This guy gets much respect from me(looong, I go off on a crazy rant!)

[GQ_jumper 4]

Kiri Stavros, the guy grew up hanging out in his fathers restraunt, he had access to all the soda and snacks he wanted there. Growing up he became incredibly fat, to the point of wondering how long he could live, I think he topped out around 425, at 5'11 that's BIG. He finally decided he wanted to live a healthy life and slowly started making changes to his diet and lifestyle, he didn't try and do it all at once as most people do and burn himself out, he udnerstood it would be a long road and worked at it in an efficient manner. He ended up getting down to 177, I saw pics the guy is in great shape, has an awesome diet now and runs 6 miles a day. this is what we need to see more of, people who understand that their weight is within THEIR control and do something about it, the biggest thing that impressed me about this guy is that he accepted that the situation was completely his fault, he led himself into it and he made the sole effort to get himself out. Nowadays someone would be more prone to sue Hostess for making the twinkies that they ate or it wouldn't surprise me one of these days if someone sued their parents for allowing them to get fat. I saw this guy in on of my fitness mags and i was really happy with the article. The reason I posted this in SC is because I'm getting ready to go off on one of my little tangents and I am sure it will spark a bit of controversy.

If there is one thing I have no sympathy for it is people who complain about being overweight, or try and make excuses for it, "obeisity is a disease", BULLSHIT, being lazy irresponsible is a disease and you are infected with it if you say things like that. I fully understand that everyone is made a bit differently, we aren't all intended to have a six pack, but nothing in your genetics FORCES you to eat twinkies as far as I know, although science is discovering new and amazing things every day so who knows maybe next month we'll see the discovery of the twinkie gene. We all have to play the hand that life has dealt us, and if you were born with a slightly lower metabolism than your peers than you have to work with that. Don't blame it on your metabolism when you end up weighing 300 pounds and get winded opening the car door, blame it on the food you ate that your metabolism couldn't handle, or better yet blame it on YOURSELF for choosing to eat that food. Or how about people who go to a fast food joint order a double whopper and a large french fries and then top it off with a diet coke, yeah, you're a genius, or health guru I should say. and then these sorry souls end up suing the restraunt when they end up overweight, AND WIN. I understand there are people with medical conditions out there which make it incredibly difficult to maintain a low body weight, but it is not fully out of their control, again, play the hand life dealt you. Or just go with it and take the easy way out, we don't need quitters in this world so let your problem take care of you in a few years. I have seen people with problems such as these maintain an incredibly healthy lifestyle, it just took a bit of committment and hard work, and these people deserve a great deal of respect. There was a special on TV a while back about a guy who weighed in at over 1000 pounds, medical examiners report that this man had absolutely no medical condition whatsoever that would cause this, he just like to eat, and his body shut down, he spent the last few years of his life laying in a bed unable to talk because it was too much of a strain, brealy able to breath, but he managed to eat, his wife cooked TONS for him and he ate himself to death, he just layed in bed and pissed and shit himself and his wife cleaned it up and kept on feeding him, IMO this was a waste of space on this planet, that space could've been occupied by about 6 healthy bodies that could have contributed to society, the worst part was his wife seemed to expect people to feel sorry for this man.

I'm just sick of people expecting us to feel sorry for their lack of self control, and expecting us to pay for it. Ok I'm done ranting now

History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.
--Dwight D. Eisenhower

[livetofall 0]

I think you should visit craiglist rants and raves in portland. Betwween the fatbashing and flagging and pics from PORKland (funny wordplay on PDX) gets rather humorous. People check our R&R from all over because we are the utmost crude and mean. Its amazing what al this rain and boredom does to others besides eating bonbons and watching TV.

YOu are right, all it takes is discipline. Here I broke my femur 5 months ago, and got back to gym while i have been not working. My arms are back, running and in great shape. I could have sat there and internet and TV potatoed but didnt. And this is at 40. I tyr to allways smile at those overwieght in gym that are trying..thats really critical. I know it was really tough for me coming in on crutches after being bed bound for a month and not lifting crap. The people who ignore the heavys that are trying ..now those are pricks.

[Gene03 0]

Like a comedian said a few months back; WTF people you just didn't wake up one morning at 500 pounds and say "What the hell just happened to me?"

“The only fool bigger than the person who knows it all is the person who argues with him.

