Al Rocker, Chris Christie and FAT Politics: STOP the Blame!

Today Show host,  Al Roker, debuted his memoir Never Goin' Back: Winning the Weight-Loss Battle For Good,  he revealed two of the worst comments he has faced.  First, he cheated willpower by having weight loss surgery.  Second, people liked him better when he was fat.

In February 2013,  New Jersey Governor Chris Christie fired back at a former White House doctor who called attention to his weight. "It's almost a like a time bomb waiting to happen unless he addresses those issues before running for office," Connie Mariano said. 

Christie called her comment "out of line."

The Obese can't win!  They are damned if they do and damned if they don't.

Millions of opinions later the public is still divided—is it bullying to ask someone to shape up and get healthy?  The public says, "no!" Can it disqualify one from the Presidency?  They say, "yes!"  Does weight loss surgery cheat willpower and make one less of a person?  The public screams, "absolutely!"  Dieting is a solitary effort but few realize what the social world feeds the obese us.  Society vilifies the obese and reminiscent of the early AIDS epidemic, holds them directly accountable.  After all, you can choose what you put in your mouth.

How much do we vilify the obese?

In a study of attitudes on obesity Glen Gaesser revealed  that college students would chose to marry a criminal, embezzler, drug user, shoplifter, or blind person rather than a fat person.  Over half of young women would rather be run over by a truck than be obese and two-thirds would rather be stupid or mean than fat.

·         46% would give a year of life

·         30% would rather go through a divorce

·         35% would rather be severely depressed

·         24% would give up three years of life

64% of all Americans are overweight.  Shockingly even some of the overweight and obese derogate  each other.  There is always someone worse off.  

TIP: Is it any wonder why we self-loath when we gain weight?  YOU many not be the failure. Punch society for some of that contribution. 

Fat Shame and Fat Hate -Fact of the Week

Today I received an Email form a WLS buddy who was having a bad day.  Three years out and she went and ate carrot cake. Just a slice.  But she was so disappointed in herself.  I once ate an entire cake-in the car- and used the cardboard box as a shovel! 

When I was twice my size I have no doubt that my shame drove up my stress.  Every dieting failure, insult or look ramped up my cortisol levels and triggered an eating reaction.  That's what nature intended--our ancestors faced constant starvation and our bodies are wired to sooth stress with food.   Our fat cells became eager puppies, ready to sop up all those calories-and store them and to add insult to injury we got a big dose of Gherlin to stimulate more hunger.  While some of us no longer have to obsess about dieting failures we need to remember that everyday stress and feeling we might not be on track can also exacerbate stress.  How can we combat that bugger?  Give yourself a break,  Take a walk, exercise, smile, watch a funny movie, blog, and keep away from food cues.  Don't beat yourself up.  No one is perfect.  By the way don't you just hate prefect people?  I laughed at that piece of carrot cake and then i told her how I arrived to my mother-in-laws birthday-only I had to stop on the way and buy a crappy supermarket substitute. 
'What happened to the idea of the carrot cake," asked my daughter.
I tongued my lips to get rid of the last bit of evidence,
"The bakery ran out," I lied.  "Can you believe it?"

Have a laugh.  I love all of you. Please share your stories! 

dawnmhopper@gmail. 

Fat Chance

       On October 1st 2012, WKBT Anchor Jennifer Livingston received a victimizing email which accused her of making the “choice” of being obese and setting a bad example for the community's young people, girls in particular…” Her spirited response went viral on YouTube and is being covered by all the news networks.

            Hundreds of thousands opinions later show that the public is divided—is it really bullying to ask another human being to shape up and get healthy?  Is someone's size really our business?  As a once 300 pound psychologist I lived on the cutting edge of that razor—and there's no easy answer. 
            Distaste of the obese is a knee jerk reaction—deep and complex,  fat-hate is as resistant to disappearing as is that extra hundred pounds. Why? Because we believe weight is under our control. 

I disagree.  I once topped the scales at over 300 pounds.  This blog takes aim at society that fat-shames, fat-hates but realizes that Weight Loss Surgery might be our best option.