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Originally Posted by runnr
I agree there was some tact needed but in my opinion (and I realize I will probably get mega-flamed) for this, we are OVERLY conscious of the self-esteem of people who are morbidly obese
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But most of the time we keep quiet, because in our society even saying "Have you ever considered joining a gym?" to an overweight person, EVEN IF THEY ARE A GOOD FRIEND/RELATIVE OF YOURS, is considered a crime punishable by death. We are expected to pretend that this person looks absolutely fabulous and is not doing anything to risk their health, because how unfortunate if it hurt their self esteem
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Apologize if I've offended anyone, thats not my intention and as I've stated, I have no way of knowing how being morbidly obese feels
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I'm just curious as to what you think "saying something" is supposed to accomplish. Without an ounce (as it were) of exaggeration, I can tell you I was born overweight, and have been overweight every day of my life. Do you think you have any words of wisdom I haven't heard from friends, relatives, doctors, strangers on the street, read in books, seen on TV, seen in films? Do you think that these morbidly obese people are simply waiting for
you to tell them they have a problem? Once
you speak the magic words, they will slap themselves on the foreheads and say, "Wow, I have a problem. I never knew that before!"?
Joining a gym? I almost certainly know more about physical fitness than you do, and have spent far more time in the gym and exercizing than you have. I used to be able to bench press 300+ pounds, walk 2 hours to a gym, play basketball for 6 hours a day, then take a two hour walk home. I still weighed well over 250 pounds.
What really annoys me about your post, by the way, isn't the gross ignorance of it (ignorance is something we all suffer from in one area or another), but rather, the implication that fat people have simple solutions to the problem but simply refuse to adopt them. Most obese people have been told this their entire lives ("You just need willpower!"); it is only now that science is coming to the conclusion that food addiction and obesity are diseases, and there are no easy cures. I suggest you take a look around this site, and
really listen to the anguish, the feelings of frustration and self loathing that you can find everywhere. I guarantee you that no one needs to be told by you they have a weight problem, and I also guarantee you that "going to a gym," or merely being told to do so, isn't going to solve anything.