The Today show.

I don't get it.They had someone on there in a fat suit.This is like the 3rd time in 2 weeks I have see someone do this.What is up with that.They act like it is some thing new that people are not nice to FAT people well do I have news for them it has always been this way.I can remember growing up in grade school getting picked last for games not having as many friends as others and then when I got older and to get a job I didn't get the jobs I would be really good at because of my weight they say that people don't do that when it comes to job well I tell them all this is not a new thing for over weight people to be treated like this and all I can say is if I ever get down to 155 and see my self doing this to others I hope that the good Lord stops right then and there and get me back on track.Shame on every one who does this to others.. Shelly

I agree, and just because you put on a fat suit and walk around for an hour doesnt mean you magically know what its like to be fat. The suit looks so fake of course people are going to laugh but to live as a fat person day in and day out is Hell beyond just the laughing and staring. The problems that come from being morbidly overwieght physically, mentally and relationally can only be related to by those that have lived it. On the other hand, if it causes one person to look inside themselves ond change the way they look at and treat others it is a good thing, just dont claim you know what its like to be fat because you cant! OK I'll stop preaching to the choir but it felt good to get it out. Wayne

You have a very good point I have seen 3 people do this now in the past few weeks and all they talked about is how they was treated and I am like you if it makes one person think about what they are doing or saying that is great but they never talked about all the other problems that go along with the weight.The real problems our HEALTH.I'm like you I can talk about this all day long some thing just hit me wrong about this today LOL.. Shelly

"just dont claim you know what its like to be fat because you cant! OK I'll stop preaching to the choir but it felt good to get it out." Nope, don't stop preaching....*LOL*.... well said! I couldn't agree with you more, Shelly and Wayne! Funny because I watched the Tyra Banks show when she wore the "fat suit". I think it is pointless to point out the obvious and I somehow doubt people will change their opinions on others being obese. People that haven't been there JUST DON'T GET IT! I went to a WLS seminar on Tues. night. After the surgeon himself explained that once a person's BMI hits 40 or above, it's really not much the "Obese Person" can do to conquer it. You know with the 95% diet failure rate and other factors. There was one person @ the seminar who obviously have never been obese pose a question to some Post-Op patients that were nice enough to share thier stories with us. He said: "You all seem really dedicated and motivated now, why couldn't you all have done this without doing this surgery?" Unless they have been there, some people will "never get it"! Cassandra

UGH!! I hear ya. Like the person asking at the seminar, why can't you do this without surgery....Or the person who tells you that you jsut need too...diet, eat carrots, drink a large glass of water before meals, hol din your stomach to train it to stay in (that from my own sweet, naturally thin MOM!), take such and such pill, go to weigh****chers, eat salads all the time, walk, join a gym, stop eating, leave the last bite on the plate, use a small plate, don't eat in front of the tv.....etc....and best of all: my former PHYSICIAN who printed out the recipe for the cabbage soup diet! HOW FEASIBLE IS THAT?? LIVING ON SOUP? I mean after the diet's over, you go back to the old ways. That was my last visit with him after a lot of years of being his patient. By the way, I had tried that diet at age 11, again at age 16, and around age 22. Never worked. The funny thing is, all fat people KNOW all these tricks. We all have TRIED them, searched them out, bought books on wt loss, hypnosis, watched the oprah show about people who've lost 100 lbs, and been inspired to change, done w****chers, ETC, and lots of times, the same diet more than once! (yes, I was s serial member of W****chers!) So it kinda ticks me off when a naturally thin person would tell me to try such and such...LOL I even had a counselor, who was against WLS, tell me to try some brand of low fat deli ham. LOL OH!!!! Low fat deli ham, that'll change EVERYTHING! THAT will help me to drop the 150 lbs of excess weight. I quit seeing her after a few sessions. Well, anyway, same thing here, preaching to the choir, but it does feel good to get it off your chest. Tomorrow lets talk about people who try to scare you outta surgery with horror stories about their friend's, cousin's, neighbor's, dog walker's, great aunt who had surgery in 1984... and how it went terribly wrong! I could go on for ever with THAT one too! Take care and love to you all! No matter how much I have lost, I will always be in that boat with you, knowing the pain of being fat...being picked last, getting passed up for lots of things because fat wasn't desirable. ~Kristen

