Obesity is a disease. It just is.

[DigitalPigSnuggler]

No, really.  Stop laughing.  It's a disease.

[West of the Rockies]

So is that a real bit of dialogue, DPS, or ad lib stuff?  If it's real, damn....

[DigitalPigSnuggler]

So is that a real bit of dialogue, DPS, or ad lib stuff?  If it's real, damn....

Yes, it is real.  The show is a documentary called Weight Loss Ward.  Terry, the fat dude in the pics, weighed 47 stone (658 lbs) at admittance to the facility.  At home, he couldn't even fit into his bathroom.  They have to rent a specialized reinforced bed for him at 150 pounds per day because he broke every other bed they put him in.   And they weigh him using a special industrial-sized scale that goes up to 50 stone.

Here's another picture of him:

[b_dubb]

There's a system in the brain that handles hunger and satiation. This guy's system has obviously gone berserk.

[Foodlion]

Obease people are just too lazy to get off their filthy unwashed assholes and move around. That's all it is.

[Foodlion]

Ok I guess I was being a bit harsh. I just see so many over weight people, while there's so many people starving. I grew up pretty dang poor. I used to give blood plasma just to buy food. I know what it's like to be with out food even into my 20s, and these people are killing themselves by eating, and being lazy.


Everyone loves cupcakes. We just all know it's unhealthy to eat them until we puke. These people don't even care, and push the blame on some fictional disorder.

[PB the Deplorable]

Did we have this 50 years ago and all through history up to that time?  I can't imagine these people as cavemen, as peasants, as farmers, anything really.

Awhile back Michelle Obama said that early on she didn't know how to feed her family healthy nutritious meals.  Talking about that with a friend, he said for years he had no idea where food cam from other than 'the store'.  Both of them are intelligent educated people.

How can this be?

Is it the availability of fast food?  The processed crap so many people live off of?  The sugary juices and sodas, and the sugar people add to coffee and tea - instead of drinking plain ol' water?  Portion size?  High calorie snacks?  Sitting at a desk all day and sitting in front of a TV at night?

What are the stats - something like half the people in this and other countries are obese.  Not a little overweight, obese.  That can't all be due to a mental or physical defect, can it?

Oh shit, my pizza's done, bye

[GeorgieForPresident2216]

Obease people are just too lazy to get off their filthy unwashed assholes and move around. That's all it is.

I think it's because starchy, sugary, fatty, nutritionally deplete, and processed foods give impoverished people the most bang for their buck in terms of calories per dollar.   Maybe most nutritious foods are truly out of reach for them.  I further think this food is made addictive by the high quantities of sugar and corn syrup (and don't forget billions of dollars of marketing), making said people more prone to eating them and buying them because even in large quantities they remain much cheaper than healthier foods.  And because being nutritionally deplete, these foods never truly satisfy hunger.  In some cases I think it's because impoverished people may frequently live in circumstances where it may be difficult for them to prepare decent meals, so that convenient meals become their best option.  And maybe this all feeds on itself because the people in question now have less energy and less feelings of self-worth that would motivate them to prepare healthy food or exercise.

Just a thought, based on years of personal experience feeling absolutely helpless, annoyed, and frustrated that I had to subsist on food that was making me sick.

You have a point and sorry to sound harsh myself.  I agree it's more about either poor circumstances, lack of education, or poor self-worth in most cases than it is a disease.  I think it's mostly a symptom of an irresponsible society pushing these foods for easy profits, as well as personal circumstance.

[DigitalPigSnuggler]

Obease people are just too lazy to get off their filthy unwashed assholes and move around. That's all it is.

One of the things not shown in that photo was that Terry didn't do any exercises that were prescribed to him by facility staff either.  He sure moved fast when the goodie cart came by though.

[DigitalPigSnuggler]

Suppose that instead of that last quote, Terry said it this way:

"Why is he bringing up the hospital fees?  I don't even pay for those.  If he wants to hit me with something personal to motivate me, he should tell me how repulsive I am or how I'm going to die soon.  Telling me about a fee someone else is paying doesn't hit me where I live."

Actually, he did.  It just doesn't come across that way in print.

[PB the Deplorable]

Just stuff that jerkoff with cheeseburgers.  As many as he wants.

[DigitalPigSnuggler]

Just stuff that jerkoff with cheeseburgers.  As many as he wants.

