hoops902
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Post by hoops902 on Oct 20, 2014 12:24:55 GMT -5
Is it possible that human beings simply are SUPPOSED to be different shapes and sizes? I mean, you don't expect a bull dog to be a Chihuahua. Or a Beagle to be a Great Dane. I am not sure why we think humans should all fit the same mold? The lady in the pick may simply be a bulldog . They are supposed to be different shapes and sizes. None of that has anything to do with someone who is wildly obese though. You can be a different shape and a different size without being obese.
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tloonya
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What status?
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Post by tloonya on Oct 20, 2014 12:33:54 GMT -5
I thought it had to do with drugs. Like Canadian dude...
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Abby Normal
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Post by Abby Normal on Oct 20, 2014 12:35:11 GMT -5
I'll take "health advice" from someone who's overweight. I wouldn't take "weight" advice from someone overweight though. Just like I wouldn't take advice on how to get clean from meth from someone with a meth habit. I wouldn't take advice on how to quit smoking because it's terrible for me from a smoker. "Health" is such a sufficiently broad topic though that I think plenty of people who are obese know plenty about it. There's also a difference IMO from getting facts from someone who can't do it themselves, and getting advice from someone who can't do it themselves. If you're obese and my doctor and you tell me having excess weight increases risk for heart disease...ok fine...that's a fact...and you can know that while being obese yourself. Don't tell me how simple it is to lose weight by just doing these random 3 things though...it's clearly not that simple if you can't do it yourself. The best weight loss advice I received was from my (then new to me) overweight Dr. She said that you had to make the conscious decision every day to make the right choices. Take a walk, don't eat the cookie. And that in busy, hectic lives it was easy to make the easier choice rather than the healthy choice. She said it was something she struggled with everyday. But that food was something she had realized she needed to control rather than it controlling her. She had already lost 35#. That to me inspired me more, than the "healthy" doctor I had before who had never struggled with a weight issue.
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whoisjohngalt
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Post by whoisjohngalt on Oct 20, 2014 12:42:14 GMT -5
I wouldn't automatically dismiss someone based on their own condition.
Some people have less than zero discipline to do it themselves, but can still have very valid ideas and suggestions on how I can improve my situation.
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ArchietheDragon
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Post by ArchietheDragon on Oct 20, 2014 12:44:57 GMT -5
She is a governmental paper pushing bureaucrat. She could be 900 pounds and it wouldn't matter.
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hoops902
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Post by hoops902 on Oct 20, 2014 12:47:59 GMT -5
I wouldn't automatically dismiss someone based on their own condition. Some people have less than zero discipline to do it themselves, but can still have very valid ideas and suggestions on how I can improve my situation. I think people who can't do it themselves can often know the right thing to do to tell you. I think the issue is, in a world where I have to choose who to listen to and who to believe it often isn't as simple as I ask one person, they answer, and I move on. We often get differing opinions on the same topic. Given that I have to choose who to listen to on which topics, I recognize I'm more likely to listen to someone who appears to be able to put that advice to use in their own life. I don't think most of us are operating on a level where someone obese says "You should exercise more" and we say "shut up you're fat, exercise doesn't help weight loss or you'd be thin". In my mind it's more like someone obese telling me Weight Watchers works great, I'm looking at them with a little more skepticism than someone in shape who tells me Jenny Craig works great and it helped them lose a bunch of weight. I want to hear from someone who has experienced what I want to do. That doesn't necessarily mean the skinny person in weight issues, sometimes it means the average person who lost a bunch of weight to get there. I value experience in the action more than reciting some learned mantra.
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happyhoix
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Post by happyhoix on Oct 20, 2014 12:48:35 GMT -5
I think she has an amazing opportunity to be a great roll model. Just what would it say if she dropped to a normal weight? If she laid off the rolls maybe she would be a better role model. Heyooooooooooooo (sorry it's Friday and it's slow) In all seriousness as someone else mentioned you aren't likely to take financial advice from someone living on the streets unless it's what not to do. In this case it's reasonable to expect some people to be skeptical of advice someone who is obese is giving about healthy living. If you went to the gym and they set you up with a personal trainer what would you think if you got to your first appointment and the trainer was 100+ pounds overweight? I'd probably think I'm getting punked. It would depend on their physical condition. I've known plenty of slender people who are so unfit they couldn't fight their way out of a damp paper bag. If the chunky trainer told me he used to be 400 lbs and then started watching his diet and working out - and then if he got up on the treadmill and ran for 30 minutes without getting red faced and wheezy - I would probably listen very carefully to what he said. IMHO being over weight is like being a drug addict - the best drug counselors are ex-druggies, and the people who are best diet and exercise experts are the ones who knows what it's like to start out obese and became healthy, even if they aren't down to their ideal body weight just yet.
