I was reading this article in the New York Times about blogs written by fat people. These bloggers encourage their readers to:
- Accept their “fatness”
- Not believe all the obesity “propaganda”
- Stay away from diets
These bloggers have some good points, but some of the things they are saying are completely ridiculous. They are simply enabling their poor lifestyle choices and encouraging others to do the same. These bloggers and their readers have been unable to lose and keep off the weight. So, now they have convinced themselves that they cannot lose the weight.
They remind me of the many smokers I met while I was a resident. They would tell me that smoking was not really bad for you. That smoking did not cause cancer. Smokers always use George Burns as their example or an uncle they had, who smoked until he was 150 years old. Hilarious.
I did not research these “fatosphere” blogs personally, but according to the article these blogs call on their readers to:
- Accept their bodies – I agree. We should all love the skin we are in. However, we can all seek to improve our health by striving for a healthy and normal body mass index.
- Quit dieting – I agree. Diets are short-term wastes of time. They should instead focus on permanent lifestyle changes involving a healthy nutrition and activity plan.
- Believe that “big is beautiful” – I agree. Losing weight shouldn’t be about looks. It should be about health. Some people are more attractive when they are overweight, but they should still lose weight to improve their health.
- Not believe in the exercise more and eat less dogma – I disagree. If you burn more calories than you consume, you will lose weight. Most people should simply lower their weight loss expectations and think long-term. Focus on trying to lose between half of a pound to one pound a week.
- Not believe that being overweight is a choice – I disagree. Being overweight is a choice. You choose to not change the poor lifestyle choices that are preventing you from losing weight and keeping it off.
- Believe you can be healthy at any size – I agree. You can be healthy at any size. You would just be healthier if your body mass index was within normal limits.
- Believe that they will always be overweight – I disagree. If you believe you can and will lose weight, then you will lose weight. You simply have to believe in yourself and make the necessary behavioral changes.
- Believe that there are benefits to being overweight – I disagree. There is no health benefit to being overweight.
- Not believe that all people should be thin – I agree. All people should not be thin, but they should have a normal body mass index. If you are at the upper limits of your normal body mass index, you are far from being thin.
The Internet is a wonderful tool and I love Web 2.0. However, this medium allows misinformed people to spread uneducated lies to weak-minded people.
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Dr. Kal, I think more things exist then 50 years ago that promote obesity in America — many of them have nothing to do with the choices of obese Americans. We no longer need to burn as many calories and its much easier to consume more. But I still agree with you that ultimately we posses the power control ourselves.
Getting real, I agree with you. Obese individuals are not choosing to do less. However, they are being forced to do more to achieve and maintain a healthy weight.