Is obesity a CHOICE?

Barring any real medical issue, such as thyroid issue or whatever, yes, it's a choice to be big. There are variations though. I have a Samoan friend, he can lose weight, but his small is bigger than I've ever been in my life. Lol. So, it's all relative. But, I think for the most part, it is a choice. For the vast majority of people, if they eat a reasonably clean diet 90% of the time, and get a decent amount of exercise, they would be fine and healthy.

I believe obesity is a choice people make to be. People choose what to put in their mouths and when they move.

I make the choice to eat the most clean foods I can (with a few processed ones thrown in for variety) and I choose to park the car far away and walk places. I choose to pick activities that involve movement (other than my job), and not ones that are sedentary. By doing this, I lost 42 pounds and kept them off - everyone has a choice to be thin and healthy. But I believe everyone TELLS them self it's OK to be the way they are for an easy life, even if they aren't happy with themselves

I believe obesity is a choice. At least if I'm going to be honest with myself, it is/was my choice. I may not have consciously anticipated the affects of my choices to overeat and not exercise, but I made the choice to participate in those unhealthy behaviors. Most everything in this life is a choice. We choose whether or not to eat right, to smoke, to drink, to gamble, to cut that guy off who was tailgating us, to send an email criticizing a total stranger...

What we so often forget are the CONSEQUENCES of our choices. Did the man have the right (freedom of speech) to voice his view in an email? Sure. But the consequence of doing so is that he opened himself to public criticism. Just because he exercised his right to voice his opinion does not mean he is guaranteed the results he hoped for. (I'm guessing he thought he was enlightening the reporter of her excess weight - as if she was unaware. Anyone see the Family Guy episode where Peter was shocked to learn he was obese?) Freedom of speech is a wonderful thing but it does not mean we are free and clear of the aftermath of our choices.

Being obese isn't a choice anyone one do

Eating too much is a choice

I think it's more about neglecting ourselves.

I think it's more about neglecting ourselves.

for me this was the case. i didn't reach the point of obese, but i was overweight. and i had never been overweight before. i was blessed with a somewhat good metabolism. that and i was into exercising from the time i was a teen. i just stopped exercising when i got pregnant, ate whatever i want. and that was why i was overweight. so i know that. and i know i made a choice to stop exercising. so that was what i chose. but i know for some people they are not blessed with a great metabolism. maybe like a few others said, they have thyroid conditions or other things that make them tend toward beign overweight (like genetics)... so who am i to judge why they got where they are. only person i can judge is myself. and i can make the choices i want for my lifestyle. and i can even encourage healthy behaviors. but i will never know a persons full story and so there is where i draw that line in saying it's a "choice"... sure the foods you eat and whether you exercise are your choice but other things are not.

I love this so much,
just replace obese with smoker and you see how bad this really is. She avoids the point thats shes a bad roll model and claims giving someone health advice is bad.

ITS NOT MY FAULT I EAT TO MUCH YOU BULLY.

Bad grammar is a choice.

True but i wont die in my 50 and miss 20 years of my kids life.

That is your problem, not anyone else's.

I dont think it really compares well.
Sure if people see my bad typing they might copy it. At worst they might pick it up and become poor at typing.

When you make not looking after your body the norm it could affect your kids entire lives.

You might be healthy, but unfortunately you are an idiot. Just using my right to free speech. :bigsmile:

Honestly, I admire her. The fact she might make bad lifestyle choices (or has a disease, because honestly - we just don't know) doesn't mean anyone has the right to bring her down. Even if he is right, he is still a bully. And while it is important everyone makes good life choices, it is important people respect others no matter what they do.

To the topic - not many people tell themselves, "I would like to get to the 'obese' range within 12 months!". I believe some people make the choice not to really care about their health.

This! ^^^

Exactly. I don't know of anyone who would consciously say, "Man! I'd sure like to be obese! I think I'm gonna work on gaining 50lbs this year." However, I do think that some people make unhealthy choices because they don't understand, or don't realize, what's happening as a result of their unhealthy choices until it's too late and the damage has been done. They simply don't comprehend the long term value in creating a healthy lifestyle for themselves. By the way, it is possible for an overweight person to be healthier (in lifestyle) than someone who is thin. For example, for over a year now, I've been exercising 5 days per week and eating as cleanly as possible most days (and not exceeding 1500-1600 calories). My sister in law eats nearly all junk food, fast food, and processed crap, rarely exercises, won't drink water unless there is nothing else available, and she smokes like a chimney (I'm not exaggerating on any of this, she'll tell you this herself if you ask her). However, I'm betting that if you were to put the two of us next to each other in front of a group of 100 strangers, based solely on our appearance, nearly all of them would guess that she has the healthier lifstyle. I'm 5'4" and 250ish lbs. She's 5'9" and about 115-120ish lbs. The difference between us has less to do with lifestyle habits and more to do with genetics and the fact that I have a couple of medical issues that make it more difficult for me to maintain a healthy weight. I'm not saying that my bad choices didn't contribute to my current predicament. I'm saying that she has made, and continues to make, the same unhealthy choices I used to make, but they don't affect her in the same way because she has been blessed with a highly active metabolism. You can't judge a book by its cover. This viewer assumed that the news anchor was living an unhealthy lifestyle based completely on her appearance. THAT'S what she had a problem with, and THAT'S why she called him a bully.

