allyC
Posts: 778
Joined: 6/2/2004 From: Las Vegas Status: offline
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quote:
ORIGINAL: cloudboy I'd rather stick to the facts. Let's looke at them, shall we? >From 1960 to 1980, the prevalence of obesity among adults in the United States was relatively stable; however, recent findings from NHANES showed that 3 of 10 US adults are obese (figure 3).8,37 In addition to increasing mortality from all causes, obesity is closely linked to hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, coronary heart disease, stroke, and sleep apnea and other respiratory problems. Also, increasing evidence suggests that it is a risk factor for endometrial, breast, prostate, and colon cancer < This is not the ground on which you want to build a "feel good about yourself" fest. A person cannot put themselves at risk, as described above, and feel very good about themselves. At best, they can put the issue out of their minds, but the elephant will always be in the room with them. I've never said that women have to look like the stick figures in modeling magazines and hollywood films, but no one should be comfortable being obese. Here are some more facts: http://www.bigfatfacts.com/ What you will find there is rather astonishing really. I strongly recommend reading it. :) What surprises me the most though is that people generally assume that if someone is heavy and self-conscious, they must be self conscious because they are heavy. Perhaps they became heavy because they were self-conscious in the first place. Every person has a different story behind who they are. To judge someone based simply on appearance is presumptuous and rude in my opinion. Self-acceptance will always be the key regardless of one's weight, size, or body type. I know people who have lost hundreds of pounds and still are not happy with themselves. I have a lot of weight I'd like to lose but I refuse to base my health on how many pounds I weigh. Health is directly related to activity - not to weight. If you're 50 lbs overweight and you stay active, chances are you'll be much healthier than the skinny person who sits on the couch 24/7. With regards to the OP: I once felt as she did. I was really afraid to go to lifestyle functions in general because I thought everyone was going to look like Masuimi Max. I found that there were people of all ages, shapes, sizes, colors, etc. They welcomed me with open arms and over time, they have helped me on my own path to acceptance. It was really nice to read all of the posts. Most of them seemed very genuine and warm. :) It rocked my socks! Well wishes, Cav's ally
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