I saw a post on another message board. A lady had said how she liked looking at obese people bc it made her proud of herself, etc.. The following post was my response. This truly means so much to me, I wanted to share with you all.

When I see obese people at the gym or eating something healthy at a restraunt, I am TRULY INSPIRED.

I am so pumped and excited, happy for them that they are making the changes no matter WHO'S staring at them (The Starers = You know the thin people that have to look at fat people to make themselves "feel better" about themselves.)

I am inspired too because they have committed to lose so much more weight then I had to lose and they are headed towards GREAT success with perseverence and an incredible mind set.

I am empowered more by an obese person on the treadmill more then a thin person who "already has it all" on the cover of some Vogue magazine.

So thank you ladies (& guys!) whom have given me added energy and enthusiasm, because every small victory is a victory for us all!

Crys
(180 something)158/142/138-140? (5'7")
Size seven
Atkins for life since 5/31/03

Good reply. I agree.

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Started Atkins on 9/20/03
235-->190; 150 goal

Keep in mind that those THIN persons whom you assume "already have it all" could WELL be formerly obese people who have LOST it all and now maintain a healthy weight!

I remember at WW a new member saying behind her hand to another person, "Why is SHE here? She's thin!" She was talking about me. Luckily the member to whom she was speaking had been around long enough to know that I had met not only my WW goal weight but my OWN goal weight, and so informed this woman.

Perceptions are very individual but also very subjective, so never ASSUME that thin person you see now has ALWAYS been so!

I lost my weight on WW but have switched to Atkins to maintain now for the past year. I feel much better and am not plagued by the constant hunger I felt while eating "healthy" carbs - aka low fat processed junk.

Char

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Veni, vidi, velcro. I came, I saw, I stuck around.

Save the Earth - it's the only planet with CHOCOLATE!

Charski ~ By no means am I "assuming"...

I put it in quotes (quotes being sarcastic) because everyone makes different assumptions based on their perception of a thin person as well.

I understand where you are coming from, as I am also one of these "newerly thin" people. I struggle day in and out when people tell me how skinny I am and that I don't need to watch what I eat, etc..

I was merely stating those of whom inspire me the MOST. Not to say that a thin person has never been an inspiration to me.

Crys

OK, Crys! We're on the same wavelength I see.

BTW those people on the covers of Vogue and other fashion magazines are so airbrushed, taped, and computer-enhanced, most of the time, that they AREN'T real anyway...it's too bad the media has so many of us programmed to think that's how we're SUPPOSED to look....

It IS interesting to go from having been one that people look at and think, "Gee, she's fatter than me" or something along those lines to "Gee, I hate her, she's so thin and fit" - guess I much prefer the latter though!

Char

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Veni, vidi, velcro. I came, I saw, I stuck around.

Save the Earth - it's the only planet with CHOCOLATE!

I wish that more people would be inspired beacuse i know many people whom look at me and say.. " how can you do it, how can you fight the urge, how can you work out like you do. " I do it beacuse i know i need to... beacuse i know if dont i will become morbidly OB.. #1 i dont want to loose what health i havent messed up #2 i want to keep my family happy #3 I want to do it for ME! i want to look in the mirror and be happy w/ what i see agin.. i dont want to hide behind layers of clothes beacuse i dont want to show the real me

i think what bothers me w/ "SKINNY" people.. is the ones i know whom have been skinny all their lives.. and the ones whom are at their average weight for hight.. and have the never to walk up to me in the gym and say.. " ohh god im getting so fat.. i think im going to go on a diet." this one girl said that to me ... TO ME. someone whom has fought a weight problem all her life and this person knew that.. this girl weighed well under 1/2 my weight... she was maby 110? 5'4 she couldnt have weighed much more than that.. she just wasnt defined no six pack belly or anything.. WHO CARES... i would trade my body in for her's any day..

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01/02/04-248{ 4/29/04- 218} 6/30/04- 204
7-05-04 198 8/30/04 - 190 (got lost after that-)
4/03/08- 261 -
Goal-140-145

Wonderful reply! When I was growing up and skinny as all could be, sickly looking, I had all "heavier" friends, to make me feel skinnier. Even when I was 87 lbs, I remember looking in the mirror saying " I could afford to lose a few more pounds". It was more of a mental thing (no I'm not crazy, but when it came to weight, I may have been).

But when I work out, I don't just see "larger" women, I see "older" women, and I think, that is just great that they want to improve, not necessarilly their weight, but their HEALTH!

