Not-so-random Poll: Is it ok to be fat?

Awww...thank you!

My post was more me thinking out loud. Please believe I have the biggest ego ever. Or maybe the Narcissistic complex?

Thanks also for the note about my pic. That's actually my late mother, but I get my devastating beauty from her :)

For health reasons, no, it is not ok. Bottom line.

Looks wise, you are who you are, and it is ok. But you want to be healthy, and being overweight AT ALL is NOT healthy.

So I must say no, it is NOT ok.

Five years post-op I weigh 194 lbs (although inexplicably a size 10/12?). This puts me at a 30 BMI which is overweight:

I can:

-run for miles
-in fact can do any physical activity you set before me
-have perfect blood pressure
-have no heart problems
-labs are good

My PCP just told me I am healthier than most thin people he knows.

So being overweight does NOT = being unhealthy. I would definitely disagree with that statement.

This, my friend, is in part why BMI is a pretty messed up, antiquated way of judging appropriate weight/measuring health, etcetera.

:)

 Truly.

Although I am not thin, I'd say I am a far cry from "overweight"  

I'm thick. And I like myself like that! (altho if I could just get rid of these bat wings...)

 Society has said for a long time that being fat is not acceptable, that is nothing new.

i think if you are ok with being fat then that's no ones business but yours. It's your life and you have to deal with the consequences 

i applaud her for speaking out, the number on the scale doesn't define you

I did not read other replies (I really need to go work on my paper...), but I have been thinking about this since I saw it earlier.

If someone is TRULY ok with being overweight/obese, I think it is fine for them to be ok with their body that way (any medical issues aside... that's an entirely different discussion IMO).  I know an awful lot of people, though, who either pretend to be ok with it (and who, when asked what ONE thing in their life they would change if given one wish, say they would wish to be thin) or try to convince themselves that they are ok with it because they feel powerless to change it and have given up.  I suspect that the number of people, especially women, who honestly feel sexy and beautiful and confident is a relatively small percentage.  I felt confident despite my weight (mostly because of my intelligence) and never felt very sexy or beautiful (still would never use the word "beautiful" with a first person pronoun, actually...).

I have some other thoughts but not the time to type them out (must.work.on.dissertation... MUST).  That was the primary one, though.

Lora

 I really was okay with it. Have been for years and years. I was a part of the feminist movement since the 70's where things like fat where discussed. I used to go to swim parties for just fat women. I've gone to festivals where there were thousands of naked women of all shapes. That's just my history and my values. I do not follow what society  believes I should look like.

I gained a lot of weight with medication for congenital renal failure. My kidneys did not fail because I was fat..they failed because I had crappy genes and taxed them with getting pregnant. Before that big weight gain I was around 250 lbs. I could move,exercise,work and felt in my body. I never felt "gross" about my body and my wife certainly did not feel that way either.

I lost weight to get healthy. I am no better a person than I was at 378. I am not more noble or heroic. I am still the same person.

Interesting topic there Nik.
Deb T.

 It's a personal choice, for me, no it's not okay to be fat, for others they are fine with it.  I have issues with people not trying to set good examples for their children or overfeeding their pets.  I am currently doing battle with my mil about feeding our puppies human food.  I allow carrots as treats, not orange juice or french fries or other garbage.  She has no concept on how being overweight effects the quality of animals as well as humans lives.  I tried hard to hide my eating disorder from my son and make food a nonissue.  Thankfully he had his fathers thin genes and is still very thin even as he approaches 23.

I think the news anchor said it best, "you don't know me, you're not a friend of mine... you know nothing about me but what you see on the outside."

It is OK to be unhealthy, it is ok to be unhealthy, know about it and just not do anything about it. As a human being you are not obligated to keep your body in any particular condition. I don't look at people who are disable, or unhealthy, or sick and tell them they should be doing more to improve their physical condition because it is NONE of my business what they do with their body.

I was given a body when I was born, it is absolutely my responsibility to keep my body in whatever physical condition I deem appropriate. People may tell me I need to do X, or Y to be healthier but at the end of the day you can't force me to do anything about my body. I had an RNY not because I thought I was disgusting (I didn't think I was disgusting) but because I was 20 years old and a boarder line diabetic.

I don't think fat people are disgusting, I think many people are happy with their weight even if they are overweight.

When the email said she was a bad role model I thought wow we are in trouble if body size was the indicator of a good role model we are in trouble!

It is OK to be unhealthy, it is your body after all.