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.
In this day and age, it seems like every fat person makes excuses for their weight and claim they don't eat a lot. Obesity is glamorized these days and I don't understand why. I'm not saying we should make fun of fat people, but accepting that it's okay and healthy to be overweight is not okay.
Why does every fat person claim they have a thyroid issue or can't lose weight no matter what they do? Not everyone can be stick thin, but being obese is not natural. I think a very small percentage of people are fat because of a thyroid problem or other medical condition. Most of them are fat because they just eat too much.
Very few people were fat 100 years ago, so I refuse to believe that suddenly we have all these thyroid issues that are making us fat. Do you agree or do you think I'm being too insensitive?
My thought to your post is simply this: Why is this your concern? Who are you to say "to be overweight is not okay"? If you are concerned about obesity in our country, get involved and get the facts. But to sit around on your computer and pose such a question makes me wonder if you just don't have enough to do...
The main thing is ALL fat people do NOT claim to have thyroid issues. Get your information straight and try to make better sense with it.
You're right. Sometimes they claim to have a slow metabolism instead.
However its hard to eat healthy for some people when they grew and were taught by parents to eat unhealthy. Its hard to break a bad habit when you don't even realize that you have a bad habit. Some people generally think they are eating healthy when they are not.
I don't... It is my fault entirely. In my late twenties when I should have focused on health and fitness I focused on partying , and food. Having a desk job and being that age I was sort of able to regulate the weight gain...by the time I realized I really couldn't it was too late. Now at 45 I'm easily 50lbs over what I should be and just can't seem to cut it. I'm sure I could if I went on a completely strict diet, cut out the bourbon and cigars, and trained on a regular basis. It's a constant battle, I will work at it...drop 15-20 and then start to fade back into the old habits.
How does that work? I hear people in the US say obesity is costing them $$$. Most people pay their own insurance premiums. Tax dollars pay medical insurance for the poor. Poor, not fat. Most of that is unwed mothers, disable, under and uneducated unemployed or working poor. I don't see how overweight people are burdening the health care system anymore than the smokers, drinkers, pill heads, etc. etc.
I know plenty diabetics/stroke victims, etc. that are not overweight.
That's true. Fat folks have become the scapegoats. The ones anyone can attack and feel better than. It's just a little bit ugly. I think some of that comes from the trend toward preferring anorexic bodies. If that were done to, say, the disabled, the toothless, the ugly, I'm sure the same people that attack fat people wouldn't be so quick to attack them.
If there were as many toothless people walking around as there are overweight people, I'm sure you'd see a) a lot more people complaining about how all the models have perfect teeth, b) there would more articles on a daily basis about the latest way to protect your teeth, and c) people would continue to find people with their teeth preferable to people without teeth.
Obviously you would the get a bunch of people saying how they're still beautiful without teeth and how it was due to some disease that they lost their teeth (could be true as well in some/most cases), but the fact would still remain that there was a large percentage of the population that had problem and people don't find it attractive.
If these people were then seen constantly eating sugary foods and a law was passed providing for dental insurance for everyone, you'd probably see a bit of outrage over the people who are continuing to eat candy and not brush regularly.
Overweight people are not unique in being disliked for being less attractive and being blamed for causing their problems. They're just the largest group of people doing this at the moment.
And for the record, there's a huge range of weights between overweight and anorexic. People don't actually prefer anorexic. They prefer fit.
If there were as many toothless people walking around as there are overweight people, I'm sure you'd see a) a lot more people complaining about how all the models have perfect teeth, b) there would more articles on a daily basis about the latest way to protect your teeth, and c) people would continue to find people with their teeth preferable to people without teeth.
Obviously you would the get a bunch of people saying how they're still beautiful without teeth and how it was due to some disease that they lost their teeth (could be true as well in some/most cases), but the fact would still remain that there was a large percentage of the population that had problem and people don't find it attractive.
If these people were then seen constantly eating sugary foods and a law was passed providing for dental insurance for everyone, you'd probably see a bit of outrage over the people who are continuing to eat candy and not brush regularly.
Overweight people are not unique in being disliked for being less attractive and being blamed for causing their problems. They're just the largest group of people doing this at the moment.
And for the record, there's a huge range of weights between overweight and anorexic. People don't actually prefer anorexic. They prefer fit.
