Quote:
Originally Posted by ree-Xi
I'm tired of participating in discussions and having to put up a bunch of disclaimers. I'm sorry that I didn't spell out the one you are referring to.
Yes, I realize that a thin person can be unhealthy. They can have "invisible" health problems like high cholesterol or triglycerides, be a closet smoker, yada yada yada. But being even 20 pounds overweight can increase your risk for Type-2 Diabetes, some cancers, arthritis, sleep apnea and asthma. Where you carry the weight is also an important factor (people who store fat in their middle rather on their hips/thighs are at an increased risk for heart disease). If you could possibly decrease those risks, it makes sense to try to do so, sensibly.
I am not judging anyone, and this is not a case of "it's easy for a thin person to judge a fat person". I have a complex medical history and at times, I have had to struggle to put/keep weight on. And yes, people would ignorantly say "I'd love to have your problem", even knowing that I was sometimes in a life and death situation.
Thanks to medications and conscious meal planning, I am usually within the recommended weight range for my height and age. My doctors prefer me to be on the higher end of the spectrum, because A. I tend to lose weight very quickly when sick, and B. there is a correlation between lower body fat percentage and decrease in lung capacity. I take 5-7 medications on any given day just to help my body process food, and even then, I have a lot of pain, discomfort and nausea. Eating is honestly a pain in the a-- because my body doesn't naturally do the things it should with food. I have to think about it constantly.
I'm not saying this to complain, but to tell you that none of this is "easy" for me.
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I didn't realize you would take the post personally. I was making a general statement that thin people find it easy to judge fat people, and some do. None of us can pretend we haven't heard that attitude before. The entire point of using the example I did was that the family members that are technically overweight and several sizes larger than I are probably healthier than I am now and are certainly healthier than I was at size 2. None of them have been told they are at risk for Diabetes, and I have been told that, nor that their cholesterol or blood pressure isn't healthy for their age, and I have. One of them does do more cardio than I do, and probably more working out in general because I hate it and it's a struggle to make myself go three times a week. She's just not a small woman and probably never will be without extreme restrictions.
What I was arguing against is the assumption that overweight automatically means unhealthy and that thin people are by default healthier than overweight people. People that are not thin are not by default lazy or habitual burger eaters. Obviously your medical conditions are not caused by your lifestyle, however your situation an example of thin doesn't always mean "lucky" or "healthy". (Incidentally an old roomate of mine had a food allergy and described eating as you do and did get frustrated when people told her she was "lucky" for being thin because in fact it was directly related to how unpleasant it was for her to eat.)