Posted on 11/27/2005 6:51:42 AM PST by FerdieMurphy
The NHS in east Suffolk has announced that it will no longer perform hip or knee replacements on people classed as “obese”. Never mind that the definition it uses for obesity — a body mass index of 30 or higher — is increasingly discredited, and that a much more reliable way of measuring healthy weight is waist-to-hip ratio. (It should be 0.9 or less in men, and 0.85 or less in women; you can check it on www.healthstatus.com/calculate/whr ).
A greater objection to this denial of treatment to fatties on account of their self-inflicted fatness is: where on earth do you stop?
Should NHS dental treatment be denied to women who eat too much chocolate? Should the hugely expensive course of anti-retroviral drugs for HIV be denied to promiscuous homosexuals, or sex tourists recently returned from Pattaya Beach? For that matter, what about women who have dieted rather than gluttonised all their lives, neglecting their calcium intake and so risking osteoporosis in later life?
Fatties surely have just as much right to be treated on the NHS as smokers, binge drinkers, or any other taxpayers. Instead of threatening plump people’s already threatened health by denying them treatment, how about giving them the new bits they need, while encouraging them to lose weight with a little gentle, old-fashioned mockery?
Fatties should of course be free to squeeze out of the closet, their XXXL T-shirts emblazoned with such legends as “Fat and Happy!” “Out, Stout and Proud!” and so forth. What they cannot demand, I think, is the right to be free from teasing, either in the playground or in later life. There is and always will be something innately funny about fat people. They wobble so much, for one thing.
I was once stranded for 24 hours in Houston, self- proclaimed Fat Capital of the World, and I have never seen so many enormously fat people in my life, nor felt such a juvenile but well-nigh irrepressible urge to laugh out loud. The reason they are all so fat is that they drive everywhere, and stuff themselves from dawn till long after dusk with double choc-chip deep fried spicy pepperoni monster pizzas topped with extra cheddar-style cheese, and gallon bargain-buckets of buffalo wings on the side. This is not a dignified way to behave.
But laughing at fatties is no longer encouraged in the Land of the Fat and Home of the Brave. Take their National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance. Members recently staged a demonstration in New York, dressed in grass hula skirts, tiaras and flamingo headbands, throwing beach balls around and dancing the “hokey-pokey fat liberation” song. They then solemnly stepped onto scales modified with supportive words like “stunning”, “pretty” and “beautiful” instead of numbers. This is not going to help their condition any more than the mean-spirited health services in east Suffolk.
Obesity is well on the way to becoming the No 1 cause of death in the developed world, which in itself is no joke. In a few decades’ time everywhere will look like Houston, or worse still, the Freedom Paradise resort in Mexico, which boasts reinforced beds, double-width doors, and dining chairs 26in wide but without arms in case they get stuck to diners’ wider-than-26in bottoms when they stand up.
Cindy Sabo, spokeswoman for the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, has given Freedom Paradise her seal of approval. Placing herself in the “oversize” category at around 400lb, Sabo recalls “some terrible experiences with some other tourists” on a recent holiday in Hawaii. “Especially some people from Asian countries would walk right up to you on the beach, poke you in the belly and make some rude joke.” What a marvellous image: a crowd of lean little Chinese people gathered around an enormous American woman, poking and prodding her delightedly while she lies there in the Hawaiian sand, huffing and puffing with a self-righteous indignation quite lost on them.
Being overweight is hardly the greatest sin one can commit, pace the doctors and consultants of east Suffolk. But that doesn’t mean obesity is an entirely neutral “lifestyle option” either. It isn’t a cardinal or mortal sin, but a venal one. But obesity does betray self-indulgence, a lack of self-control and a habit of mostly solitary greed.
Despite the protests of fatties that it’s their metabolism that is responsible, or their genes, we all know that those among our friends who incline to porkiness are almost always the ones who chomp their way through an entire packet of Chocolate HobNobs when the rest of us make do with one or two.
A certain mockery, a certain hearty Chaucerian laughter at human weakness and venality, can have a beneficial purpose; although, like shame, it is a social mechanism rather out of fashion. It might not only provoke merriment, but also suggest to its “victims” that perhaps they ought to consider their ways and be wise; or in modern parlance, review their lifestyle choices.
