Being Fat...Is it a Choice

[bigmac]

Originally Posted by squurp

Obesity is not a simplistic issue. unavailability of good food, lack of recreational opportunities, and related issues, has in research only been able to account for moderate weight gain in subjects. To test this, they've had participants who are normally thin, follow these lifestyle choices. Usually, a gain of around 30 lbs is the high, at which point, a normally thin person becomes physically ill and is unable to gain.

Predominantly, obesity greater than slight or moderate obesity is caused exclusively by genetics or epigenetics (with one key exception being psychological disorders such as compulsive eating, though that is usually not responsible for extreme weight gain even then unless paired with genetic tendency).

This is not to say it is simple. In breeding rats, scientists have determined that obesity inheritance is a complex mixture of 15-20 genes, comprised of recessive, dominant, double dominant, and double recessive(that gets into epigenetics). So, for a person to be extremely overweight (say, 75+ lbs or more, there must be a mixture of the appropriate genetic and epigenetic traits. Furthermore, epigenetics is the study of how these genes are expressed. The best illustration of epigenetics is visible in locusts. Usually, locusts are harmless little green grasshoppers, but when pummeled repeatedly, (as happens during overpopulation), they turn in to big brown devouring migrating monsters (same genes! different expression!). Scientists now know that much of this happens in the womb. Recently, Agouti mice, genetically bred to be obese, orange, and diabetic, when fed a high antioxidant diet during pregnancy produced normal offspring, Despite their genetic baggage.

So, what in the last fifty years has caused this horrible epidemic? Well, we understand that oxidants (carcinogens), and antioxidants have an effect. other chemicals may have an effect as well, for example, endocrine disruptors. And, our environment in the last 50 years has changed dramatically, ambient pollution is much much higher. Smoking while pregnant started in the 50's for women as a way to control weight, and smoking is a key carcinogen. Also, artificial sweeteners which are known to be carcinogenic happened primarily in the last 50 years. Flouridated water, and also medications in water supplies has continued to increase. In other words, we are bombarded daily and primarily in the womb, by the very chemicals that force undesirable genes to be expressed.

Do we have control? Sure, we have some. THis is each person's locus of control. Some may have more than others, though, this locus of control is also somewhat genetically regulated. In my experience, each person's locus of control is about 10% of the obesity equation. So, can you lose weight? Sure, but not as easily as another person with a different genetic and epigenetic package.

Hope this clears up stuff. see next post.

I agree with a lot of what you say including your conclusion that individual people have only limited control over their weight (especially once they become adults). However, I think you misinterpreted some of my points and some of the scientific literature. The important lesson to be drawn is not that its impossible to turn a thin person (lean genotype) into a fat person -- the important lesson is that environmental factors over which we may collectively (if not individually) have some control determine the phenotypical expression of the obese genotype. Such persons will in all likelihood always be large to some degree -- the question is will they be a healthy active 250lb person or a 500lb person with limited mobility and comorbidities?

For example (hypothetically), take twin boys with a genetic propensity toward obesity and separate them at birth; place one with a family who eats nothing but the best organic produce and free range critters and who are physically active; and place the second with a family who thinks chicken nuggets are health food and playing Xbox is exercise. What's the likely outcome -- i.e. the gene expression of phenotype. In all likelihood the first boy will be less fat than the second. Healthy living doesn't turn a fat person into a thin person -- the first boy just ends up at the low end of his genetically predetermined range.

Factors beyond anyone's control can come into play too (i.e. an illness during a critical period of development). For a personal example take my brother and I. Until my brother was 3 years old he was taller and heavier than me. When he was 3 he became very ill and lost a lot of weight. From that point on he was always thinner (and shorter). Being sick obviously didn't change my brother's genes -- however, it did change how they were expressed.

Getting back to the original question -- is being fat a choice? For the most part no.

[chicken legs]

Originally Posted by fat hiker

No, Robert Earl Hughes wasn't rich - he was only one step away from being a hill billy! There is at least one video on Youtube made from a short movie clip of him and his parents, and their house would tell you they weren't rich. He made a living for a time as a side-show attraction, judging by the photographs. I've never seen any mention anywhere of him marrying or having kids - and his own spectacular growth was supposed to be the result of a childhood infection that somehow changed or damaged his hormonal system.