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emma1420
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Post by emma1420 on Oct 20, 2014 12:55:10 GMT -5
I'll take "health advice" from someone who's overweight. I wouldn't take "weight" advice from someone overweight though. Just like I wouldn't take advice on how to get clean from meth from someone with a meth habit. I wouldn't take advice on how to quit smoking because it's terrible for me from a smoker. "Health" is such a sufficiently broad topic though that I think plenty of people who are obese know plenty about it. There's also a difference IMO from getting facts from someone who can't do it themselves, and getting advice from someone who can't do it themselves. If you're obese and my doctor and you tell me having excess weight increases risk for heart disease...ok fine...that's a fact...and you can know that while being obese yourself. Don't tell me how simple it is to lose weight by just doing these random 3 things though...it's clearly not that simple if you can't do it yourself. The best weight loss advice I received was from my (then new to me) overweight Dr. She said that you had to make the conscious decision every day to make the right choices. Take a walk, don't eat the cookie. And that in busy, hectic lives it was easy to make the easier choice rather than the healthy choice. She said it was something she struggled with everyday. But that food was something she had realized she needed to control rather than it controlling her. She had already lost 35#. That to me inspired me more, than the "healthy" doctor I had before who had never struggled with a weight issue. I think a similar approach by this new health minister would make a huge difference about how she is perceived. if she commented that she knew she was unhealthy and that weight was a personal struggle for her and that she is trying, then I know I would be far more accepting. Because if someone is trying to walk the walk, even if they trip occasionally, then I think they are a great role model. At least I know I react badly when someone tries to lecture me about a poor health habit when it's clear that they share that same health habit.
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whoisjohngalt
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Post by whoisjohngalt on Oct 20, 2014 14:21:53 GMT -5
I wouldn't automatically dismiss someone based on their own condition. Some people have less than zero discipline to do it themselves, but can still have very valid ideas and suggestions on how I can improve my situation. I think people who can't do it themselves can often know the right thing to do to tell you. I think the issue is, in a world where I have to choose who to listen to and who to believe it often isn't as simple as I ask one person, they answer, and I move on. We often get differing opinions on the same topic. Given that I have to choose who to listen to on which topics, I recognize I'm more likely to listen to someone who appears to be able to put that advice to use in their own life. I don't think most of us are operating on a level where someone obese says "You should exercise more" and we say "shut up you're fat, exercise doesn't help weight loss or you'd be thin". In my mind it's more like someone obese telling me Weight Watchers works great, I'm looking at them with a little more skepticism than someone in shape who tells me Jenny Craig works great and it helped them lose a bunch of weight. I want to hear from someone who has experienced what I want to do. That doesn't necessarily mean the skinny person in weight issues, sometimes it means the average person who lost a bunch of weight to get there. I value experience in the action more than reciting some learned mantra. I don't know if it's all that important to me if they can put their advice to personal use. I am selfish, I care more about what they can do for me. Also, someone who is having a hard time doing it themselves, will be a LOT more understanding and sympathetic to my problems and it might be helpful to have a different perspective. I guess I might have the opposite prejudice - if I go to the gym and my personal trainer looks like he lives there, I might not feel too comfortable with him. I wouldn't want my financial adviser to be uber rich either.
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milee
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Post by milee on Oct 20, 2014 15:01:18 GMT -5
It would depend on their physical condition. I've known plenty of slender people who are so unfit they couldn't fight their way out of a damp paper bag. If the chunky trainer told me he used to be 400 lbs and then started watching his diet and working out - and then if he got up on the treadmill and ran for 30 minutes without getting red faced and wheezy - I would probably listen very carefully to what he said. BTW, that would be my sister. She is chunky but will run you into the ground while chatting breezily or lead a tough spin class that has people gasping or quitting while she's up there doing the same workout but casually talking and providing encouragement.