Laughing at fat people might be the first step on the road to them losing weight. And then those sternly Calvinistic medical men of east Suffolk might not have to bother about fitting them with new knees anyway.
Baloney.
They aren't eating less and less, unless they consider 3 calories as a reduction in food intake. If they say that and still gain fat, then one of three things is happening:
1. They are exercising NOT AT ALL. Which means that their eating less isn't catching up with the non-exercising.
They HAVE to eat less and exercise. You HAVE to do both or the entire discussion is about nothing but flapping of gums.
EXERCISE, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise, exercise.
Get it?
Without the exercise they won't lose the fat for very long. It WILL come back, with a vengeance. They don't seem to "get it" and EXERCISE is never mentioned.
I wrote about the obese's TOTAL ignoring of exercise. They ALWAYS focus ONLY on food....which is half of their problem.
*If they focused on EXERCISE the way they focus on FOOD, which is what you do, they wouldn't be obese.
**If they focused on EXERCISE the way they focus on FOOD, which is what you do, they wouldn't be obese.
***If they focused on EXERCISE the way they focus on FOOD, which is what you do, they wouldn't be obese.
If they exercise one hour a day (45 minutes of aerobic and 1/4 hour of strength training and eat less (1200 calories/day, standard food pyramid) then they are defying the laws of universal physics.
2. They are lying.
3. They are aliens whose body chemistry responds differently to universal physics.
Also, everyone shouldn't eat the same diet. Some people are more sensitive to carbohydrates and should eat mostly protein and veggies; whereas some people are less sensitive to carbs and should eat less protein and fat, but more carbs. That's why there are success stories for all the diets: hi-protein Atkins; hi-carb Pritikin; and mid-range Zone. But the food pyramid and American medical dogma is a hodgepodge of all of them, and leaves us w/ 60% of adults overweight.
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The hodgepodge dogma is one that focuses ONLY on food and pretends that exercise isn't HALF or more of the equation. Sensitivity to carbs? Please, the sensitivity is to MOVING BUTTS and eating FEWER carbs.
Salt, sugar and fat make food taste good. In fact, they make food taste! One must make one's peace with food. One HAS to eat everything, desserts included.
It's all about PORTION control, which is pure self-control. It's not hard to keep track of every calorie that goes into mouth. One can know almost exactly how many calories one eats in a day. One can STOP eating for the day after 1200 calories is reached.
It's about MOVING BUTTS, which is pure self-control.
Success stories with diets are only success stories if fatties exercise and eat less for the rest of their lives. Otherwise, sadly, it's diet time all the time.
Their health is NUMBER ONE. That should be their primary focus. That WOULD include exercise. Then, their second focus should be functional capacity, being able to do their jobs and daily living. Nothing else should matter.
Fatties usually set themselve up to lose....everything but fat. NOW, they have the advocates to make excuses for them and keep them victims of everything but their own lack of self-discipline and responsibility.
"They aren't eating less and less, unless they consider 3 calories as a reduction in food intake. If they say that and still gain fat, then one of three things is happening:
1. They are exercising NOT AT ALL. Which means that their eating less isn't catching up with the non-exercising."
They were eating less and less. What happens when you diet is that your metabolism slows down, and every time you diet, you slow it down a little more. I also suspect that they started out with slower than average metabolisms. (Metabolisms can vary by as much as 800 calories/day for the same size person.) So...after a lifetime of dieting, their bodies have adjusted and now require that they diet permanently. (Aren't our bodies amazing!!)
You're right that they don't exercise. They're both older and back in the day, women were told to diet--sweating was for men. I only know one of them now, and I think her hip is in too bad a condition to exercise (except maybe she could work on a stationary bike?), but if she could, I think that would help her problem a great deal. The problem is, she has repeatedly lost 100+ lbs by dieting alone, so she doesn't think she needs to exercise.
There is also a big difference between how people's bodies respond to fat and carbs. That's why there's the Atkins diet, the Pritikin diet, and the Zone diet, and people who do well on each of them. People who stick to your program probably do well on it, and the people who drop out may be doing so for reasons other than just "lack of discipline."
The people who stick to my problem DO well on it, no "probably" about it.
Those who drop out do so for LACK OF DISCIPLINE. But, I have heard all the excuses.....all of'em. Lol. It is AMAZING the excuses that people come up with. Call it what you want. It IS, at the very source, lack of discipline.
