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Body Image and
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Body Image and Research has shown that stigmatizing<b> overweight </font></b>people leads to psychological factors that are likely to contribute to weight gain – things like depression or binge eating. I can attest to the role that the media and society play in reinforcing feelings of guilt and shame. For nearly 10 years my weight progressively ballooned upward: transitioning from an active job as a police officer to a full-time student, a pregnancy at the age of 31 shot my weight up to its highest ever, (254 pounds) a subsequent divorce and getting my master's degree. My post-pregnancy weight hovered at the 210 mark for nearly 7 years. My own mother,<b> overweight </font></b>herself played a role in reinforcing fat shaming, "get off your ass and go get your () , you could stand to lose a few pounds!" Words sting. People and society in general tend to treat fat and<b> overweight </font></b>people far differently than people who are average or height and weight proportionate. How do I know this? My doctor referred me to a nutritionist when I went in for a routine exam. In a matter-of-fact way he informed me I would probably be diabetic if I didn't so something SOON to start dropping the weight. Obesity is a complex issue—part choice and free will mixed in with genetics, sedentary lifestyles and availability of low-cost, unhealthy processed foods. The turning point in my 80 pound weight loss journey was not being "fat shamed." Rather, I began to have excruciating back pain from carrying around 46DD breasts. Men take note! I got tired of not being able to find the clothes I loved in the plus size section. More important, for the first time in my life I started to recognize the link between my parents cardiovascular problems with potential health risks for myself. Losing 80 pounds was certainly not easy. I knew that for long-term success, I had to change my lifestyle and view food through a different colored lens. I decided to incorporate walking into my life. To this day, I hate working out around people. That's why I have always preferred walking and eventually I started running. To those struggling with body image issues, I can empathize. Part of being happy with yourself is learning to be comfortable in your own skin. Seriously, you need to stop giving a fuck about what other people think! It's about YOU. PERIOD. Am I treated differently now that I've lost all that weight? Of course! Men objectify me more now. With any potential relationship, I constantly have to evaluate whether a man wants to be with me for my intellect or my appearance. It's almost always the latter. That's one of the main reasons that I've remained single. We live in a shallow-minded society. I wonder how many of you have inadvertently been guilty of these faux pas? I challenge you to not be part of the problem. |
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I've been guilty in the past of passing judgement. I've also learned from being judged as well. Hard lesson learned i might add too. The world can be cruel, i just choose to turn a blind eye most times.
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Congratulations of losing so much weight my sweet. I just read another post where a woman lost as much as you. As someone who has lost 32 lbs, and managed to keep it off, I'm amazed by those who have lost double or even triple that. Thoughts from the Garden...
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I think it is dangerous and irresponsible to encourage people to embrace their own fat/obesity. It is not possible to be fat/obese and healthy.
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Kudos to you! I too lost 80 pounds! I try not to be shallow and judge people on their looks alone but sometimes I catch myself doing exactly that! This site, media, and my peers all do this and it's easy to get caught up with it! I really do try to be more open minded, but sometimes I fail. I try to do penance by giving more praise then criticism....for every criticism I try to give three praises. Thanks for your insight! “Life is available only in the present moment.” Thich Nhat Hanh Come and read my blog! Become a watcher! veryfunnycple64 
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Glad to see you got healthy and dropped the weight, a difficult thing to do for some people  It's never nice to make fun of anyone for anything but I'd bet everyone has done it at least once in their life  Everyone is on a different plane of intelligence. Some people's plane has not taken off yet!! 
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The pain of Body Dysmorphic Disorder may be more common in America than anywhere else. It is a bane of our culture that we are extraordinarily talented at both hurting each other and hating ourselves. Thank you for posting this. And for being sweet and sensitive. My featured post this week: Pulling Fantasy Sex Out of My Ass.
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Great post!  As of now, since winter I'm down too just under 200 lb's, I haven' been this "light" since I was in my early 20's 190 or so would be my optimum weight esp in relation too my body size. ....now keeping it off, I just hope it doesn't go back up too 230-240 ever again! Luckily, no one had he balls to make my weigh their issue Greater Than The Sum Of My Constituent Parts!
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Nice to see you back. Good post. Some people are very offensive and seem to have no sense of decency when it comes to comments about others. Certainly a doctor ought to have a better manner and be sensitive to a patients problems and issues. Those "non-judgemental" people should take a look at themselves, it may lead to improvements. Vive La Difference
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Wow, you wrote a great post. Obviously, it spoke to me. I have always felt that our outsides are not as important as our insides. Oh and maybe trying to be healthy so that pain and discomfort don't distort our attitudes to ones of bitterness and anger. I had an obese mother, but she was mean and horrible long before she was obese. It didn't color how I felt about other people putting on weight but I truly believe that she made her life more miserable because of the weight causing her pain in her feet and knees, so that she evntually became unbearable to be around. This post really made me think, KK The observant make the best lovers, I may not do right, but I do write, I have bliss, joy, and happiness in my life, Kitkat Come check out my blog KItkat1415 check out this post by me Adventures In Body Grooming #39 April Topic Link: What Lies Beneath If April Showers Oh Bloody Hell What Kind Of Weather Turns Me On Bloggers Symposium 40
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Good post. Unfortunately we're cultured very early on to make judgements about people's bodies. 
