Lay off of Fat People, Okay?!
I just need to rant for a minute here.
For the record, not all fat people are out there scarfing down enough food at a single meal to feed a third-world country for a week. Not all of us are slobby couch-potatoes who watch our expanding waistlines with complacent tolerance. Not all of us are lazy, gluttonous pigs with no self-respect and no self-discipline. Most of the media are painting with far too broad a brush, and it’s victimizing some people who should be given a break.
I’m 5′ 2″ tall and weigh 240 pounds. That gives me a BMI of 44, and makes me morbidly obese. Am I proud of this? No, I’m bloody well not! Am I happy about this? Heck, no! I used to weigh 100 pounds, ran thirty miles a week and did Callanetics training three hours a week. If you think I’m the slightest bit complacent about being a size 22 instead of a 4, you’re nuts. I’ve been actively trying to lose the “extra me” for nearly ten years. Every time I start making real progess, life knocks me flat.
In the late 1990s, I had two kids seventeen months apart and went from 100 pounds to 250 pounds. I was down to 185 when my marriage imploded and I had to deal with a nasty divorce, re-entering the job market, etc. I bounced back up to 230 pounds. Things had started to calm down and I was beginning to drop pounds when I was laid off. Twice. In two years. That’s when we became certain that there was a link between stress and my weight. I’d dropped to 185 again, but the layoffs and a very stressful job popped me back up to 250. In 2004, I found an almost stress-free new job. I began to drop pounds.
In 2005, I was down to 175 — that’s 75 pounds lost in a year! Then I was in three serious car wrecks in the space of sixteen months, which nixed all exercise for almost two years. When I was finally allowed to exercise again, I had a freak accident that ripped my gastrocnemius (calf muscle), making weight-bearing exercise impossible. When I was allowed to start walking for exercise again, early in 2008, I went from 250 to 230 in just three months, and then broke a bone in my foot — due to an injury that turned out to have occurred in one of those wrecks. I had to have surgery to repair the damage to the muscles, bones, and joints.
So here I am, forbidden to walk for exercise again. I can do stretches that don’t require standing/demi-pointe work, but no weight-bearing or impact work. While stretching is great and keeps me toned, it certainly doesn’t help me burn fat.
I eat 2000 calories a day or less. I eat primarily vegetables, lean protein, and whole grains, with small amounts of fruit and dairy. I eat only when I am hungry, and I don’t snack between meals. I walk an average of 8000 steps a day, according to my pedometer. And I do 30-60 minutes daily of Callanetics stretching and toning exercises. I am eagerly awaiting the day I can start walking to exercise again, as I intend to work my way from walking to running as soon as I’m medically able. In the meantime, I am paring my life to the bone to reduce stress, and working to instill other healthy habits like regular sleep, plenty of water, etc.
All that to say, Don’t paint fat folks with a broad brush! SOME of us don’t deserve it!