And then what?

Have you thought this plan through?  Please don't tell me that you planned it like a right-winger.  Oh, dear lord, not again.

[jazmunda]

I blame high fructose corn syrup. That and tasty food and beverages. And good TV advertising said tasty food and beverages. And internet porn for not motivating young people to look good and go out and get some.

[DigitalPigSnuggler]

I blame high fructose corn syrup. That and tasty food and beverages. And good TV advertising said tasty food and beverages. And internet porn for not motivating young people to look good and go out and get some.

For perspective, the calories that Terry consumed to maintain his weight, minus those contributed by the facility's food, means that he was eating the equivalent of two to three large orders of McDonald's fries every day off of that cart.

[analog kid]

Did we have this 50 years ago and all through history up to that time?  I can't imagine these people as cavemen, as peasants, as farmers, anything really.

At one time, obese people were carnival attractions, along with the wolfman and the pinhead. Obesity was rare enough that people would pay to see it and gawk at the spectacle.

[George Drooly]

I blame high fructose corn syrup. That and tasty food and beverages. And good TV advertising said tasty food and beverages. And internet porn for not motivating young people to look good and go out and get some.

What is this, your personal blog?

[onan]

Yeah, some people are fat. I can tolerate them much more easily than the anorexic crowd.

[gbneely]

[MV/Liberace!]

looks fit and healthy to me.  not sure what the problem is.  you people are just nit picking.

[Camazotz Automat]

G

looks fit and healthy to me.  not sure what the problem is.  you people are just nit picking.

[attachimg=1]

[DigitalPigSnuggler]

looks fit and healthy to me.  not sure what the problem is.  you people are just nit picking.

He's still complaining that Aldous never bought him lunch.  You promise free food to a guy like this and then not follow through at your peril.

[UnscreenedCaller]

I don't have anything against people who are fat, and I can't stand internet fat shaming, but there is an obesity problem in this country that we didn't have 50 years ago. I blame processed food, high fructose corn syrup and the  hidden sugars in our food, poor nutrition and eating packaged, high fat, high calorie fast food as a recreational activity. Personally, if the bag crinkles, I avoid the contents because the crap inside is doing nothing for me and believe me, I love chips as much as the next person. In my classroom, I have kids who come in with packaged cupcakes, brownies and chips for snack and lunch: Doritos at 9 fucking 30 in the morning, washed down by fruit juice that contains no juice. Girls now go into puberty at 8 or 9, putting them at higher risk for female cancers later on because of the lengthier exposure to estrogen.

What really bothers me about all this is the trend I seen on the internet by people who are insisting they are healthy at 230 pounds with BMIs of 39, because they have relatively good blood work and blood pressure. In the meantime, their muscular-skeletal systems are taking a beating while their risk for diabetes escalates. You can be a wonderful, lovely and loved person and be fat, but that doesn't make it healthy. In some cases like polycystic ovarian disease or metabolic disorders, yes, obesity is part of the disease but it's hard to believe someone can't lose weight eating between 1200 - 1800 calories a day.

[McPhallus]

but that doesn't make it healthy. In some cases like polycystic ovarian disease or metabolic disorders, yes, obesity is part of the disease but it's hard to believe someone can't lose weight eating between 1200 - 1800 calories a day.

Eating is supposed to be fun (it activates the pleasure centers of the brain), but our culture has gone WAY too far in promoting shiny edible things as a substitute for companionship, success, sex, and as a way of managing stress.  That and people always want to have their problems fixed without having to change their behavior.

Excuse me while I return to my 40-pack of Totino's pizza rolls.

[wr250]

I don't have anything against people who are fat, and I can't stand internet fat shaming, but there is an obesity problem in this country that we didn't have 50 years ago. I blame processed food, high fructose corn syrup and the  hidden sugars in our food, poor nutrition and eating packaged, high fat, high calorie fast food as a recreational activity. Personally, if the bag crinkles, I avoid the contents because the crap inside is doing nothing for me and believe me, I love chips as much as the next person. In my classroom, I have kids who come in with packaged cupcakes, brownies and chips for snack and lunch: Doritos at 9 fucking 30 in the morning, washed down by fruit juice that contains no juice. Girls now go into puberty at 8 or 9, putting them at higher risk for female cancers later on because of the lengthier exposure to estrogen.

