Are you a fitness snob?
- Thread starter LauraMax
- Start date
pink_fortitude
Banned
I thought about this thread all night last night, and I talked to my husband about it as well. I have read through all of the posts again, and I think that many people here have posted some really great thoughts and points. I feel bad, because I am afraid that I may have offended people without meaning to.
I don't believe that I am better than someone who is not fit; however, I do not understand the lack of desire to be healthy or to change habits when you already are unhealthy and at risk. I admit, that is where my prejudice is. DH helped shed some light on that just in stating the differences in the two of us: I was raised in a house where my mom worked in a Cath Lab, so almost everyone she saw was overweight or smokers or both and faced serious health risks. Because of what she saw everyday, she made sure she kept us active in sports and made us balanced meals. We still ate junk food growing up, but in moderations. DH on the other hand was raised on fast food, Hostess treats and video games. We had completely different foundations. Because of my foundation, it was easier for me to lose weight after a two year binge of junk, processed and fast foods, and because of his it is more difficult. He in now way used this as an excuse for today, but to help me understand a little better.
Someone above mentioned we all have different priorities. Health is a definitely a priority for me, but not the only one. I want to be able to play with my grandbabies without having to stop for breath, and I don't want to get diabetes or heart disease. I would rather spend the money that would be used for medical bills and pills on my grandkids or on my retirement vacations. Being obese does not make you a worse person, and I have never believed that, but it does put your life at risk for serious diseases and illnesses that can be easily avoided and prevented. I loved watching the Biggest Loser, just seeing everyone transform and build confidence is amazing! I have the utmost respect for those who are making the changes to be healthy, I know it is hard. But then, nothing worth having is easy.
I understand that we all come from different place and walks. Please forgive anything that I said that may have been cold, I really didn't mean to be. I have friends of all shapes and sizes and colors who all dress differently, and their outward appearance doesn't change the way I feel about their inside.
And I didn't get from Laura's post that she was trying to be mean, either. It is hard to admit something about ourselves that we don't like. I got the impression when she made the "superior" comment, she meant superior about ourselves for working hard and not superior to others.
Missy
I don't believe that I am better than someone who is not fit; however, I do not understand the lack of desire to be healthy or to change habits when you already are unhealthy and at risk. I admit, that is where my prejudice is. DH helped shed some light on that just in stating the differences in the two of us: I was raised in a house where my mom worked in a Cath Lab, so almost everyone she saw was overweight or smokers or both and faced serious health risks. Because of what she saw everyday, she made sure she kept us active in sports and made us balanced meals. We still ate junk food growing up, but in moderations. DH on the other hand was raised on fast food, Hostess treats and video games. We had completely different foundations. Because of my foundation, it was easier for me to lose weight after a two year binge of junk, processed and fast foods, and because of his it is more difficult. He in now way used this as an excuse for today, but to help me understand a little better.
Someone above mentioned we all have different priorities. Health is a definitely a priority for me, but not the only one. I want to be able to play with my grandbabies without having to stop for breath, and I don't want to get diabetes or heart disease. I would rather spend the money that would be used for medical bills and pills on my grandkids or on my retirement vacations. Being obese does not make you a worse person, and I have never believed that, but it does put your life at risk for serious diseases and illnesses that can be easily avoided and prevented. I loved watching the Biggest Loser, just seeing everyone transform and build confidence is amazing! I have the utmost respect for those who are making the changes to be healthy, I know it is hard. But then, nothing worth having is easy.
I understand that we all come from different place and walks. Please forgive anything that I said that may have been cold, I really didn't mean to be. I have friends of all shapes and sizes and colors who all dress differently, and their outward appearance doesn't change the way I feel about their inside.
And I didn't get from Laura's post that she was trying to be mean, either. It is hard to admit something about ourselves that we don't like. I got the impression when she made the "superior" comment, she meant superior about ourselves for working hard and not superior to others.
Missy
gogigi
Cathlete
>Actually Robyn, I find it sad that you completely missed my
>point (and BTW, the "superior" comment was a joke, I think
>some of you people need to lighten up, no pun intended--but
>you really should get over yourself).
>
You may want to take some of your own advice here.
>First of all, I also have gone through a major weight loss. I
>gained about 35 lbs after I turned 30 & realized at some point
>enough was enough & did something about it. I have also had
>difficulties in my life that certainly could have caused me to
>turn to overeating, but I had the discipline & self control
>not to let that happen.
>
>Second of all, those of you who took offense to what I said
>obviously didn't bother reading my post about how much I
>admire obese people who have the courage to do something about
>it. Of course, if you had paid attention to that post you
>wouldn't have had the opportunity to whine & complain about
>something you didn't want to hear.
