Question for thick-skinned, overweight men and women

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a kid I was very active. I have ALWAYS been overweight. So has my mother. When I look at pics of her mother (who died before I was born) she is what one would call "big-boned."

I am female, about 5'5" and about 230lbs. I could spend all day working out and eating nothing but fish and veggies and fruit and if I got down to 130 I'd have passed out. If I got down to 170 I'd be THRILLED.

Haven't owned a bathing suit in about 15 or more years. So to answer your question, if I lost a shit-ton of weight THAT would make me know something was horribly wrong.

this is me as well. I definitely can and shouldlose at least30 lbs but more than that would be a worthless battle that would make me feel worse. I was very very active in high school and never weighed less than 164. I tried starving myself to fit the weight guidlines of what I "should" weigh and became very anemic which ultimately caused a downward spiral with my weight when I was 17. I was so unbelievably tired that all I wanted to do was sleep and excersise which I had always loved, was a huge challenge. I have battled my weight ever since.

[Anonymous]

Pp here...except I don't hesitate to wear a swim suit because I love swimming.

Also OP I don't often spend a lot of time loking in mirrors. I'm not that vain.

[Anonymous]

What makes u think that the "majority" of people have bodies like those u see on the beach?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In my experience some people at the beach have too perfect of a body, if you know what I mean. If they are buying their looks, does it really count?

What beaches do you go to? I rarely see plastic surgery, and when I do, it's just fake boobs. Then again, I don't spend a lot of time looking at others at the beach.

[Anonymous]

22:59, thank you.

[Anonymous]

OP, you realize that the problem with some people is that they have an unhealthy emotional relationship with food, right? It's not so easy to drop the pounds without facing the issues that got you there in the first place.

[Anonymous]

Read this OP, it's a description of most overweight women and their emotional challenges:

http://www.reichandlowentherapy.org/Content/Character/Oral/oral_communicator.html

[Anonymous]

Losing weight when you are heavy is really discouraging. After two kids, two job losses by my husband, and moving twice, I gained 80 pounds in four years. Exercising and eating healthy were the lease of my concerns. Now, I've started working out and cutting sugar / carbs. But, loosing 4 pounds in a week still leaves me 76 pounds away and I won't feel good about weight loss until I've lost 40-50 pounds and see results; that's a long time to stay motivated and not fall into bad habits, when no matter how hard you work daily, you won't actually start feeling like you've accomplished something for another 6 months - 1 year. So it would be very easy to think a day here or there of bad habits aren't going to make a difference.

Life isn't like "The Biggest Loser" - you still have to keep living with the same stresses that made you fat in the first place as you try to change.

[Anonymous]

Been obese my entire life, literally since toddlerhood, so it's not like I just gained 40 lbs with every pregnancy and was too lazy to do anything about it. It's been my entire life. But, I don't think my body is "horribly wrong." If being obese was "horribly wrong," like some kind of deformity, there would be far, far fewer obese people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I was a college athlete from a family of athletes with a dietician mother. I was never really around overweight people until I began my career and my job is to help people lose weight and get in shape. I understand that once you're at a certain point it is difficult to lose the weight and I also understand how much the extra weight can inhibit your life. That is my greatest motivation to keep myself lean and healthy. I don't want to lose my breath walking up stairs or chasing the kids. I don't want to stress about my dress for my sisters wedding. I don't want to stress about heart attacks, heart disease, or anything else that would take me away from my kids early. By the time I begin interacting with overweight and obese people we have a huge journey ahead of us. I'm just wondering how it gets that far before someone tries to catch it. It's truly not a judgement thing. It's about understanding so I can help my clients better.

No offense but unless you become less ignorant and judgemental you are in the wrong profession.

You can be overweight yet fit and healthy. Even when I was 30-40 pounds overweight I had no trouble walking upstairs. In fact, I could easily walk miles. My only vice was chocolate and occasionally coffee. I ate fairly healthy. In fact,
I still eat the same things now that I ate then.

You can also be at a normal weight and horribly unfit and unhealthy. And you can be overweight or at a target weight and stress about wedding wear or swimsuits.

There are many reasons why some people are overweight or obese. Sometimes it is psychological. Sometimes it is physical. Or both.

