Maher/Corden and obesity

[LadyForCamus]

And by the way, dietitians are responsible for a hell of a lot more than just outpatient weight management counseling. I used to write tube feeding orders for cancer patients, so I’m not really worried about job security. Thanks tho.

[TaraJo]

So, fat acceptance, body shaming, all that.... yeah.  I've learned a thing or two about them.

See, back in 2017, I weighed in over 350; I don't know my exact weight because the numbers on my scale didn't go that high.  I was huge.  Depression got ahold of me and it resulted in me not wanting to get up off the couch and do anything and it resulted in very unhealthy eating binges.  Then I got a good job which fixed a lot of my issues with depression.  I walked at least 40 minutes each day to and from work, I got a gym membership and worked HARD, I started dieting and before you know it, I've transformed my body.  I used to weight in at 350 but now I've gotten down to about 230; not as low as I'd like, but it's a big improvement.  And in the process, I've learned a thing or two about my body, about society, about fat and diet and general health.

When it comes to society and fat acceptance, there are some legitimate concerns.  Yes, the models you see in the media, they're generally photoshopped and many still diet in extreme ways.  Yes, people are made fun of for being fat and that shouldn't happen.  And, yes, not every woman should be a perfect size 2.  So if that's where it ends, I'm good with it.  But I've also seen the unreasonable extremes; the ones who insist that being fat has no consequential health issues, the ones who celebrate fatness to the point of hostility towards skinny people; the ones who actually wrote a blog post saying "Deathfat is funny" because she wanted to mockingly dismiss the idea of morbid obesity.  

Some will make a semi-legitimate criticism when they point out how often weight loss is temporary and how easy it is to gain the weight back.  They're right, it can be easy.  The key is to look at dieting not as a get-thin-quick scheme where you can go back to the same lifestyle choices that made you fat in the first place.  You have to change your lifestyle, too, and change the mindset that made you fat.  That's the key to keeping the weight off.  

And, yeah, there are also some somewhat legitimate concerns with the BMI, specifically that especially muscular people or people with very wide builds will be considered "fat" by BMI standards despite not being fat at all (but those concerns can certainly be addressed if you choose not to throw the baby out with the bathwater).

No, dieting isn't always fun and sometimes going to the gym can be a real chore but long run, it really pays off.  Past just the fact that my body works better now, I feel better on an emotional level.  I'm happier.  I sleep better.  I have more energy when I'm awake now.  Losing weight and getting in shape is one of the best decisions I ever made and I wish I had done it years ago.

[brewer]

Investigating the association between body fat and depression.....

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31383844

[Nay_Sayer]

@LadyForCamus

And you seem committed to missing my point. Oh well.

Okay, this is getting old. We clearly don't see eye to eye, and I'm willing to agree to disagree.

Losing weight requires a series of choices that amount to a change in one's lifestyle. The key word in that sentence is "choices." Is it tough? Sure. But you don't need a team of doctors, counselors and dieticians to do it. I'm sure that's what you would like people to think, because it means you have a job. And that's nifty for you.

At the end of the day, we all have to ask ourselves who we want to be.

Drugs, alcohol, food, cigarettes, gambling, sex... we can choose from an array of different addictions to stifle our feelings with. Or, we can choose to live happy lives and try our best to be healthy. It doesn't require perfection, but it does require a conscious choice and some effort. I know that's becoming a rare concept in 2019, but that's what it is.

Thanks.

lol What?

By that logic, I should grab my mothers old singer to do my stitches next time I get a gash.