Healthy Living

From the Community…

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  Posted by Parveneh Fri Jun 27, 2008 9:51am PDT

  I hope this project encourages people to lose the unhealthy weight. Please don't read that as you need to be skinny to be acceptable, but you shouldn't be obese and risk heart disease, joint issues, etc. when there are things you can do to lose weight to be healthy.

  What is up with all the "take pride in being fat" mentality lately? I am all for "take pride in being you" mentality but not for glorifying an unhealthy life style. Would we all be as supportive if this was a project to collect experiences about being a crack head or an alcoholic and saying that is who you are and people should just accept it?

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  Posted by hotmami Fri Jun 27, 2008 8:39pm PDT

  you are so darn right until when these people have to say take for what i am a a fat person, you are not fat person , you are just a person , that needs to be in good shape not for the sake of just vanity but come on a have a healthy life, beauty is not for ever that is true, but if you have good health you will have more chances to enjoy life .

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  Posted by fools_and_sages Sat Jun 28, 2008 10:41am PDT

  Those of you who have never been fat are so judgmental. You think being fat is all about being lazy and eating anything in any quantity. For some fat people, it's not that way at all. For them, being fat is a biological reality, not a lifestyle choice.

  Some people have been fat since they were kids even though they played outside dusk 'til dawn riding their bikes and playing sports. They didn't spend their childhood sitting on their ass playing dolls or board games or raiding the cookie jar.

  Some fat people work out and eat a low calorie and low fat diet-- but they can't lose all the weight they want to lose. They weigh everything they eat to get the portions right. They eat fish and chicken instead of beef and pork. They eat veggies and fruit instead of bonbons and candy bars. They deny themselves sweets and chips and count carbs. They eat no fried food and don't cook with oils or butter. They avoid cheese. They limit themselves to 1000 to 1200 calories a day. They do cardio for 30 minutes a day and weights 30 minutes a day three times a week and cardio for 45 mins on the days they don't use weights. But they lose 20 to 30 pounds and can't lose anymore. And, even if they can lose more, once they go on the so-called "maintenance plan", it comes back.

  So you people who think being fat is about being a lazy food addict who doesn't take care of themselves or want to be healthy, you're completely wrong. And you need to shut your skinny mouths and keep your critical "advice" to yourselves because you have no idea what you are talking about.

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  Posted by Parveneh Sat Jun 28, 2008 11:22am PDT

  Fools_and_sages - Most of the people that are fat do not take care of themselves and that is reality. Medical and biological conditions do contribute to uncontrollable weight gains but that is not the majority of the case when it comes to obesity.

  I do everything you mentioned in paragraph 3 of your post to stay healthy. How many people do you think do that? If that is your regimen, then I commend you for your healthy lifestyle, but don't kid yourself that is what every obese person does.

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  Posted by Nanuk Sat Jun 28, 2008 8:24pm PDT

  Fools and sages - I hear you and agree. My husband and I are the same way and have the same struggles with the same results you are talking about. Keep up the hard work knowing you are not alone.

  To Parveneh- If she does all this and I do all this and you do all this. Who can say that "most people who are fat" don't take care of themselves? You must not know all you would like to make us think you do about living overweight in a world with a supermodel mentality. Try to think a little more before you try to shoot someone down dear.

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  Posted by Clever Coach Sun Jun 29, 2008 9:33am PDT

  There is not a "one-size-fits-all" way to get to an ideal weight. What is an "ideal" weight anyway? The media and even medical professionals focus so much on the number on the scale and not take into consideration things like fitness levels and body fat percentage. So people that struggle to get the number on the scale going in a downward direction get discouraged, because sometimes it get stuck, or goes up and down. The media and popular commercial weight loss programs are focused just on calories, fat, or carbs - not so much on where the food we eat comes from and what goes in it. And denying oneself of EVERYTHING that is good - sweets, fat, etc - only leads to misery and feelings of failure. It has taken me a long time to find a formula that works for me. And no, I'm not a size 2, but I am attractive and muscular - getting more toned every day and the sizes of my clothes are changing, even if the number on the scale is taking its sweet time doing so. It is hard to celebrate the small successes, and to "keep on keeping on" when we are bombarded with messages that if you are not thin, you are somehow a lazy, bad person. There are unhealthy thin people as well :)

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  Posted by Parveneh Sun Jun 29, 2008 12:11pm PDT

  Nanuk - I did not state that being supermodel thin was healthy either. I only addressed obesity. Obesity has nothing to do with weight and size more as it does the distribution of lean muscle mass and fat. People come in all different shapes and sizes and a 6' tall woman will never weight the same as a 5' tall woman and that's perfectly fine. Even if that 6' tall woman weighs 180 pounds with 20% body fat she is considered fit compared to a 5' tall 145 pounds woman with 35% body fat.

  And actually I do know plenty of people that are obese and I do know their daily habits - whether it's because I am related to them or I work with them daily and they tell me about their daily routines. What surprised me was most of these people I know personally do know what they should do to lower their fat percentage (habitual exercise and healthy diet) but they choose not to either because of cost, time, lack of will power or they just are not ready to make a life change.

  Clever Coach - I agree with you, a healthy lifestyle is more important than what the scales tells you and I also know tons of very unhealthy thin people. I hate those fad diets. It doesn't teach people to eat the proper distribution of carbs, proteins and fats. It's not good for a body to cut out carbs and fats completely. Congratulations on finding out a formula that works for you.

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  Posted by hotmami Sun Jun 29, 2008 12:12pm PDT

  we are most bombarded with food comercial than anything, I am slo struggling , I go running every morning and my fats ass jiggling along with me , but I will make it , I have lost 20 pounds I will lose more.

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  Posted by graylady Sun Jun 29, 2008 6:30pm PDT

  Fat people do not choose to be fat.I don't care what others think.Fat people do not sit around and eat sweets all the time.I don't even go down that isle in the stores.Its peoples metabolism that makes them fat.I have been fat all my life,even if I ate nothing, going on crash diets and coming close to death trying to please all the skinny people that wanted to make fun of me.I was still overweight.Eating nothing but raw vegetables for months,didn't help either.So you know what, I got tired of trying to please everybody elses ideas of what I should be,I figured my life was about more than what I looked like and if people don't like what they see,they can look somewhere else.I eat what I can afford,which is not the best food for me,but I am not rich.To all the skinny people that make fun of fat people you will get awfully shriveled and wrinkled and your skin will look like old leather,while ours is still young and smooth.

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  Posted by elissyann Mon Jun 30, 2008 1:12pm PDT

  I was fat. I was fat because I ate way more food than I should have and I didn't exercise. I stopped and now I'm a normal weight. I realize it's not that easy for most people, but that's the way it was for me. My parents are fat. My parents are fat because they eat too much crap and don't exercise. My friends are overweight, but they are not fat. They have large bone structures and though they think they're fat, they still look great to me.

  Some fat people and skinny people sit around and eat sweets all the time (me). Some fat people are healthy and no matter what they do they can't lose the weight. Considering obesity has risen over the years and over half the country is now considered overweight, you really can't blame this all on genes.

  Seriously, how many people do you know, fat or skinny, that eat healthy and exercise at least three times a week? I can count them on one hand.

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