You Don't Know What You're Doing (Or Why You're Still Fat)

I must be trying to mitigate my natural shame and whatever else you said with sarcasm.

Welcome to The Church Of I Can't Believe It's Not Butter (Keeping it holy since November, 2005), Brother RobertLevin.

We admit homosexuals but not fat people.

Ahem.*

(*That should be said with a deep throaty vomiting sound.)

As someone who is, and has been since a child, overweight, I always find the psychology behind it intriguing.

In my case, I am overweight because I really never had a chance to develope a variety of likings for different foods and managed to stick with all the processed, icky ones (honest to God, I'm eating a chocolate-chip-and-M&M-cookie right now). It never was been, and I doubt ever will, be emotional for me. I'm not hiding some major event in my life that I can't bare to remember, I'm not eating to fill the void of a loved one's death - I'm eatin' 'cause I'm fricken hungry.

Well, at least that's what my mind thinks. This, as I've discovered over the last year or so, is the sole problem. I was raised and continued teaching myself that hunger itself is not an instinct or a need, it's merely...there. All the time, anywhere, FOOD! There's no way possible for me to be hungry everytime I eat, but I still eat don't I? Again, not to hide something up, but because that's just how I grew up. Can't find a good show on the T.V.? Hell, go get a bowl of chips. That's 10 minutes right there, gone.

I personally believe that no surgery or pill can do it, that you just have to get off your butt, burn at least some of what you take in off, and re-teach yourself how to understand hunger and food. I'm slowly in the process of doing so - slowly. I must say though, that I now sit at 195 while two years ago I was nearly 240. Still losing, still re-learning.

That's my story. I don't recall if you asked for it or not, but I just had to put in a good word for those of us who don't use food as an emotional clutch - we just plain eat too much! Simple as put.

Yeah, i say this all the time about really fat people who are desperate to loose their weight. There is a fundamental underlying point:
You think the price of being hideously fat is worth the enjoyment of eating.
This can be caused by either:
not caring that your fat (fair enough), or
caring that your fat but refusing to stop eating. (not fair enough)

Its their fault no matter what they say. I find that the second type are generally very stupid, and funnily enough I notice that universities in australia have few fat people.

Great post Richard.

Have you read Reik's Masochism in Modern Man?

If you really want to slim cut out ALL animal products and palm tree derivatives.Then you can eat as much as you want and if you don't like it the reason is that you can't cook.And there are other benefits of no small importance.

Then you look the existential problem straight in the eye until it looks away.

The satiaty reflex cuts in at a different place for different people.

Great post Robert. Very insightful. Though I don't think everyone who is overweight fits this exact ideal. I think people have different ways of dealing with their anxiety, fear, hurt, whatever. Though eating has been found to be one of the things that people most often look to for comfort while dealing with these kind of things. It is very real for everyone to want to somehow relieve negative feelings. Some people choose instead to be nasty to others and take those feelings out on someone besides themselves. Some choose to punish themselves by not eating, or talking bad about themselves. Some choose to lean on religion of some sort as a way of trying to escape those feelings all together.

There's a myriad of reasons that people do the things they do. It's all about control. Feeling like we are in control of who we are and what we do. The extremes people will go to in order to achieve this feeling are astounding. I think your post while very insightful was a bit unfair in the aspect of just pointing out one particular group of people. I think it's all about being real with ourselves and being real with others once we learn how to be real with ourselves. Regardless of what the issues we may deal with are. Everyone is different and has a unique perspective of themselves and the world they live in.

Amen, hephzibah. Thank you for getting it.

Robert-

Apologies for calling you Richard.

I believe that the idea that all overweight people are that way because they are feasting like King Henry the 8th is nonsense, and that in the case of most overweight people, it would require an immense effort to eat little enough to reduce significantly. If losing weight for some people requires nearly superhuman willpower, then I don't think it's reasonable to blame them for not being able to put it forth for the rest of their lives. If the theories and technology of weight loss were correct, and the science effective, then the overweight people would not be required to excercise near superhuman discipline to lose weight and keep it off. My interpretation is that science lacks enough correct understanding of fat storage in the body to be able to assist people significantly in reducing.

This article can be applied to other things besides obesity-- alcoholism, drug addiction, etc. The only difference is obesity is most obiviously visible.

Sanctuary, congrats on your achievement. Good for you!

Now, to the topic at hand. <ahem> Robert, your post had some good points but (to me) came across as pompous and premature.

I've never struggled with my weight. I've had my own issues to deal with (addictive, self destructive behavior). I believe the roots are similiar.

My thinking goes like this "If you haven't been there, and beat it, shut the hell up". Sounds harsh, but how helpful is your post to someone who is feeling like crap for being overweight? It could send them further down.

As a point of interest, hey cool. As a tool to actually help someone, it's somewhat of a b*tchslap to the face.

peace

Flushd. Thank you for posting this. I see that I was very insensative in my post. I would like to apologize to anyone who my words may have offended or hurt.

Yeah, I think sanctuary said it much better.

I'm having difficulty with robert Levin "exempting" people with "real" illnesses.