Obesity, Irony and the Other side of the mountain (sorta’ long)

Triathlon Forum
1

My wife and I traveled to the first triathlon of the season this past weekend, and to be blunt, we were astonished at the number of fat people we saw. Not at the race, fortunately, but pretty much everywhere else: at rest stops by the highway as we drove to the venue on Saturday afternoon, at our hotel, at the restaurant where we ate dinner, etc.

No scene was more disturbing than on the beach the day before the race. I am not talking about people with “a few extra pounds” or a little extra baby fat. I am talking about people who were clearly obese - even morbidly obese. Lots of them were kids and teenagers. It seemed like they were everywhere on this beach.

Well, as I like to say, “I’ve been to the other side of the mountain.” Long before my career as a multisport athlete, I was labeled by a doctor as “morbidly obese” myself. I was always very overweight as a kid, and in 1993, when I graduated from college, I tipped the scales at 340. Needless to say that triathlon has been a key part of my transition to health. It’s along story, but basically I lost 150 pounds and have kept it off for over 10 years.

The thing is, back when I was that big, I always felt like I was the outsider looking in. If I went to the beach or a pool party at 340 pounds, you could bet my shirt would stay on. The fat guy was the exception to the rule. I was never ashamed of myself - if I had been, I don’t think I could have made the transition I did. But I definitely felt like something was not right, that I was the exception. All I had to do was look around to realize that I was the one who stood out.

So, here’s the irony: standing on the beach Saturday, fit, strong, and in “triathlete” health, with my wife who is at the same level of fitness, I again felt like the exception.

So, what has happened in the last 10 or so years that turned everything on its head? When did the other side of the mountain become the other side of the mountain? Has obesity become the status quo? Or is it just me noticing this?

2

It certainly seems more normal or acceptable now. Short cropped shirts with a belly hanging out, wb’s with fat arms and man-boobs etc… I carry enough extra weight that I don’t like to have my shirt off in public (or it could be my gray chest hair) but after years of athletic and military life I think it’s more my own notion of what I know I can and should look like.

When I go to the school to pick up the kids, I always look around in amazement at the number of overweight young kids. It breaks my heart to see this. It just seems to put them behind the eight ball right from an early part of life. I know this doesn’t add much to what you said but I see what you see and it is very disturbing. We have become the mountain.

Would you like fries with that?

J

3

That’s PC for ya.
You can’t talk to someone about their unhealthy weight, because it might damage them emotionaly, but by golly, you can yell and scream and call someone names because of who they voted for.

4

Hi,

I’ve visited Orlando during May (I’m German). Here are some of my observations:

I did not know that t-shirts in size 5XL do exist. Biggest size in Europe is XXL. That was quite a surprise.

I’ve been to Wet’n’Wild a few times where I saw people in bathing clothes. Out of 100 people 90 percent were overweight. One third was in the 20-40 pounds overweight category which is also normal for Europe. Another third was in the 40-80 pounds overweight category which is already dangerous to one’s health - very few people of this category over here in Europe. But I was really shocked that there was also a third category of about 30 people out of 100 who were more than 80 pounds overweight. People of this kind are very rare here in Europe.

I sometimes ate at restaurants were I was surprised when I saw what menu size and how much soft drinks people were ordering. When ordering “just water” to drink we always got a strange look from the waitress.

Frank

5

I think the govt. stats on how many are obese in this country are about 50% low. It is chronic, especially in the kids. We had some really fat kids on my son’s HS swim team. I am thinking “how many calories must these kids be consuming to keep up that level of fatness when they are abviously getting good exercise every day.”

6

but those soft drinks were ‘diet’ so it’s ok (tongue firmly in cheek)
.

7

You are right. Obesity has become the status quo. It’s hard to get up early and exercise every morning. It’s hard to be willing to miss Survivor and Real World. It’s hard to not eat the candy bar from the vending machine or to not go to McDonald’s for lunch because they forgot their lunch at home.

So, I’m agreeing with you. The other side of the mountain 10 years ago is now the other side of the mountain. It isn’t easy being healthy and fit in today’s American society, and not many people have the will power or the desire to be in the fit minority. THey want to be, but they don’t want to make the sacrifices. For example, my boss is 5’7" and 195 pounds. He wants to lose weight, but he also doesn’t want to give up beer and steaks and cheese and stuff like that. It’s his choice and if he is happy with it, so be it. It’s my choice as well and I’m much, much happier being fit and trim than the amount of satisfaction any piece of cheesecake will give me.

8

I’ve noticed it for several years now on our family beach vacations. Society has seemingly accepted 10-30 lbs overweight as normal. I’m not super thin(5’9" 160lbs) but I’d say 90% of the people in the company of 200 people I work with would regard me as too skinny. It’s crazy! One co-worker became ill several months ago and lost 30 or so lbs(240 down to around 210), he wasn’t thin by no means but he had lost most of his gut, double chin, etc… He gained it back and last week he told me he just didn’t feel right when he got down to 210 and preferred the authoritative aura he felt he had at his bigger size. Maybe that’s the problem, in our society big seems to be better(SUV’s, Boats, Houses), it appears being BIG yourself has now become vogue as well.

9

-^- I again felt like the exception -^- That statement is so true!

Next time you are at the grocery store take a look in other people’s carts. I can’t believe what people are eating: cases of soda, chips, cookies, ice cream, quadruple stuffed crust butter pizzas (extra butter to dip it in), cheese sticks, grease balls, tubs of lard etc, while mine is crammed to the brim with fruit, veggies, and whole wheat everything…

I can’t tell you how many times the cashier has commented to me “you are such a healthy eater”, “your cart has more healthy food than anyone else I have seen”, “It must be really hard to eat that healthy” etc. It always surprises me, because they perceive a cart full of crap as the “norm”, while I feel that I am eating a “normal” diet. To them I am a huge exception.