OMG

He sounds like the X-men's character The Blob and he kinda looks like him too.



wow

[chicken legs]

[/url]

Originally Posted by bigmac

Some of the arguments put forward in this tread are overly simplistic. The one thing obesity researchers agree upon is that obesity has multiple causes. In this respect obesity is like intelligence.

Most people, I assume, would like to be intelligent and educated. However, not everyone has what it takes to be a physics professor at Princeton. We can act as individuals and as a society to ensure that people maximize their potential (i.e. from prenatal nutrition to reading to our kids to supporting higher education). But in the end some people will be more accomplished than others -- that's just a fact of life. Some kids will unfortunately inherit genes that limit their intellectual potential, some will be exposed to in utero toxins that likewise limit their potential, some will grow up in neighborhoods with crappy schools ... (the list could go on forever).

Do we say its a choice to be less than brilliant -- of course not -- we as a society recognize that not everyone can be an Einstein. This is so even though there are lots of personal choices involved in (i.e. to study hard or not, to go to college or not ...). We only get mad when a person is obviously squandering talent.

Like intelligence, fatness has multiple causations (from genetics, to unavailability of good food, to the lack recreational opportunities ... again the list goes on). So it doesn't really make sense to say being fat is a choice. You may have chosen to eat that extra piece of pie last night (but so did a lot of thin people) but you didn't choose your parents, you didn't choose the food you ate as a child, you probably didn't choose to live in a city where walking is either unsafe or totally impractical ....

As a society we accept that people vary in their intellectual ability (and physical ability for that matter) -- why is it so hard to just accept that people will vary in size.

I would love to do a social experiment and replicate the environment that produced those great minds and bodys (like parenting class)...but only the social part...because I think the genetics will follow just by us being selective in our choice.

When I think of accepting all sizes and shapes I get all Sci-fi and think about Star Trek, Ultraviolet, and Fifth Element.

[orin]

Originally Posted by thatgirl08

If you feel this way, why are you here?

Because i am attracted to bigger women ....

BUT WHEN I WAS FAT ... BIGGER WOMEN DID NOT LIKE ME ... :-/

so i changed ... plus having to deal with trying to be in the military at a time

I LOVE BIG PEAR SHAPED WOMEN PERIOD

but i am also very pragmatic ... i look at things from a logical standpoint

but I refuse to get into too much detail because I feel anything i post may be looked at as discriminatory against people of size.

But realistically NOT EVERY ONE CAN CARRY FAT FUNCTION WELL WITH IT WHILE OTHERS ARE PRETTY MUCH MADE TO BE BIGGER AND HAVE NO HEALTH ISSUES ...

I SAY THE ONES WITH HEALTH ISSUES SHOULD PUT EFFORT INTO CHANGING THIER SITUATIONS ...

THE ONES WHO DON'T SHOULD NOT HAVE TO LOOSE WEIGHT IF THEY ARE CONFIDENT AND LOVE THEMSELVES AS THEY ARE !!!

WHEN I WAS CHUBBY ... I WAS HEAVILY DISCRIMINATED AGAINST BY OTHER BIG WOMEN ... ONCE I LOST WEIGHT AND BUFFED UP, IT MADE IT EASIER ... SO BIGGER WOMEN I FEEL DO DISCRIMINATE AGAINST SHORTER CHUBBIER MEN ....

but thats a whole different forum post together ...

[orin]

Originally Posted by bigmac

I agree with a lot of what you say including your conclusion that individual people have only limited control over their weight (especially once they become adults). However, I think you misinterpreted some of my points and some of the scientific literature. The important lesson to be drawn is not that its impossible to turn a thin person (lean genotype) into a fat person -- the important lesson is that environmental factors over which we may collectively (if not individually) have some control determine the phenotypical expression of the obese genotype. Such persons will in all likelihood always be large to some degree -- the question is will they be a healthy active 250lb person or a 500lb person with limited mobility and comorbidities?

