Day 25 – Am I Obesist?

I just read an article titled Why obesity is not a lifestyle choice and found myself wondering if I am predjudiced against people who are overweight. I questioned myself because the article states that most people attribute obesity to simply making poor choices. “Why can't people with excess weight just push away the food and get off their butts? Why should the community pick up the tab for obese people's health problems resulting from gluttony and sloth?” Moreover, while reading this comment, I did not totally object to it.

And after reading the article I felt guilty for thinking that all anyone had to do was eat less and move more and their obesity problem would go away. Was I wrong, to feel this way, I think partially anyway.

People are obese for so many reasons, drugs, glandular issues, psychological problems, but this article makes it sound like those people who are obese are absolved of any wrongdoing. Dr. Sharma states, “I have yet to meet a patient who chose to be fat. I have also yet to meet a patient who chose to have diabetes, wished for a heart attack or longed for cancer.” I would agree and I have yet to meet a life long smoker who wants throat or lung cancer, emphysema or bronchitis but they still continue to smoke. A person can stop right now, or never - that is their choice and is more important than anything else in prevention of the undesired effect.
However, is it a case of self-control, will power or laziness? I don’t think its that simple. Just like people with mental illness, this is more complex and must be looked at through more compassionate eyes.

There are too many temptations and our western society makes it too easy to get fat and satisfy our cravings and so it becomes a more profound issue than one just of self-control. It is an epidemic, one created by people and so people must resolve to solve it but if governments, companies and society look at the problem simplistically as one of individual freedom and separate from their own initiatives then I think were all in for a lot more obesism. Therefore, I need to be more compassionate and with an attitude to help those who are overweight and want to change, I believe the PCP is a great way to start.



On Patrick’s suggestion, I departed briefly from my diet today and had a chocolate on chocolate cupcake. I have to say on my initial bite it tasted great but then the sweetness was overpowering and the lard in the thick icing did not go down well. At second bite I questioned whether this was the best choice but continued on. When I was done, I wondered what it was all about and felt a sense of guilt for veering away from my diet for such a cheap fix. It just didn’t taste the same and I was surprised that Patrick’s prediction that it might not be as good a treat as I imagined was right on the money. And the after affects? I’ve had an upset stomach since it hit my belly and remember my headaches? First one since I started. I guess I’ll try something a little more substantial next time, but hey, now I know.

See you tomorrow.