A couple of times getting in the line I was thinking before the comment, boy I really slacked this time, I broke down and got the bag of tortilla chips. Heh, a matter of perspective.

10

Next time you are at the grocery store take a look in other people’s carts.

I notice this too. This is unfortunately more pronounced in the inner city grocery store where I shop only occasionally. There, I often have to scramble to find healthier items. They do have a big frozen dinner section, though. But the store I frequent when I go out to the 'burbs has a huge fruit and vegetable section, a dedicated organics section (with both fresh and packaged stuff) and carries items like free-range meat and poultry and wild fish. You pay for all that stuff, but it’s there.

11

I’m the same way. I challenge someone to go grocery shopping and leave with as healthy load of groceries as I do. Yes, sometimes I splurge and get a bag or two of tortilla chips or some ice cream, but I may have 2-4 unhealthy items out of 50 things that I buy. I know that for most Americans that isn’t normal. I usually compare the contents of my cart with another persons cart and I’m always healthier.

But the problem is that I still have this ring of fat around my belly. Damnit!

12

Under the heading of “Only in America” http://www.naafa.org/ This site makes me nuts. I hate to be a jerk (but its my nature :slight_smile: I believe you cannot make obesity acceptable. You cannot excuse away and accomadate disabilities which evolve and are the result of bad choices. I do believe we have an obligation to provide help and intervention were we can and support for positive health change. But ultimately obese people need to accept responsiblity for their behavior not excuse it away. Like smoking/smokers/helmetless motorcyclists…obese people expect us to pay thier medical bills and long term health costs for thier bad decisions. They want the disability parking when the extra walking is what thy need. Quadruple bypass surgery, diabetes intervention for thier kids with adult onset at 13. I speak from experience. I smoked up to 3 packs for 18 years. I finally quite when work went non-smoking and I felt like a pariah and got tired of apologizing while I stood outside the building in the rain having a smoke. Then I took up cycling. The rest is history (not pretty history mind you but histry none the less) I still struggle with weight gain. But it my struggle not somebody elses problem.

13

I have been on both sides. I was 355 (scale stopped there) on 7/21/03. I knew I was obese, but it never really clicked until that day.

This morning I was 220. My BF is around 17 last time I got tested. I’ll never be mistaken for an underwear model, but I’m not ashamed of myself as I was. Sadly, 17% these days is in pretty damn good shape. I’m not using it for a crutch, and hope to get down between 12-14% which is the ‘good’ range as opposed to the ‘fair’ I’m in now.

The sad part for me is to see these families with fat moms and dads. they’ll be gone before the kids even grow up. If your 30, 300+ pounds, and your idea of exercise is curling a 4x4 burger from In-N-Out into your mouth 4 times a day, your life expectancy can’t be that high. But it takes discipline and a big dose of reality to lose weight and keep it off, both of which are completely absent in today’s society.

14

One thing that strikes me as funny is how everyone America wants to look good and hot and is generally really, really superficial, but yet the obesity rate is over 50%. So, you are either really hot or really fat and there is little in between.

One thing that I have to say is that the simple declaration for obesity is based upon the BMI scale which is crap. You look at someone like me who naturally has a high lean mass. I’m 5’11", 180 lbs, with about 13% body fat. My BMI is 25.1 which puts me in the overweight category. It’s total bullsh!t.

15

We have a friend with a foriegn exchange student from Albania. She has gained 25 lbs. in one semester. Amazing!

16

College does nasty things to a girls physique.

17

But it takes discipline and a big dose of reality to lose weight and keep it off, both of which are completely absent in today’s society.

This, I think, is near to the problem. When I was that fat, I had examples all around me of how I “should” be. Getting fit may not have been easy, but **wanting to be fit **sure was.

But as I was standing on that beach Saturday, the fit examples I remember as a kid were all gone and replaced by fat examples. And nobody seemed to have any problem with taking off their shirt and showing it off. It’s as if we’ve crossed some critical juncture where “should be” is now “fat”.

Fast food, soda, television, candybars and HungryMan dinners have been around a long time. As have healthy meals, water, exercise and sports, fruit and vegetables. The means to be either fit are still there. It seems like the motive to be fit, however, is fading.

18

We live in a society where “playing a game” doesn’t mean “hide and seek”, “tag” or “red rover”, it means sitting in front of a TV twiddling your thumbs on “Grand Theft Auto”.

J

19

well it’s all Oprahs fault isn’t it. or maybe sally jessy.

the whole ’ accept me and love me no matter what I do ’ mentality makes me sick.

comedian richard jeni had a good routine on this. basically he starts by ridiculing richard simmons and the women who’s ‘lost 1400 lbs yet still somehow managed to remain totally unattractive, susan powter.’

then he introduces his own diet plan , which comes with a tape.

it’s not on audio tape or video tape.

it’s scotch tape, and the plan is called ’ stop eatin you fat bastard’

ya put the scotch tape over your mouth so the ring dings don’t get in , and watch the pounds magically melt away.

that’s about it isn’t it.

stop eating you fat bastard.

20

That’s very similar to my proposed “Closet Diet.”

You pay me $100.
I then lock you in my closet with a jug of water.
I let you out a month later.
You weigh less.

I also have a “stop smoking” plan using the same technique.