I just read some internet posts where people were arguing "Is fat sexy?" Of course, as you'd expect, the vast majority of people said that it isn't. A bunch of other people said things akin to "beauty is in the eye of the beholder." But the one thing that kept coming up over and over no matter which side of the argument I read (and something that has irked me for years) was the notion that it was better if a person were "a healthy weight." Why does this irk me? Because I happen to think that the whole obesity epidemic is bullshit. It makes my skin crawl to know that if a fat person and a skinny person walk into a room, the skinny person is automatically assumed to be "healthy"even if they're holding a cigarette or their 4th beer.
I think it's the greatest hypocrisy ever that people have been brainwashed into believing that being thin is healthy. In theory, it should be true. But as an overweight woman, I think it's safe to say that throughout my life, most of my friends and colleagues were what you would call "healthy weight" individuals. Yet, for every 10 of those people, I could name 1 who actually worked out regularly and 1 who ate healthy on a regular basis. The other 8 smoked, abused a drug or two or did harmful things to their bodies to maintain that "healthy weight". So then, I ask, how is it they get the "healthy" seal of approval and I don't? I am heavier than those 10 friends but I've never smoked, I work out pretty regularly and I generally make attempts to eat healthy. I have had bouts with bulimia in the past and decided that it was healthier to just let the food remain in my belly than to hurt my throat and digestive system by throwing it up. Yet, I know this is a weight management tool many skinny people employ. How is that healthier than just allowing yourself to be somewhat heavier?
I think the media attention around weight has reached a point of hysteria. I can't turn on my TV without hearing how we all need to be thinner for our health. Biggest Loser makes my stomach turn. Yes, those people should try to take off weight. It is healthier to weigh less. I'm not arguing that the extra weight is good for you. I'm arguing that it's gone too far and people seem fine with watching someone practically kill themselves for several weeks on TV to be thin and that is deemed acceptable. Frankly, I've tried to lose weight the sensible way - watching what I eat and exercising. It is nearly impossible. I was successful one time and that was only after I committed to a year where I would eat one meal a day (which I would break down into 2 or 3 tiny meals) and I worked out daily for 2 hours. It took a whole year and finally 40lbs came off. I did this during a year when I was taking a break from singing because that 2 hours would have been practice time and I just couldn't fit both activities into a normal day. Do most people understand what it means to work a full time job, have a life and still manage to put aside 2 hours a day to go to the gym (plus time getting there and back) and to obsess all day every day about NOT eating? No. Until you've lived like that for a year, to only lose 40lbs, you don't know. You can't imagine giving up that much of your time and energy when there is so much more you'd rather be doing.
I've come to the conclusion that for people like me, maybe we need a kamakazi weight loss approach. Maybe we need several weeks at a camp where we're being deprived and where a drill sargeant is in your face screaming to make you sweat for 8 hours a day. That might be the only way I'll ever get all this weight off. I DO think that there are many people out there who CAN'T take off weight without going to some extreme measures. And THAT can be unhealthy and impractical and, unless you have a lot of money or get on a show like Biggest Loser, you're just not going to have that chance. So I get mad when I hear skinny people on TV who have never really had to lose a substantial amount of weight, doling out advice about how it's done. Maybe the formulas don't work for a lot of people and what makes them unhealthy is their ever desperate attempts to lose the weight.
The NIH doles out money to whatever research is "sexiest" and for the past 10 years it's been very en vogue to do studies on obesity. The numbers get skewed in a lot of these studies and there are misrepresentations. Why? Because people need to keep this going because it's paying bills. Insurance companies love it because they're hoping soon they can justifiably charge heavier people more money - after all, there is scientific proof. It's all such utter bullshit.
If they were really that concerned about obesity, they would begin creating obesity institutes. Much like Heart Institutes and Cancer Institutes. Places where the obese could go and their insurance would pay for that boot camp approach that would help them lose the weight. But instead someone wags a finger at them, hands them a list of healthy food and sends them home. Most insurance companies won't even pay for a gym membership. Think about that for a minute. If they really wanted to put a stop to it, they could incorporate real weight loss strategies into the fabric of the health care system. They want to label it an "epidemic" but then they won't provide any solutions. They just want to keep the wheels turning on this one. It's a lot like the "Just Say No" campaign. How many drug addicts were helped with that one?
I'll end this with one more thought. Education is great for prevention (usually). But once you have something you are labeling an epidemic, it's time for intervention. Talking about broccoli and exercise probably won't help. Giving people access to the tools they will need to become healthier might. If NIH and CDC can dole out millions for the study of obesity, then why not use that money to create weight loss centers that, much like cardiac rehab centers, could be tailored to prevent future costly diseases associated with obesity? What's that? It's just more fun to point fingers and berate the fat person? Yeah, I thought so.