For example (hypothetically), take twin boys with a genetic propensity toward obesity and separate them at birth; place one with a family who eats nothing but the best organic produce and free range critters and who are physically active; and place the second with a family who thinks chicken nuggets are health food and playing Xbox is exercise. What's the likely outcome -- i.e. the gene expression of phenotype. In all likelihood the first boy will be less fat than the second. Healthy living doesn't turn a fat person into a thin person -- the first boy just ends up at the low end of his genetically predetermined range.

Factors beyond anyone's control can come into play too (i.e. an illness during a critical period of development). For a personal example take my brother and I. Until my brother was 3 years old he was taller and heavier than me. When he was 3 he became very ill and lost a lot of weight. From that point on he was always thinner (and shorter). Being sick obviously didn't change my brother's genes -- however, it did change how they were expressed.

Getting back to the original question -- is being fat a choice? For the most part no.

WELL STATED ...

yes .. for the MOST PART NO ...

some have it easier than others to get smaller and loose weight ... some are just made to be bigger period ... but all i am saying is that it is not IMPOSSIBLE to be smaller ..... BUT BEING SMALLER IS NOT FOR EVERYONE ...

for instance my sister was always a BBW ... she lost alot of weight and was sick all the time ...because her body was not made to be that size that she was and she gained the weight back and stopped getting sick

in short ....

THE GENETIC PROPENSITY TO BE FAT CAN FOUGHT BUT AT WHAT COST .... YOUR SANITY
YOUR HEALTH
YOUR HAPPINESS
YOUR SENSE OF SELF

IN MANY CASES WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE TO GET SMALLER IS SIMPLE JUST NOT WORTH IT PERIOD !!!!!!

NOW I AM 5'6" .... SEE ... I HAVE NO CHOICE ... I WOULD LOVE TO BE 6'2" BUT WILL NEVER BE TALL .... NOW THATS SOMETHING I CAN NEVER CHANGE ... EVER

[chicken legs]

Originally Posted by orin

Because i am attracted to bigger women ....

BUT WHEN I WAS FAT ... BIGGER WOMEN DID NOT LIKE ME ... :-/

so i changed ... plus having to deal with trying to be in the military at a time

I LOVE BIG PEAR SHAPED WOMEN PERIOD

but i am also very pragmatic ... i look at things from a logical standpoint

but I refuse to get into too much detail because I feel anything i post may be looked at as discriminatory against people of size.

But realistically NOT EVERY ONE CAN CARRY FAT FUNCTION WELL WITH IT WHILE OTHERS ARE PRETTY MUCH MADE TO BE BIGGER AND HAVE NO HEALTH ISSUES ...

I SAY THE ONES WITH HEALTH ISSUES SHOULD PUT EFFORT INTO CHANGING THIER SITUATIONS ...

THE ONES WHO DON'T SHOULD NOT HAVE TO LOOSE WEIGHT IF THEY ARE CONFIDENT AND LOVE THEMSELVES AS THEY ARE !!!

WHEN I WAS CHUBBY ... I WAS HEAVILY DISCRIMINATED AGAINST BY OTHER BIG WOMEN ... ONCE I LOST WEIGHT AND BUFFED UP, IT MADE IT EASIER ... SO BIGGER WOMEN I FEEL DO DISCRIMINATE AGAINST SHORTER CHUBBIER MEN ....

but thats a whole different forum post together ...

lol

I have to admitt I look better when I'm fit...wish i looked sexy chunky or fit but ..reality is I have to hit the gym..lol

[squurp]

Originally Posted by bigmac

For example (hypothetically), take twin boys with a genetic propensity toward obesity and separate them at birth; place one with a family who eats nothing but the best organic produce and free range critters and who are physically active; and place the second with a family who thinks chicken nuggets are health food and playing Xbox is exercise. What's the likely outcome -- i.e. the gene expression of phenotype. In all likelihood the first boy will be less fat than the second. Healthy living doesn't turn a fat person into a thin person -- the first boy just ends up at the low end of his genetically predetermined range.

