I just mentioned on another forum how ironic it is that the Chinese are getting off their bicycles and buying new cars while the Americans are getting out of their cars and buying new bicycles. The Chinese will get less healthy and the Americans will get more healthy. Economic growth will make the Chinese less healthy and economic recession is making Americans more healthy.


Alice! Gimme that Looking Glass!

Do you ride long distances in Portland? I started riding up to 40 miles and after a month of this I was coughing fur balls. Wonder whether riding a bike in Portland is actually that healthy. Yes, you might get exercise on one hand, but you might be irreparably damaging your lungs on the other. I lived in Hood River for several years and the air quality "seemed" a lot better. Of course I wondered about pesticide drift and cow farts from the desert, but that's another issue isn't it? Good luck, stay on your bike.

My best friend is 6ft 550 lbs. He is 28 years old, and I have had to take him to the emergency room 5 times since high school because he thought he was having a heart attack. Ironically, I had to take him even though I thought it was impossible for a 20 year old man to have a heart attack (well not impossible, but not probable) because he was so overweight. In 1998, he weighed 290 and considered himself to be morbidly obese at that weight. Now he struggles with all kinds of issues because he is approaching twice his old weight.

I paid for his bus ticket to try out for the biggest loser season 3 (he weighed in at 448 back then) but they turned him down in the last cut before final rosters for the show. He has tried the subway diet, low carb diet, liquid diet, just about everything there is.

My plan now is to make a movie about him called 'Un-Super Size Me'. We are going to put him out in the middle of nowhere with a trainer/nurse with nothing but a weeks worth of food at a time. There will be no entertainment, just a clock with a paper on either side, one paper with a list of workouts and times and the other paper with what to eat at what time. His largest excuse for not losing weight is life. So we take everything away and he will have no excuses. The only thing he has to think about everyday is losing weight. I will go out and film him doing his workouts every sunday and bring him his next weeks worth of food.

We figure either he will eat me when I go out there, he will die from a heart attack, or he will indeed lose weight over the course of three months that we are filming. However it turns out, it should make for a pretty interesting documentary.

I hope that you're getting a doctor involved. And good luck to both of you. Um, and the trainer/nurse.

I learned long ago that heavy people might look weak but they have to be very strong to carry the weight.

Oh definitely, the doctor is a must. He is actually in touch with his doctor probably more then any other person in his life. And yes, he is quite strong, and extremely agile for his size. That is what made me the most upset about him getting passed up for the biggest loser, and it's whats going to make our movie entertaining. He has a bachelor's degree in health (ironic, I know) and he has a tumbling routine that he had to compile as part of his degree. It should be video gold.

That would be interesting. I think large humans get short shrift in society. I watched a very heavy woman once doing ballet and her grace brought tears to my eyes. Athletics, dance, fashion modeling, any movement types tend to get given over to the tall and lean types, and they're really the genetic rarities and don't represent anywhere near the norms or the entire range.

My mom had a great girlfriend who could just bob in the ocean, she floated so well because of her fat self. She was a delight to be around.

You might also want a psychologist/therapist/motivational person on the team. Your friend's problems may be more in his head. he could reduce food consumption, exercise like a freak, but if he doesn't fix his head the weight might return with a vengeance. More insight is required into his issues. Thank you for being his friend and helping.

Good point.

I still weigh what I did in high school 40 years ago (160 lbs) and the primary reason for that is the choices I've made.
For most (not all) people obesity is a choice and the rest of us pay to support their lifestyle through increasing medical and insurance costs and through tax dollars spent to alter public facilities to accomodate them.
If you think fat is beautiful, fine... Just don't ask me to pay for it.

I think that a lot of people who are obese started to get that way through their own choices, but then it quickly deteriorates into learned helplessness and bad habits, which are not entirely within one's scope of control.

There can be a balance between improving the health of our citizens and allowing people to make their own (good or bad) choices. I agree that people who are obese should not be a drag on others' wallets, but they should get the support needed to get to a healthy weight.

So, you are willing to pay for diabetes care for a thin person but not a fat person? Why? Because they can "help it". Thin people die of diabetes, cancer and all the other things, too. What about people who go hiking and get lost, or people who ride bikes and motorcycles without helmets, aren't you paying for them, too? Or smokers? What about heavy drinkers? Would you only not be okay with it if they were fat?

There are any number of "identifies" that cost society more. Men for example cost much more in medical bills, but we do not consider them "optional".

I think the idea that "it is okay with me, except when it costs me" is just an excuse for fat hatred.

And actually, Fat Hatred is something that contributes to bad health. Fat people feel depressed because of how they are treated and they don't work out as much because of the way they are treated, this contributes to poor health.

If the government REALLY cared about fat people's health they would start fat gyms and community centers where people could work out without being humiliated. But, of course they wouldn't do that because that would COST them money and the way things are now is MAKING them money - loads of it.

