<p>Who CHOOSES to be obese, knowing the repercussions?</p>
<p>^ You obviously don't understand this topic. Fat people know the "repercussions" of being fat, they are not stupid. And yes, they choose to eat more then they should. So how is that not choosing? They choose to eat to achieve their instant gratification, which is a lack of self-control. </p>
<p>However, I will grant that there are diseases and such that make it harder to lose weight, if they can at all, but the majority just eat because it fillls some hole in them, whether it is to help the pain to to give them pleasure. </p>
<p>Also, nobody thinks lossing weight is easy, so I don't know where yo got that from. it is all a matter of self-control. If you can control your mind, then you can control your body.</p>
<p>Anyways, to the question, I am slightly disgusted, only because I know that I personally would have a hard time in life being fat, so I don't understand how somone else could do that to themselves. But, when I see "nice" fat people, I feel badly because being fat is almost a punishment now a days. Seeing good people being fat is sad because they don't deserve the ridicule. Now, mean fat people it a whole different story.</p>
<p>Fat people don't repulse me. People who don't understand that there is a difference between appearance and personality repulse me. Personality is what I look for in a friend.</p>
<p>/thread</p>
<p>ps. Doesn't apply to sex, if you don't have small, Asianesque body -- sorry, aint happening.</p>
<p>For me, it really depends on the kind of fat person.</p>
<p>A person who is clean and isn't constantly shoving Little Debbies down his or her gullet does not repulse me at all. However, the aforementioned person who goes to McDonalds and eats the three big macs does bother me somewhat.</p>
<p>I'm overweight myself, and I would hope that people aren't repulsed by seeing me around. Then again, I don't exactly run around in halters and miniskirts doing the truffle shuffle, so I probably don't have to worry as much.</p>
<p>"Fat" people repulse me under some circumstances; one notable one is when I see extremely overweight people wearing extremely tight, revealing clothing. NO thank you. And I would not choose to date a moderately to significantly overweight person because I do not find most of them attractive, but for friends it doesn't matter at all as personality is what I care about in that aspect.</p>
<p>I do understand the whole "eat until you drop" thing though to a certain extent. The only difference with me is I have a terrific metabolism. But as for being in-shape, I'm probably more out-of-shape than many overweight people, hehe.</p>
<p>Of course it's somewhat a matter of self-control -- the question is, to what extent? My mom, for example, was thin all her life. Then, she had two children. Since then, she's been unable to lose the extra weight she put on: she's tried long-term diets and even pills. She eats a normal amount -- I'm pretty sure I eat more than she does at meals -- and a fairly healthy, balanced diet (not completely health-freak-esque, but definitely not bad.) Her doctor has told her that she has a problem, to the best of my knowledge related to the thyroid glands -- as much as the whole "MY THYROID GLANDS ARE MESSED UP" excuse may be looked down upon, it's a legitimate condition. </p>
<p>Then, there are the people who are fat by choice. My World History teacher (who teaches a lot of other subjects at my school) is the most knowledgable and one of the most intelligent men I know. He's in his late fifties and pretty huge. As far as I know, he eats because he likes to eat; to him, the pros outweigh the cons. I sort of understand this attitude. It's kinda like smoking -- yeah, it definitely affects your health negatively and may take a few years off of your life, but if you want to do it anyways just because you enjoy it, that's your prerogative. </p>
<p>
Yeah, okay, I'm sure every decision you make is analyzed carefully beforehand so that you can determine its short-term and long-term benefits and make the decision that will benefit you the most in the long term. If not, you lack self-control!!!</p>
<p>
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Every modern American has been taught from their first television or magazine to be disgusted by white women who aren't Hollywood thin;
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<p>I guess I'm not a modern American because I just can't stand a girl with a pancake a$s as far as physical attraction goes.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Yeah, okay, I'm sure every decision you make is analyzed carefully beforehand so that you can determine its short-term and long-term benefits and make the decision that will benefit you the most in the long term.