Actually, these experiments have been done inadvertently, where identical twins have been adopted into separate families. In almost every case, despite eating habits, the twins are within 10-20 lbs of each other, and where the same size clothing. In the cases where that was not the case, there was some illness such as cancer or what not.

[name2come]

Originally Posted by thatgirl08

If you feel this way, why are you here?

Lust and respect do not always go together. He's happy to be sexually attracted to fat women, but insists on still retaining the cultural attitude that they are too stupid to lose weight. I'm not saying its an especially moral position, but its certainly not an uncommon one.

[thatgirl08]

Originally Posted by orin

Because i am attracted to bigger women ....

BUT WHEN I WAS FAT ... BIGGER WOMEN DID NOT LIKE ME ... :-/

so i changed ... plus having to deal with trying to be in the military at a time

I LOVE BIG PEAR SHAPED WOMEN PERIOD

but i am also very pragmatic ... i look at things from a logical standpoint

but I refuse to get into too much detail because I feel anything i post may be looked at as discriminatory against people of size.

But realistically NOT EVERY ONE CAN CARRY FAT FUNCTION WELL WITH IT WHILE OTHERS ARE PRETTY MUCH MADE TO BE BIGGER AND HAVE NO HEALTH ISSUES ...

I SAY THE ONES WITH HEALTH ISSUES SHOULD PUT EFFORT INTO CHANGING THIER SITUATIONS ...

THE ONES WHO DON'T SHOULD NOT HAVE TO LOOSE WEIGHT IF THEY ARE CONFIDENT AND LOVE THEMSELVES AS THEY ARE !!!

WHEN I WAS CHUBBY ... I WAS HEAVILY DISCRIMINATED AGAINST BY OTHER BIG WOMEN ... ONCE I LOST WEIGHT AND BUFFED UP, IT MADE IT EASIER ... SO BIGGER WOMEN I FEEL DO DISCRIMINATE AGAINST SHORTER CHUBBIER MEN ....

but thats a whole different forum post together ...

well i see what you're saying and i think you're somewhat right BUT THE THING IS YOU PROBABLY SHOULDN'T TELL RANDOM PEOPLE HERE THAT THEY MAY WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT OR INSIST THAT IT'S AN EASY THING TO DO BECAUSE IT'S NOT FOR MOST PEOPLE HERE.......


MANY OF US DID NOT CHOOSE TO BE THE SIZE WE ARE AND YET HAVE DIFFICULTY CHANGING IT...... NOT NECESSARILY REFERRING TO MYSELF..... GENERAL OBSERVATION, ETC.


ALSO...... PROBABLY BEST NOT TO ACCUSE AN ENTIRE POPULATION (bbws) of BEING DICRIMINATORY. LOOKS BAD, ETC.

[fatlane]

To answer the OP, there are some people who did not choose to be fat but, for lack of something better to do with their metabolism, are fat.

Then there are women who are selling "fat as a choice" every day on their paysites.

Therefore, the best answer is, "Depends upon the individual."

[thatgirl08]

Originally Posted by fatlane

Then there are women who are selling "fat as a choice" every day on their paysites.

I've said this before and I'll say it again.. paysite girls and their associated content and personalities are NOT an accurate representation of BBW's just as Playboy is not an accurate representation of thin women. Like you said, they are SELLING something.. they are selling an idea, a fantasy.. they are not representing the life of the average fat girl.

[fatlane]

Originally Posted by thatgirl08

I've said this before and I'll say it again.. paysite girls and their associated content and personalities are NOT an accurate representation of BBW's just as Playboy is not an accurate representation of thin women. Like you said, they are SELLING something.. they are selling an idea, a fantasy.. they are not representing the life of the average fat girl.

Exactly. It works to sell subscriptions, but in the end analysis, it ain't reality.

As for the reality, there are people who choose to stay the way they are and people who choose to change. We have to accept all types unless we want to start using terms like "weight traitor" to describe someone that lost a few pounds.

[ladle]

ooops....misread the topic, thought it was kids talking back in the 80's

"Being Fat is Choice!"

