response 27 of 41:

Jul 1 01:42 UTC 2007

resp:25 I guess that is  possible. However, I think there are a LOT of
people who arent comfortable with their weight and who suffer quite a
lot from it and who simply cannot maintain any significant weight loss.
So while I suppose there are people out there who just are happy with
their weight and the level of discomfort it causes, I dont think that in
our present culture of discrimination and fat hatred that there are many
fat people who would be comfortable with *that. But I imagine that there
are plenty of people who are comfortable with the way their bodies feel
to them even at very large sizes. It seems to me that things like that
are likely to vary among individuals. 

As for me personally, it isnt so much about tolerating a level of
incapacitation so much as avoiding things that make me feel miserable.
There are many many things about my weight that I dont like. I imagine
that anyone at any sort of size extreme might feel some of the same
things. The world simply isnt built for people of my size or for very
tall people or very short people. I cant even begin to tell you of the
physical discomfort I feel on a regular basis because of my size. Chairs
often dont fit me and are thus extremely uncomfortable, especially those
little half desks they have at EMU. So yes, I am talking about physical
pain, sometimes pretty bad pain too, caused because I am too fat to fit
in the chair correctly. And trust me, that is just one of about a
hundred things I dont like about being fat. 

Efforts to lose weight have always made me feel worse. And while
sustained weight loss is not the typical result of any commercial diet,
 symptoms of starvation neurosis apparently are very common (at least
according to one of the few controlled experiments on weight loss - The
Minnesota Starvation Study)

These symptoms are:

* Cognitive processes center on food. Thoughts of food intrude
constantly; the major part of the waking hours are spent in
contemplating it.

 * Behavior includes toying with food and hoarding it, especially during
re-nourishment.

* Coherent, creative thinking is impaired.

* Mental function is characterized by apathy, dullness, exhaustion, and
depression.

* Interest in sex wanes.

Basically I suspect that weight is a very individual matter as is
health. There are people who can eat all they want and stay thin. There
are people who gain weight if they wanted to but choose not to. There
are people who couldnt gain weight if they wanted to. There are people
who put on weight and then are able to lose it by maintaining a state of
semi-starvation for the rest of their lives. There are people who put on
weight who suffer a lot if they try to lose weight. Everyone is
different. And that is why you cannot look at a person's body and know
very much about them at all. You cant know if that 300 lb person gets
lots of exercise and eats a great diet. You cant know if that 180 lb
person has more will power than some 300 lb person. You cant look at a
very thin person and know if they are thin because they restrict their
calories or if they are just naturally thin. You cant know if they are
smart, or motivated, or lazy motherfuckers shoveling in the pizzas while
sitting on the couch in their underpants. You really can not tell that
by looking at a person's body.