Fat Is Fat And That's That, Ya Filthy Animal

Continuing with this theme of what constitutes being overweight or obese, I received one of the most irreverent, yet engaging e-mails from one of my faithful blog readers today in response to my recent "Is This The Body Of An Obese Man?" post.

The first line of the e-mail took me totally by surprise:

"You Fat Bastard!"

Whoa, who peed in this guy's Corn Flakes?! LOL! What a beginning to an e-mail! Curious about what this was all about, I kept reading what this person who had some thoughtful insights about the psychology of body image had to say.

Take a look at what he wrote along with my on-the-fly commentary:

How dare you make me look at those ugly pictures.

Who ya callin' ugly? Wanna step outside and tell that to my face?

I am a bit surprised (or maybe not surprised) that no one brought up the issue of linguistics/semantics or whatever it is called when we play with the meaning of words.

That would be semantics, my friend. But it's all semantics. :)

The question of whether you are obese or not is answered simply by the definition of the word, which I guess means that you are obese.

Okay, I'm obese, I can accept that from a definition standpoint.

It is too bad that the general population and society overall has picked up what is supposed to be a scientific term and used it to be an insult. Some of the failure is our own, as we all seem to have a subconscious disdain for people with the physical attribute of being fat. We even dislike ourselves if we perceive ourselves as overweight. (some people don't are and more power to them). Also some cultures do not see it as a problem, so I am being 'culture-centric' (just made that up) when I express these opinions.

Um, okay.

My point, (if I have one) is that the word was not meant to be an insult when it was first used. Something like the word 'moron' to describe an adult person with mental capacity below 12 years old. A fairly insulting name today. Also "retard" which basically meant slow. If you ever had to adjust the timing on a car you would not consider the word "retard" all that bad, but it is now an insult. It is probably true of many words, I will not digress any further.

I appreciate the linguistics lesson for the day.

I guess what I am saying is what we all (people reading your blog) already know ... (ugh, I wanted to say something dramatic there and it just didn't come). I guess we don't know what we think we know.

And you expect ME to figure it out for you? HA!

Some of us are obese, or were obese and we don't like it. We don't like being called or thought of as fat. Because, fat is bad right? Fat people are ugly, they are fat bastards, nobody loves them but their mothers. Obese means fatter than fat because some scientist said it, so it must be more true than when the school bully called me fat (wow I didn't know where to end that sidetrack).

This is the dance doctors have to play with fat patients.

So Jimmy, basically you are as fat as you "think" you are. Nothing really exists outside your mind anyway. There are plenty of skinny little school girls that are puking behind the dumpster right now because they firmly believe they are fat. You may or may not sympathize with them.

I don't think I'm fat and neither should the school girls.

I never understood the thought process myself, until I actually lost a bunch of weight. I always looked at skinny people that said they were fat and needed to lose weight, and I thought they were crazy (also an insult that may have had a less insulting origin--I really don't know)......um....I thought they were crazy, and I didn't care a bit how fat, heavy, obese I was. I ate whatever I wanted and then some. I liked my size I was happy with it. Now I am down within the proper BMI range (barely) and all I can do is tell people that I am fat and need to lose another 5 pounds. I am now one of 'those' people that looks thin but inside I 'know' I am fat.

Sounds like a personal problem to me. Get over it!

So I guess I am warning you about the mental trap. Don't (or do) let it get you!

If you read my blog often, do I sound sad? I'm a mental man of steel!

I am certain that you can lose a bunch more pounds. You may not even look any different to anyone else. I just lost 10 lbs in last month, but noone would ever notice. 10,20,30 lbs is not as much as it sounds. If you follow the lifestyle (also another word with a different meaning for swingers), you will be able to lose the 30, and more.

And I'm doing that with my "30-in-30" Low-Carb Weight Loss Challenge.

I guess the real issue is whether you need to keep thinking about it.

To be honest, I don't think about it as much as you think I do.

You know Jimmy, you probably ought to set a date in the future where you will drop the whole diet/weight/low-carb issue and concern yourself with life and the rest of its pleasures.

That insinuates that I don't enjoy life now. How WRONG you would be!

I don't mean to drop the eating plan, just forget the blog and the rest of the fat bastards and let them figure it out for themselves. I think that is what I am gonna do. (right after I lose this last 10 lbs).

Why would I rob myself of the joy of helping others find the path like I did? Nope, I'm not going anywhere today, tomorrow, next month, next year or anytime soon. You are stuck with me for a while, buddy! :)

Later fat man.......

While that comment might insult this lady or even this one, the fact is I am VERY comfortable in the skin I'm in. There's a lot of truth in what this strange, yet poignant reader has shared with us today and I can summarize his comments with the following:

FAT IS FAT AND THAT'S THAT, YA FILTHY ANIMAL!

THANKS for sharing your, um, comments. I think.

8-20-06: If you thought this one was bad, take a look at what this same person e-mailed me about my five-egg breakfast (scroll to the bottom of the post to see his comments). Did somebody forget to take their medicine?