No idea what she tells people in her class or people who ask her about losing weight, but she tells me that she knows what she needs to do to lose weight - mostly cutting back on the unhealthy foods she eats in addition to the healthy stuff - but feels OK and is not willing to do it.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 20, 2014 16:20:37 GMT -5
It would depend on their physical condition. I've known plenty of slender people who are so unfit they couldn't fight their way out of a damp paper bag. If the chunky trainer told me he used to be 400 lbs and then started watching his diet and working out - and then if he got up on the treadmill and ran for 30 minutes without getting red faced and wheezy - I would probably listen very carefully to what he said. BTW, that would be my sister. She is chunky but will run you into the ground while chatting breezily or lead a tough spin class that has people gasping or quitting while she's up there doing the same workout but casually talking and providing encouragement.
No idea what she tells people in her class or people who ask her about losing weight, but she tells me that she knows what she needs to do to lose weight - mostly cutting back on the unhealthy foods she eats in addition to the healthy stuff - but feels OK and is not willing to do it.
I think the goals of the person asking her about losing weight might make a difference in how much they value her advice. If their goal is to get a tight body, they'll probably be more interested in the person with a tight body that can say "here's what I did to look like this". Someone whose goals are just to be healthier and stronger in general whether their 6-pack ever sees daylight or not, will probably recognize that your sister can help them with their goals, even though she's "chunky". Since you don't have to have a visible 6-pack to be strong and have a healthy heart, your sister can still be a good example for people that want to improve their physical health. On a side note, I recently discovered the term "skinny fat". A skinny fat person won't get the judgement that an obviously overweight person does, but the skinny fat person is just as unhealthy and in some ways it's worse. You can't always judge a book by its cover.
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raeoflyte
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Post by raeoflyte on Oct 20, 2014 17:04:18 GMT -5
I go to water aerobics at the community rec center and there is quite a range of instructors. Only one of them is what I would call "in-shape" in the typical society view, and one is obese. Admittedly, 90% of the people in the water are there for silver sneakers and they aren't there training for a triathalon. The instructor who is obese does give me a bit of pause...mostly because she acts like her classes are such a tough workout, but I think she has us stretching for 40 minutes. She is only a sub for the classes I take, and my mom says that that instructor does the "restorative" classes during the work week--so all 80+ or terribly out of shape people in the pool at that point. As long as instructors aren't telling me how I should feel I don't worry about their physique. For a personal trainer I want someone who I can relate to and be motivated by. That probably isn't going to a 20 year old with body builder abs.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 20, 2014 17:50:07 GMT -5
When I started practicing yoga, I went to classes at different times of the day, on different days of the week, with different instructors to get a feel for what I thought would be a good fit for me. I didn't realize I had a mental image of what yoga instructors look like (lean) until I finally went to a class where I was surprised to see the lady at the front of the class was a bit more than "chunky". She wasn't a flabby mess, she looked solid, but she was a big lady.
I admit that when I realized she was the instructor, I wondered "can this lady really do any yoga". Well, one of us wasn't flexible and skilled enough to move fluidly into the poses and it wasn't her.
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thyme4change
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Post by thyme4change on Oct 20, 2014 20:46:22 GMT -5
I'm healthy weight and I get winded walking up a flight of stairs. I have always been unfit, but healthy and slender.
