When I read articles like that, and see shows like Biggest Loser, it doesn't make me angry. It just makes me sad. Personally, I could easily stand to lose about 40% of my current body weight, and I'm working on it, doing my best with what I have. But it's not just "set your mind to it and don't break your diet" like so many people seem to think. It's not about willpower and character for a lot of people, because like you said, it's not always the food that is the problem.
I'm very, very sensitive to carbohydrates. So much that I can't eat some vegetables without gaining weight (roots mostly, and potatoes are big no-nos in my diet), even though it's supposed to be so good for you. But when I express this, the attitude is mostly that "Oh, you're just saying that. You probably stuff yourself with candy all night when no one is watching". It really doesn't help.
To "briefly" get back to shows like Biggest Loser, which this article made me think of, I saw one episode of BL, and I was disgusted. In the episode, they had the entire gym filled up with covered plates, and told the contestants that underneath one of the covers was a ticket which would grant them immunity from getting kicked off the show, as well as a couple of $500 and I think $1000 checks. The game worked like this:
Each contestant would in turn choose a plate, and remove the cover. If there was food on the plate, they had to eat it. There were cupcakes, donuts, cake, regular food and a few packs of sugar-free gum. Of course, they could stop whenever they wanted, but then they would lose the chance to get the money and the immunity-ticket.
... Having to watch these people who were struggling to lose weight pretty much getting sugary food shoved down their throat made me sick. Because I knew that those cupcakes and donuts were just going to trigger their sugar-craving again. And after all that, they had to go back to their coaches and tell them how much they had eaten, and work out even harder to get those calories off again.
Heh... I actually find publicly made comments like "I think so and so is gross, and I don't want to see it in public" are amusing, because they're obviously saying so to get people to agree with them. Well, I get grossed out by people kissing in public - period. Doesn't matter what size or what genders they are, I really don't like it. But that's just me, and I deal with it, because I know that I'm the one with the problem there, not the people around me.
Anyway, I'll stop rambling now. ^^;; It just brought up things I've been annoyed with for a while. Sorry.
I like your comments, and you made a lot of good points. I also think that it's sad that a person who apparently has a history with a skewed personal image gets to make public judgments about the image she has of other people, and not really feel bad about it because, hey, fat people have thick skin, right? All we need is to be told "you're fat, get some exercise" and we'll be supermodels within a month!
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Personally, I could easily stand to lose about 40% of my current body weight, and I'm working on it, doing my best with what I have. But it's not just "set your mind to it and don't break your diet" like so many people seem to think. It's not about willpower and character for a lot of people, because like you said, it's not always the food that is the problem.
I'm very, very sensitive to carbohydrates. So much that I can't eat some vegetables without gaining weight (roots mostly, and potatoes are big no-nos in my diet), even though it's supposed to be so good for you. But when I express this, the attitude is mostly that "Oh, you're just saying that. You probably stuff yourself with candy all night when no one is watching". It really doesn't help.
To "briefly" get back to shows like Biggest Loser, which this article made me think of, I saw one episode of BL, and I was disgusted. In the episode, they had the entire gym filled up with covered plates, and told the contestants that underneath one of the covers was a ticket which would grant them immunity from getting kicked off the show, as well as a couple of $500 and I think $1000 checks. The game worked like this:
Each contestant would in turn choose a plate, and remove the cover. If there was food on the plate, they had to eat it. There were cupcakes, donuts, cake, regular food and a few packs of sugar-free gum. Of course, they could stop whenever they wanted, but then they would lose the chance to get the money and the immunity-ticket.
... Having to watch these people who were struggling to lose weight pretty much getting sugary food shoved down their throat made me sick. Because I knew that those cupcakes and donuts were just going to trigger their sugar-craving again. And after all that, they had to go back to their coaches and tell them how much they had eaten, and work out even harder to get those calories off again.
Heh... I actually find publicly made comments like "I think so and so is gross, and I don't want to see it in public" are amusing, because they're obviously saying so to get people to agree with them. Well, I get grossed out by people kissing in public - period. Doesn't matter what size or what genders they are, I really don't like it. But that's just me, and I deal with it, because I know that I'm the one with the problem there, not the people around me.
Anyway, I'll stop rambling now. ^^;; It just brought up things I've been annoyed with for a while. Sorry.
I like your comments, and you made a lot of good points. I also think that it's sad that a person who apparently has a history with a skewed personal image gets to make public judgments about the image she has of other people, and not really feel bad about it because, hey, fat people have thick skin, right? All we need is to be told "you're fat, get some exercise" and we'll be supermodels within a month!