They don't wanna. They don't hafta.
So, if they don't wanna and they don't hafta, they ain't GONNA.
HEALTH and FUNCTIONAL CAPACITY are the major issues. If they don't do what they know they should do, then they suffer the consequences of obesity....and those are unpleasant at best.
This isn't about chunkies, love handles or 25 - 50 lbs extra. This is about obesity, having 50% or more blubbler on the body.
They will suffer immeasurably from a host of medical problems and they will probably die young...not live much past their early 70's, with years of very unpleasant quality of life.
That is THEIR choice of lifestyle.
That has NOTHING to do with their character as a human and as one of God's children.
But don't whine, blame others (example, suing MacDondald's), carb sensitivity or the wrong diet and, please, don't be a victim. Please.
Good point.
I have told my granddaughter , who tends to be chubby, not to do that. If you are truly hungry sit down and have a meal or a snack. Savor the flavor, eat slowly and enjoy it and make sure you remember eating it.
I've heard people say that they haven't eaten all day when I've seen them snacking all day. They just didn't sit down and eat a meal but have had more calories than if they had.
Laughing at fat people might be the first step on the road to them losing weight.
---Yeah, that's real mature. Sounds like grade school bullies.And no, I am not overweight but I was taught better manners than to laugh at someone just because they are . Some of these same people that laugh and make their fat jokes are ugly as hell on the inside so who are they to judge. Flame on.
No...it's not necessarily a lack of discipline. For example, if you tried to put me on a low-fat, high-carb diet, within about three days I would feel sick and exhausted (I've tried them). If someone like me goes off such a program, it's good common sense, not lack of discipline.
Another example is that I used to walk almost two hours a day because I did dog rescue and I had up to five dogs to walk (and for various reasons I had to walk them two by two). Anyway, I did this for a number of years and lost no weight, even though I was overweight. Then, I cut way back on grains and sugars, and I slowly lost 20 pounds with no dieting or extra effort.
Calories in/calories out are not the only things that effect weight.
I'm sure the industry's switch from sugar to High Fructose Corn Syrup is the #1 contributor, with trans-fats and various preservatives used in pre-packaged foods being #2 and #3.
"I'm sure the industry's switch from sugar to High Fructose Corn Syrup is the #1 contributor, with trans-fats and various preservatives used in pre-packaged foods being #2 and #3."
I'm sure those are factors, but I am equally sure that there are infectious microbial factors.
"NOW, they have the advocates to make excuses for them"
People who are able to do something often assume that everyone is equally able, if they'd only try hard enough.
It's like dyslexia. Before they discovered it, dyslexic children were often punished for not applying themselves.
I think that you will always be one of those folks who simply will not get it. Exercise and eat fewer calories seems out of your realm of reality. You will try all sorts of different diets, have a million different reason for failing....all the while not understanding such a basic simple technique of eating the SAME kinds of foods you always eat, but fewer of them....and exercising, knowing that exercise will increase your appetite, which will involve DISCIPLINE to NOT eat more calories.
It's too simple to grasp for you, dear.
Sorry I wasted your time.
"Going on a low-fat and high carb diet was stupid. Where was your "common sense" in choosing this?
Meat is ENERGY. Of course you would be exhausted!
You should eat the SAME thing you would normally eat, BUT less of it. Got it? FEWER calories, not different ones, just FEWER! Why do you insist on missing the point? Lol."
I did eat meat. That wasn't the issue.
I didn't need to eat the SAME thing I normally ate. I lost weight when I cut grains and sugars from my "normal" diet, and I probably consumed more calories because I ate more fat. But I still lost weight.
If I had already been eating the right diet for me, yes I could have just eaten less. But then again if I had been eating the right diet for my metabolism, I wouldn't have put on the weight in the first place.
Why do you insist on missing the point?
Lol. Now obesity is like dyslexia? Wow. That is a leap in logic. That isn't a valid comparison at all.
Dyxlexia is a genetic abnormality.
Gluttony and sloth are not genetic abnormalities.
Not everyone has the same amount of energy, drive or ambition. This is true. Being chunky or 25-50 lbs overweight is fairly "normal" but obesity is having a body that is 50% (or more) fat. That takes a lot of work to eat so much for so long without compensatory exercise.
