"I choose to be fat" - interesting Salon.com article

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http://www.salon.com/2013/07/25/i_choose_to_be_fat/

I don't think that this has been posted on NT yet so I'd like to share it and see what you all think. This is written by an author who acknowledges that she's fat because of her own choices and free will. A couple of quotes stuck out to me:

Losing weight may be as simple as joining a walking after work Meetup or forgoing the homemade cupcakes a co-worker brings in on Monday, but I’m not interested in sacrifices. Not anymore.

Gaining weight opened me up for heartache in all the expected ways; it also armored me. I was never going to fit in with girls who could hold slumber parties at their houses, girls whose fathers ran out for pizza and sodas (then disappeared to the den), girls who’d expect to be invited back to my house in return. My body sheathed me in distance.

When you’re obese, you are your body. Every decision you make is viewed through the prism of your weight. Do you order the salad at lunch? Good for you! You’re taking control of your health. Do your order the pasta primavera? You don’t love yourself enough. Are you sitting alone on a park bench? You’re alone and lonely: Nobody can really love you until you love yourself. You couldn’t possibly just prefer solitude.

I think its interesting because she completely "owns" being fat like few people do. She doesn't make excuses and she knows what she's doing is potentially hurting herself, she just doesn't care. Fitness is a big thing for me so it has always been hard for me to wrap my head around the idea of those who choose a different path.

Here is a video of the author:
 
She ain't fat bruh she's NT Thick! On the real, I have to commend her stance. The people I despise most are overweight people who want the pity card but don't want to do anything to change that. As long as she is happy with her body and confident, I have no reason to hate.
 
This is terrible and a completely irresponsible move by the author to enable the obese to retain their unhealthy lifestyle and not attempt to better themselves. I read a few comments by readers of the article and I really can't believe the empathy being shown for the author. Obesity affects more than the person who has it.

Disgusting.
 
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She ain't fat bruh she's NT Thick! On the real, I have to commend her stance. The people I despise most are overweight people who want the pity card but don't want to do anything to change that. As long as she is happy with her body and confident, I have no reason to hate.
So basically what many big black women have been preaching

 
real talk, being fat is a choice. You know how easy it is to maintain a healthy weight and you can choose to be healthy or not. I applaud her, because she doesn't complain about how hard it is to get thin. she knows the consequences and made a choice.
 
I do get annoyed when this fat (think of a female Viscera) chick asks for help completing tasks that would not be difficult if she weren't fat. The most difficult part of this part-time gig is loading a case of sodas into your car and back to the office. She would only do it herself if I called her out on it.

I also hate how she speaks when the "elephant in the room" is her. Listen, sweetheart, you did not get that SUV because you're "too tall" for a car.

"But I'm 6 ft, so....." Yeah, around *****.... AROUND.

She also "hug-raped" me, and I was all too scared and none too pleased. :frown:
 
I hate Lindy West with a passion that can't be conveyed properly in writing (or on NT).
 
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if she is genuinely happy with her weight, then that's really all there is to it for me. good for her
 
If she chooses to be fat, is aware of the health issues, then why is the social stigma any different from someone who choses to drink/smoke?
 
If she chooses to be fat, is aware of the health issues, then why is the social stigma any different from someone who choses to drink/smoke?
because nobody (at least as far as i know) was ever harmed by second hand fatness or driving while obese.
 
Cuz if she's fat, she's a drain on our healthcare system. If it was healthy to be fat that's all fine..it's a choice of how you look. I have no problem with how people dress...that's their business. However being FAT means you by definition also very likely UNHEALTHY and very likely going to have medical problem because of this choice. That aggregate effect of millions of people changes the very nature of healthcare costs etc.

This article does a fairly decent job of explaining it:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickung...ricans-more-in-healthcare-costs-than-smoking/

Some quotes for those not wanting to link out:

"Reuters is reporting that obesity in America is now adding an astounding $190 billion to the annual national healthcare price tag, exceeding smoking as public health enemy number one when it comes to cost."