What really bothers me about all this is the trend I seen on the internet by people who are insisting they are healthy at 230 pounds with BMIs of 39, because they have relatively good blood work and blood pressure. In the meantime, their muscular-skeletal systems are taking a beating while their risk for diabetes escalates. You can be a wonderful, lovely and loved person and be fat, but that doesn't make it healthy. In some cases like polycystic ovarian disease or metabolic disorders, yes, obesity is part of the disease but it's hard to believe someone can't lose weight eating between 1200 - 1800 calories a day.

when i was at 220, i looked like an anorexic runway model. ribs showing through the skin and all that. you could tell where i had broken them years earlier. my chest was at 46" at that point. i had dropped probably 50 lbs in about 2 months.

[UnscreenedCaller]

when i was at 220, i looked like an anorexic runway model. ribs showing through the skin and all that. you could tell where i had broken them years earlier. my chest was at 46" at that point. i had dropped probably 50 lbs in about 2 months.

Sorry wr, I should have been specific. Different ballgame for men.  It's mostly women who are promoting the idea that a person can be obese and healthy. The last post I read was by a 5'5 woman who was 230 pounds and said her doctors and nutritionist said she was healthy. That I don't buy, unless she has PCOS or thyroid issues and even t hen there are blood pressure and diabetes issues, but she doesn't. She claimed she couldn't lose weight. There's a lot of reaction against internet weight shaming which has led to the obesity is healthy attitude. Now, if you even suggest it's not, you're a troll. I'm lucky, I have a great doctor who's not afraid about getting real with me when I need it.

[wr250]

Sorry wr, I should have been specific. It's mostly women who are promoting the idea that a person can be obese and healthy. The last post I read was by a 5'5 woman who was 230 pounds and said her doctors and nutritionist said she was healthy. That I don't buy, unless she has PCOS or thyroid issues and even t hen there are blood pressure and diabetes issues, but she doesn't. She claimed she couldn't lose weight. There's a lot of reaction against internet weight shaming which has led to the obesity is healthy attitude. Now, if you even suggest it's not, you're a troll.

reduce caloric intake and increase exercise, you will lose weight. or become a tweaker.

[Catsmile]

[DigitalPigSnuggler]

it's hard to believe someone can't lose weight eating between 1200 - 1800 calories a day.

A normal adult will lose weight at that level of intake.  Terry was on a 1500 calorie diet (normal intake for a man of his height would be about 2600), but he didn't lose weight because he ate other food.  The rest of the story is that he eventually lose three stone (about 42 pounds) at that facility once he stopped sneaking other food.   he could have lost more weight if he would have agreed to exercise.

I agree with your observations about food.  In our time, food is now so cheap and easy to obtain, and so very unhealthy in its content, that it is hardly surprising that this effect has occurred.  And the ones most affected, I am sorry to say, are lazy self-centered bastards.   

On another Internet site, Falkie complained that he couldn't lose weight because he had to eat fast food, which he felt was the only thing he could afford.  I (and others) tried to show him that for the same cost as a Fatburger bacon deluxe with fries, he could buy unprepared food from the supermarket that would be far healthier.  However, that would require the effort to go shopping, look for manager's specials, and cook the food himself, and he wasn't having that.  Someone took pity on him and took him and his girlfriend to a buffet to try and counsel him about portion control.  She said both of them ate like hogs, filling their plates and clearing them at least five times.

I'm not trying to pick on Falkie here specifically.  His behaviour is an example of how many morbidly obese people behave.  They're too lazy and satisfied eating gigantic quantities of food to do anything else, but they seem to have an infinite amount of energy to come up with excuses about why they can't do otherwise and it is out of their control.  And it's not enough to write them off and say it's their lives that they are ruining, leave them to their own devices.  They are a drain on society, financially and otherwise.  Based on the numbers presented in the story, the government paid about $1000 per pound for the weight that Terry lost.  And with no guarantee that he won't eat it all back when he goes home.

[DigitalPigSnuggler]

"Holy FUCK, Taylor, you REALLY let yourself go." 

Yeah, I can see how someone would get tired of hearing that over and over.

I wonder if it has occurred to that nitwit that she's getting so fat that you can't see her eyes anymore.  Isn't she concerned about reaching critical mass?

[PB the Deplorable]

Hey, it's Boy George