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happyhoix
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Post by happyhoix on Oct 21, 2014 8:11:53 GMT -5
Of course, keep in mind this is Belgium, after all, not Brazil. Belgium has the best french fries in the world, served with mayo (awesome), some of the best beer, and some of the best chocolate. Who wouldn't be fighting to stay skinny in Belgium. Brazil, on the other hand, is known for tall and thin beach babes dressed in skimpy parade outfits - I could see that the Brazilians would want a tall, thin, well boobed health minister while the Belgiums might be fine with their fat Health minister and all their delicious pomme frites.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Oct 21, 2014 8:41:02 GMT -5
I wouldn't automatically dismiss someone based on their own condition. Some people have less than zero discipline to do it themselves, but can still have very valid ideas and suggestions on how I can improve my situation. True that. The best gymnastics instructor I ever had couldn't do a darn thing herself but she could teach it.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Oct 21, 2014 8:44:12 GMT -5
Yup, I've lost 13 pounds since last year. My cholesterol is unchanged, it's okay, but my ratios still suck.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 21, 2014 8:52:40 GMT -5
Of course, keep in mind this is Belgium, after all, not Brazil. Belgium has the best french fries in the world, served with mayo (awesome), some of the best beer, and some of the best chocolate. Who wouldn't be fighting to stay skinny in Belgium. The Europeans (including the French with their sublime pastries and long, leisurely lunches accompanied by wine) were doing just fine before the McDonald's and Pizza Hut plague hit them. Europeans didn't eat in the street, didn't snack, walked everywhere, and ate food that was rich but made from real ingredients and in small quantities. Now they're learning to gobble stuff down fast like we do, and eat on the run, barely noticing the taste. It's really sad that we've exported very bad eating habits to other countries.
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milee
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Post by milee on Oct 21, 2014 10:00:24 GMT -5
Of course, keep in mind this is Belgium, after all, not Brazil. Belgium has the best french fries in the world, served with mayo (awesome), some of the best beer, and some of the best chocolate. Who wouldn't be fighting to stay skinny in Belgium. The Europeans (including the French with their sublime pastries and long, leisurely lunches accompanied by wine) were doing just fine before the McDonald's and Pizza Hut plague hit them. Europeans didn't eat in the street, didn't snack, walked everywhere, and ate food that was rich but made from real ingredients and in small quantities. Now they're learning to gobble stuff down fast like we do, and eat on the run, barely noticing the taste. It's really sad that we've exported very bad eating habits to other countries. Maybe that's the argument they should counter with when Americans complain that they are getting a bargain with their price controlled prescription drugs that we pay all the R& for.
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happyhoix
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Post by happyhoix on Oct 21, 2014 10:41:13 GMT -5
Of course, keep in mind this is Belgium, after all, not Brazil. Belgium has the best french fries in the world, served with mayo (awesome), some of the best beer, and some of the best chocolate. Who wouldn't be fighting to stay skinny in Belgium. The Europeans (including the French with their sublime pastries and long, leisurely lunches accompanied by wine) were doing just fine before the McDonald's and Pizza Hut plague hit them. Europeans didn't eat in the street, didn't snack, walked everywhere, and ate food that was rich but made from real ingredients and in small quantities. Now they're learning to gobble stuff down fast like we do, and eat on the run, barely noticing the taste. It's really sad that we've exported very bad eating habits to other countries. I was on business in Paris a couple years ago and DH went with me - we ate our way around the city every evening with all their lovely food and wine and yet still came home five pounds lighter because we went everywhere by walking, train and metro - walked it all off. That's one reason DH and I are relocating to a nearby urban center when we retire, we hope to park the car and walk everywhere so we don't make the mistake of retiring and becoming couch dwellers.
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michelyn8
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Post by michelyn8 on Oct 21, 2014 16:04:34 GMT -5
No I would not take advice from the lady from Belgium. As for FLOTUS, I can look at her and tell she makes an attempt to stay at a healthy weight. I mean, just look at her arms. Someone mentioned she is 5'11" and 170 - I'm willing to bet most of her weight is from muscle mass and not from fat. Her frame also appears to be one that is more athletic in build which means she carries her weight differently than someone small framed like me.
The lady in Belgium is clearly overweight - look at her neck. If it wasn't for the fat rolls around her neck, I might be able to consider what she tries to promote in regards to diet, etc. Now if I saw her losing weight over a period of time, I might start listening but at first, nope. The exception would be if she revealed she has thyroid or other health issues that cause her to struggle with her weight. I say she could stand to lose about 75 to 100 lbs and be much healthier. She'd probably still appear a bit on the heavy side compared to someone built like me but would definately appear healthier.
DD2 is built like this lady. After DGD was born, she was 5'3" and 170 lbs. She didn't look obese but was definately overweight. She's recently lost about 15-20 lbs and is down to about 145 and to me she looks so much healthier. But, to be honest, if she loses more than another 10 lbs she'd probably start to look unhealthy. We all carry weight differently so I don't always go by the doctor's charts, but everyone eventually starts to look bad when their weight goes beyond a certain point.
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