Fair Warning

Fair warning: I’m going to jump on a soapbox for a moment.

I’m getting sick and tired of fat people (I AM one) being the target of everyone from late-night comedians to medical statisticians.  

I’m not going to argue that obesity, and all its attendant illnesses and conditions aren’t expensive to treat. I’m going to argue that the medical industry would rather treat obesity than cure obesity. For twenty years I heard,

“You’re putting on too much weight, here’s a pamphlet on dieting.”

“You should get out and walk more.”

“It’s easy; you just need to eat less.”

“I’d like to send you to a dietician so you can make good food choices.”

“You need to find the balance between intake and exercise.”

 

And my all-time favorite physician comment, from a cardiologist treating an infection in the lining around my heart,   

 

“If it tastes good, spit it out.”

He literally said that, with a straight face, as medical advice.

 

A doctor recently told me he couldn’t support Weight Loss Surgery because statistically as many as twenty to twenty-five percent of patients return to pre-surgery weight within five years. Really! How many cancers and other diseases can boast a five year, seventy-five percent cure rates with a single surgical procedure?   

If you’re reading this and you can’t relate to people of size, I’d like to stress that the obese are not weak. We are not somehow less viable as a human being. There’s no arguing that obesity and obesity related conditions burden the medical system. However, the medical system has failed us. If AIDs, breast cancer, or erectile dysfunction were treated, medically, like obesity, there would be riots in the street.  There is growing evidence that obesity is a genetic, medical condition and yet medical professionals point at us and say it’s your fault; we can’t fix your poor life style.

 

News flash: if it was as easy as eating less and exercising more there would be no fat people. I wouldn’t be fat. Before my weight loss surgery I dieted. I exercised. I went through depressed times where I didn’t want to get off the couch. I struggled for my entire adult life with weight gain and no one ever gave me a single tangible piece of medical advice that worked; not in the long run. Eat less; really, just eat less. I wish it were that easy. Exercise more; works until my knees gave out and I could hardly walk. Make smart food decisions; I’ll take your nutrition quiz. Use portion control; easier said than done when everything you’re served is super-sized.

If you don’t have weight issues, you have other issues. None of us is perfect. No one should be judged or valued based upon on size or how we look. If you struggle with your weight, you have my support. I have walked in your shoes and I know your pain and frustration.

The reason I am blogging my experience is two-fold. First, it’s cathartic. I need to look at myself and not blink. Second, if my experience can help even one person, then what I have lived and experienced was worth it – the good, the bad - all of it.