Finally, I thought the biggest point was that even JuJu is at 37% bodyfat, which is overweight. It’s taken a few years, but I think I’m a lot better at judging that % for myself, using calipers and tape measures and even visual inspection. An unhealthy focus on “the number on the scale” does lead to muscle loss since muscle is easier to lose than fat.

So although I have said what I have said. I do think that health awareness should be encouraged. But to ALL people instead of just pigeon-holing people who are overweight. Health awareness should be about feeling healthy and having healthy levels of cholesterol etc, not dress size. It seemed that the woman who was for fighting against obesity didn’t have any concerns about people who appeared thin and “healthy”. But in reality have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and other health related problems. I also have to say that the woman who proported that it was okay to be overweight seemed to struggle with admitting that there are associated health risks with being overweight. And I don’t think that is very beneficial either. Anyway, thanks for sharing it was interesting to see all the different points of view.

That being said, I hate Meme Roth. She gave an interview last year about how she maintains her weight by eating healthy and working out. After a little bit of prodding, she then admitted that she doesn’t eat anything until she works out, even if she can’t get to the gym until bedtime. Doesn’t sound all that healthy to me.

I did not like how Meme took her position. I agree that the two women (who were less forceful in their approach) sitting next to the interviewer made the most sense. The two women closest to the audience had too much emotional attachment to their opinions, crippling them from seeing the situation sensibly.

Meme particularly bugged me the way she self-righteously stated that while her family members were obese, she worked hard to eat only 1300-1800 calories at 5’6 she only weighed 120lb.

Here is a quote that I’d like to throw out there. It comes from a book I just picked up from the library today. “fit from within” by Victoria Moran. Chapter1 (accepting yourself for what you are and not what you weigh)

“Every age and culture has had its physical ideal, but only in recent history has that ideal been foisted on us hundreds of times a day through magazines, movies, and TV. The implication that even normal weight isn’t thin enough makes it hard for a lot of people, women in particular, to value themselves. If you are over weight, it’s even harder. The suggestion, subliminal or stated, that we should all have a supermodel’s body is as preposterous as suggesting that we should all have Albert Einstein’s IQ. If mathematical theorems were valued as highly in the mass culture as fashion spreads and celebrity profiles, we’d be lamenting the paucity of our intellects instead of the flabbiness of our thighs.

Get clear on this: being fat is not disgusting. Child abuse is disgusting. Tying up a dog outside all day and night in every kind of weather is disgusting. Homelessness and stravation and weapons of mass destruction are disgusting. Overweight is a state. A situation. An inconvenience certainly. A threat to health in many cases. A sign, perhaps of self-indulgence or indifference or emotional distress. But not disgusting.”

I think there are two very distincts sides of the obese discussion. How one looks to others (and feels about themselves) from a cosmetic standpoint. And then secondly, how one’s weight (and eating habits) affect the health of their body and also the efficiency that the body runs.

I am disgusted by Meme’s line of thinking that “fat” people are cramping her style and they should all start working on self control and exercise. It’s way more complicated than that as we all know!

If it were just about trying hard, all those people out there that have been dieting for 10 years should be toothpicks BUT THEY AREN’T! They are struggling with a frustrating and difficult issue and looking to the wrong solution because the diet industry points them in the wrong direction!