Why being Overweight Isn't and Shouldn't be Accepted by Society

[Puppylove94]

Being overweight is simply unhealthy. There is no other way to say it. There are SO many health problems that follow obesity such as high blood pressure, diabetes and CVA's (strokes). Can you think of any health benefits of being overweight? No, cause there aren't any.

When you are overweight your body is carrying more than it needs to, hence the term OVERweight. This means you're creating wear and tear on your joints which will eventually lead to arthritis at an earlier age too.

The new "curvy" trend that has begun to take flight in the US is absurd. It's just trying to make people who are overweight feel better about themselves.

Not only is this hurting ourselves but it is hurting our future generations.

The estimated annual medical cost of obesity in the U.S. was $147 billion in 2008 U.S. dollars; the medical costs for people who are obese were $1,429 higher than those of normal weight

-CDC

And we wonder why America is in debt.

Also, 80% of children who are overweight have an overweight parent. Your habits will rub off on your children whether you like it or not. Being overweight is almost like a disease that infiltrates our brain that we continue to spread from generation to generation. It needs to stop and society needs to stop promoting it.

You are making the bad choices that make you overweight- so change them. Even though it's a nice perk that it makes you look physically attractive, it will improve EVERYTHING about your life. You will live a much healthier and longer life.

[Anonymous]

BMI is a poor indicator of "healthy weight".
There is a wide range of "healthy weight".
Personally, I believe that if one has symptoms of metabolic syndrome or has a family history of metabolic syndrome, then THAT should be prevented and treated. The weight issue usually isn't a problem, because the weight on the scale usually means the total pressure that the body is pressing on the scale, and that may be bones, muscles, fat, water, organs, and clothes.

[BertMacklinFBI]

are you single.

[Puppylove94]

Lol yeah

[BertMacklinFBI]

good, I'm coming for you ;)

[Puppylove94]

media1.giphy.com/media/5widgrdyVi5Pi/giphy.gif

[BertMacklinFBI]

media2.popsugar-assets.com/.../...ast-beat-you.gif

[TuMeManques]

Ooooo you've been chosen by the macklin... wow. I've never seen him interested in someone here before 😮👍😎

[BertMacklinFBI]

@TuMeManques hahaha we're all trolling

[Puppylove94]

Speak for yourself 😉 Hahah jkjk

[TuMeManques]

No no, you're a couple... it's official 😉

[RainbowFanGirl]

As a girl who used to be fat I agree. I feel so much better and healthier being slim. My life has been turned around by losing all of the weight. I used to be on the verge of 300 pounds so I was super obese. Now I am at a healthier weight. I also noticed that people treat me better now that I am skinnier.

You have to understand though it's not easy to lose weight and you can't do it overnight so you have to be sympathetic towards that. For me it wasn't easy at all. I cried, I binged ate, I starved. It was a tough battle between me and my body. People think it's easy to say "Just stop eating!" When it is not that easy at all. It's also not cool to bully people who are overweight as you are only turning them away from a healither lifestyle.

And also it's a personal decision to decide to lose weight. Sure it's "unhealthy" and "unattractive" but you cannot force someone to lose weight. That's like forcing someone to stop smoking. You simply can't you have to let them decide for themselves. I took the hard task of deciding I wanted to be healthier and that's what I did.

Bottom is that being fat is unhealthy but we need to be more empathetic to people who want to get healthy and we need to understand that losing weight will never be easy and is hard to accomplish.

[Puppylove94]

Oh yeah I completely agree. I was never obese but i was a bit overweight for a few years in high school. It is hard to lose weight- I'm in the process of doing it right now. I have a ton of respect for those people.

I just find it frustrating how society is letting people accept themselves overweight now.

[Puppylove94]

And good for you for losing that weight ☺️

[RainbowFanGirl]

Ohhh thank you :) Other than that I agree. When you are obese the extra weight is stressful on your joints and it makes it harder to walk. Good for you for dropping the weight as well!