>
It sounds like YOU got offended when people disagreed with you. Now you are whining and complaining about something you didn't want to hear...responses that are different from your opnions/thoughts/experiences.
>I am not judging people by their looks, as you seem to want to
>believe. I am judging people for not taking care of
>themselves, for blaming everything but themselves for their
>problems, and for driving up the costs of health care b/c
>their too lazy to have 30 minutes of physical activity a day.
>I'm sorry but I just don't buy the excuse that obesity is
>caused by illness. I think it's the other way around. I
>would guess maybe 2-3% of obese people are actually that way
>b/c of an illness or chemical imbalance.
>
Calling people clowns, saying they are supposedly intelligent, legs that look like sausages...you may not have meant to but it sounds like judging someone by their looks.
>Too bad what should have been an intelligent, rational thread
>turned into personal attacks & self justifications. I was
>feeling pretty good about being able to share opinions on the
>forum in an open & honest way. Now I'm ashamed that there are
>women out there who can't hear someone else's opinion without
>bashing them for it.
You are acting like one of those women you are ashamed of. You asked if you were a fitness snob and you chose to open a very controversial subject, but now those that think that maybe you are a fitness snob or those who shared a completely different opnion/experience from yours are bashing and turning an intelligent, rational thread into personal attacks and self justifications??? You asked and you rec'd many different opinions and experiences...something we all supposedly appreciate on these forums, but it doesn't sound like you truly value this if you are going to bash those who give you an honest answer based on their opinion/experience be it different from your own.
I think these kinds of threads are always going to generate several kinds of responses based on people's own opinions/thoughts/experiences and if you are going to ask a question such as this you need to be prepared for all kinds of answers. It's obvious that you didn't want to hear from anyone unless they agreed with your thought process completely. It's too bad you couldn't respect everyone who tried to share their thoughts...it wan't a personal attack on you...you asked a very tough question and rec'd some tough but honest answers from a very diverse group of people.
Angela
>point (and BTW, the "superior" comment was a joke, I think
>some of you people need to lighten up, no pun intended--but
>you really should get over yourself).
>
You may want to take some of your own advice here.
>First of all, I also have gone through a major weight loss. I
>gained about 35 lbs after I turned 30 & realized at some point
>enough was enough & did something about it. I have also had
>difficulties in my life that certainly could have caused me to
>turn to overeating, but I had the discipline & self control
>not to let that happen.
>
>Second of all, those of you who took offense to what I said
>obviously didn't bother reading my post about how much I
>admire obese people who have the courage to do something about
>it. Of course, if you had paid attention to that post you
>wouldn't have had the opportunity to whine & complain about
>something you didn't want to hear.
>
It sounds like YOU got offended when people disagreed with you. Now you are whining and complaining about something you didn't want to hear...responses that are different from your opnions/thoughts/experiences.
>I am not judging people by their looks, as you seem to want to
>believe. I am judging people for not taking care of
>themselves, for blaming everything but themselves for their
>problems, and for driving up the costs of health care b/c
>their too lazy to have 30 minutes of physical activity a day.
>I'm sorry but I just don't buy the excuse that obesity is
>caused by illness. I think it's the other way around. I
>would guess maybe 2-3% of obese people are actually that way
>b/c of an illness or chemical imbalance.
>
Calling people clowns, saying they are supposedly intelligent, legs that look like sausages...you may not have meant to but it sounds like judging someone by their looks.
>Too bad what should have been an intelligent, rational thread
>turned into personal attacks & self justifications. I was
>feeling pretty good about being able to share opinions on the
>forum in an open & honest way. Now I'm ashamed that there are
>women out there who can't hear someone else's opinion without
>bashing them for it.
You are acting like one of those women you are ashamed of. You asked if you were a fitness snob and you chose to open a very controversial subject, but now those that think that maybe you are a fitness snob or those who shared a completely different opnion/experience from yours are bashing and turning an intelligent, rational thread into personal attacks and self justifications??? You asked and you rec'd many different opinions and experiences...something we all supposedly appreciate on these forums, but it doesn't sound like you truly value this if you are going to bash those who give you an honest answer based on their opinion/experience be it different from your own.
I think these kinds of threads are always going to generate several kinds of responses based on people's own opinions/thoughts/experiences and if you are going to ask a question such as this you need to be prepared for all kinds of answers. It's obvious that you didn't want to hear from anyone unless they agreed with your thought process completely. It's too bad you couldn't respect everyone who tried to share their thoughts...it wan't a personal attack on you...you asked a very tough question and rec'd some tough but honest answers from a very diverse group of people.
Angela