Stanislaw Jerzy Lec quotes (Polish writer, poet and satirist 1906-1966)

[GQ_jumper 4]

WTF people you just didn't wake up one morning at 500 pounds and say "What the hell just happened to me?"

Quote

Or how about those who claim they are big boned? there's one hell of an excues, in the words of one of my former teammates, "Big-boned, fuck that bullshit!!! You ever seen a fat skeleton?"

History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.
--Dwight D. Eisenhower

• Quote

[Royd 0]

Quote

Or how about those who claim they are big boned? there's one hell of an excues, in the words of one of my former teammates

Most big boned women seem to have a lot of meat on them big bones.

[downwardspiral 0]

OK I'll bite.....What difference does it make to you what other people do to themselves if it doesn't affect you directly? Why judge people based on their apparent weaknesses? Are you so perfect?

www.FourWheelerHB.com

[GQ_jumper 4]

Quote

Are you so perfect?

I have never claimed to be perfect in any way.

As for what difference it makes to me, are you saying that there is nothing in this world that just pushes your buttons and sets you off? A man littering doesn't make youwant to scream, or maybe a guy walking up to a woman he's never met and slapping her on the ass, does that get to you? Everybody has their pet peeves, one of mine is people who make excuses for being overweight, rather than saying "if I hadn't grown up eating twinkies I wouldn't be in poor health" they say "it's the fault of twinkies I'm like this, not mine". I'm sure you beieve people should take responsiblity for their own actions, well becoming overweight, that is a direct result of the lifestyle choices you make, if you accept your mistake and are happy with yourself, I applaud your positive outlook on life and self-confidence, but the second you try and sue Burger King for "making" you fat, you have no sense of responsibilty and are truly a weak person in my eyes.

Let me give you a little scenario, let's say you pull up to an office building, as you are looking for a parking space you notice a car pulling into the handicap spot directly in fron tof the door(the car has the sticker and the driver is legally allowed to park there), at the far opposite end of the parking lot, we'll say 300 meters away from the door you see another car pull in to the next closest spot. As you look back at the "handicapped" person again you notice an incredibly overweight woman climb out of the car, she has no apparent disability, walks just fine, seems to be no reason for her to be parking there. Now you look back at the other car, as you get closer you notice the license plate, it has a purple heart on it, the back window of the car has a sticker that says "Operation Enduring Freedom Vet". You see the driver climb out and it is a young man missing a leg, he has a prosthetic that doesn't seem to help much, and on the other leg a very heavy looking knee brace on, and many noticeable scars on his face, he seems to be in pain with every movment, he pulls his crutches out of the car and begins his journey across the parking lot trying to stand tall despite his injuries incurred in defense of his fellow Americans. You find your parking space and walk into the building, you run into the lady andout of morbid curiosity you approach her and ask what her reason was for parking there, perhaps she would like help escorting a disabled person to the vehicle. Her reply, "I have the obeisity disease", you say, "oh, I apologize, diabetes is a horrible thing to live with", she corrects you by saying, "no, twinkies forced me to be this way, cause I couldnt' stop eating them I got adicted", you reply with, "well at least despite your disease you continue to hld a job", she says, "oh no I don't work, I'm to sick from obeisity, this is my attorney's building, I was just coming to pick up my check from the twinkie company and then I am headed home to spend it". I'm sure out of common decency you would bite your tongue and walk away, but think about what wouldbe going through your mind. Those are the kind of people I despise, those who can't take responsiblity for the choices they made.

I mentioned in my original post that I fully understand there are conditions whic are conducive to being overweight, but that doesn't mean these people have to be overweight. I have seen people with these conditions who still live a very healthy lifestyle because they saw the hand they were dealt and decided to find a way to work through it.

History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.
--Dwight D. Eisenhower

[downwardspiral 0]

People who don't accept responsibility for their own actions bug me too. However, people like that come in all different shapes, sizes, and colors and your rant is targeted at overweight people.

www.FourWheelerHB.com

[pirana 0]

My take on this:

<> I do not like the government telling us what to do any more than necessary.
<> Almost all fat people are a product of their behavior. Even with genetic influences, you can know what they are and learn to counter them. Choosing not to do so is choosing to be fat.
<> I'm OK with their obesity, doesn't bother me.
<> I'm not OK with their obesity costing me money.
<> If legislators are going to mandate weight reduction treatments, and provide free programs out of my taxes, then I'm OK with laws against transfats and other unhealthy foods.

