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April 11, 2006
Let's talk about fat people
I'm not going to use any euphemisms here - I'm not horizontally challenged, I'm not fluffy, I'm not pouffy, I'm fat.
You know, I am not a lazy person. I did not get fat on purpose. I am not a weak-willed bum. I am not poverty stricken. I don't even like sweets, except for an occasional ounce of dark chocolate.
In fact, I'm extremely busy - but my job is very sedentary. I travel all over the place, don't sleep well because of the time changes and when I travel I usually have to eat out because hotels with kitchen suites are not always in the travel budgets.
I have spent the bulk of my life being ... bulky. For example, here is a picture of me when I was one:
No matter what I did when I was a teenager, I was always a size 11 or 13. Didn't seem to matter much, I had plenty of dates and plenty of boyfriends, and I was very active - rode horses, water-skied, rode my bike all over the place and walked a lot.
I am from an upper-middle-class family. John and I are in the upper-middle-class income bracket - yet I'm still fat.
The thinnest I have ever been in my life was when I was 40 - I got down to 150 pounds and wore a size 8 or size 9. I was fairly muscular, but then, life interveened and I had to work a lot of hours, and the martial arts class 4 nights a week had to go. I slowly gained weight over the next 12 years until I am where I am now - too fat to divulge! I try to exercise when I can (though arthritis pain makes it very difficult, even with celebrex) and I eat carefully. I know that the big problem here is age and my high stress, sedentary job. I make the big bucks, as far as I'm concerned, but I am glued to computers, data centers, meetings and phones - doesn't leave much time for a daily walk.
So, I get pretty pissed when I see that people like the Queen of Dumb, Megan McAardle and others arrogantly insist that anyone can lose weight, and do it easily and that those of us who weigh too much are morally corrupt.
Let's see - I am a productive citizen, I pay my taxes, I am a home owner and mother and a wife. I have a very good job, and my clients absolutely love me. I am smarter than the average bear, and my genetics are aparently closely related to said bear. (I was adopted, so I have no idea what my genetic forebears look like).
I rarely get sick. I have never been hospitalized in my 53 years except to give birth - so I'm NOT using more than my fair share of medical stuff. I am creative, and sometimes even kinda funny.
But some people condemn me because I'm a size 18, not a size 8.
Again, I would prefer to be back to 150 pounds, and I am working toward that, but even when I do eventually lose weight, I would never expend any energy snarking people who do not fit the picture of perfection as a skinny-ass woman or pencil-necked man.
I understand that everyone is terribly concerned about obesity in children - but you know - it's not the food they eat at school or at home that makes them fat - it is the lack of exercise.
When I was in school, we had gym class for one hour each day - many public schools have gym twice a week, and spend half that time learning about health/drugs/etc while sitting down.
And then at home, American parents have become so overly paranoid about the possibility of abduction, that they don't allow the kids to go outside and play.
When was the last time you saw kids playing hide and seek or tag or riding bikes together?
That was very common activity when I was a kid.
So, the answer to childhood obesity would have two parts -
1. Schools need to have PE every day.
2. parents need to make kids go outside and play and make friends and run around the neighborhood!!!
The answer to adult obesity -
1. Companies need to not expect people to put in 12 to 14 hours a day at a desk job.
2. Society needs to shut the fuck up about it and those of us with the problem will be able to go out in public for walks, etc., without the fear of being abused by assholes who think they are better than the rest of us.
Posted by Beth at April 11, 2006 11:01 AM