I think we can combat obesity by making healthy foods more accessible. Seriously, healthy organic foods are much more expensive than... let's say, a pack of twinkies. If healthy foods were more affordable then their would be less obese individuals. We need to teach healthy habits to our further generations as well. :P

[Puppylove94]

Well it depends on where you go. A bag of spinach is just as much as a pack of Twinkies. It's just important to pick the right foods and know where to buy stuff. I go to aldi for like all of my fruits and vegetables

[RainbowFanGirl]

I go there too haha 😂 I love how cheap their produce is.
But yeah I meant in genderal. I mean you can go to the gas station and pick up a bag of potato chips for 50 cents. It would be great if they sold veggie chips or something like that in gas stations as well. Know what I mean?

[Puppylove94]

Yeah. Totally. They have fruit cups and veggie cups at my gas station but they're like 2.50... so yeah a lot pricier.

[NearlyNapping]

My mother was overweight most of her adult life. Not super over weight, but enough to cause health problems like diabetes. She ended up losing her ability to walk because of it (neuropathy). She ended up laying in bed for the last few years of her life because of it.

It wasn't until the last year of her life when she realized she was never getting out of that bed and was going to die there. She finally said she wished she had tried harder to lose weight. Her weight killed her and she knew it. Her death was right there in front of her staring her in the face. And she knew she could have prevented it if she had only tried harder.

Yes, she had diabetes. Yes that made it more difficult to lose weight. But she COULD lose weight if she really wanted to. Yes, it takes a lot of willpower. But it can be done. Just like quitting smoking, or quitting drinking, or quitting drugs takes a lot of will power. But all of those things can be done.

It's a choice of losing weight or dying several years too young. That might seem like something in the distant future. But when the time comes most people are going wish like hell they had those extra years. I know my mom did. But by the time she finally admitted it, it was too late.

I don't like talking negatively about fat people. I really don't. But this fat acceptance movement is literally killing people. It has to be countered. It's a major issue that can't be swept under the carpet.

[cross98]

i think its more like "accept that you're fat", once you realize that, you realize what you need to improve. i hate jerks who make shitty remarks on fat people, who actually think abusing fat people= getting them to lose weight. i understand it being unhealthy, i deal with a mom who is obese, she thought that you could eat three hot dogs as long as you exercise. i don't eat tons of junk food, but i have binged every now and then. i don't appear what i weigh. i've seen people who have my weight and they look completely different. i had a male doctor ask me, "do you want to lose weight?" and after i've had so many doctors broadly say," you know you're overweight right? lose the weight. " they didn't care whether i was motivated enough. i think my issue is getting bored of regimens, i'm pretty scatterbrained so its difficult to keep up with routines unless its damn near important and has a deadline. i guess i out education and money first before what i eat and how healthy it is lol. if i have to lose weight just for people to treat me half way decent... their asses are desperately looking for trouble. i get what you mean, but at the same time, its easy to poke poke and poke and not think from the other persons end.

[Sunflower19]

This. 👌👏👏

[MarkRet]

I agree with you, but we live in a world that's getting more automated all the time. Instead of having jobs where we used to do physical work, we now have jobs sitting in an office cubicle clicking a mouse. We get bored clicking a mouse, so we start snacking. We look at fashion magazines, and the models are as skinny as Auschwitz refugees. We sit around all day watching tv, and watch commercials featuring a sandwich so damn big that 3 people should be dividing it. It takes a lot of discipline to say 'no' to all this. When you're a teenager, your metabolism is pretty high, so it can burn a lot of calories, but as you get older, the metabolism slows down, and the fat is even tougher to get rid of.

When I was a kid, I had the opposite problem. I was a skinny kid who couldn't GAIN any weight, but everybody would skinny-shame me. It would get annoying, getting abuse from people that were usually fat themselves. It's like "Hey! If you're gonna make fun of me, then you better be perfect yourself!".