And your goal in your profession is not "make everyone like me physically and mentally".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I was a college athlete from a family of athletes with a dietician mother. I was never really around overweight people until I began my career and my job is to help people lose weight and get in shape. I understand that once you're at a certain point it is difficult to lose the weight and I also understand how much the extra weight can inhibit your life. That is my greatest motivation to keep myself lean and healthy. I don't want to lose my breath walking up stairs or chasing the kids. I don't want to stress about my dress for my sisters wedding. I don't want to stress about heart attacks, heart disease, or anything else that would take me away from my kids early. By the time I begin interacting with overweight and obese people we have a huge journey ahead of us. I'm just wondering how it gets that far before someone tries to catch it. It's truly not a judgement thing. It's about understanding so I can help my clients better.

No offense but unless you become less ignorant and judgemental you are in the wrong profession.

You can be overweight yet fit and healthy. Even when I was 30-40 pounds overweight I had no trouble walking upstairs. In fact, I could easily walk miles. My only vice was chocolate and occasionally coffee. I ate fairly healthy. In fact,
I still eat the same things now that I ate then.

You can also be at a normal weight and horribly unfit and unhealthy. And you can be overweight or at a target weight and stress about wedding wear or swimsuits.

There are many reasons why some people are overweight or obese. Sometimes it is psychological. Sometimes it is physical. Or both.

And your goal in your profession is not "make everyone like me physically and mentally".

OP, I agree with this. Also, you cannot assume that every overweight person is out of shape. When I was overweight, I ran a lot, and lifted weights five days a week. I would jog up and down the rosslyn escalator on my commute every day, no problem. If you were my trainer and you made absurd assumptions about me like that, I would have laughed in your face and walked out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I was a college athlete from a family of athletes with a dietician mother. I was never really around overweight people until I began my career and my job is to help people lose weight and get in shape. I understand that once you're at a certain point it is difficult to lose the weight and I also understand how much the extra weight can inhibit your life. That is my greatest motivation to keep myself lean and healthy. I don't want to lose my breath walking up stairs or chasing the kids. I don't want to stress about my dress for my sisters wedding. I don't want to stress about heart attacks, heart disease, or anything else that would take me away from my kids early. By the time I begin interacting with overweight and obese people we have a huge journey ahead of us. I'm just wondering how it gets that far before someone tries to catch it. It's truly not a judgement thing. It's about understanding so I can help my clients better.

No offense but unless you become less ignorant and judgemental you are in the wrong profession.

You can be overweight yet fit and healthy. Even when I was 30-40 pounds overweight I had no trouble walking upstairs. In fact, I could easily walk miles. My only vice was chocolate and occasionally coffee. I ate fairly healthy. In fact,
I still eat the same things now that I ate then.

You can also be at a normal weight and horribly unfit and unhealthy. And you can be overweight or at a target weight and stress about wedding wear or swimsuits.

There are many reasons why some people are overweight or obese. Sometimes it is psychological. Sometimes it is physical. Or both.

And your goal in your profession is not "make everyone like me physically and mentally".

I agree, I'm 100 pounds overweight and have no problem running up stairs and chasing after my kids. I do have a problem turning down desserts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Was there not some point you looked in the mirror and realized something was horribly wrong with your body?

Looking at people at the beach in their suits makes it so clear the way the human body was meant to be shaped and the way the majority of people actually are. Do you really miss the early stages when you can just scale back and drop 5 pounds? Do you just reach a point where you don't care? I don't mean this in a snarky, judgemental way. I am truly curious.

No. It's like me asking if you woke up one day and were sorry you didn't have a 140 IQ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do you think there is something horribly wrong with other people's bodies?

Being overweight and obese isn't healthy and is not the way humans were meant to be. I'm not saying everyone should be skinny little supermodels, but healthy is something you owe yourself if not your family.

So is your life great in all areas? Have a wonderful marriage, are you a patient, loving parent, good to friends and extended family, volunteer a lot, have a fantastic career? If not, no sense in criticizing someone who's overweight but has all these other things which are so much more important.

[Anonymous]

Not every person who is overweight hates their body. I don't. I was a very skinny kid, and thin or average until about age 27. I wish I had appreciated my body more then, but I just kinda hated myself. I went to grad school and did a lot of stress eating. Then I had a child. I still eat when I am under stress. I love sweets and carbs and fast food.

Right now I would have to lose more than 50 pounds to get the "right" BMI. To me, however, if I were 5'7 and 120 pounds I would be skeletal. I was quite, quite thin at 135. Both are considered normal on that scale.

But I am and I feel sexy and beautiful, regardless of what you think. BTW, Men follow me around and hit on me every.single.day. Take that, fat haters!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL