I must say the Midwest where I live is infested with fat, lazy, slobs. And the company I work for is full of em. Im eating my yam, CFM protein and chicken breast for lunch as some 300+ lb woman slams down half a large pizza. I just want to smack the double cheese & sausage out of “it’s” mouth… Theres also this guy who is so obese that he has to alter his center of gravity by leaning back at 45 degrees just so he can walk… What is up with these people? How can they go on living like this? What happens? dose their current “wardrobe” become tight so rather than assess their lifestyle they just buy bigger and bigger clothes… BTW I would kill to have the calves of the 300LB slob… Im sure they are twice the size of mine… Any thoughts?
Food.
Farmers.
In the old days the midwest was the farming belt but with a difference. The plows were pulled by horses, which had to be fed. A lot of the work was physically intense and caloric needs were high. homes also weren’t very well heated so you needed a few more calories to heat your body too.
Food is a tradional thing. So the big farmers meals have continued even though the present day people neither live on a farm or need the extra calories. I call people that look like that “corn fed”.
any thoughts eh?
settle down…
My thoughts? Live and let live as long as an individual is not infringing on your rights and privileges.
While I agree that much of what you stated may be true for some folks, I suspect that for a large percentage of the “morbidly obese,” there are often medical issues (e.g., thyroid conditions, genetic conditions, etc…)- perhaps undiagnosed - that facilitate their bodies’ ability to accumulate so much fat, and/or to have the constant food cravings that are often attributed to them.
For those who truly have chosen an inactive or “perceived” unhealthy lifestyle, so be it - I’m much more concerned with my own lifestyle choices and habits, which fortunately, unlike many other individuals on this earth, I have some ability to control.
Finally, lighten up - otherwise, you may become so stressed about fat people that you eat yourself to 500 lbs. or so :-).
I can definitely sympathize with you. Yesterday, I sat through 75 minutes of absolute bullshit in a mandatory psych class during which my obese midget professor asserted that between 30 and 70 percent of all obesity is heredity-related. Needless to say, as the only one in the class who had the slightest clue about nutrition and exercise, I spent most of the class with my hand raised to contest points and mention how drive-through lines were always full and people were always looking for a quick fix (ab-energizer). She kept saying “I don’t have the time to read about all these diets. I have to read psychology books.” I responded, “What’s the point of taking on all these responsibilities if you are on the road to an early death from heart disease?” Summarily, people are fat because they choose to be fat, not because they are genetically hopeless. Genes predispose us to being endomorphs, mesomorphs, or ectomorphs; they do not, however, cause us to eat at McDonald’s and sit on our asses all day. As far as I’m concerned, obesity is a sign of weakness, and losing fat is a sign of weakness leaving the body.
I second Eric’s post. People that blame their genes are looking for an excuse. For every one person with a genetic leptin or serious thyroid problem, there are thousands who eat poorly, sit at a desk all day and then come home and watch tv until they go to sleep.
Obesity IS hereditary, but not genetic. Here’s how – we learn our early habits from our parents. Kind of like the Parkinson’s disease idea – it’s not hereditary by genetics, but since we tend to share environment with our parents, it is hereditary in that regard.
Ben Weider says that Louis Cyr had 28’ calves when he was at his biggest, around 380lbs or so. That’s a bit of an exaggeration but they were still huge.
Come on…it’s been a long week. I’m not ready for the Nature vs. Nurture debate, especially on low carbs. It is a valid point that environment significantly influences the way that genes are expressed. But you still won’t find me blaming my parents, or anyone but myself for that matter, for being a fat kid growing up.
I believe anyone has the propensity to become fat. I at one time was up to 140lbs - at 5’4" in height, that’s alot of weight. I mustered all of my gumption and got my fat-ass in the gym. Now, mind you, even at 140lbs, I still was rather solid - but hey, make no mistake, I was fat! I got to know my body, I got moving and grooving and voila! Lean and mean. And have been that way ever since. I believe people now, more than even before, are lazy and would prefer quick fixes and miracle cures rather than common sense, long term solutions. Another thing you don’t have to resemble a whale to be fat - you can also look like a stick and STILL be fat. I do get alot of people who ask me about how to get in shape - and they do hope I give them some miracle secret cure-all to their “fatness” - and they dismiss my being in shape as “good genetics” are “fast metabolism” - whatever, man. Sad, sad, sad - but what can you do?
What a shame. I live in Newport Beach, ca. Nothin but hotties here 
You guys are so full of s**t, you self-congratulatory fitness bigots. Do you really think there are ANY morbidly obese people out there who don’t know they are morbidly obese? Do you think there are any obese men out there who don’t understand why they haven’t been laid in 9 years? Do you think that needing to special order clothing isn’t a signal to people there’s something wrong?
Of course, it's immediate obvious that anyone who is obese has no self-control, right? Well, here's another lesson I've learned: Anything that is "obvious" is something that nobody has bothered to investigate. Our entire society, including the medical profession, has decided that obesity is a behavioral problem, so it doesn't get the medical attention it really deserves. The offical answer to obesity? Follow the FDA-approved food pyramid, eat less and do lots of aerobics. Well, all of us on this forum know how well that works. If it doesn't work, it must be genetics, 'cause the government, FDA and AMA wouldn't lead us astray, would they?
In my opinion (nowhere near being humble) every case of morbid obesity needs a full medical workup, not behavioral suggestions from the government. Does any GP out there routinely test hormone levels? Cortisol? I'll bet less than 1%. (BTW I have absolutely no data to back that number up.) How many doctors could even explain the glycemic and insulin factors of food to their patients? For that matter, how many doctors of bariatrics are in your phone book? (Go ahead, look.) So what do the obese get from their doctors? "Eat less, exercise more, dietary fat is bad, carbs are good, protein is bad."
So what is a morbidly obese person to do when the doctor's advice fails? He or she learns to live with it. Blame it on genetics? Well, the fully standard medical advice doesn't work, so it MUST be something abnormal in their genes that the medical profession can't understand. So like anybody else with a congenital defect, they accept it and move on, and put up with s**t from a**es like you guys. And they try to enjoy life (and that pizza) while they can.
As a former fatty (6ft.) at 247lbs, I went down to 165lbs., now with more muscle mass, I am at 185. 40+ waist(i refused bigger pants–these were put on by the floor rock and roll method) Solid 32 waist now. This is my 4th grade size. A fatty must admit, “I am fat because my choices led me here” For me, excuses kept me fat–again I chose this. Blame-shifting is not the answer, so I simply ate 3 meals a day. No 2nds or 23rds. No snacks. Since I was already doing cardio, I added weight training to fill in the loose skin with larger muscles. (shshshsh–the real way to “tone”) My continued motivation is my “before” picture, which I keep in my gymbag. These people might be lonely, or eat because of stress, or boredom. They just need the “no excuses” mentality to start, just like any of us.
Great post, Annoyed!
It starts when you’re a kid. When I was a kid we played on monkey bars and teeter totters on the school playground. We ran around playing Army and Coyboys and Indians. We rode our bikes around the neighborhood, sometimes with cards in the spokes to make noise. We were active. It’s not like that now. Monkey bars are dangerous and have been removed from a lot of schools. Kids play on the X box or Playstation inside where there are “safer”. Even though child abductions are just as rare as they used to be. The serving size in most fast food places is bigger now. A fucking Whopper w/ cheese is 880 calories. Add the ever present fries and supersize it and you have enough calories for major fat storage. It’s not genetic, it’s not heredity, it’s choices. I went up to Canada to get laser eye surgery a while ago (20/15 now, $1000 US). While my wife and I were walking around Vancouver we came noticed a difference after a couple of hours. “Hey, where are all the fat people?” There were very few morbidly obese people there. Genetically we’re prety much the same as the Canadians but they don’t seem to be as porky. It’s not rocket science. It shouldn’t take medical intervention. Good nutritional education and some exercise is all that’s required.
I’ve never been to Vancouver but trust me the rest of Canada (where I live) has as a percentage of the population as many obese people as the US. I remembering reading an article by a native Indian where she said there was never any obesity on her reserve until the Indians started eating prepackaged foods (TV dinners, canned stew, instant food).Perhaps the cause lies in people eating high glycemic, high fat foods…Anyway trust me, my countrymen need a serious shape-up.
You can take this all even a step further by saying that our propensity for fast food and convenient food is because people are in too much of a rush to cook. They work longer, fewer families have one parent staying home to prepare home-made meals, there are all those extra-currics to drive to, etc. etc. Thirty years ago there were very few fast-food chains around. They were just starting. There were no yellow school buses to drive city kids to school (only country kids had the buses), there were lots of parks everywhere, everyone had a bike, and most homes (at least in the suburbs) had a decent sized yard where kids could play. There were few organized sports and activities and you just made your own fun whichever way you could. Now, if kids aren’t organized, they stay home and sit and sit and sit. Look at the food choices in grocery stores–prepackaged meals, canned this, canned that. Little wonder that there is so much obesity. And how many two-parent families these days actually have one parent staying home? Not too many. We are a society of convenience. Whatever is quicker and easier is the number one choice. Even when it comes to exercise. Many people give up because it “doesn’t happen” as quickly as they want. We are a society that has a short attention span and we don’t have the collective patience to work at things (this is a generalization).
I live in western PA, where it seems like alot of folks are fat. I recently visited Miami, LA, and San Diego, and was amazed how much better people take care of their physiques there. I think part of it is that since it’s warm and sunny in those climates people exercise outside year round (they even have outdoor weight facilities!). In a place like western Pa., trying to run or do any other sport outside in the winter is too uncomfortable. Even April, when it warms a little, it rains every day. Also, because of the cold, people wear bulky clothing which hides their bodies. In warmer places, you can’t wear alot of clothing to hide your fatness…
I know this man that is really fat. At 12 years old, his son is almost as fat as he is. The father brags about his ‘big boy’ and encourages him to eat uncontrollably. I don’t have children, but I think this is a form of child neglect. The father should be ashamed of himself for allowing and encouraging his son’s obesity. Children copy their parents (from what I’ve seen) and this boy will have problems.
It’s really as simple as people eat to much and don’t move enough. we can argue about the details but people are lazier than I have ever seen. It’s sad when a thirty eight year old guy like me is in better physical shape and also looks younger than people 10-15 years younger. I live in NE pa where people just aren’t into fitness. You should hear the excuses in the ofiice. I point out my gorgeous fiancee. She’s been described as a ten, a knockout etc. But what people don’t want to hear, is that five years ago she was 60 lbs heavier. She went from a size 18 to 5 in eight months with working out and a sensible reduced calorie diet. Word to the wise. Don’t whine to her how its hard, genetics, or bad metabolism. She likely to point out that your just unmotivated and lazy.