[lostgirl_searching]

I'm overweight and with my height I am obese, at 4'11" I use to weigh 250 and now I'm at 210, and my goal is to be at healthier weight. I have no one to blame but myself. My parents made sure I ate healthy and we always did things that kept us active. My brother and sister are skinny and I was the only one that got myself like this. So I agree with you 100%. Even though I have a long way to go, I feel energetic, I can exercise a lot and run now.
When I was 250 I walked 1 mile and it felt like I ran I was that tired and breathing heavily. After that I finally had enough and started to eat healthy again and lose the weight.

[Puppylove94]

Good for you- good luck with the weight loss!

[lostgirl_searching]

Thank you so much!

[TechieMatera]

And then there's people like me, who have hypothyroidism and severe depression, which is a volatile combination that very easily contributes to why I'm overweight. I've been struggling for years to get the weight off. I go to the gym at least 3 times a week (more if I'm able to escape work), I eat decent portions and healthy meals. I'm constantly on my feet for work and can log at least 10,000 steps daily. I still don't shed a pound.
Sometimes people's weight isn't so black and white, and people telling you "just lose the weight" actually makes you feel like all your efforts are worthless, sometimes making it even HARDER to lose weight.
While I agree being overweight is unhealthy, some people's body chemistry quite literally PREVENTS them from dropping weight as well as a normal person can.

[Puppylove94]

I'm sorry to hear that. I'm very well aware of certain medical conditions that prevent weight loss.

[rgb008]

I agree 100%.
As someone who used to be fat, I can't understand why (some) other overweight people believe there is nothing wrong with being overweight or even obese. I say some because many are trying to lose weight but there are some people who glorify being fat (mostly on youtube) and with the amount of subscribers they have, they aren't putting out a healthy message to all the people they reach out to.

Losing weight makes your life sooooo much better from a health standpoint and also socially. The way strangers treat me is like night and day too.
But health should be the main focus hahaha

[Puppylove94]

Hahah yeah I mean I was slightly overweight once too and you don't really think about the health aspect... you just want to look skinny. Now that people are thinking it "looks" okay to be overweight- they're completely ruling out the fact that it's unhealthy.

[NatashaJ]

You do realize that statistics show when you target people for their weight and force weight loss on them it causes eating disorders and more weight gain? especially on children. So maybe minding your own business and let people do them cause result in weight loss?

[Puppylove94]

And maybe you're overweight and getting defensive? Calm down.

[NatashaJ]

I love how you bring up my weight about it. When I said the truth now tell me are you still not a asshole?

[NatashaJ]

with behaviour like that towards people no one so many little kids are get mentally fucked with people like you treating them like that.

[Puppylove94]

Nope I'm not

[NatashaJ]

Well if your daughter has a eating disorder I know who to blamed.

[NatashaJ]

by the way promoting weight loss is not bad but being a asshat like you and other commenters are on this mytake there a reason why weight loss is not happen for the majority of people that need it.

[Puppylove94]

A majority of the commenters are losing weight or have lost a good amount of weight. I myself have lost about 30 lbs. it's about being real with yourself

[NatashaJ]

Did I say it wasn't that? but you being an asshole earlier to me you just assume I was unhappy fatass like you. When one I'm not and two I just brought up a point and then you being prick about it. With attitudes like that there a reason why there so many people turning to eating disorders and not properly losing weight right. by the way I can be a happy person if I was fat thank you very much. This is why ignorant people like you shouldn't make mytakes about weight loss. Just because you lost 30 pounds you clearly don't know how bad it is for children or certain groups about weight loss in general. Also, you assume fat people are automatically like you who was depressed when that's not true either.

[Puppylove94]

No I don't know how bad it is to inform people about weight loss but I do know how much the obesity rates have increased and it's ridiculous

[NatashaJ]

Yes it has, but being an ass about weight loss to people isn't going to help them now is it? and a lot of people don't know about proper eating habits either so that could put in as a factor.

[NatashaJ]

Again you shouldn't be making mytake about weight loss since you think all fat people are depressed or unhappy about their weight.

