RE: Body shaming, and "My Big Fat Fabulous Life"
August 1, 2016 at 9:59 am
(This post was last modified: August 1, 2016 at 10:00 am by bennyboy.)
We aren't logical creatures. Anyone can see that if calories burned > calories consumed, a person must lose weight. Anyone can see that if an unhealthy person can exercise more, he will gradually become healthier.
But what you don't understand enough is the psychology and negative momentum that any normal person can build up.
Let me tell you my own story. About 10 years ago, I was a pretty skinny guy, with a very slight pot belly. A coworker invited me to go to the gym. I liked it a lot. I started reading online about fitness, about how to work out properly, about diet. I started running a lot-- 12km 3 times a week, and the occasional marathon. On my other days, I did a gym workout, and did pyramids on the treadmill until I could run a mile in 6 minutes-- the fastest speed the treadmills in my gym would go.
One day, I woke up with a pain in my groin, like in the socket of the thigh or whatever. I went to a doctor, got MRI, got advice. Then the following week, the same thing in the other leg. It was really weird. Some doctors said I needed surgery. Some said I had tendinitis and needed a few months off.
I was really confused. Sometimes I went a few weeks, then tried jogging a lot, and got a flare-up right away. Sometimes, I jogged several km, and felt great, with no apparent problems at all. This inconsistency-- sometimes being able to exercise and sometimes not, gave me a kind of phobia-- I always want to exercise, but I'm always afraid the next step is going to put something out of whack.
In the last 5 years, I've gained about 60 pounds. I still exercise a fair deal, but it's on and off. I'll eat moderately, but then one holiday weekend, I can gain a couple pounds, and I just never seem to get it back off.
So look, I know what I need to do-- find exercise I can do regularly and re-establish discipline in my diet. But I have some compulsions and some phobias now based on how quickly things went bad for me when they were going so well.
This is what it means to be human-- if ANY of us could overcome all the obstacles we impose on ourselves, we could become much better, more successful, and maybe happier people. But maybe 1% of people actually achieve this. And unless you are really God of your own life, in which case you are probably designing a Mars lander right now or something, why would you pick on the particular failings of some people? is it, perhaps, that by projecting weakness onto others, you can avoid looking in the mirror and facing YOUR particular demons and shortcomings?
If so, you have two problems: whatever is holding YOU back in life, and a complex (and socially shitty) avoidance mechanism.
But what you don't understand enough is the psychology and negative momentum that any normal person can build up.
Let me tell you my own story. About 10 years ago, I was a pretty skinny guy, with a very slight pot belly. A coworker invited me to go to the gym. I liked it a lot. I started reading online about fitness, about how to work out properly, about diet. I started running a lot-- 12km 3 times a week, and the occasional marathon. On my other days, I did a gym workout, and did pyramids on the treadmill until I could run a mile in 6 minutes-- the fastest speed the treadmills in my gym would go.
One day, I woke up with a pain in my groin, like in the socket of the thigh or whatever. I went to a doctor, got MRI, got advice. Then the following week, the same thing in the other leg. It was really weird. Some doctors said I needed surgery. Some said I had tendinitis and needed a few months off.
I was really confused. Sometimes I went a few weeks, then tried jogging a lot, and got a flare-up right away. Sometimes, I jogged several km, and felt great, with no apparent problems at all. This inconsistency-- sometimes being able to exercise and sometimes not, gave me a kind of phobia-- I always want to exercise, but I'm always afraid the next step is going to put something out of whack.
In the last 5 years, I've gained about 60 pounds. I still exercise a fair deal, but it's on and off. I'll eat moderately, but then one holiday weekend, I can gain a couple pounds, and I just never seem to get it back off.
So look, I know what I need to do-- find exercise I can do regularly and re-establish discipline in my diet. But I have some compulsions and some phobias now based on how quickly things went bad for me when they were going so well.
This is what it means to be human-- if ANY of us could overcome all the obstacles we impose on ourselves, we could become much better, more successful, and maybe happier people. But maybe 1% of people actually achieve this. And unless you are really God of your own life, in which case you are probably designing a Mars lander right now or something, why would you pick on the particular failings of some people? is it, perhaps, that by projecting weakness onto others, you can avoid looking in the mirror and facing YOUR particular demons and shortcomings?
If so, you have two problems: whatever is holding YOU back in life, and a complex (and socially shitty) avoidance mechanism.