So many!!

Jamcnair
Jamcnair Posts: 586 Member
edited September 30 in Health and Weight Loss
I just made a quick Wal-Mart run and it just makes me sad/angry to see *so* many unhealthy/overweight people! Like 1 in 2 people there is significantly overweight. I just want to yell at them, "You don't have to feel or look like that! Just a little knowledge and effort will go a long way for you AND your children!" :/

Replies

  • candb
    candb Posts: 238
    I live in East TN and it's not just Walmart that's like that around here. :embarassed:
  • fishdalf
    fishdalf Posts: 4
    The thing you have to remember though is they've made many conscious decisions to get to that point. It's not like they don't know how they got there and the general idea on how to get out of the rut, but for varying reasons they haven't. Just be secure in the knowledge you're keeping yourself healthy and try not to get hung up on others. It's their life, their decisions at the end of the day.
  • tmarie2715
    tmarie2715 Posts: 1,111 Member
    :( It is sad, but I guess I never have the urge to yell at someone. I just read a post where someone mentioned cutting back McDonalds once they found out one breakfast sandwich was half a day's worth of cals.

    Really? You didn't just look at it and know that? Or how about it is McDonalds, notoriously unhealthy fatty food capital? Sigh.

    I think of it as they aren't informed, they have lived that way the majority of their lives, and hopefully, with all the healthier options, more available produce and organic at places like WalMart, they can start making healthier choices, too.
  • Saruman_w
    Saruman_w Posts: 1,531 Member
    I'm in MS, and here is probably the worst out of all states. I'm just glad I finally made a stand and am actually succeeding in it.
  • Jamcnair
    Jamcnair Posts: 586 Member
    I live in East TN and it's not just Walmart that's like that around here. :embarassed:

    I live in East TN too! I know..it's literally everywhere
  • ceschwartz
    ceschwartz Posts: 240 Member
    Be careful of who you judge. I know the feeling you're describing, but you don't know these peoples' stories. Maybe some are on the road to getting better, maybe some are struggling finically, maybe some just don't know any better, maybe some eat their feelings and maybe some do just need a wake up call. They have a better chance of getting healthy with encouragement, understanding and kindness. Judging them doesn't help.
  • FearAnLoathing
    FearAnLoathing Posts: 4,852 Member
    I just made a quick Wal-Mart run and it just makes me sad/angry to see *so* many unhealthy/overweight people! Like 1 in 2 people there is significantly overweight. I just want to yell at them, "You don't have to feel or look like that! Just a little knowledge and effort will go a long way for you AND your children!" :/

    Who are you to judge???? You have no idea what their life is.It also does no real good to let it bother you so much.
  • crzyone
    crzyone Posts: 872 Member
    Did you stop to think that some of those people may be here on MFP trying to get fit? Or have an illness? Or be too poor to afford fresh veggies and lean meat?

    Yes, America is entirely too overweight from our gluttonous ways, but give individuals the benefit of a doubt. No one CHOSE to be obese...........habits may have been formed early in life that are hard to change now.........maybe they are still waiting for the "light to come on" in their motivation like many people here have had to do.
  • LeeKetty1176
    LeeKetty1176 Posts: 881 Member
    Hmmmmmmmmm hard thing to say...........a lot dont cant help it.....and a lot Can...........


    its a shame that sites like this to help ALL with all shapes and sizes are not more widely known of.

    But we must keep in mind that people are all different, and some might not be able to help it or understand.

    They dont want pity etc.............. but a chance
  • nicothepotato
    nicothepotato Posts: 306 Member
    I'm a lunch cook in an office building and it bothers me that I have obese customers that consistently order the higher calories things on my menu and completely avoid my station on the days I have lighter things with tons of veggies. They take a glance at what I have and go over to the grill and get a cheese burger and fries. I'm not saying that a splurge every once in a while is bad. I see what these people eat for breakfast and lunch; it's not at all surprising that they are obese and still gaining.
  • Jamcnair
    Jamcnair Posts: 586 Member
    Ok, I'm sorry if I came across the wrong way. I was not being judgmental at all. I've been in that place too and am still learning how to live healthier. I know that many of those people have longterm bad habits, health issues, or are in fact becoming healthier right now. It was more out of a place of love and concern. It's not like it's keeping me awake at night. I just wish that fast food wasn't everywhere and so unhealthy, I wish our country wasn't so lazy (on average), I wish we could all choose to be our best..but we're human and we mess up.
  • Jamcnair
    Jamcnair Posts: 586 Member
    and when I said "Yell" and I didn't mean angrily...I just meant with passion
  • rinnismom
    rinnismom Posts: 190
    this post is ****ing rude and unnecessary. i can't believe i'm seeing this on here.