Bottomline:
If we are going to legislate programs that fix their fatiness, and those programs hit my wallet, then lets go to the source and legislate the behavior that made them fat.

" . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

[shropshire 0]

Big people are not hurting me or doing me harm (One can't suffer from Passive Overweight).

The Big people that I know dont expect anyone to feel sorry for them.

.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[orribolollie 0]

In the UK medically obese people ARE effecting the general populus directly.

They are draining already stretched NHS resources unnecesarily through; heart disease, diabetes, hip and various orthopaedic operations etc etc.

And call me sensitive, but I really dont like having to squeeze by some great fat sweaty human being to get to my seat on the plane / at the cinema / public transport etc.

So yeah I agree, i get annoyed when I see great fat bodies stuffing there faces with fast food and other junk.

Nowadays there is no exscuse. Everyone is aware of the nutritional content of what they eat. To keep cramming it in with out any balance of exercise is just lazy and shows no self respect.

I was horified recently watching Central News South. The article was convering a school clothes manufacturer in the UK. Because of demand the owner of the company was now supplying 40 inch waist trousers for boys as a standard size!!!

Standard size!!! In my view if you have fed your kid up to a 40 inch waist...well its child abuse.

[wmw999 2,169]

The sad thing is that it's our society that's making it easier for people to do this than to eat right and get enough exercise a lot of the time.

When people had less money, and one or no cars per family, and more jobs involved moving around, incidental calorie consumption took care of most of the people who didn't take an active interest in their health.

Now jobs are sedentary, we watch TV at night, we drive to the mailbox, we buy all kinds of crap that "makes our busy lives easier," and we wonder why so many more people are fat. People aren't lazier than they used to be, there are just a lot more immobile options for feeding yourself, transporting yourself, and entertaining yourself than there used to be.

We even encourage our children into sedentary play in the interest of "protecting them from predators."

It was easy for me to make good grades pretty much all through school, and never get into trouble. Doesn't mean that people who aren't the same are stupid or bad. Just the system suited me. Currently the system makes it easy to get fat and unfit. It seems to be moving away from that somewhat, but until then, it helps to be a superior sort of human to stay fit and healthy.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[shropshire 0]

<>

So maybe anyone who needs hospitalisation should have their condition validated through a Political Correctness Filter (version 2006 UK edition) before treatment is allowed to take place.

Smoker? No, naff off you're not welcome here.

Motorcyclist? Yes only so that we can keep you alive long enough to harvest your vital organs for a more deserving citizen.

Skydive? - Well you can fuck right off you clearly have a deathwish anyway.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[ExAFO 0]

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"Well you can fuck right off..."

My god, British English can be fucking hilarious sometimes. Thank you, I needed that...

Illinois needs a CCW Law. NOW.

[downwardspiral 0]

American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source prej·u·dice (prěj'ə-dĭs) Pronunciation Key
n.

1. An adverse judgment or opinion formed beforehand or without knowledge or examination of the facts.
2. A preconceived preference or idea.
The act or state of holding unreasonable preconceived judgments or convictions. See Synonyms at predilection.
3. Irrational suspicion or hatred of a particular group, race, or religion.
4. Detriment or injury caused to a person by the preconceived, unfavorable conviction of another or others.

www.FourWheelerHB.com

[juanesky 0]

Quote

Big people are not hurting me or doing me harm (One can't suffer from Passive Overweight).

The Big people that I know dont expect anyone to feel sorry for them.

.

Apparently you never had long flights in really tiny planes...

"According to some of the conservatives here, it sounds like it's fine to beat your wide - as long as she had it coming." -Billvon

[Royd 0]

Quote

The Big people that I know dont expect anyone to feel sorry for them.

In this country they're becoming one of those sensitive minorities. We are supposed to accomodate their willful laziness.

We can't blame it on genetics beacause thirty yrs. ago I don't remember there being very many fat people.

[jakee 1,279]

Quote

I was horified recently watching Central News South. The article was convering a school clothes manufacturer in the UK. Because of demand the owner of the company was now supplying 40 inch waist trousers for boys as a standard size!!!

Standard size!!! In my view if you have fed your kid up to a 40 inch waist...well its child abuse.

