What do you think of fat people after losing weight?

Until I go to my grave maintaining at my now-healthy weight, I won't judge.

Because until that day arrives, I could gain it all back again meaning I'm no better nor worse than anyone else who struggles to lose weight.

Agree!

OP I think this is a mean topic, everyone has their own issues and I try not to judge anyone....end of!
P.S had to stop My eyes glazing over as your smugness was really quite tiresome

Totally agree. In my opinion, judging others is a reflections of one's own unhappiness. Everyone is different and it's not okay to lump people into groups defined by a characteristic that some find "wrong" and refer to said people as THEM, THEY, THOSE OVER THERE, as if they weren't human. We all have our stuff: fat does not equal bad, stupid, ugly just as thin does not equal good, intelligent, and beautiful. It's complicated, folks.

I find the premise of this thread very surprising to see on this site. Laziness is a simplistic, and often incorrect, explanation for being overweight. I would think that most people who have dealt with weight issues would understand that. Overeating, like any other addictive behavior, often stems from a unhealthy coping strategy that turns into a problem of its own. Family issues, emotional scars, mood disorders, and our often complex sense of self all come into play.

Do we dismiss the alcoholic as lazy? Are people with major depression lazy? What about people who struggle with anorexia? The list could go on and on.

Perhaps the topic here, "what do you think of fat people after losing weight," has more to do with how people who have lost weight feel about themselves. Remember proverbs, "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall". If we can take our own baggage out of the equation we have a much better chance of really seeing other people. And when we really see each other people, our capacity for compassion grows.

Thank you for so eloquently stating what I wanted to convey.

Then they proceed to tell me about their thyroid, marketing by high fructose corn syrup companies, their bad back, irritiable bowel syndrome, their hang nail, cooties or whatever other BS, imaginary condition or affliction is preventing them from even making an attempt at eating better or doing SOME exercise.

I was at least to some extent like this. I have a bad shoulder, a leg that I broke and was never set correctly. A dislocated knee and ankle that I tore all the ligaments in both of which didn't heal right. Every time I started exercising I bombard by pain from at least one of these injuries. about 60lbs of my weight loss was done with diet and a minimal amount of cardio.

That said once that much weight came off I started working with a personal trainer and between the lower stress on my injuries and the increase to my strength my old injuries barely bother me, and when they do it is night and day from where I started out.

So there could be some truth to the "bad back" and other alignments that people use as excesses. What most don't realize is you can lose weight with diet alone and just getting weight off will drastically decrease the pain from these.

I don't always judge fat people

But when I do, I do it on MFP.

I think I love you.

On topic, I'm jealous of fat (-ter than me) people now.

I especially tend to take notice of heavier girls who are in happy relationships. According to the scale, I've lost 70-ish pounds from where I was at my heaviest, and I still can't get past the emotional blocks that keep me holding everyone away at arm's length. I now fear judgment from others more than I ever have. Without so much "soft armor" I throw my defenses up as quickly as possible, which doesn't exactly make me the warm and fuzzy type of friend.

I miss being apathetic. I miss not being aware of body image issues within myself. I'm mad that I feel a sick satisfaction when fat "happens" to my formerly skinny loved ones even though I'm sad for them, too. I'm afraid that getting thinner and being angrier are becoming a pattern for me.

I think I probably project most of what I think I'm missing onto the fat people I encounter. I don't actively acknowledge inner struggles with which they may be suffering and that may skew my perception of where people are falling on the happiness scale.

whenever someone asks my secret i tell them and try to give guidance if they want me to, i must admit if someone quite large moans about their bad back or legs i do think, losing weight might help. but we do have to remember we were all like that once so we shouldn't judge but try to advise if the person wants to change.

every time I see a thin person, I ask if they used to be obese at one point. That way I can form my judgments of them more easily.

I think everyone fights their own battles on their own timeline and for their own reasons.

Exactly!

Yep totally agree, everyone has to find their own way

I don't feel any different towards other people compared to when I was 200 pounds heavier. I don't judge people.

I think another good question is "what do you think of *thin* people after losing weight"?

I'm at my halfway point in weight loss. When I was first starting, I used to see a girl in great shape and think she was "lucky" or "must be nice!"

But now have a little more respect for the hard work they've put into it (though I'm still fairly certain it's just natural for some people).

I definitely don't have a perfect body yet, but I definitely think of them differently. Every time I see someone obese, I sort of wonder, "How did you let it get that far? Are you going to turn it around? Will you get to experience the amazing results that come with taking control of your life and becoming a healthy and fit person? Are you already on that path? Are you 100 pounds lighter now when I'm seeing you than you were a year ago?" I think I spend too much time on MFP though, now I just assume that every fat person I see is on a weight loss journey, and that's totally not true.

