I think I'm just fat because I like to eat and love to cook! I don't really think I have emotional or abuse issues at all. Basically-I'm a couch potato over-eater and recipe fanatic. No more-no less.

That's me too! I love to cook and the food - gah - even better! :lol: Being from the South, I loved to cook and then subsequently eat all that Southern food. While tasty, it's not too great for the waistline - all those carbs! I've gotten into French cooking now, which can be remarkably low carb and high fat. I have found it suits my love of cooking, recipes, and meets the low carb criteria. Butter has now become a staple in our house. Everyone thinks we eat sooo "bad" but the reality is that it's much better than their carb laden processed meals.

I had weight problems because my mom made me fat on purpose as a kid because she said she thought I should know what she felt like when she was an overweight kid. Screwed up my metabolism pretty permanently.

Although... I am actually a counselor, so I mean I can kind of get what your doctor was saying. I don't know if you were reading into it that she was implying that the emotional pathology means "fat" people were abused or have emotional eating problems... Or if she actually said that. If she actually said that, then that was rather ignorant and insensitive.

If you're assuming that, I'd say she meant that overweight people have emotional pathology from the direct result of being overweight in a society that places value on being thin. I think it's next to impossible for someone to be 400 pounds and feel awesome about themselves day in and day out when bombarded by the media's value of the "thin" body. As such, the more overweight a person is, the less they fit with what society deems as valuable and self esteem tanks. If a person is vulnerable to any sort of mental health disorder... In many cases these disorders have a trigger. So let's say it hasn't been triggered, but eventually someone has gained so much weight that it really starts messing with their head... It's a completely reasonable suggestion that a mental disorder that someone may be predisposed with is triggered. That's why statistically there are so many overweight people with Major Depressive Disorder. (That and physiologically being overweight can cause all kinds of problems that detract from adequate brain chemistry.)

Edit: It's kind of like the chicken and the egg, really. Were the emotional issues present first or the weight problems? I think it can go either way. In my case, the weight was first then long-lasting emotional issues as a direct result (although I was very young).