[bigmac]

Originally Posted by orin

THE GENETIC PROPENSITY TO BE FAT CAN FOUGHT BUT AT WHAT COST .... YOUR SANITY
YOUR HEALTH
YOUR HAPPINESS
YOUR SENSE OF SELF

IN MANY CASES WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE TO GET SMALLER IS SIMPLE JUST NOT WORTH IT PERIOD !!!!!!

This is a great point. Three times in my adult life I've been able to work myself into a relatively thin state -- but always at extreme cost. The first time I failed my freshman year of college because I was spending four hours a day at the gym. The second time was during my stint in the Army where basically everything is provided for you and all you have to do is train (a situation not easily replicated in real life). The third time was when I put myself through the Police Academy (FYI, unlike in most states where recruits are paid to go to the Academy after they have been hired in California most would be cops pay to put themselves through Academies at local colleges before they are hired) -- between work, commuting, and Academy classes and training I got by on about 4 hours of sleep a night of nine months -- I lost 40 pounds, my social life, and almost my sanity.

[aussieamazonwoman]

Hi all, my name is K and I am relatively new to Dimensions. I really want to make some comments on this topic and perhaps tell you a little more about my story....

I think fatness and obesity has a variety of causes, hell, a team of specialists worked on me from the age of 4 years old, and I'm still fat - maybe I would be fatter now if it weren't for the "interventions" I had as a child, teen and adult.

I believe every person who carries weight has their own story, their own situation and their own response to that situation.

As for what "causes" fatness - I believe there are a variety of causes including: genetics, overeating, food allergies, desire to be overweight, lack of exercise, medical conditions (e.g. thyroid, other hormone disorders, diabetes etc...) stress, emotional and psychological issues including trauma and probably a plethora of other reasons I haven't even heard of. I think there is generally more fatness in the Western world today than when I was a kid and I think SOME of this is due to trans-fats and other bad stuff in processed foods, the sedentary lifestyle most of us lead compared to 50 years ago and the diet industry.

here's my story (it might be a bit long - apologies in advance).....

I was a 10 pound big bouncy baby girl, adopted by beautiful parents at the age of 6 weeks old. I had panic attacks for the first 2 years of my life (I believe this was the trauma of being separated from my birth mother).

I was always very tall, and very *big* for my age. I was taken to a doctors and dietitcians from 4 years of age, my Dad, being an athlete, had me swimming before I could string sentences together and I trained seriously from the age of 7. I was still fat. I always held fat on my arms particularly and tummy.

At the age of 11, I was put on a program, where they kept me in hospital and I was closely monitored - they controlled everything I ate, the amount of exercise I did and I was forced to see a psychologist. I lost a bit of weight and remember I was 67 kilos or 147 pounds at this age. One week I gained 1.3 kilos and they kicked me off the program because they believed I had somehow sneaked "bad food" into my diet. I hadn't and was devastated and felt like a failure.

From this point I became severely depressed and I feel sorry for my Mum, who I felt was ashamed she had such a "fat" daughter. I know she always loved me incredibly and I think as a teenager I wasn't very kind to her.

As a teen, I was monitored very closely by an endocrinologist who was also checking out how tall I was going to grow and happened to be one of Australia's leading researchers on childhood obesity. I remember after some tests she rang me and told me I would be 6 foot one inches tall. I cried a lot, thinking I was already a freak and this just seemed to confirm it for me.

One thing though, this particular endocrinologist was really lovely and sensitive, She told me in no uncertain terms, I was like a "very efficient machine", my metabolism was just slow. No major medical problems, (in fact i was/am healthy on the whole). She also told me I was always going to be a big girl, but there was no reason I couldn't eat well, move and have a normal life expectancy.

I believe contributing factors to my weight are: amazon woman genes, trauma, a wheat allergy, hormones (particularly stress hormones) and always being led to belive something was *wrong* with me.


Anyway there is lots more to this story, but I'm sure I've bored everyone enough. Another day, I will write about my wild adolescence, my struggle through self loathing, not eating, tracking down my birth family to find out I come from a LONG line of big fat women genetically, the frogs I have kissed, taking drugs to lose weight and everything else.

