Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Shaming someone for bad behavior was given the stamp of approval with the anti-smoking campaign.
I remember seeing commercials showing smokers with missing teeth, long yellow nails, an overabundance of wrinkles. The names people call smokers are just as bad or worse.
Why should the obese be treated with kid gloves?
Because you don't have to smoke to live, a person who is addicted can just not do it. You have to eat to live, a person with a food addiction still has to eat so they can only moderate their consumption. Doctors who deal with addicts pretty much agree it is easier to kick an addiction by going cold turkey and then cutting it completely out of your life than it is to muster up the self discipline to restrict consumption of their trigger substance. One of the reasons that weight loss surgery has more long term success is that it creates involuntary moderation for a person.
__________________
When I post in bold red that is moderator action and, per the TOS, can only be discussed through Direct Message.
Because you don't have to smoke to live, a person who is addicted can just not do it. You have to eat to live, a person with a food addiction still has to eat so they can only moderate their consumption. Doctors who deal with addicts pretty much agree it is easier to kick an addiction by going cold turkey and then cutting it completely out of your life than it is to muster up the self discipline to restrict consumption of their trigger substance. One of the reasons that weight loss surgery has more long term success is that it creates involuntary moderation for a person.
Sorry, that is not an excuse.
Most people of a normal weight forgo what they would really like to eat everyday so they don't gain weight. I am one of them.
Once a neighbor made the comment that I was thin because my mother was thin, in other words, heredity.
I informed her my mother was thin {5'2" - 105lbs} because she watched what she ate.
She would eat ONE cookie, not 4 or 5, she would cut a donut in half and leave the other half for someone else.........and.....when she made dinner it didn't include a dessert.
Overeating is a CHOICE, just like smoking.
And, just because someone else can eat more than you and not gain weight is not an excuse either.
Each person has to adjust their eating habits so THEIR body does not gain too much weight, doesn't matter what someone else can get away with.
So, if it is OK to shame smokers, it is OK to shame the overweight.
Most people of a normal weight forgo what they would really like to eat everyday so they don't gain weight. I am one of them.
Once a neighbor made the comment that I was thin because my mother was thin, in other words, heredity.
I informed her my mother was thin {5'2" - 105lbs} because she watched what she ate.
She would eat ONE cookie, not 4 or 5, she would cut a donut in half and leave the other half for someone else.........and.....when she made dinner it didn't include a dessert.
Overeating is a CHOICE, just like smoking.
And, just because someone else can eat more than you and not gain weight is not an excuse either.
Each person has to adjust their eating habits so THEIR body does not gain too much weight, doesn't matter what someone else can get away with.
So, if it is OK to shame smokers, it is OK to shame the overweight.
Can't have it both ways.
Just wanted to note that smoking is not equivalent to overeating.
Like the poster you quoted mention, people have to eat to live. People do not have to smoke to live so people could come to the conclusion that it is much more difficult to lose weight than to quit smoking because over-eaters must eat or they will die. It is hard for them to control themselves many times for the same reason as smokers - addiction.
I'll also note that I have quite a few friends who are smokers. I don't like it when smokers are disparaged either because quitting is difficult and there is a chemical addiction involved that is difficult to over come. But many of the smokers I know have quit smoking in the past. A few of them started smoking again because they gained weight after they stopped smoking. Smoking helps curb one's appetite and keep them thinner.
But IMO it is not okay to shame smokers just like it is not okay to shame fat people. Both of them know they have their issues - either smoking or being fat. And it doesn't make any sense to demean people over these things since they know they smoke and/or are fat.
Most people of a normal weight forgo what they would really like to eat everyday so they don't gain weight. I am one of them.
Once a neighbor made the comment that I was thin because my mother was thin, in other words, heredity.
I informed her my mother was thin {5'2" - 105lbs} because she watched what she ate.
She would eat ONE cookie, not 4 or 5, she would cut a donut in half and leave the other half for someone else.........and.....when she made dinner it didn't include a dessert.
Overeating is a CHOICE, just like smoking.
And, just because someone else can eat more than you and not gain weight is not an excuse either.
Each person has to adjust their eating habits so THEIR body does not gain too much weight, doesn't matter what someone else can get away with.
So, if it is OK to shame smokers, it is OK to shame the overweight.
Can't have it both ways.
People eating excess food around others does not directly impact the health of other people, smoking around other people directly impacts the health of others. I am not interested in shaming anyone, as long as their actions do not impact me or children, I couldn't care less what they do. The problem with smoking is others become involuntary participants. Have at it if you want to chew tobacco. Drink to your heart's content. Smoke like a chimney stack in your own home where the only other occupants smoke also. But, smoking in public? Driving drunk? Nope. Not the same as someone who eats too much.
Good for your mother, not everyone is such a paragon of virtue.
__________________
When I post in bold red that is moderator action and, per the TOS, can only be discussed through Direct Message.
Shaming someone for bad behavior was given the stamp of approval with the anti-smoking campaign.
I remember seeing commercials showing smokers with missing teeth, long yellow nails, an overabundance of wrinkles. The names people call smokers are just as bad or worse.
If I call someone fat, they call it fat shaming, but it's really doing them a favor. Obesity leads to all sorts of health problems and is the main reason for our crumbling health system, but everyone wants to be politically correct.
Obesity may increase risk factors but I do not believe that being fat AUTOMATICALLY ensures you are going to be unhealthy. I have known many people considered obese who are in fine health.