Fucking hell! Absolutely, positively agree that for really fat kids it is child abuse.

As a parent you should be directly responsible for what you children eat and how much physical activity they get.

Saying that "Oh well I can't stop him eating lots of crisps and chocolate when he's out" or "Its so hard to get him off the X-Box" just doesn't fucking cut it! If you have a kid thats getting a bit too wobbly you should be made to damn well do something about it! If the govt's going to legislate something as minor as smacking why the fuck aren't they doing anything about parents who may be directly responsible for giving their kids lifelong medical conditions such as diabetes?

Don't even get me started on the decline of Phys Ed in state schools right now!

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[GQ_jumper 4]

way to twist what i had to say, i never said i hated all overweight people, i said i hated the ones that tried to make excuses for being that way, like the ones who sue fast food chains for "making" them be overweight, or the ones that try and blame their condition on a disease they have. if you look at the original post it points out how much respect i had for a kid that became overweight as a result of his own actions, placed the blame on nobody but himself and made changes to his lifestyle to become more healthy. the kid looked in the mirror and said "this is my fault and no one is responsible for fixing it but me", when he could have said "i'm gonna sue the hell out of my dad's restraunt for letting me eat all that food". i have respect for an overweight person in the gym tring to make a difference in their life, although i'm sure they could done it a little more preemptively, but at least they realized there is an issue that needs to be dealt with. but if you want to sit there saying i'm a closed minded prejudicial person you go right ahead. but looking at that first definition of the word wouldn't that kind of be like the pot calling the kettle black?

History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid.
--Dwight D. Eisenhower

[shropshire 0]

<minorities.>>

Have you looked areound that great country of yours (or ours) recently? I'd hazzard a guess, that over weight people are no longer in the minority

<<30 years ago....>> maybe the human race is Evolving that way

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[orribolollie 0]

So maybe anyone who needs hospitalisation should have their condition validated through a Political Correctness Filter (version 2006 UK edition) before treatment is allowed to take place.

Quote

Well thats the PC reply but to clarify this is my point. I think that obese people need their weight fixed first then the hip. You need to treat the whole! Its not a fattist thing im suggesting but some action to sort out what is becoming a real problem - medical obesity.
A busted skydiver / car user / cyclist / jogger is otherwise healthy but involved in an accident.
As for the smoker; well the government condoned and taxed cigarettes for many years and now it reaps what it sows ie. a lot of people with terrible heart and lung conditions. No doubt, smokers need help and unfortunately for them there damage is mostly already done.

It would be irresponsible of the NHS to keep fixing obese people and sending them on their way.
I understand your reply and sadly I also suspect certain management of the NHS are using this to streamline costs.

However, what I dont want to see is it becoming truely acceptable in our society to live an 'eat what you want be fat and lazy lifestyle'.
Much in the same way that smoking was finally accepted to be bad, being obese has to be recognised for what it is; an unnaceptable and avoidable disease that is very very bad for your health.

Would you let your kids get obese? No, because you know theyll be damaged psychologically and have health problems in the future.

Constantly fixing broke things is not good medicine when there is a cure.

• Quote

[wmw999 2,169]

Being obese is not worse than being a smoker. The government accepts food also.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[orribolollie 0]

Being obese is not worse than being a smoker. The government accepts food also.

Wendy W

Quote

I didnt say it worse than smoking either so I dont see the point of your reply?
The govt accepts food also? Does it? Look at a packet of cigarettes, youll see a clear health warning.

Do you see that health warning on a multi pack of doughnuts?

Ill ask you the same question: Would you let your kids get obese? No, becasue you realise its bad. So why present a PC and indifferent arguement?

If the answer is yes or not bothered..then Id like to hear your reasoning.

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[billvon 2,471]

>A busted skydiver / car user / cyclist / jogger is otherwise healthy but
>involved in an accident.

Let's take your example of the skydiver. He breaks his back, and is overweight by NHS standards. Government steps in and says "there's no question that increased weight leads to more stress on your back. You stay in traction until you lose the weight; then you can get your back fixed." OK or not?

[orribolollie 0]

Your just being pedantic.

Choose to ignore my point if you like. The fact still remains; obesity is a problem and i think positive steps could be done to reverse the trend of more and more obese people in society.

Do you shrug your shoulders and accept the problem or do you think something could be done?