For now though, I am 6 foot one inches tall, about 275 pounds, very curvy, still have fat arms, big boobs and a pudgy belly with stretch marks, but at the age of 36 I can honestly say that every day I look in a full length mirror naked and find something I love about my body.

[fatlane]

One of the best answers ever. Props to you, AussieAmazon.

[orin]

Originally Posted by name2come

Lust and respect do not always go together. He's happy to be sexually attracted to fat women, but insists on still retaining the cultural attitude that they are too stupid to lose weight. I'm not saying its an especially moral position, but its certainly not an uncommon one.

LOL what an assumption .....

read the rest of my posts ... then tell me if u feel the same way ...

[orin]

Interesting story miss AusieAmazon ... you remind me of sweet girl i went to HS with .... she was the same .... even in pictures as a baby she was big ... but she did not really eat much, when she would try to loose weight it always failed ... and she put in effort ....

now .... how she did start loosing was by an experiment she did

she just drank water and took some wierd pills to kill her appetite for a week ... she lost weight but also she almost died from that too ....

my point is ... it is possible ... but for some ... the PRICE of loosing weight is just WAY too much ... some peoples bodies will not change easily .....

like you Aussie ... u did loose some weight ... but your body is not meant to be smaller ... i can assume u have no real health problems and probably very athletic since your father trained u from so young .... if it is not broken dont fix it

it is not affecting your physical health ... so .. no need to change it to suit someone elses view

[orin]

Originally Posted by thatgirl08

well i see what you're saying and i think you're somewhat right BUT THE THING IS YOU PROBABLY SHOULDN'T TELL RANDOM PEOPLE HERE THAT THEY MAY WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT OR INSIST THAT IT'S AN EASY THING TO DO BECAUSE IT'S NOT FOR MOST PEOPLE HERE.......


MANY OF US DID NOT CHOOSE TO BE THE SIZE WE ARE AND YET HAVE DIFFICULTY CHANGING IT...... NOT NECESSARILY REFERRING TO MYSELF..... GENERAL OBSERVATION, ETC.


ALSO...... PROBABLY BEST NOT TO ACCUSE AN ENTIRE POPULATION (bbws) of BEING DICRIMINATORY. LOOKS BAD, ETC.

i never implied it was easy ... it was really hard for me, until i had to do some extreme type stuff to be able to loose it !!!!

and in my experiences ... BBW's at times reject me because i am not tall ... a taller man will make them feel more comfortable i guess .... but thats how i feel i guess ... but u r right ... not all BBW feel like this.

All i am saying is that.... it is NOT IMPOSSIBLE to get smaller

IMPROBABLE .. .yea
NOT WORTH IT .... yea
UNNATURAL .... yea for some people
DIFFICULT .... hells yea
SANITY DRAINING ... yea

IMPOSSIBLE ... no

like i said before .... for some people it is simply JUST NOT WORTH IT !!!

[Teleute]

Orin, I think I see what you're saying, but I think your message got pretty garbled on the way. Not using all caps and spelling things out will go a long way toward getting people to hear what you're saying. It might not be fair, but a lot of people instantly dismiss posts with all capital letters or abbreviations like "u r" because it comes across as shouting or dumb, so avoiding that kind of stuff will get you far in this community.

That said, I interpret what you're saying as "it's physically possible for anyone to lose weight, but it might not be healthy or the best thing for them to do". I agree with this, and I think it's an important message that the general public has yet to pick up on. You said something else, though, which was "if someone is having health problems due to their weight they should lose it". This implies that losing the weight is always possible to do in a healthy way, and I don't think that's true. Take aussieamazon's example, but imagine if she had diabetes or another issue that is traditionally thought of as being weight-related. The only way she could lose weight, even if she were trying really hard, would be to essentially starve herself - the sudden weight gain at the hospital program when she hadn't changed her healthy eating and exercise habits is proof of this. Physically possible? Sure, but starving yourself isn't healthy for anyone, even if they have weight-related medical problems.

