Not all fat people are slobbish mammoths...

I have found if anywhere, the US is the place where all the extremities clash. Bible Belt and Hollywood, Obesity and Beauty Obsession, etc.

 

Yeah, you're probably right.

 

Which is why there is so much tension, but also such an interesting country, in my opinion.

 

well, i fail to see a distinction when it's fashion and/or pin up models that conditions the social concept of feminine beauty in the eye of the beholder. happiness and self acceptence is just as important a component of health as how many hours of aroebics you do each week or whether or not you eat one too many donuts. there's nothing healthy about a girl shoving her fingers down her throat so to puke up her dinner b/c she fears to gain weight and theres nothing healthy about a robust young girl who is full of self loathing b/c she can't fit into a size 2 pair of jeans but this is what is happening to the young women in our society.

of course i'm not advocating unhealthy obesity but i am advocating the social acceptance of women who are predisposed to being voluptuous. they should be able to look in the mirror and see themselves as beautiful.

ya know? i don't know why i'm taking this so personally since my weight problem is the opposite of the one under discussion. maybe i relate because ... well ... being flat chested and too damn skinny can cause insecurities too. i'm like the OP. i wish people cared more about the selfhood inside the body, whatever shape it is.

 

I don't disgree with you, but I guess my personal perspective is less about notions of beauty than it is about health. That's why I express caution about the backlash against the super-thin "ideal". I think it's dangerous to swing too far the other way, and embrace overweight models simply because they more represent the "average" woman.

The "average" isn't what matters. Health is what matters.

You're absolutely right. As I mentioned earlier, I would never consider a woman somehow less worthy as a person simply because of her weight.

But that doesn't remove the need to address obesity as a health problem.

 

Too many women have forgotten just how beautiful they really are.

 

I just learned that the heavy, irregular periods I've had all my life are only one symptom of the Polycystic Ovary Syndrome I was diagnosed with over twenty years ago. The other symptoms are obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure...all this time I thought it was entirely my fault that I was obese. Why didn't the doctors I went to educate me about this instead of just shooting me with progesterone and sending me on my way? They told me nothing!

When I joined a support group for Polycystic Ovary Syndrome I looked at the member gallery and burst into tears. All the women were plump to obese. It was such a relief to know that I wasn't alone, and that I was not willfully destroying my health as I'd been lead to believe.

This does not mean I'm off the hook. I've learned I'm going to have to work twice as hard at my diet and excercise if I want to be healthy. So don't judge fat people too harshly. There may be health issues going on with them that not even they are aware of.

 

Sadly, we've realized that doctors are not necessarily the guardians of our health that they present themselves to be. I'm glad that you were able to find out the truth.

 

Well said

 

I’m willing to give you the benefit of the doubt; but that doesn’t explain the other roughly the 99% :toetap05:


Hotwater

 

ahahaha

 

I find it interesting how so many posters on this thread did not seem to fully read Blinkie's post. You go on about the obvious need for healthy diet & exercise which Blinkie has had to repeat numerous times that she does.

Yes, there's an American obesity epidemic. But as Blinkie states there are healthy people who are big and will stay big no matter what they do.

I also agree that this preoccupation with fat is a particularly American phenomenon. I'm proportionally plump myself and European males dig it wherever I travel. Who knows, I may end up moving across the pond. Go where the love is.

 

Are trying to tell me that If you ate healthy and ran 10 miles a day, you’d still be that fat immovable object that those around you have simply grown to accept :toetap05:

Hotwater

 

Such a sweet senior member...look, he even repeats himself AGAIN.

 

I’m simply trying to clarify a few things for an objective analysis


Hotwater

 

Hey guys. I had no idea this thread got so many responses because I haven't been on in a while.

The extra weight that was dragging me down so much when I posted this came from a medication I was taking. After consulting my doctor, I changed medications.

Now, I still exercise and eat healthy. I did, however, decide to go back into modeling but not just regular modeling - pinup and adult modeling in addition to exotic dancing. So far, I've gotten more job offers than I could count but lately producers seem to want sloppy, disproportionate 300lb+ women. Then again, it's my naturally-big toned look that gets people.

Take THAT, society...

 

I will not

 

Blinkie, meat is not going to make you fat. Dairy and sugar are the main culprits.

I lost 30 pounds in 2 months from doing nothing different except not eating dairy. No exercise...

 

Yeah, dairy and sugar are killers. That's why I'm attempting to go Vegan... it's not that refraining from those foods is difficult, it's just that those ingredients are in everything.

 

Being overweight doesn't make people less attractive, it's the confidence somebody can lose from being that way.

However I think the generalization is not completely biased, if a person hits a certain point then obviously I am going to think they are unhealthy bastards. Example, my holiday in Florida, I have honestly never seen such disgusting people. They must have been 25 stone and had no respect for themselves, so I don't feel I should respect or pity them.

All in all though, most of my family have been slightly overweight in the past (like 2 stone over say), and it is piss poor that somebody will judge them on something so silly. Personally, I have always preferred my girlfriends who had the 'proper women's figure', rather than those who were as skinny as a rake.

As for foods, meat is fine. Everything you eat practically is fine in moderation. Sugars are obviously awful for weight gain, as is saturated fatty foods- but people shouldn't shy away from dairy. You get your vital proteins in there. Protein is easily the most imperative thing in your diet. No one should ever compromise their diet as such in order to lose weight, but they should simply exercise a bit more, and cut down portion sizes.