An eye opener.

I wanted to take a minute to explain how it is that fat people become fat. After reading Kathy's post yesterday I had a conversation with the boyfriend Mike, a perpetual thin person about how we become the way we do. I am not talking about those who just need to lose ten pounds, because honey, I wish I was there with you but I'm not. I have to make a bigger change than you do that doesn't just involve going light on the snacks for a few weeks. I am talking about a life change here.

Being overweight is not something you set out to do. No one WANTS to look different, no one wants to have fat rolls on top of their jeans. We all want to feel beautiful and attractive, that is just human nature and pretty obvious.

First thing is first, most of us in the obese category have a food addiction, an eating disorder. The same way an alcoholic uses alcohol to escape from reality, to find comfort, to find solace, we do that with food. The difference is our harmful activity often shows way faster than your internal breakdown. Our fat thighs show our signs of our addiction, while your liver decaying inside shows yours. But guess who gets the most prejudice on a daily basis, just from the way we look? That's right, us fat kids. Now, let's get this straight, no addiction is good. Whether your drug of choice is crack or KFC, addiction is addiction and none of it is beneficial.

So psychologically, we become obese because of stress, loneliness, boredom or because of depression and anxiety. Really, our addiction stems from not having the best coping mechanisms. We turn to food to get away for awhile. If I have a bad day, I personally will say "eff it" and eat a pint of Ben & Jerry's. Yes, I am aware of how bad it is for my body, but at that moment I do not care, I just want to feel better. Also if I am bored and don't have a lot to do during the day, I think "Why not eat that bag of animal crackers?" and go for it.

We do however need to realize these actions never solve anything, and just like any other addiction, make us feel worse in the end.

You also have to take in account the physical ailments some of us have. I have bad knees, Kathy has a bad back, this should not stop us from getting back in shape of course, but it does make it ten times harder than for most people. We have to do what we can to positively change our lives and hopefully our pain will diminish along with our fat rolls in time. Some of us, like me, have a medical condition that causes me to gain weight. My thyroid hates me and radically changed my metabolism, of course that is not the only reason I gained weight (*ahem* donuts & pizza for breakfast!?), but it is of course a factor in it. Some people, like Kathy's family have a genetic disposition to gain weight.

So add together the mental & the physical cocktail and bam, fat kid. Not all of us just eat 4 double cheeseburgers per setting, some of us lead very active lifestyles. Just because we are not like you and gain five pounds every time we even nibble a cupcake, it doesn't mean you need to judge us for it.

Which brings me to my next point, fat acceptance.

There is a growing trend online about fat acceptance in society. The fashion world has already included more and more plus size models, and the internet is filling with fat acceptance blogs. This is a wonderful thing and a huge leap in the right direction. By no means do I want this to be a fat activism blog, I want this to be a health and happiness blog, whatever your size.

Kathy and I have both had the stigma placed on us that we are lazy, unattractive and less intelligent because of our weight. This is human nature, when you see someone heavier than you, you automatically think less of them in some way. Even if we don't mean to, we do it subconsciously. A big reason I wanted to write this blog was to help others understand and identify with what it's like to be overweight. I know we can never change the way you see others, but hopefully this will give you some insight to learn to accept everyone.

The simple matter is, people come in every shape and size. This does not change their intelligence, their beauty or their self worth. So really, give fat people a chance, we usually have the best snacks in our lunch boxes.