"The high cost of being significantly overweight manifests in a variety of ways, ranging from the increased insurance premiums we all pay to subsidize the added medical charges incurred by the obese to the surprisingly dramatic impact our collective pounds has on energy costs.

According to Sheldon Jacobson of the University of Illinois, the extra weight carried by vehicles as a result of obese and overweight Americans is responsible for almost one billion additional gallons of gasoline being burned each year by our automobiles—nearly 1 percent of our total gasoline usage."

"How serious is the problem? Obesity has risen a full 34% since 1960 while morbid obesity is up sixfold."

I don't really blame the obese people. I blame democracy. It's scary how little regard we Americans have for our health. Instead of it being priority one, it is something often talked about, but rarely acted on. Medical bills are the #1 reason for bankruptcy in this country. Anyone that leaves the US and see's the world is usually surprised how not fat the rest of the world is.
 
Cuz if she's fat, she's a drain on our healthcare system. If it was healthy to be fat that's all fine..it's a choice of how you look. I have no problem with how people dress...that's their business. However being FAT means you by definition also very likely UNHEALTHY and very likely going to have medical problem because of this choice. That aggregate effect of millions of people changes the very nature of healthcare costs etc.

This article does a fairly decent job of explaining it:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/rickung...ricans-more-in-healthcare-costs-than-smoking/

Some quotes for those not wanting to link out:

"Reuters is reporting that obesity in America is now adding an astounding $190 billion to the annual national healthcare price tag, exceeding smoking as public health enemy number one when it comes to cost."

"The high cost of being significantly overweight manifests in a variety of ways, ranging from the increased insurance premiums we all pay to subsidize the added medical charges incurred by the obese to the surprisingly dramatic impact our collective pounds has on energy costs.

According to Sheldon Jacobson of the University of Illinois, the extra weight carried by vehicles as a result of obese and overweight Americans is responsible for almost one billion additional gallons of gasoline being burned each year by our automobiles—nearly 1 percent of our total gasoline usage."

"How serious is the problem? Obesity has risen a full 34% since 1960 while morbid obesity is up sixfold."

I don't really blame the obese people. I blame democracy. It's scary how little regard we Americans have for our health. Instead of it being priority one, it is something often talked about, but rarely acted on. Medical bills are the #1 reason for bankruptcy in this country. Anyone that leaves the US and see's the world is usually surprised how not fat the rest of the world is.

Good article, idk that obesity had took over like that. It's def an issue.

My point was that all these health problems should be dealt with at an individual level. If you choose to smoke, drink, be fat do drugs etc and are okay with the lasting effects then dammit have it.

It just seems to me like all Americans are critics and "qualified" professionals just because they have an opinion. On top of that most people have little to no control over the vices in their life's yet they innately know what's best for other people.
 
LOL and when they're on their death bed crying for another day of life it'll all come back.........
mean.gif
 
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I don't think the title of this thread is appropriate, makes her sound ridiculously arrogant if you don't read her article. She acknowledges that she supports people who lose weight, but tries to explain her personal story of how she tried, and gave up being thin.

I've been overweight my entire life as well, my mom cooks a lot of good food and I've had a problem of knowing when to stop eating. Just recently I got back in the gym trying to lift 3 days a week with 2 days of cardio as well as reducing the amount of food I eat per meal. I think it isn't right to give up on trying to keep a healthy body weight and just give in to the terrible food that is offered to American consumers or give up the ideal of living a healthy life. It seems to me that she just doesn't feel happy with anything she does.

I just wish that the entirety of their lives weren’t reduced to a single achievement.

I don't think all people should make weight-loss their only priorities, but there are different circumstances for people and this quote I will agree. There are other things to life than the amount of pounds one weighs, but it seems like that is the focus of a lot of people in the US.
 
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