It is a tough call. I have lived on both sides of this argument. As I got older and less active I still consumed food as if I were younger and active. As you would expect my weight creeped up from the 145lbs I weighed in the Marines to around 215lbs when I finally realized I had gotten fat. Fifteen years of bad eating habits were hard to break, especially since I was otherwise as healthy as an ox. There was nothing driving me to achieve success in my exercise and nutrition program. I managed to take off about 20lbs and called myself a success.

Fast forward six more years and I found myself diagnosed with a form of Leukemia called Pure Red Cell Aplasia. It causes the bone marrow to stop producing red blood cells and puts the patient into chronic and severe anemia. Needless to say that my activity level dropped to nil. On top of that the first treatment I was put on was the steroid Prednesone in extremely high doses. Over the course of the next six months I gained 80lbs and could no longer walk on my own. I also receive a blood transfusion every two weeks to keep me alive. (Anyone reading this that is a donor, thank you!) I became one of those morbidly obese people I used to scoff at in the scooters at the grocery store. I am sure people looked at me with the same eyes I had looked at others before me. "How disgusting that he let himself get so fat he can't even walk around the store to buy his food."

It took me three years of wallowing in self pity and the realization that if that was the way I was going to live than there was no point to living to decide to get proactive. I talked to the doctor about getting some exercise and increasing the amount of blood in my transfusions to give me the energy I would need to become more active. Three months ago I made that change. I started going to the gym and walking on the treadmill 10-15 minutes a day. I started using MFP to track what I was eating and help me reach my nutrition goals. I set a weight loss goal of 100lbs by my next birthday in March and I am just about half way there now. I decided that for whatever time I have left that I was going to be the healthiest version of myself I could be. This has spilled over into all aspects of my life and personality.

So is obesity a choice? Yes. I chose to give up when I got sick. I chose to eat because it was the one thing in life I could still enjoy when my body failed me. I could have made better choices on what I ate even if I couldn't perform any exercise but I let depression cloud my judgement. I obviously don't know the woman in question or what challenges she has in her life that have shaped her into the person she is today but unless she has Thyroid issues she is making the choices that make her who she is.

None the less the person who sent her the email was rude for calling her out but that is part of the price you pay for being a public figure. She handled it with extreme poise and tact. Being thin is also a choice. It isn't for everyone and it sure as heck isn't easy once you have let yourself go. It has to be something you really want if you are going to succeed. I want it. Looking at your weight loss bars most of you want it, but maybe she doesn't want it. It is her choice.

The part that really bothered me about his email was when he said that she was especially a bad role model for girls, reinforcing the idea that it is better for men to be overweight as opposed to women.

However, I will say that the freedom of speech kind of does give you the right to criticize. The entire idea of freedom of speech was so people could speak against the government without fear of being arrested. So did this man have the right to send this email? Yes. Is he an idiot? Yes. Am I bullying him by calling him an idiot? Yes.

Freedom of speech doesn't cover social mores. It's within my rights to approach strangers on the street and tell them they are hideous. That doesn't make it ok to do that.

I think it is and it isn't. There are plenty of disorders, psychological or endocrine, that can contribute to obesity. While the psychological ones may seem like choices, they're obviously viewed negatively and attached with many negative stigmas, when in reality, eating is a coping mechanism for some people.

So is it a choice? It kind of is if you take away the endocrine disorders and psychological coping. Then again, think about how easy it is for us to gain access to certain foods or to eat the foods we "like to eat". Eating feels good, but we have to teach ourselves how to eat and when to stop our cravings. It's very much a choice to adopt a healthy life style as it is to stay with an unhealthy one.

I this. Well said.

Put junk in your body, what's the result? Not nice. Make healthy choices and you will be rewarded with a healthy body.

So what about the skinny people who drink like a fish, and scarf down burgers? Healthy choices does not always equal a healthy body. Portion control is a must also being active works too.

Everyone is a victim now.

So when someone publicly insults you, you should just suck it up? That may be the way you roll, but don't expect me to lie down and take it. It's not "being a victim", it's standing up for what you believe is right.

I dont want to b obese! But I chose the foods that went in my mouth to make me this way! Now I am paying for it and trying to undo it! I do believe there are some rare cases though!

So should there be jobs that can only be done by "thin" people? And if the newscaster was thin and beautiful, but smoked and drank off camera where this guy couldn't see or know about it that would be all right? Since it wasn't interferring in her job as role model? He decided to take one part of her life and give his opinion about it. That's just not acceptable! Does he randomly stop all overweight people and tell them what he thinks? Is everything in his life perfect? And does he truly think (as she said in her speech) THAT SHE DOESN'T KNOW???? Did he think pointing it out would help?

All hidden medical issues aside, yes, it is most likely something she could change if she worked at it like most of us on MFP are doing. But it is not this random jack@ss' job to tell other people how to live their lives.