    i joined this site for accountability and to better understand myself. i could be one of those people in wal-mart you are talking about, dear lady. let me see....

    regardless if you've always been a skinny broad or you've lost the weight, you're losing sight of what's important - your own health. unless you're going gung-ho and trying to save the whole world and taking your time to talk to each of the people you're judging and find out what their story is, then you need to take your condemnation back. don't worry about anyone's back porch except your own.

    don't post this ludicrious graffiti on here. life is too short for judgemental retards such as yourself. if i knew you and you ever affronted me like this, i'd tell you to, "bite it" and probably kick your butt.

    oh, and don't try to come off with the pity and "i want to help you" bull, because you're just trying not to sound like a snooty jerk.... however, you failed miserably.
  • casey12105
    casey12105 Posts: 293
    If you saw me in Wal-mart you'd probably be thinking the same thing, not knowing that I dropped 34lbs in 4 months and still dropping, and I'm an Insanity grad and can actually do a lot more physical things than most skinny friends that I have who don't exercise. My general rule of thumb is to not judge people by their appearances, because like others said you don't know their story. You may not have meant to sound offensive, but the whole "look how fat they are I just want them to save themselves" attitude is judgemental and rude when you don't know these people.
  • catwrangler
    catwrangler Posts: 918 Member
    this post is ****ing rude and unnecessary. i can't believe i'm seeing this on here.

    i joined this site for accountability and to better understand myself. i could be one of those people in wal-mart you are talking about, dear lady. let me see....

    regardless if you've always been a skinny broad or you've lost the weight, you're losing sight of what's important - your own health. unless you're going gung-ho and trying to save the whole world and taking your time to talk to each of the people you're judging and find out what their story is, then you need to take your condemnation back. don't worry about anyone's back porch except your own.

    don't post this ludicrious graffiti on here. life is too short for judgemental retards such as yourself. if i knew you and you ever affronted me like this, i'd tell you to, "bite it" and probably kick your butt.

    oh, and don't try to come off with the pity and "i want to help you" bull, because you're just trying not to sound like a snooty jerk.... however, you failed miserably.
    wow, writing that must have burned some calories :laugh:

    but seriously, if you want to go completely anti-judgemental, lose the word "retard" from your vocabulary. http://therword.org/
  • krystonite
    krystonite Posts: 553 Member
    A lot of overweight people are in that position due to financial strife. It's a lot easier to be healthy when you can afford healthy foods. But people living in poverty don't have that option. They get to have one, maybe two, disastrous grocery stores in the town they live who jack up the prices because most of these people are relying on public transportation as it is so it's not like they can just get in their car and drive over to Whole Foods --- not much bargaining power for them, huh?

    When you see a social problem on a large scale such as obesity you cannot in good faith blame the individual. You have to look at extenuating circumstances, such as the society of which aided their downfalls.
  • krystonite
    krystonite Posts: 553 Member
    Ok, I'm sorry if I came across the wrong way. I was not being judgmental at all. I've been in that place too and am still learning how to live healthier. I know that many of those people have longterm bad habits, health issues, or are in fact becoming healthier right now. It was more out of a place of love and concern. It's not like it's keeping me awake at night. I just wish that fast food wasn't everywhere and so unhealthy, I wish our country wasn't so lazy (on average), I wish we could all choose to be our best..but we're human and we mess up.

    I wish our country helped people living below the poverty line afford healthy food.

    Hmm.
  • meerkat70
    meerkat70 Posts: 4,605 Member
    jamncair, with all due respect, you haven't really been there. According to your profile you've experienced what it's like to be a little overweight. That's significantly different from the kind of serious issues that attend significant weight issues.

    It isn't as simple as making better choices, or being better educated. I have 4 degrees, the highest being a PhD. I'm a smart woman. And I've been huge. Not because I'm a bit thick, or didn't know any better. Wrestling with the emotional and physical complexity of signficant overweight is a very big deal, and I'm afraid, if your profile is anything to go by, it simply isn't something you've experienced.

    For myself, learning not to be massively overweight was largely about an identity shift, and it was a big one to make. It was about recognising that I was an acceptable human being. It was about recognising that I was not, in fact, doomed to be overweight, that this was not what I *had* to be. It was about learning to like my body, rather than wrestle with it as an enemy. It was about not hating my body for betraying me. It was about appreciating the many ways that I could feel good. It was about trusting that my body *could* feel good.

    Being overweight is not, in a simpleminded way about either ignorance or choices. To suggest it is is about as helpful as those well meaning people who tell you 'weight loss is a simple equation, blah blah blah'. Erm yeah, it's not, but thanks for playing, mate.
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