[Puppylove94]

They sure as hell shouldn't be happy or comfortable with it. That's why America is becoming obese. Making excuses for people doesn't make it okay. They should learn and change their habits- that's what I said in my last paragraph

[NatashaJ]

And the millions of Americans are a bridge of death with eating disorders is not a issue to you but the fatasses are?

[NatashaJ]

Double standard there you can't say you care about people's health but you don't mind women walking around about to die from starvation.

[Puppylove94]

Anorexia is a problem.. obesity is an epidemic.

[NatashaJ]

See, this is why you again shouldn't be making mytakes because with that attitude more people turn to eating disorders. You real piece of work and I really hope you don't have a child in the future with this bullshit attitude.

[Puppylove94]

I will teach my child how to eat healthy and it will never become an issue. A mytake is about having an opinion. I'm allowed to have whatever opinion I want- as are you.

[NatashaJ]

Yup and my opinion don't be a mother since you clearly going to confuse your kids on what is fat. You act like the major of fat people in America are whales, and when you treat someone who just has some fat on them with whales then you wonder why there so many people with eating disorders. Again in my opinion I don't think you really know what your talking about when it comes to weight.

[Puppylove94]

"More than two-thirds (68.8 percent) of adults are considered to be overweight or obese. More than one-third (35.7 percent) of adults are considered to be obese. More than 1 in 20 (6.3 percent) have extreme obesity. Almost 3 in 4 men (74 percent) are considered to be overweight or obese." Quoted from the national institute of health. That a LOT of overweight people.

[NatashaJ]

Ok and then how does it helps targeting people with these people who are not obese tell me that?

[Puppylove94]

This has nothing to do with people who are a healthy weight? It's to encourage that.

[NatashaJ]

People constantly target people who don't look like a twig and make them feel like they are a fat whale so that is a problem.

[Puppylove94]

I'm not a twig? I'm a healthy weight. This isn't encouraging twigs by any means. If you're guna become bulemic because of this take you need to get info a counselor cause that's not my fault- that's a problem in your way of thinking.

[NatashaJ]

I never call you twig read again

[NatashaJ]

Again assuming I am going to need mental health attention is insulting just like calling me a fatass.

[Puppylove94]

Okay thanks for reading. Have a good night.

[NatashaJ]

I will

[madhatters4]

i don't think we can't paint with such a broad stroke. why is it a matter of accepting or not. if a person chooses to be unhealthy that's on them. i'm not going to not accept them as a human because of that. i accept cigarette smokers, people who speed, people who text and drive, etc so i don't see why it's a matter of accepting or not

we may not agree with people's life choices but as long as they don't impact me i'm not going to categorically not accept them

[Not-present]

The thing is it does bother other people because a lot of money in the medical world is spent on obese people. This money could've been used for so many other sick people who actually can't help being sick. Being fat is thus not only unhealthy but also selfish. That being said I do know there are cases where it's genetic and people can't help being overweight. Those are exceptions and also rare.

[madhatters4]

@Not-present but not all overweight people are a burden on health insurance... so we shouldn't accept certain cases but not fat people overall... it's like cigarettes. some who smoke become a huge burden in healthcare but some don't. so we shouldn't say that all smokers are a burden on society but a specific few

so perhaps we don't accept those who become a burden on society but not necessarily not accept all

[Puppylove94]

Most are. Eventually at the very least...

[madhatters4]

do we know this for a fact? and even if we knew would we apply this belief across all areas of life
if...
most white people were racist... should we not accept white people
most mexicans illegal immigrants... not accept mexicans
most African americans killers... not accept black people
most gay people had AIDs... not accept homosexuality

[Puppylove94]

I'm not saying we should shun them. I'm saying we shouldn't be promoting plus sized models, telling people to accept themselves the way they are etc... that's not guna make them want to change- it's guna make them more comfortable and staying the way they are.