Oh please. Fat people are unique in being scapegoated in the U.S. It's fashionable here to scapegoat the fat, now that skeletal, anorexic models are in vogue. The very things you're saying are proof positive of that. In fact, I heard something that almost caused me to pass out the other day. I heard a male say that Marilyn Monroe had been a "fatty." wtf? It's the skeletal fashion in style now, and anyone who doesn't fit in (which is the overwhelming majority of the United States) is a target of the skeletals , and of those who apparently don't own mirrors and have an over-inflated opinion of how they look.
Last edited by Saritaschihuahua; 07-08-2014 at 07:31 PM..
I often wonder why it's considered skeletal or anorexic to be at a normal or healthy weight. Even if we were to bring back models such as Cindy Crawford, Naomi, Tyra, they're still thinner and an "unrealistic" representation of the average American woman. So women would still complain
Few people are underweight in comparison to the amount of overweight people.
If you read the DM, there is a big difference in the comments towards Melissa McCarthy versus say, Keira Knightley. You have the "she's gorgeous, hilarious, talented role model comments versus the anorexic, needs a burger comments.
Of course fat shaming exists, but because being fat is the norm in America there tends to also be a thin shaming.
As far as the cost of healthy foods, yes, it is pricier. Not everyone can afford chemical free, hormone free, pesticide free chicken, meat, vegetables or fruit.
How does that work? I hear people in the US say obesity is costing them $$$. Most people pay their own insurance premiums. Tax dollars pay medical insurance for the poor. Poor, not fat. Most of that is unwed mothers, disable, under and uneducated unemployed or working poor. I don't see how overweight people are burdening the health care system anymore than the smokers, drinkers, pill heads, etc. etc.
I know plenty diabetics/stroke victims, etc. that are not overweight.
3 of us 4 sisters are overweight. The skinny one had a stroke in March. Go figure.
I often wonder why it's considered skeletal or anorexic to be at a normal or healthy weight. Even if we were to bring back models such as Cindy Crawford, Naomi, Tyra, they're still thinner and an "unrealistic" representation of the average American woman. So women would still complain
Few people are underweight in comparison to the amount of overweight people.
If you read the DM, there is a big difference in the comments towards Melissa McCarthy versus say, Keira Knightley. You have the "she's gorgeous, hilarious, talented role model comments versus the anorexic, needs a burger comments.
Of course fat shaming exists, but because being fat is the norm in America there tends to also be a thin shaming.
As far as the cost of healthy foods, yes, it is pricier. Not everyone can afford chemical free, hormone free, pesticide free chicken, meat, vegetables or fruit.
There's a difference between normal and skeletal. Skeletal are almost all models and female actors today.
O.K., defining "normal" is at the core of this debate.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Saritaschihuahua
There's a difference between normal and skeletal. Skeletal are almost all models and female actors today.
I don't pay any attention to models, but I do see movies from time to time. Your statement, at least as applied to "most female actors" is ridiculous. "Skeletal" means a person's ribs are showing, as in photos of people who are in some stage of starvation such as during World War II.
I cannot escape the conclusion that you have succumbed to the gross distortion of language which has come with fat being the new normal. Now, apparently, normal people are to be labeled as "skeletal".
But I'm not denying that "skeletal" people exist, because I have seen photos of some models who are indeed just that. But such a thing is clearly sick and has absolutely no wide-spread acceptance. It is a weird and extreme phenomenon, and those genuine skeletals are not to be found in mainstream publications, unless it would be in a story about eating disorders. Why are you elevating this tiny, generally-regarded-as-sick group to a status of something which is a new paradigm?
The actual new paradigm, sadly, is the "fat acceptance" movement.
I know what normal means, as I was born in 1944 and attended public school during the 1950's. There was no real hunger in the United States during the 1950's, yet the obese were rare. The obesity phenomenon is unique in human history; it has occurred mostly during the last 20 or 30 years and is primarily (but not completely) to be found in the United States.
Another point: I make a distinction between statistical normality and normality which is rooted in well-being and good health and the past history of our species. So if people's average weight is skyrocketing, that does not justify treating it as normal, anymore than the widespread smoking of the World War II era made smoking "normal". Smoking may have been statistically normal during that era, but it was anything but normal to our bodies and our well-being, and it is now regarded as a damaging aberration.
The same with obesity, which is actually a damaging aberration that has emerged from distortions of post-modern society including, among other things, the lack of regular physical activity in childhood and adolescence.
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.
wtf? It's the skeletal fashion in style now, and anyone who doesn't fit in (which is the overwhelming majority of the United States) is a target of the skeletals , and of those who apparently don't own mirrors and have an over-inflated opinion of how they look.
O.K., defining "normal" is at the core of this debate.