Then they proceed to tell me about their thyroid, marketing by high fructose corn syrup companies, their bad back, irritiable bowel syndrome, their hang nail, cooties or whatever other BS, imaginary condition or affliction is preventing them from even making an attempt at eating better or doing SOME exercise

You must know my sister. LOL


I look at it this way:

I've lost about 100 pounds from my highest weight, not all while here at MFP. The difference between myself and people who are overweight and not trying to lose it is that I have lost it, so I know that I can do it. They haven't lost a large amount of weight, so they are afraid of failure. They don't know that they can lose it, just like I did.

In the end, I try not to judge. Yep, there are those who say they don't judge, but I don't believe you. Everyone judges at some point or other. I try not to judge, but I often fail because I fail to realize that they may have had the same issues as I did or similar issues and they have not addressed those issues like I did. To be honest, sometimes I look at people who haven't addressed those issues and are overweight as being failures. To me, success in life is being happy with yourself, honest, and authentic. To be honest, you must address those issues that are holding you back, and people who are not even trying to lose weight, like my sister, are not honest when they sit there and blame their obesity on thyroid, slow metabolism, etc. They are lying to themselves. In the end, I feel sorry for them. Not the kind of pity where you go along with all their excuses, mind you. Just sorry for them because they don't recognize their own inner strength.

My answer to this question might sound a bit strange but, I have found it to be true. It is true that many make up excuses for not wanting to lose weight...

On the other hand, it is not as easy for women to lose weight as it is for men... That is I do not rag on women for being fat because in many cases it is because of child bearing... In addition, I do not believe that women should believe that they need to be stick thin to be beautiful...

I am far harsher on myself and other men because we have no excuses what so ever... I say this because human males are not attractive at all...

Finally, I do not believe that losing weight solves people's emotional problems... Yes, it is true that I eat better foods than I used to eat before I lost the weight... However, I still have the emotional problem of believing that I am still too fat and that I sometimes wish I would never have to eat any more food for the rest of my life. I say this because I still feel too fat and very ugly...

I think everyone fights their own battles on their own timeline and for their own reasons.

Exactly!

Yep totally agree, everyone has to find their own way

I agree with the above.

However I have a problem with people using their thyroid condition as an excuse for why they gained weight, and can't lose it. I was alsways a UK size 8/10 until at 30-32 when I started to be tired a lot and slowly gained weight, by the time I was diagnosed (aged 34) I had gone up to a size 12/14. Once the medication kicked in an I had some energy back I soon lost the weight. Then a few years after diagnosis I realised that my weight was steadily creeping up again, I went back to the doctor, got my thyroxine dosage upped and set about trying to get rid of the extra 16lb+ I'd gained. Hypothyroidism slows your metabolism, it doesn't make you eat badly. Too many people who are already overweight/obese end up with a thyroid problem because of their poor diet and then blame that for their predicament.

When I see obese people I don't judge, there are many reasons why they may have ended up that way. I do however dislike hearing a great long list of reasons why they can't lose weight. Anyone can make the change, but they have to want to do it and realise that years of piling the pounds on can't be fixed overnight with a quick 'diet'. It has to be a change of lifestyle.

I gave up all hope of losing weight after my service. I had gained so much. When I got out my ex-wife kidnapped my daughter (just took her and disappeared never to be seen or heard from again). I haven't seen my kid in 4 years. I had a son since then who passed of SIDS. I lost all hope and became obese.

I worked my *kitten* off workout, starving myself, to no avail.

I ended up becoming homeless because no one wanted to hire a Veteran. No one looked twice at me. Dirty, homeless, hungry, and depressed. I was that way for a long time.

Until I met this girl. I was going to school and sleeping in an alley way behind a starbucks coffee. We talked for awhile and one day I disappeared because being homeless you gotta be on the move. She called me one day and I told her the truth, I was homeless, broke, and a mess.

She brought food to my alley where I slept and talked to me for hours.

She gave me a shot, since then. I managed to find an employer who gave a crap about my military service. They hired me. I have my own house, a car, great paying job. Oh and I am engaged to be married next November.

So it just took the right person. She changed my life. In all aspects. I've lost 20+ POUNDS using this site alone!

Her name is on my left arm.

So perhaps it's the person that makes the fight possible not the will of oneself.


Oh and if your interested: I was published in the local paper http://www.signalscv.com/archives/79477/