And yes we do know this forsure. There are several medical conditions that follow obesity- many needing surgery, medications etc.

stateofobesity.org/healthcare-costs-obesity/

Here's a very interesting documentary I watched a few weeks ago that does a really good job of explaining the problems of obesity later in life
topdocumentaryfilms.com/.../

[madhatters4]

i definitely understand all the potential ramifications of obesity. but i think we have to understand that being plus sized and being obese aren't necessarily one in the same. i mean marilyn monroe would be considered plus sized today. obviously we wouldn't call her obese.

there are just a lot of variables that go into the matter to suggest that we shouldn't accept people we call obese. their genetics, the basis for what we consider to be a good healthy weight and the variances as it applies to different people, and other factors

[Puppylove94]

yeah we can agree to disagree lol there are a lot of things that going into it, yes. Hoewever, if someone just said they should be overweight cause their parents are overweight and blame genetics- then we're guna be falling down a slippery slope. America is getting way to comfortable with obesity.

[madhatters4]

i don't think we disagree on anything accept for the simple aspect of saying we shouldn't accept someone being overweight categorically

you seem to think we should not accept anyone who is overweight while i believe we have to allow for case by case analysis based on individuals

[chigurl33]

Speaking as someone who is trying to lose some... and succeeding thank god, fat shaming is bad.

I got mine from about twelve years of bullying and depression and I can tell you that when everyone was hammering it to me... I just became more defensive. Now that everyone just leaves me alone... I can think clearly and make my decision that I want to be slimmer. Never want to be skinny though... just don't like the look.

[Puppylove94]

This is fat shaming. But congratulations on your weight lose

[chigurl33]

'Fat shaming is bad'

I can't believe I actually said that... don't type while your phone is dying people. I didn't mean you were fat shaming lol but don't ever... it really doesn't work.

[Puppylove94]

Ahh okay we're on the same page. I meant to put "isn't" not "is" too 😂 Haha

[Maypai]

Not only does it add extra weight to your joints, your ENTIRE body is working twice as harder to keep you alive. When you lose weight you began to feel better about yourself and you're able to do a lot more. Though I don't think being curvy is dangerous. For example that one plus sized model who was causing a stir in the media for her body, she looks to be healthy. But some of these other women, like women who are apart of the fat acceptance movement is unhealthy.

[Puppylove94]

Sorry but I respectfully disagree. That one girl is overweight. There is curvy and there is overweight.

[Maypai]

I can respect that.

[TheRebel69]

Fantastic "MyTake". The "Fat Acceptance" movement only encourages bad behaviour that results in health problems. We wouldn't encourage smoking, so I don't understand why in the hell we'd encourage someone to be overweight.

[Puppylove94]

Because it's easier to just accept being fat than losing weight.

[TheRebel69]

I think at a root level even "Fat" people know there is something wrong and want to change it, it's the emotional distress behind letting yourself get to that point and accepting that only you have the power to change it that results in them either going through with the weight loss, or they masquerade among the "Fat Acceptance" movement, where they pretend everything is okay. Deep down they still know.

[Puppylove94]

Oh of course they do. It weights down on them.. literally.

[TheRebel69]

But therein lies the problem of this movement, once they actively take the approach to pretend everything is okay and then disconnect themselves from reality in favour of the echo chamber of other people involved with said movement, it's almost disastrous because at that point they've chosen to put logic aside in favour of feelings, and it's almost impossible to bring someone back from that. This day in age where feelings seem to take precedent over logic, it's why we see this type of nonsense at a all time high.

[Anonymous]

First it's the cultural aspect of why people and kids are overweight. The food in America is portioned differently in other countries. The curvy thing is because you see women who are sticks modeling and telling you that's how I a women should be and that is not. Some women have huge tits and nicer hips and a butt that's curvy. There is a difference between fat and curvy curvy girls have flat stomachs just more assets then certain women. Some women genetically have more fat on their hips they can't help that. I agree being healthy and exercising helps. For some it's easier said then done, the mind is the most powerful tool and sometimes it can make lead you into destruction if you allow it.