Typically a thin person with diabetes has Type I diabetes, an auto-immune disorder that attacks the insulin producing cells in the pancreas. Without insulin they cannot utilize the carbohydrates they ingest. Type II diabetes results from eating too many carbohydrates and desensitizing cells. It is often called diet-controlled diabetes because when people with Type II diabetes watch what they eat, exercise and lose weight they often see a lessening of the severity of their diabetes. Some people even lose the diagnosis of diabetes.

I know many "fat" people and love them. They're beautiful, intelligent, funny and NOT (NOT!) lazy.

Even so, we can't hide from the consequences of our actions.

Silly argument. All of these COST us more, everyone of us that pays taxes and pays for health insurance or works for a company that buys insurance for their employees. It is naive at best to assume that adding one more health risk, and YES it IS a health risk to be OBESE and yes, you are obese if you are over 30 lbs over wieght. The human body is not designed to be fat, which is why there were likely no fat cave dwellers as humans evolved. It was a subsistence existence. So yes, obesity costs us ALL.
I really am tired of hearing obese people complain about how they are treated. Either do something about it or deal with it.

I was wondering why you believe that fat people cost taxpayers money? Do you have research that supports this claim?

As one of those fat people, I can assure you that health insurance providers spend less on me because I avoid the humiliation and embarrasment of doctor visits. I never find public facilities being renovated with tax dollars to make it easier for my butt to fit in a seat, to comfortably use a restroom, or escort me in a vehicle instead of walk.

If I choose to be fat, then you choose to be ignorant.

In history there were times that obesity meant that the person was the most well off in the community, they were the leaders in the community who could afford to eat that much, I think of royalty of Hawai'i for example. And of Feudal Europe. Now the wealthy think that thin is in and obesity is on the outs.

Ah, fashion, how it changes over time.

You have made 2 comments relating to economic structures and obesity concerns. To be fair we need to recognize that economics and health are intrinsically related. Studies of modern American habits have shown that lower income brackets have a higher propensity towards obesity. This is due, in part, to the rise in food costs, longer working hours and the growth of the prepared food industry, giving a working family the chance to eat in expedience after a long day's work. Thus your first "off the cuff" comment about China and bicyclists is off base given the social structures in place in both China and America.

Your second comment regarding the wealthy of yesterday in relation to the wealthy of today is also misleading and seems to accept that it is ok to don an unhealthy lifestyle for fashion. (Let’s face it, too thin is just as unhealthy as too fat)

I have read your comment.

I am obese, and I have been for most of my life. The funny thing is that when I weighed more (in my 30s), I was far more active and healthy. I hiked, biked, played softball, went camping, gardened...my blood pressure was always normal...so were cholesterol, triglycerides, glucose, etc.

Now, I weigh less than I did back then and I am not active or particularly healthy...because of post-polio effects, and a destroyed ankle. My activity and energy levels are severely restricted these days. I was temporarily abled and am becoming progressively more disabled (and there's a whole nother TOL conversation to have), irrespective of my weight.

To illustrate that it's not as simple as some would think, my husband, whose weight has stayed about the same and only slightly higher than my own for the 17 years I've known him, eats 3-4 times as much food as I do. According to the popular myth, he should be a giant by now. But he's not. He also poops about 3 times what I do. (A new area for research? Have scientists looked at the "output" part of the equation? I haven't heard of any research.)

Don't make assumptions about how much or what I eat based on my current size. I probably eat a whole lot healthier than you.

Fat does not equal unhealthy. Skinny does not equal healthy. Calorie reduction is a necessary piece of weight reduction, but it is not, in and of itself, sufficient. There are many studies coming out showing how complex the genetic, endocrine and neurotransmitter actions are that regulate appetite, fat storage, fat release, metabolism and obesity...not to mention the endocrine disorders associated with obesity such as diabetes. (And note: "associated with" does NOT mean "caused by". There is a great deal of debate in the scientific community about the causal relationships.)

I was happy, comfortable, loved and active in an obese body. I'm still in an obese body...just not as obese. And while I am still happy, and loved, I am uncomfortable from chronic pain and increasing loss of use of my body; flatly unable to be active no matter how much I might wish to be.

And the obesity is orthogonal to all that.

I’m fat. Always have been and, I'm sure, always will be. I wrote about what it was like living in my body at 500+ pounds and why I had decided to have weight loss surgery, even though I view it as over-performed and dangerous. Entry here. (The comments had to be closed due to massive amounts of trolling when it was featured on reddit, digg, something awful, and several other sites a few weeks ago.)

When I had surgery I weighed 550 pounds and was 5’6” tall. I was no longer able to work and could barely walk more than a few feet a time. I was on medication for high blood pressure and for my blood sugar. I was in pain every moment of every day.

It was the hardest thing I ever did. I consider myself fat positive/accepting and had to admit that my body was collapsing and I could feel myself dying. I had to admit that I wasn’t a healthy fat person. That I had failed. But it was the right decision for me.

It’s been nine months since my surgery and I currently weigh 351 pounds. Meaning I’ve lost 199 pounds in that time. It’s weird and difficult and exciting and embarrassing and all these other things mixed together.

