is this ok? For health no! As an acceptance of who each of us are maybe but education about self worth also needs to encompass the importance both in mind and body of looking after yourself physically so that you are a whole person. Fully functioning AND fully self loved.

Wall E is interesting point... Technology, as another poster has said has made our lives easier. I think we are a world adjusting to this new age, looking for a balance. It will come but it needs debate and awareness. What I find interesting is that just as technology may contribute to lifestyle and weight gain, as shown by MFP and fitness devices, it can help us pull ourselves out of this too. Technology also provides an opportunity for mass awareness and education.

It's not bashing to point out where society is failing us ...where we need to become vigilant in a new age. It's not bashing to suggest that in spite of the abundancy of choice available to us now we still haven't found parity for ourselves. We all hated the fashion industry parading thin unhealthy models. But so too - do we want overweight unhealthy role models as a norm/example for our kids? It's not repulsive it's just not quite "right" as much as thin/anorexic models arent. I want to see women/men who are whole..have a healthy balance of self esteem and self responsibity.

The imbalance is not just with ourselves but with the world/environment too. Instant gratification is the name of the game these days. Food choices and convenience therein is half our problem. We should be angry about the economic machines that drive our thinking for profit regardless of what it is doing to ourselves, our children and the environment. We've tipped the scales too far in another direction. How far do we let this go? What are we waiting for before we say enough is enough?

This is so beautiful put! Kudos!!

And congrats on your success so far.

schondell

A man I used to work with that weighed around 400 pounds at 28 yrs old, broke a stadium seat at a pro basketball game and sued the team for 'emotional distress', and was awarded over $80k. There is something seriously messed up with that.

I second that it is "seriously messed up"!! Wow 80k... :noway:

smittybuilt19

lol 45 lbs. ago I never would have thought I should lose 45 lbs. Now I feel like another 10 will get me close to my ideal weight.