I give them so very much credit, and look up to them for that. Then I speak with them and once in a conversation, I told her that I think it's great that they do this and she said "I would rather be old, and a bit overweight, but still be healthy, than be young, trying to be a "supermodel" skin and bones, starving, and close to being dead.

That's why, in this wol, I am keeping my goal real. I'll never be a supermodel, they look hungry any way, but I do want to look, feel, and be healthy. That's why I chose this wol, I can do it, with everyone here's support Thank you everyone! I really do appreciate it.

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Kristie




remember: weight loss slow and steady wins the race

this is what is great about you guys. Everyone here at least tries to look past the surface and see whats important. WHat is important is being healthy and happy with your life. Not whether or not you look like a supermodel or you fit a societial standard. I will admit that i have in the past put myself up to impossible standards. I have been a person who stares at obese people, who is happy not to be them. But it is something i have learned to get past. I have learned that i need to look at myself and find out why i felt the need to compare. because this isn't about being "best in show." its a personal thing, we are competing with ourselves and our own strengths and weaknesses, so we should always look to support one another. THanks everyone for your help, and i hope that I am able to help back.

I think being social, and social standards are a big part. How many times do a "normal" weight" person say "Oh she's too skinny, and really meaning it(and not envy) and when the same "normal people" see a larger person, just say "darn, she's fat"

Alot of people, probably more so teens, but some adults may see super models, or actresses as "ideal", and they realy truly are not. They put such stress on their bodies, to look the way they do.

And we, as "normal" everyday people want to look like that, but in all honesty, we can't, and will never. WE in all truths, can, or can not without their surgery, or the miracle of photography perfection, look like them. We are who we are. Love it, or not.


I put alot of the blame on tv, and what they show is a "sexy" woman, or man. WE can't do that, some will try but it's next to impossible.

When I was around I think 90 lbs.(I think less)i was trying to be an abstract model, had oopsies got pregnant. Even though I was skinny, I was considered "attractive" in the business. They chose me not because of me weight but because, I had a little bit more skin.

I think that brought me down.

But really, what is normal, who decides? The doctors, and you can't honestly tell me those "super models" are healthy. Heck throw them a hamburger, bun and all, they look like they need it. They look so hungry, and on a the wol I am, you are never hungry.

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Kristie




remember: weight loss slow and steady wins the race

Gee thanks...Being an OBESE person myself...now I'm gonna feel like everyone is watching me! LMAO!!!

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Michele

Once I get down to my goal weight, I will have lost a total of 81 lbs...I've lost 57 so far. Anyway, when I see obese people, it makes me sad 'cuz I use to be there. Maybe I wasn't 100 or 200 lbs overweight...but I was still heavy. And I know how it feels to struggle to lose weight and how hard it is to get there. I was fat from childhood on and always got teased for being fat and always was asked if I was pregnant. Of course, I weigh less now than I did in 6th grade! And I was considered the ugly duckling growing up - now I hear people tell me how beautiful I am...what a switch!

Anyway, when I see thin people working out, I usally say to myself, 'I wonder if that person was ever heavier than that'...It's just something I consider...people that didn't know me when I was heavy are surprised when I show them a picture of me at my heaviest - it was that picture alone that was the deciding factor for me to finally do something about that extra weight - I still carry it around with me to this date as a reminder of how I will never look again...

Anyway, also, I was watching on the travel channel last night something called the best places to pig out - or it was something like that - and I just couldn't believe it! All that food on one plate - potato salad, sweet potatoes, fries, hamburgers, rolls...how can anyone eat all that in one sitting? I just shook my head and raalized the reason America is so obese! We've supersized all our portions!
When my dh and I go to a restaurant, we usually split an appetizer...'cuz that is just enough for the both of us to be satisfied but not stuffed...

The son is coming over tonight so the dh is fixing a big meal since the son downs a lot but you know what I realized? I don't have to eat everything he makes...I can have just enough to be satisfied...just 'cuz it's there doesn't mean I have to eat it...

Anyway, when I see obese people who are eating healthy, that inspires me, too...'cuz I see they are wanting to get healthy and have a better life for themselves...the two ladies at my church who have lost 66 lbs and 80 lbs inspire me...I might have lost my weight before they lose theirs but they are the ones who give me the incentive to keep on losing and going 'cuz I know it is hard to start out at 260 lbs and have 120 lbs to lose...neither one of these two ladies thought they could do it but they've come a long way in 6 months...And I admire them for sticking with their plans - even though they have hit some rough spots and down times but it hasn't stopped them...

Sheyla

"Empty faces on your screen
Tearing down your self-esteem
Supermodel Citizen" - had to put that in here - the Supermodel comments reminded me of this song