[Anonymous]

First of all, I get what you mean but a healthy weight is a broader spectrum than you might think. Physical health depends a lot on eating healthy food and exercise. I used to be what a lot of people have considered "fat" as a teenager (about a size 16) and while I wasn't that pleasing to the eye, I was completely healthy. I ate a balanced diet and exercised 3 regularly. I've lost weight and am now a size 8-10, but my physical health isn't better than it was then. We should encourage healthy eating, exercise AND body love, so we can fix both the obesity problem and the fixation on thin = healthy.

[Puppylove94]

Did you not read the mytake? Lol it IS unhealthy to be that size no offense. Congrats on losing weight but extra weight is ALWAYS going to be unhealthy to your joints and organs.

[Opinion Owner]

I read it and to be honest, I am kind of offended. I don't know how far you've done your reading on obesity but the standard medical definition is at a BMI of 30, which I never reached. This is the point where your body fat and weight start to really endanger your joints and internal organs. And being overweight (which I indeed was, slightly) isn't obesity. Also, in case you didn't do the reading, which I assume from your reply, even the BMI has been labeled inaccurate because it doesn't consider fat distribution, which plays an extremely important role and doesn't have a distinction between muscle mass and fat.
Plus, if you really want to get in on that topic, you should be paying attention to RECENT research. The myth of the unhealthy overweight person is currently under fire because a pretty recent study found out that not every overweight person is unhealthy. I will happily provide sources if you want some :)

[Puppylove94]

19-24.9 is healthy. I have done my research.. I just took a nutrition class actually.

If you are carrying more weight, your joints are doing more work, and your more likely to develop arthritis at an earlier age. The only exception to that would be a large muscle mass because it would be helping the joints, reducing the overall body mass.

I was once slightly overweight as well. i day this because I know how I thought in that period of my life. I made excuses- which is what society is doing now. Society is making people feel better about being overweight by saying it's okay and it's attractive. It isn't all about attractiveness- it's about health.

[Puppylove94]

Not overall- I meant net body mass

[Puppylove94]

18-24.9... my bad typing error

[Opinion Owner]

Listen, now I don't want you to be offended but a nutrition class can't one-up medical research. I've never denied that putting extra weight on your joints isn't bad but as I was saying, the critical line is at around 30, being slightly overweight has shown to barely increase any risk of illnesses coming from obesity. And again, BMI doesn't take other factors like physical fitness, nutrition and fat distribution into account, which are medically speaking, a better indicator of health than a simple number. The BMI is just a guideline and if it is slightly higher than normal but the person is taking care of themselves health wise, I haven't met a single doctor who would go "oh but they're fat by a number that's been highly criticized in the medical field, so they're unhealthy".

[Mofunfour20]

I think the depression that comes with being overweight is the biggest setback. self conscious about getting help when they're constantly comparing themselves to others. First step to getting the results is acknowledging the problem. can't happen til you moderate consumption

[Rissyanne]

Due to an chronic illness that I have... Crohn's disease... I have joint pain and muscle pain. When I go to the gym at least 3 times a week... I dont hurt. That right there will tell you that exercise is good for you. My friends about my age will complain about hurting and just sit there. I tell them to get off their butt and get moving.

[Puppylove94]

Yeah your bones release more calcium when they're just sitting. So you're increasing your chance of getting osteoporosis the more you sit

[Uhhjsshshdh]

While I definitely think that being average weight or fit is definitely healthier and more attractive for sure, some people can't help being overweight. It could be health problems, side effects due to medicine, depression, etc.

It's not fair to place blame on them.

[TheOldMan59]

You make a number of good points. Even so, I think people should address their weight problems because they want to, not because they are shamed into it. It's like telling an alcoholic to stop drinking. He knows he's killing himself, but maybe he's okay with that.

[Thatguy269]

Fat and curvy are different. I myself prefer a woman with a body with some meat/curves, than a female that looks like a child with a boney body.

[nyqii_xox]

I agree. Though we should judge people who is over weight, they shouldn't harm themselves but rather try to start exercising (*really unsure of spelling) and eat healthy. It's not wrong to be overweight but it's unhealty and unsafe.
Still we shouldn't judge them or make fun of them. It is their choice and maybe they are trying to change