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<p>Yeah, I guess it's pretty hard to figure out that if you eat another carton of salty greasy mcdonald's fries and continue to not exercise, you're just going to get fatter.</p>
<p>I don't know if this has been addressed already or not (I didn't bother to read everything) but I think a matter of culture and society plays a big role in the weight of the average individual (in my case, American).</p>
<p>How "fat" an individual is really depends on what is available. It's interesting that it used to be that the fatter you are, the richer you are; but now this has changed to being that more poor individuals tend to be overweight. This is due to the fact that healthy foods are expensive, and cheap foods are extremely unhealthy (mostly corn based, since the United States has more corn than it can deal with). Also, the rich can afford personal trainers or memberships to expensive gyms, while the poor usually spend most of their time trying to make a living. </p>
<p>Things like stress and time management play a large role, too. The human body was made to handle only so much stress, but modern times call for constant worry that is difficult for the body to handle. Studies have also shown that those who live in more poverished conditions tend to have higher levels of stress, which can account for obesity and other health problems.</p>
<p>Also, many are unaware that their eating habits can have detrimental effects on their health. Soda can be found in almost every household, but people are unaware of how many calories they can gain by drinking (might I add that in every soda product you will find corn syrup instead of cane sugar, which adds to the problem). Americans are also used to large portions, but studies show that larger plates tend to cause people to eat more than they should. Have you ever been to Applebees or Red Robin? They give you giant plates, and you feel like you should eat everything. Other small habits like going to the movies and eating popcorn condition people to crave food when they are watching a movie or television, even if they are not hungry. Even the fact that most Americans don't eat breakfast in the morning (the most important meal of the day) but eat large dinners instead is an important factor.</p>
<p>So no, fat people do not disgust me so much as the little things in our society that cause them to be fat.</p>
<p>I don't know why people are trying to shut down this topic. I think it's an interesting concept that should be discussed. The problem of obesity deals with so many psychological and economical issues that are constantly avoided or distorted.</p>
<p>So should all fat people where a a big jacket and jeans while they're in the ocean so you don't have to look at their fat?</p>
<p>I'm fat. I'm not morbidly obese. I'm about 15-20 pounds overweight. It's not a lack of self-control as much as it is that I grew up being told to eat what was on my plate and eat it all.</p>
<p>I used to be extremely skinny up until I was about 8. Then I began eating because I was basically FORCED to eat because I was SO skinny. Well being forced to clean my plate day after day to reach a "normal" weight sort of stuck. When something is in front of me I feel I have to eat it even when I know better.</p>
<p>And I'm a guy. For all those people that I repulse, thank you. Nice to see that society cares more about looks than personality. :)</p>
<p>Mmm, yeah, clearly these people are under the illusion that "their" skinny. It's an utterly unrealistic notion that they simply dress for comfort.</p>
<p>You guys misunderstood me. I was thinking more along the lines of a potbellied, hairy 40 year old man wearing nothing but a briefs-style speedo.</p>
<p>if they are old and chubby-but dont have a beer gut, then its okay, no matter what. if they are young and all around fat then they lose a lot of respect unless they make up for it with their intellect. but it is still nasty. boys can be fatter than girls and still maintain some respect. but fat girls basically get 0 respect no matter what, even if its just "genetic". i cant remember the last time i saw a fat girl who was also smart, but sometime nerdy boys can be fat and smart. if i see the fat person's eating habits then all of this can change. if they are making an attempt at eating healthy (only drinking water, no candy, no high fructose corn syrup in any food, no condiments, no salt, only whole wheat bread, no chips, raw eggs etc.) then my initial impression is reversed 100% and they actually gain a lot of respect. if they are eating candy and drinking whole fat milk and eating pizza then respect goes to the extreme low point. if its a boy and they joke about their fat then that also gets respect, but only if in conjunction with them either improving their diet or being smart.</p>