Fat People

I've been going on tirades about this with some friends and I suppose living in Asia for 3 1/2 years has contributed to this and hopefully after saying my piece here, I'll finally be able to stop fat people-hating.

I don't hate fat people per se. I don't like people who are fat who complain about being fat and turn around and eat three glazed donuts. I don't like that fat people are celebrated in ways that they shouldn't be. The excuses (many of the times) is pure bullshit and I'm actually pretty heartless about it.

Now, keep in mind, there's a vast difference between fat and curvy. VAST. Curvy simply means you have a lot of curves, big boobs, big butt, big thighs, etc. You can't help it. That's fine, beautiful, and in this culture, celebrated. However, you can help the fat on those curves. That's what I mean by fat. I mean the fat as in it's tiring for you to get up and sit down. I mean the fat where people have to move aside to let you through. I mean the fat where it gets in the way for your daily life, where it starts affecting your health. I'm talking about the fat where your stomach sticks out so much that it's difficult to bend over and for women, people often mistake you for being pregnant. I'm talking about the fat on your body - call it body percent fat, where it folds over on itself and there are rolls. There are a multitude of excuses people have and it's all bullshit.

"I can't help it." Yes you can. Eat less. Start exercising. Then perhaps try to start eating healthier. FIGURE IT OUT. Humans were not created to be dumb - we have the one characteristic that other animals don't have, which is a history of knowledge that allows us to learn from dumb things humans did in the past (though some situations and some repeated mistakes indicate that perhaps humans will never learn......). We also are extremely adaptable - your body will get used to it and the results will show. Stop being a baby about it. Personally, I'd rather die still being able to move than being bedridden and crawling just to get around. Perhaps that's just me.

"I'm beautiful for the way I am." No, you're simply being unhealthy. I don't care how beautiful you think you are, you're going to die a horrible death. Okay, I'm exaggerating. A little. Seriously, the health risks go up exponentially when you're fat. Think about it.

"It's a family condition." And yet, there's so much one can do to alleviate such things. Humans were not created equal physically speaking. Some people are tall, others are short. Some have curly hair, others straight. Some have perfect skin, others have to deal with acne for the rest of their lives. Some people are hairy, others are pretty much hairless. People have genetic predispositions to things, yes, I get that. Just because it's "unfair" that the skinny bitch-friend you have can eat just about anything and not get fat does not give you an excuse to do the same. Some people can't eat the same things others can - that's just the way it works. Same thing with food allergies and lactose intolerance. FIGURE IT OUT. Just because one is more predisposed to obesity doesn't mean that one will be stuck being obese. No one who has a genetic predisposition for cancer is going to sit there and actively contribute to getting that cancer, now are they? How does it make any sense that someone with a genetic predisposition towards obesity will try to contribute to their obesity?

"But it's so good." So is smoking to people who can't quit. It doesn't change the fact that you're slowly eating yourself to death. (Yes, it's another extreme way of putting it, but sometimes I wonder, is it really?)

Now, that's not to say that food addiction doesn't exist. That is a problem and I remember watching this TV show where the person was likening their food addiction with a drug addiction. The person said, "Try telling a heroine addict that they can only have a small amount of heroine, three times a day." It's pretty much impossible to do, y'know? In that sense, the problem is far more complex than simply "Stop eating so much and exercise." So yes, I get that obesity with certain people is a problem. For the vast majority of Americans, it's simply laziness and complacency because people don't think it's that big of a deal. I say Americans because the rest of the world (at least what little I've seen of it) is not that fat or that unhealthy.

What's the problem with Americans? The food sucks. Oh, but what about the decadence? It isn't decadent, it's just sugar, butter and oil. Seriously, where are the flavors? Oh, MSG? Yeah, that's not really all that good. Try not to have it for a while. When you try to eat it again, it's actually kind of really nasty. The very food culture of America is why Americans are so freaking fat. If I want to go out and eat, my choices are severely limited by the fact that I want to eat healthy. So what do I do? I end up eating at home. Cooking's hard, especially for people who don't like it. So basically there's this problem of not cooking and going out to eat or buying things that are easy to make and it all being full of preservatives and all sorts of other nasty things.

But that's not an excuse. Fat is fat. Fat is unhealthy. And it's gross.

That's not to say that the skinny people out there are necessarily any better. Bulimia, anorexia and the rest stem from this problem with body image. Yes yes yes, everyone wants to look good, media promotes that women (and men to a certain extent) have to look a certain way, blah blah blah. This conversation's been reiterated so many times it's nauseating to rehash.

What it comes down to is this: if you think you're fat, how healthy are you? Do you exercise regularly? Do you eat healthy? (and don't be forgiving, I mean healthy to an extreme - few desserts, cutting out a vast majority of the unhealthy fat and sugar, etc. People's diets will differ because different types of food work differently with different people - just the way it is. Some people can process a lot of carbs, others need to cut down on them, etc.) Do you overeat a lot? I actually think this is one of the biggest problems in America. The portions are HUGE and for whatever reason, everyone feels like they need to finish everything. When you overeat, the only person to suffer is you. It's like shooting yourself in the foot and trying to run a marathon. You aren't going to get very far. Why would you do that to yourself?

If you're doing all the above and you still think you're fat, then y'know what? Hey, you're doing what you can and I have nothing to say. Power to you. You probably look better than you think you do. And you probably feel a lot better too. That's what's important. If you feel healthy, then honestly, who gives a crap about how you look? (Note that feeling good has nothing to do with it - there is a difference.)

The sad thing about this post though, is that I too am guilty of eating unhealthy. Like I said, the culture tends to that. We celebrate birthdays with a cake. We bake people cookies/baked good for various reasons or give out candy to children for various holidays (Easter, Halloween, etc.). Candy and chocolate make quick snacks.

I like my chocolate. I think though, what people don't realize is how unhealthy these things are. Everything in moderation - that's the key to health (or so I've heard). Yet the amount of sugar in one cookie, or in one cupcake or doughnut already exceeds that "moderation" or balance that one apparently should seek when it comes to sugar/fat intake. In the end, I don't know. I guess it was a pretty big shock to me when I came back to America and I went from being "normal" in Asia to "skinny." And I don't think I'm particularly skinny because I associate skinny with unhealthy too.

And when it comes down to it, I shouldn't even be judging people for what they eat, especially because I'm not perfect either. I keep going through these ridiculous phases of various types of unhealthy food - chocolate (though dark chocolate is healthier and thankfully, it's also what I like), doughnuts (this one was bad), red velvet anything (mainly cakes and cupcakes).... Still, I try to keep the portions down (usually 1/4 or less of what is there...). And because I've been eating healthier, eating less and exercising pretty much every day, my body rejects all the fatty crap that I shouldn't be eating. My body complains when I eat too much grease and I'm thankful for that because then I listen and I stop.

Anyway, I started going on this huge random tangent, but now I'm going to make it into a separate post.

So yeah. Fat people. I don't hate them. I just think they're the epitome of unhealthiness and laziness. Yes, I'm overgeneralizing. I have several bigger friends and I don't judge them for being the size that they are. I worry about their health and encourage them to be healthy (which is pretty much all I can do as a friend, right?) but I don't judge them simply because of their size. I think what it comes down to is that the very existence of a group of people who are unhealthy to the point where it physically manifests itself is why I am so heartless to the idea of fat people (moreso than the individuals themselves). And in many ways, I blame culture for it.

Eh, it's a problem that can't be solved, which is why I think I bitch about it so much. Maybe somewhere in my head, I think that if I talk about it enough, the problem will spontaneously get fixed somehow. *shrug*