Likewise, I know (and we have all heard stories about) individuals who are fit and very ill, or die early. There are no absolutes.
I'll never forget a guy I worked with 30 years ago. A young guy in perfect shape....a total health nut.
That by itself is great, but this guy felt the need to castigate just about everybody about anything he didn't approve of...weight, smoking, type of food he saw someone eating, anything. He pretty much sentenced all of us to an early death.
Then he had a bump come up on his neck and he was dead eight weeks later...at age 28.
Anytime I feel the urge to comment to random people on subjects that are none of my business, like their health...I think of that guy and keep my mouth shut.
I'll never forget a guy I worked with 30 years ago. A young guy in perfect shape....a total health nut.
That by itself is great, but this guy felt the need to castigate just about everybody about anything he didn't approve of...weight, smoking, type of food he saw someone eating, anything. He pretty much sentenced all of us to an early death.
Then he had a bump come up on his neck and he was dead eight weeks later...at age 28.
Anytime I feel the urge to comment to random people on subjects that are none of my business, like their health...I think of that guy and keep my mouth shut.
Just wanted to note that smoking is not equivalent to overeating.
Like the poster you quoted mention, people have to eat to live. People do not have to smoke to live so people could come to the conclusion that it is much more difficult to lose weight than to quit smoking because over-eaters must eat or they will die. It is hard for them to control themselves many times for the same reason as smokers - addiction.
I'll also note that I have quite a few friends who are smokers. I don't like it when smokers are disparaged either because quitting is difficult and there is a chemical addiction involved that is difficult to over come. But many of the smokers I know have quit smoking in the past. A few of them started smoking again because they gained weight after they stopped smoking. Smoking helps curb one's appetite and keep them thinner.
But IMO it is not okay to shame smokers just like it is not okay to shame fat people. Both of them know they have their issues - either smoking or being fat. And it doesn't make any sense to demean people over these things since they know they smoke and/or are fat.
Smokers and overeaters are both addicts yet one deserves to be shamed and the other doesn't?
And.... many overweight people lose weight only to gain it all back.
Which proves, just like smoking, it is all about self control, addicted or not.
With smokers, our government chose to use and promote shaming to modify behavior and people jumped on the bandwagon with relish..........the obese are naïve if they expect to be treated any differently.
Actually, I agree with you, neither group should be shamed, but, the shaming meme was set with smokers and it isn't going to change.
Obesity- with some exceptions of course- is the result of consistently taking in more calories than expending.
Most likely it is the result of the pleasure culture that is the USA. We drive everywhere and have convenience stores nearly everywhere. Junk food abounds.
Eating better and exercising generally alleviates getting fat. It's all about choices. Calling it a disease gives people an excuse to do nothing but eat even more.
I know plenty of fat people and so do you. They invariably eat crap all day long and never see a gym, let alone walk to a mailbox. Then they make pathetic excuses for their sloth lifestyle.
That's exactly what it is. I have a friend who is heavy, we went to the movies last week. I was driving and as we pull into the parking lot screams out "there's a parking space right there"( it was right near the ticket booth), I was heading to where there were many open spaces and you may have to walk a few hundred feet....the horror. This was of course done to having to avoid a small walk. I took the space they pointed out.
Did the same thing after the movie, when we out to eat. This time I said "let's walk a little and park over there, it will be good exercise". This wasn't a long jaunt, a few hundred feet.
Or people who instead of taking the stairs, wait for the elevator to go down one floor.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Annie53
Sorry, that is not an excuse.
Most people of a normal weight forgo what they would really like to eat everyday so they don't gain weight. I am one of them.
Once a neighbor made the comment that I was thin because my mother was thin, in other words, heredity.
I informed her my mother was thin {5'2" - 105lbs} because she watched what she ate.
She would eat ONE cookie, not 4 or 5, she would cut a donut in half and leave the other half for someone else.........and.....when she made dinner it didn't include a dessert.
Overeating is a CHOICE, just like smoking.
And, just because someone else can eat more than you and not gain weight is not an excuse either.
Each person has to adjust their eating habits so THEIR body does not gain too much weight, doesn't matter what someone else can get away with.
So, if it is OK to shame smokers, it is OK to shame the overweight.
Can't have it both ways.
Spot on! The reason you don't see as much obesity over in Europe is they watch their portions. For example in France, you can have a dessert, but you have a smaller portion.
Like your mother, you have one cookie not 4 or 5.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Oldhag1
People eating excess food around others does not directly impact the health of other people, smoking around other people directly impacts the health of others. I am not interested in shaming anyone, as long as their actions do not impact me or children, I couldn't care less what they do. The problem with smoking is others become involuntary participants. Have at it if you want to chew tobacco. Drink to your heart's content. Smoke like a chimney stack in your own home where the only other occupants smoke also. But, smoking in public? Driving drunk? Nope. Not the same as someone who eats too much.
Good for your mother, not everyone is such a paragon of virtue.
But they do impact you and your children.
Why do you think insurance costs so much? Due to smokers and the obese.
We are seeing childhood diabetes at a ridiculous rate. It costs money to treat all these younger people who are getting illnesses that used to be seen in much older people.
So you can't say it doesn't impact you, when it impacts your wallet.
To use your logic only drunk drivers are a danger to you and can impact you, and you're right. But so do those who drive around with no car insurance, they raise the rates for the rest of us.
Well so do the obese in regards to health insurance.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