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I was the chubby kid in school, but leveled out to 195 at 15 and stayed there till my mid 30s, dropped to 175 at which point I quit smoking and jumped to 230 even with changing my lifestyle. Started smoking again and quickly took the weight off. I quit again and have managed to keep myself at 180, a comfortable weight for me. My father was always quick to tell someone how big they were getting, the nice pastor that he was. I have a cousin tell me about a girl he liked but she was heavier then he wanted in a woman, I told him to look in a mirror before you judge someone on their weight.
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I think it is dangerous and irresponsible to encourage people to embrace their own fat/obesity. It is not possible to be fat/obese and healthy. Become a member now and get a free tote bag.
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Terrific post! Thank you for sharing. Visit my blog It's a Mad, Mad, Mad World of NaughtyInSO, leave a comment, become a watcher. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LIVE AND LET LIVE Be happy! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Written while you are busily embracing your head with your asshole.
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How quaint, another white knight, trying to curry favor with some of the less than slender women on here. Become a member now and get a free tote bag.
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You're a racist asshole and a punk. Fuck you.
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I have to be careful as to what I eat since my dad died at 48 years old. He had a heart attack mainly because he had very high cholesterol which wasn't diagnosed until it was too late. This was in 1972, so cholesterol was a relatively new word back then. Three out of five of his and mum's children inherited the disease (me included). We all try hard to stick to a low-fat diet and we all know it's what's inside that really counts. Any 'body' can get high cholesterol, no matter what size. 
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I so heart you! I guess I've been lucky in that if I"m treated different because of my size I'm unaware of it. And it certainly doesn't stop me from leading a full and wonderful life. That being said, as I get older (50 is less than 3 months away) I become more conscious of the impact to my health - from aching feet to strain on my heart. All my tests are good - actually great considering my size - but still, the last thing I want is to decrease my mobility for no better reason than I never chose to focus on getting healthy and getting my weight down. I'm having a little wake-up call right now...not specifically with weight. But with my 3rd cold in 2 months, the Universe is gently tapping me to make some changes. I don't think I'll wait for the 2x4. Since I seem to have a hard time at the moment motivating myself to get moving, I've reached out to my counselor for some personal training - exercise and get my head shrunk all in one session! lol. I know me - once I get moving, I tend to keep moving. So I need that push... Congrats to you on losing the weight in a healthy way and keeping it off (that's the especially hard part). You are an inspiration...and I think it's cool that you have retained your empathy for the struggle. Many don't. Dang, I wish you lived here...you're a cool chick and I'd like to hang out with you! xoxo Always tell the truth Use kind words Keep your promises Giggle and laugh Be positive Love one another Always be grateful Forgiveness is mandatory Try new things Say please and thank you Say your prayers Smile ~Author unknown
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We all judge everyone we meet, but none of us want to be judged by others, unless it's in positive light. I actually tend to lean towards the fat shaming crowd when it comes to weight, as well as personal appearance. A person being overweight and unkempt are just the easiest ways for us to get a quick judgement on them. They probably do not have high standards for themselves and sit around watching life pass them by. Why would anyone strive for that?? Not that everyone needs to have high standards, but should I treat a lazy person like I treat someone that puts time into being socially acceptable? This isn't because I'm ignorant, stupid, or close minded. I empathize with people that put the hard work in to be at peace with themselves, not someone that I have to smell, pity, or always help, because they can't take care of themselves. I say this again, with the understanding that being unhealthy is easier than being healthy. It's not cheap or easy to buy healthy food, keep if fresh, and prepare it day-in day-out. It takes commitment to saving money, portioning your available time, and making good decisions that make you better each day, week, month, and year. Too many people are procrastinators with too much on their plates. If you manage your time and money, it doesn't take long to reverse even the poorest of health habits. I get that there are cases where people actually have disabilities that prevent them from getting the exercise they need, I'm not talking as much about these people, but you have to think outside the box if you have kids, a demanding job, a disability, etc. I don't shame people that are fat, but I'm not going to coddle them either. Being unhealthy not only hurts you, but it also costs your coworkers if you can't keep up at work, or are missing days because you don't take care of your body. Also, if you spend your time eating junk food and watching tv all day, you're not pushing your mind, which makes you dumber. You can't control how people treat you, but you can control how you react to it.
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I've struggled with carrying a few (read: many) extra pounds for most of my life... and yeah, as a kid especially I had my nose rubbed in my poundage. I'm nowhere near my biggest now (proportionately), and thankfully with my advancing age I've found people objectify me for my mind... The insidious nature of weight issues is that food is necessary for life, of course. Like you, what's made me more conscious of late is not image, but health: I've watched friends and family members struggle with diabetes. The Silent Killer scares the hell out of me, and probably causes me to put down more cupcakes than anything else could. I live in a city because I don't want to deal with carnivorous spider bears: Alas, what I gain by avoiding ursine arachnids I lose in the abundance of culinary temptations. There's street-level food everywhere! A final note: You'd be surprised, when working out, at how little people are focused on you... they're most likely dealing with their own body issues. Thank you for this contribution to the virtual symposium! Stop in, read, and offer comments at my "swinging as seen in the media" blog, "Confessions of a Lifestyle Man" humorlife, which is also the home of the monthly virtual symposium. New post: The Virtual Symposium Returns Lets Pick A Topic
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