Obese people work very hard at both gluttony and sloth. They seem to ignore the hardship they inflict on others around them by their lifestyle. They always focus on "poor me," "woe is me" and "I try so hard and I can't help myself."
Staying health and functionally capable is not easy work; that is just life. But, most people work at it because of many reasons--often revolving around staying fit for their families and friends. Obsesity involves tremendous self-absorption, self-hate....SELF. Altruism, that is, thinking outside the box of self, is a part of character, not gentics. People have to be TAUGHT to think of others besides themselves, their problems, their food, their health.
Obstinate obese people will always look for the magic pill and the medical reason for being able to stuff their faces while sitting firmly and eternally on their behinds.
And that's okay. People CHOOSE their lifestyle, whatever that is. It's their choice and they are less of a person for being that way. They really aren't.
But, listening to the excuses......please. At least be honest and admit reality. AA tells people to admit being an alcoholic. GA makes people admit to a gambling addiction.
EXCUSES fool lots of people, not me. Sorry, been in the fitness business too long to believe the excuses.
I don't feel sorry for obese people either. They are NOT pathetic or stupid. They simply eat too much and exercise too little.
I KNOW that people can change.....that is the beauty of the human will and character.
"Gluttony and sloth are not genetic abnormalities."
You refuse to admit other causes of obesity. I guess I'll check back with you after those causes are proven and see if your position has changed.
You couldn't be more correct. Walking, bicycling, you name it - anything done near a city street and some idiot that 'doesn't see you' will cream you with their vehicle.
Even taking the stairs is difficult. If I'm in a building where there is stair access I'll always head for them only to invariably find numbers of sketchy characters lurking about.
Because your point makes NO sense to me.
Lol. But, if I read you right, and I think I do, you will come up with MORE excuses, more explanations of how it's all the type of carbs/proteins you eat, your sensitivity issues and the "right" diet for your unique metabolism.
You will NOT discuss anything like self-discipline, eating fewer calories of a NORMAL pyramid diet and NOT, definitely NOT exercising. You will NOT go down that road.
And so, you will continue down the same ole road you are on now--and not change.
So, go ahead. Don't listen; go sit on your sofa and have a bag of double chunk chocolate chip cookies, with Diet Pepsi, of course. Bon apetite! Then, go watch T.V. for the rest of the evening.
By the way, I am also a Republican in California. :o) I like our governator. You might ask HIM how to lose weight. He will tell you the same thing I just did...and then you will argue with him too. Oh well.
If you read my FIRST post, I started in with BARRING SERIOUS MEDICAL PROBLEMS............"
Genetics probably play a part in obesity in the PROCLIVITY to having thyroid problems, other medical problems, etc. Genetics = proclivity.
Genetics are not our destiny.
We have free will and backbone to deal with the proclivities of genetics.
Alcoholism, addictions, energy levels, etc., can be traced to genetic proclivities. But to blame sloth and gluttony and morbid obesity on GENETICS is simply denying our humanity, our free will and our ability to change.
That goes to character, which is NOT genetic.
You are not unique. Humans have been searching for the magic pill throughout human history. They have bought pills, potions, medicines, snake oil, ointments, herbs, charms, devices, voodoo dolls, you name it, all promises of getting SOMETHING for nothing.
There have been unscrupulous salespeople selling these magic things since the beginning of humanity to people who want things....the easy way. The diet industry is a multi-billion dollar industry because people are promised slimness with just a few weeks of something easy to do or eat.
You wait for modern medicine to take away ALL the blame from you and tell you "It's not your fault that you eat WAY too much and WON'T exercise. It's genetics. You can't help it."
The problem is that even if it were genetics, then what? You will want the cure to come from medicine and STILL not control your appetite or do exercise. You will want medicine to find a cure for your sloth and gluttony.
What if the doctors say, "It's genetics. It's not your fault, but we have no cure for the genetics. You will have to eat LESS food and exercise more"???
Then what? Will you demand a medical remedy? What if there is none? What then? Will you stay obese, have a terrible quality of life, make your family and friends miserable and die too young? Or will you change?
Sooner or later, the buck stops with you. But, you know that, I think.
I have similar issues with sketchy characters. My biggest problem this time of the year is weather and darkness. If conditions are bad, I substitute my walks with additional sit-ups, push-ups, and crunches.
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