Regarding your own weight loss and body image issues - I'm sorry you felt rejected due to your weight and height, but I'm glad you understand that it's not ALL BBWs who feel that way. There's a board on here for BHMs (big handsome men) and the women who love them, and there are plenty of BBWs who participate on that board (I like short & chubby myself ) I'm sorry you felt you HAD to change your appearance, although I am glad you're feeling better about yourself these days.

Aussieamazonwoman, thank you for sharing your story! It's not boring at all - I appreciate your openness, and I think it's a great example of how health and size are not always connected.

[orin]

Originally Posted by Teleute

Orin, I think I see what you're saying, but I think your message got pretty garbled on the way. Not using all caps and spelling things out will go a long way toward getting people to hear what you're saying. It might not be fair, but a lot of people instantly dismiss posts with all capital letters or abbreviations like "u r" because it comes across as shouting or dumb, so avoiding that kind of stuff will get you far in this community.

That said, I interpret what you're saying as "it's physically possible for anyone to lose weight, but it might not be healthy or the best thing for them to do". I agree with this, and I think it's an important message that the general public has yet to pick up on. You said something else, though, which was "if someone is having health problems due to their weight they should lose it". This implies that losing the weight is always possible to do in a healthy way, and I don't think that's true. Take aussieamazon's example, but imagine if she had diabetes or another issue that is traditionally thought of as being weight-related. The only way she could lose weight, even if she were trying really hard, would be to essentially starve herself - the sudden weight gain at the hospital program when she hadn't changed her healthy eating and exercise habits is proof of this. Physically possible? Sure, but starving yourself isn't healthy for anyone, even if they have weight-related medical problems.

Regarding your own weight loss and body image issues - I'm sorry you felt rejected due to your weight and height, but I'm glad you understand that it's not ALL BBWs who feel that way. There's a board on here for BHMs (big handsome men) and the women who love them, and there are plenty of BBWs who participate on that board (I like short & chubby myself ) I'm sorry you felt you HAD to change your appearance, although I am glad you're feeling better about yourself these days.

Aussieamazonwoman, thank you for sharing your story! It's not boring at all - I appreciate your openness, and I think it's a great example of how health and size are not always connected.

Sometimes I express myself in haste, maybe I should take the time to adequately state my opinions. If text book english is required to be heard on this forum then that is what I shall adhere to from this point on.

I agree that not all weight-loss methods are healthy, alas those who are afflicted with difficulties because of their stature might also have challenges to loose weight also. If one is has a complication, brought on by their weight, and also cannot loose the weight in a healthy manner, then they are stuck between a rock and a hard place.

I am not physician, but I would imagine living a healthy lifestyle could help one to approach a more healthy state. A lot of people mistake size for health, for this is not the case. There are some heavier people who are more active and more healthy than your average person. For instance, i notice a lot of female softball players have a more rubenesque build, but the sport requires a lot of running, that even a thinner average person cannot do.

I hope this clears up a lot of the misunderstandings that were perceived from my previous emotionally charged and rushed rants :-)

[Green Eyed Fairy]

I understand what Orin is saying, I believe.

IF I never ate a piece of chocolate, a chip or cookie again
IF I exercised 90 or more minutes a day
IF I limited myself to 1200 calories a day
IF I took up strength training

I MIGHT get down to 150 lbs and stay there- I consciously decided after exercising an hour a day and eating nothing but lean proteins, fruits, veggies and limiting carbs that it wasn't worth it....and this was ten years ago with a faster metabolism. (I could never get under 200 lbs btw....)
At 150-170 lbs someone is still going to call me fat and try to tell me how to live my life. I know that from personal experience.

Some people out in the world might view it as "giving up" or "being lazy" but those people haven't lived my life so I have a choice: Make other people that don't love or even know me well happy.....or make myself happy.

The decision there was kind of obvious....snickers and pizza have always made better friends than some of the assclowns I have met out in the world.

Being fat.....keeps other people "honest", at least on some level, sometimes. Yeah, I consciously chose it.

[fatlane]

Over size 2? FAT FAT THE WATER RAT

Under size 4? DAMN GIRL U ANOREXIC

Therefore, pity most the women that are size 3... they got it both ways. AND THEY DID NOT CHOOSE THAT FATE!