And as happy and amazing as it is to feel healthier and stronger and to finally do all these things again that so many people take for granted... I still struggle when complimented on my weight loss because, politically and philosophically, I have a problem with it. I still struggle to not fall into the insanely disordered eating pattern I’ve followed my whole life. I still struggle with having done something I’m opposed to.

When my body is done losing weight I believe I’ll still be fat. How fat, I don’t know. But fat. And I’m happy with that. Fat is something I’ve always been. And, given the choice, I wouldn’t want to be anything else.

Folks, the particular page that thesugarmonster linked to seems to be down, but you can find her blog here:

http://thesugarmonster.livejournal.com/

Thank you so much for pointing that out!

Here it is again, as I can't figure out how to edit my initial comment!

Weight Loss Surgery and Why I'm Having It

I am a 43 year old woman who is 5' 10" and weighs 400 pounds. I am fat. I am large. I am even super fat, but don't call me obese. Obese is a medical term that has been used to make us less human, to refer to us as a "problem". We are people. We are your friends, mothers, sisters, grandfathers, uncles and children. Everyone knows someone who is fat, would you love them more if they were thin?

You asked what it is like being a fat person - this is what it is like - having to fight, argue, reason, explain and configure all the time. It is exhausting sometimes just trying to get people to look at you as an equal. Fat people are everywhere and have contributed to all human achievements. We are healthy and not healthy - just like any other group of people divided by their looks - and yet this is the only thing that we are "judged" on. Why are we being judged at all?

Why is it okay for someone to make judgments about my body, to make comments and assume I eat badly. Why is it even any of their business? Why have we all become some sort of health police? People seem to find some sort of moral one-upsmanship in it.

But, since that is the most likely going to come up I will say I have always been big, but have seemed to gain about 10 pounds a year since I was 18. I can trace it to the line of work I have done. The more "successful" I became the more sedentary I became. From a person with a service job to a desk job. I do exercise a couple of times a week, but with a full time job and errands and house cleaning, it is hard to fit it in everyday. I eat healthier than almost all the people I know (they tell me this, I am not making the call) and my diet is mostly vegetarian with a little bit of salmon every week.I do not drink sodas much or eat fast food much and yet this is what the media says I do all the time.

And of course none of this is any one's business and I hope you can see the ridiculousness of having to constantly have to explain yourself. This is what being fat is like.

As far as being in this body. Yes, it is hard sometimes. I can't fit in some chairs, I can't do some things other people do. Some moves are out of reach for me in Yoga and I do get winded climbing stairs. Yes, my body has limitations. Many peoples bodies do. These people are sometimes fat and sometimes not. My body is healthy and working okay. No problems with blood work, no diabetes or any other issues and I am seldom sick. I would like to work out more for ease of movement and well-being, and hopefully I will. However, I am not about to cut into this body or shock it with diets just to lose weight. This is me. And as long as I am taking care of myself I am fine with it - so, why can't everyone else be?

You know the equation is simple if you take in more calories than you need to survive then you will gain weight. A pound is about 3500 calories. If you are 200 pounds overweight that means that you took in 700,000 more calories than you needed to. Granted everyone's body is different but 240 pounds outside the general healthy weight range is not a abnormality in bone density that just makes you heavier. And don't tell me that some people gain weight faster than others and there metabolism is slower. That means that they need less calories to survive than a person with a faster metabolism and therefore should eat less. Making excuses and accepting everyone the way they are just because "that's how they choose to live their lives" is a cop out and an excuse to justify their overconsumption.

I have relatives and acquaintances that are obese (notice no close friends) and I would not care for them any less because of it but it would stop me from becoming close to them just as someone who smokes would be less likely to be my close friend. It is not just a physical appearance it is a reflection of how you live your life and what you think of yourself. The math is simple the excuses you make for yourself are not so easy to explain. Stop feeling sorry for yourself did you ever think that just by not being obese people have morally one upped you.

Have you ever stopped to consider that many people have problems with their head when it comes to their excess weight? It's not as simple as counting calories and getting more exercise. They may have psychological issues they need to address. Please be less absolutist and more understanding. Most of the large people I hear don't want to be overweight and unhealthy. They are making excuses perhaps. Why? It's not so simple as you claim or there would be fewer large people don't you think?

Imagine….

- Not being able to go into any store you want to buy clothes…or not being able to find any clothes your size in any store.
- Going to a grocery store and having perfect strangers comment about your food choices.
- Being ridiculed when you exercise in public.
- Being ridiculed when you blog about exercising.
- Friends, family, or perfect strangers feeling they have a right to comment on your lifestyle choices.
- Getting the message that you are the cause (or the best analogy for) global warming, the healthcare crisis, the food crisis, etc.
- Having people make assumptions about what, how much and where you eat.
- Having people make assumptions about how much or how you exercise (or don’t).
- Being told by your company (or a possible boss, or an adoption agency) that you are not capable of doing your job.
- Having someone need to do a study to show that people like you are actually pro