Thoughts about people struggling with being overweight
I just finished watching a recent episode of Oprah where a group of women and men lost lots and lots of weight. One lost 500 pounds, another 300 pounds and so on and so on and it was all very inspiring and wonderful. The parts of the show that really got me though was hearing the stories of how they felt when they were at their heaviest. The loneliness and sadness that they felt. I guess alot of us can relate in our own way but some of these people were really prisoners in their own home. When I first started to try and lose weight, I felt lonely too. I had family but lonely in another sense maybe. Like lonely in the sense that I caused the weight gain and no one else was gonna swoop in and save me. And here I was complaining about losing 60 pounds and other people had longer roads to go. Funny how some of those people on the show were 300 + pounds and were thrilled to be in the low 200’s. The same low 200’s that I was trying to move out of. And with that I like to ask this question. Isn’t it funny or odd how there is different degrees of what people consider fat? Like some people wouldn’t mind being low 200’s and I wanted out of them. Then I was thrilled to be 150 only to learn that some people come on this site starting at 150 and feeling disgusted that they let themselves get to that weight. And I don’t want to knock anyone out there for how they feel because it’s all true feelings that people feel about their own weight. People can feel fat at 150 and people can feel fat at 180 or 140 or whatever or 200 or more. Our feelings are our feelings. It’s just funny to some degree that one person’s fat is another persons skinny.
But, this is what really really gets me. A woman on the show talked about how she would do her walking in a cemetery because it was quieter there and no one could see her. She said when she had tried walking on the street, someone threw a glass bottle at her and missed. There are people out there that take pleasure in making fun of overweight people. They say that they should stop eating and get moving! And then when someone tries to put that effort in, someone is ready to make fun of them. Someone wants to call them names while they are walking down the street or whatever. I know, I know, some people are just like that. Makes them feel better to put down others. And making fun of people has been going on forever. Someone is always getting picked on at school. And you would think we would all grow up and leave school and all that would end. But, no. It just keeps going. And here people are feeling lonely because of their weight and feeling hopeless and trying to hang in there and just when they find some strength to try and do something about it, someone is ready to bring them down. Geeze, isn’t life hard enough that we don’t need people throwing bottles at other people? Especially for weight? Geeze, talk about not having anything else better to do.
This was all just rambling I suppose. And I don’t want to take away from the fact that the people on the show are winning the battle of weight. It’s just sad to hear that alot of people out there could be feeling lonely and hopeless and the last thing they need is some ass bringing them further down. Hopeless is a very sad and dark place to be. People need compassion. Even the people who haven’t found the strength yet to do something about their weight and may have no interest in doing anything. We have no idea what their past is and where they have come from. I heard once before that when you die, before you can go to heaven, you have to go through a couple of things first. And one of those things is to feel the emotional pain you have caused other people. In some ways, I hope that is true.
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Love the blog everything you said is so true.
God Bless
Great blog and great insight WW!
What an insightful posting! I’m glad to see that there are still people who are kind, compassionate and understanding of others.
Take care,
You have such a heart of gold. Your love and compasion just shine right through. I only wish everyone could see the weight issues as you do. Heavy people did not just wake up one morning “heavy” there is always a story behind it. Thank god for BuddySlim and people like you WW who take the time to encourage and help people out of that “lonely place” in their life. Hope today is the best day for you!! Hugs!!
I love this. People can be so cruel. We all need to remember to have compassion for each other, no matter what weight we are, or stage of life. Kudos to you for this important blog. You rock!
Wonderful blog. I wish this could be printed on the front page of every newspaper in the country. If it reached and touched only a “few” of those cruel people, it will have been worth the effort.
What a wonderful blog! When I see people who are struggling I just wish I was wearing a welcoming T-shirt that advertised Buddyslim. It would be wonderful if people could feel safe and surrounded by people who understood.
Today I do not struggle with where my weight is, but I struggle with behaviors. Today instead of wallowing in my little sorrows I see somethings that are so much more important. Thank you for helping me see the world when I was only seeing myself today.
Have a great day/night Wonderwoman.
You almost made me cry. And I’m not crier. Wow. I can totally relate to your blog, on I think every level. From the lonely perspective, from ‘will I get there’ perspective, from the ‘what is she complaining about’ perspective. It’s all relative, and the thing that matters here honestly is the support we give each other. Weight, and weight loss, can be isolating. I’ve definitely felt that. With BS I’m never alone. I want to do well for you and I want to support everyone else. Your blog is a good reminder of what we’re really here for and how we should live our lives building others up, not tearing them down. I’m humbled. Thank you. Ellen
No matter how thin you get, WW, you are not allowed to ever leave Buddyslim. We are going to hold you hostage here forever!! You add so much to this site every time you post to your blog! Thank you for sharing your “ramblings”. They really touched me! I’ll try to pass it forward to another person really soon. That is what I try to do with kindness.. pay it forward!
Great blog! And I know what you mean everyone’s fat is something but I would love to be 150 well actually that would be too thin for me lol lol but I’ll settle for onederland at this point 199 would be AWESOME!!!!
Very true! My struggle may be someone else’s goal. I can’t believe someone throwing a bottle at someone else and I think it would be GREAT for people to feel the emotional pain they have purposely inflected on someone else. That’s just terrible!!
Loved your entry today. I couldn’t have said it any better.
Awesome blog!! I know exactly what you mean in the beginning; when I was 338 I just couldn’t imagine how WONDERFUL it would be to be in the low 200’s! And while I am ever so happy to NOT be in the 300’s anymore, and I am very grateful to be in the low 200’s, I NEED to go further. I simply can’t stay here. I think that when I get to under 200 I will be so THRILLED, and will be so grateful to be where I am at then. BUT, then I’ll have to push on again and get down to the 160 range where I plan on staying forever. :o)
My aunt is in the mid 300’s and will likely always be there even though she hates it and is very depressed. She is one of those who is a recluse due to her weight and fear of going outside because she thinks that people will be cruel to her just like you talk about here in this post. She has told me she’s thinking about going to a cemetery to do some walking, for the same reasons. It’s really very sad the way things are! How ridiculously immature so many people can be.
I really enjoyed reading your blog Wonderwoman, you are a compassionate woman–may God bless you for that, we need more compassionate people in the world!
I watched that show too. I love this blog because it is so relatable (spelling?) to so many of us. Sometimes I get down and out about my weight and I know I shouldn’t because I know there are others out there that have more of a challenge than maybe I do or things like that. I was just thinking today actually that I need to change my outlook and attitude on myself. I need to stop being so hard on myself. Thanks for this blog. I really think it is a great one!
Oh yeah…computer is fixed now and you aren’t on!