Can I Order My Breakfast Without the Side of Fat-Shaming, Please? *ranty, language*

[Sunshine]

i was out with my ex at bennigans one night...date night! woot! and i ordered a turkey o'toole...and the waiter said "you arent gonna be able to eat all of that are you???"...now bennigans was a special treat, and you're damn right i ate every bite. pissed me off, so i ate all my fries too!
i dont eat that way anymore, i got sick after the kid, and cant. but i do miss that resturant chain

[teh_blumchenkinder]

<snip>I think the people who express their disgust at other people's size are as bad as the people who bully gay people, and harass other races.

Yeah, I agree-- most people who are overweight don't want to be that way, and even when they do like their weight just fine, they have other issues to deal with (just like the rest of us) without name-callers poking at them. Life's hard enough without meanies making it worse.

[SteverinoNY]

Amen @ Teh...us big folks don't want to be big folks, but either we like all the wrong foods + our body doesn't seem to like burning off the calories or there is something legitimately medically wrong, its just the way our bodies are and we don't want to be that way. Being comfortable in our skin is not the same as being okay with being picked on or insulted for our weight. Do you think the bullies would like it if we picked on them for being bald? well...they can't control that anymore than some of us can control being fat.

[garnetMoon]

RE: the health aspect
Honestly, it's not just that there is the possibility of a "medical reason" that people are overfat. Some research that has been coming out recently has been showing that our stomachs have hormones that change based on food intake. And that, even if we aren't actually hungry for more, we "crave" the sweet, the fat, and the salty. This is without even allowing the food to touch the tongue, but rather ingesting it through a tube (just so you get the idea that it isn't because of the taste itself). This all hailing back to the fact that, in the scheme of the universe, it really wasn't that long ago that we were wanderers and scavengers, and we needed whatever food we could get.

RE: rudeness to the overfat
I'll have to find this article online, because I read it in a newspaper and I really liked and agreed with it. The summation is, basically, that there is a woman who wrote in who had been "hefty" her whole life, and finally managed to drop a lot of weight, and noticed this intense change in how people treated her. And after a while she noticed that she was showing disdain for people who were around her who looked "hefty." Then she had this great epiphany statement that I really believe in myself, as the gist of it works for more than just this situation: "I hope I stay fat on the inside forever."

That speaks to the fact that maybe some of those skinny people used to be bigger, and they look at bigger people now and project all of the bad feelings and experiences they used to have because of their weight - as my mother likes to tell me "A reformed whore is the strictest preacher." This does not excuse such rudeness. Nothing excuses that kind of behavior. But it does give some perspective.

PS - Yes, I know I said "overfat" as opposed to "overweight." There is a distinction, and it has to do with the ratio of adipose tissue. Overweight doesn't necessarily mean you are at all unhealthy. It means your body isn't build the same way as the "standard" that all the charts and what not were modeled from.

I could have a lot to say on this subject, mostly because it really gets to me when people are huge jerks solely because of some stereotype, but I'll refrain. The only thing I'll say in ending is that I hope the OP didn't have any bad feelings from the SC, whoever he/she may be. Judgmental tools are usually projecting what they feel like is bad about themselves, anyway.

[ralerin]

Or what about genetics? Dad's side of the family are all "overplump" and so am I because it runs in my family. However, I'm losing weight because my health depends on it.

[Can I Help Your A$$?]

I just don't buy the excuse that people are offended by fat people because it's "unhealthy." That's bullcrap. Are people offended by people with diseases because it's unhealthy to have a disease?

I think it's time they got over it. In the US, we're all flippin' fat. Deal with it.

I recently lost about 50 pounds--still losing--because I got a bad disease. It made me really sick and I've been in the hospital. The disease has nothing whatsoever to do with obesity (it's Sarcoidosis, if you're curious). Anyway, before I had to stop working (I know, right? No retail! Whoo-hoo! I missed Back-to-school!), people would say how great I must feel for losing all that weight. Sure, buddy, I'd really recommend the throwing up and dehydration leading to kidney failure diet. That's what it took to take these pounds off of me.

No, I didn't try to lose weight. But from where I stand, losing weight is harder to do than most anything else. Especially when it's done at the other end of an IV with a commode next to your bed.

[Seshat]

people would say how great I must feel for losing all that weight.

How ignorant.

Serious illness never makes people feel great. Except in that one episode of House.



(SPOILER: Third stage syphilis changed an old woman's brain in just the perfect way that she always felt euphoric.)

[Gizmo]

I know this is off topic (sorry) but I got really annoyed when I saw this this morning in the paper : http://www.metro.co.uk/showbiz/87200...are-just-lying

Yes Mila, everything is the same for everyone isn't it?

[Kristev]

Don't forget diabetes. Our own medications, either if they are direct insulin or merely stimulate our beta cells to make more insulin, work against us. By its very nature, insulin removes sugar from the blood by turning it into fat. This is part of why diabetics have a much harder time losing weight than other people do. Our own medicines are making us heavier by default.

Though, to be honest, in my own case, I have found that life without barely any food, as a family member once imposed on me, or worse yet, life on a 'special diet', is simply not worth living. Yes, I'm a comfort eater.

[zombiequeen]

I just don't buy the excuse that people are offended by fat people because it's "unhealthy." That's bullcrap. Are people offended by people with diseases because it's unhealthy to have a disease?.

Actually, yes some people do. Anything that isn't considered "normal" or "healthy" will be looked down upon by certain people. It's really sad.
I'm slowly getting to a working agreement with my stomach disorder, and it's surprising how many people just assume I'm going through streaks of anorexia and bulimia because of how my stomach reacts. The days I feel up to it, I eat like it's my last day. Days I don't, I hardly eat anything. Some days I go through both of those and then I'm really sick. If I try to eat just meals or whatever, I don't keep food inside me long enough for it to work. Combine that with food allergies and intolerances and I have a very picky diet.
Of course, my figuring this out has led to about 30 pounds of weight gain, most of which is...chest and hips. It's funny when I'm picking out my food at the store (poultry, fish, and all really easy stuff) and mentioning to my hubby my weight (I gained back those five pounds I lost, isn't that great!) and they either go "Pregnant?" or some fatty comment. Makes me feel really great about maintaining my health (5'4" and 150lb, hourglass). I'm considered to be at an unhealthy weight by everyone but my hubby, my doctor, and me.

I do have great fun when I get food for the guys though. I go in and order like three hot and ready pizzas, and at least one order of breadsticks. Last time I got the once-over and then "Cravings?" and I got a blank face and said.
"It's the only thing that keeps me from craving human flesh."

[Yarnil]

Im a male, about 100Kg and I understand chocolate..... Wouldnt mind losing some weight, but not if that means giving up good food, 'nuff said I think.

And lucky, my wife thinks im the best, so all's well