Well they can always go take the suit off and that what I hate about it. They don't go home and have to make love in it. Or try to turn over in bed or set up or put on their socks. They know they can take it off and walk away and think, "I'm so glad i don't have a weight problem." And its the shows like the view who spotlight people who have "lost the weight the good oldfashioned way! With diet and exercise!" Oh puhleezzze. Have they done follow up on all those good old fashioned dieters 2-3 years later? When they find them fat agian aren't they going to say, "Well what in the heck happened to you? You failed. You have no willpower. You fell off the wagon. You quit!" I love a dr at one seminar that said something about willpower. He said you want to know what willpower is like to an obese person? Try not to pee for a week! Your body will fight you I promise you. But all you have to do is have the willpower not to pee for just one week. Cm'on its just a week. What are you a quitter? Can't you just hold out for a week? Yeah he's right that is just what its like. It has NOTHING to do with willpower. Oooohhhhh I could knock some heads when I see stuff like this. People will never learn. If your different you are cause for ridicule. If the majority of our nation is obese and we ever took over popular media and culture and started smacking on skinny folks I bet there would be some hollering going on. I was really put out with the Shallow Hal movie and Gweneth Paltrow in the fat suit. It makes me sooo mad that they dressed her up as that. I wish they would have used her body stand in as her real self and just used her as the girl that Hal saw. They could have dubbed voices even. There were some things that I understood and was ok with in it. (I can't think of them now. But it took a long time before I felt I really wanted to see that movie and then it was kinda tough. I remember my husband getting his first real taste of fat discrimination. He was totally shocked. I have always been fat. I was 240lbs when we married size 24. He has a fat mom and dad too. We were married for over 10 years before he really saw it blatantly displayed. It really did shock him. I was kinda blown away that he never noticed it before. But then again lots of stuff pertaining to subtle clues goes over his head! hahahahahahahaha This stuff is revolting. Thanks for giving the "choir" a reason to SHOUT!!!!

I loved your reply too! I could go on and on about this...but I'll try to make my comments short and *****y...(LOL) Turning over in bed! Wow, you know, I had nearly forgotten that one. I now remember living in a dorm and trying to roll over in that litte twin bed. My tiny roommates did it just fine, but I had to really get up and turn over to change position. THere's one mroe reason I'm thankful for WLS! Shallow hal--I was working at this hospital in California and there was a people magazine floating around the nurses station. On the cover was the picture of Gwenyth thin and a pic of gwenyth in the fat suit. One nurse who is fairly new to our country from the Phillipines showed me and the other nurses and said, "Oh Kristen, there you are! I knew it, you are just wearing a fat suit!" ha ha ha. I shold have gave her the riot act, but I just looked at her shocked and went back to work. I probably said something like, "yeah I WISH this was a SUIT! -chuckle chuckle-" Also, love the peeing analaogy. I'll remember that one. Take care and thanks for sharing! This is good for us to get it OUT!!! ~kristen

well, I think that I DO get it and quite frankly, I'm offended. I think that the new demographics are out and the media has been educated that the nation if freaking fat!!! So, all the skinny little rating chasing pukes are trying to gain sympathy with what has shaped up (good choice of words there, eh?) to be the largest nation in the world (literally). Instead of using the power they have to educate the public on what is available to help this deadly disease (surgery) and demand that insurance companies begin paying for this....they suit up in their little pudgie pads and walk around for a day. Now, I'm sure that this put them in touch with some of the emotional issues that some of us deal with on a daily basis...but until someone suffers a stroke from their little fat suit and has to spend the rest of their days pooping and drooling all over themselves in a nursing home, or has to give themselves insulin shots through their little suit....I don't want to hear it! I think the one that really got me was Tyra Banks (the Victoria's Secret model) who put on one of those suits (for a freaking day!) and then sat on a couch with two fat guests and cryed about how horribly she was treated while the two big girls had to console her.....PLEASE!!! If I could be forced to watch that crap enough times I could probably resolve my obesity with induced perpetual vomitting! Boy, I've turned into such a wicked person. I guess it just comes down to this.....spare me the drama and show me some action on the real issues. They no more understand and empathize with what we go through than the white person who paints on the black makeup to live as an african american for a day......not even the tip of the iceberg!