Obesity Support Group

Susan, what you said about singing really affects me as well. I love to sing, but have avoided getting out there because of how I look!

20. I want to sing in public and feel like I look good! I want to stop denying me this pleasure!

I don't want to lose weight. I'm perfectly comfortable with my own body, and my doctor has never told me that I'm unhealthy. Some of the things people have said don't really apply to me though, I'm only about 270 lbs, so I don't have trouble with seat belts, I don't have diabetes, and I don't think I would have any problems with flying. I don't really get made fun of anymore (because everyone is maturing as we near our graduation date), I feel good about my body, and I can do averagely active things (and even if I were thin I wouldn't want to do anything that extreme anyway, lol). The thing with obesity is that some people are okay with being the weight that they are, but some people obviously are not. The latter seems to be the majority, and I wish you all the luck with your weight loss. These are good reasons to want to lose weight, if they really are the only reasons. I just don't like people that want to lose weight to impress someone, or to get someone to like them, or for reasons like that. It just makes me feel sad that you have to alter your body in order for people to accept you for who you are. Apparently that's our world today. =(

"I want to get up the stairs and not be out of breath" Just another quick note, there are plenty of skinny people who walk up the stairs at my school and are out of breath, a few of my friends are these people. It always surprises me that I'm not the only one that's out of breath when we all walk together, lol.

And the thing about having sex with someone and not being afraid of what they'll see, girls, news flash: some guys like it.

Also, another thing (I don't know how much you weigh angeleyes08 or like, your body type, so I don't know if this will really go against your point) but I have my belly button pierced, and let me tell you, it's great even with my 'excess skin' there. haha.

Hmmm, i certainly think this a great idea!!! How motivating=)
1. I want to set a good example for my students
2. I don't want to feel like my husband is ashamed of me (not that he is i just feel that way)
3. I want to be willing to go places with my friends instead of hiding at home b/c I don't want to deal with the general public
4. I want to get pregnant someday
5. I want to travel long distances without feeling like im squishing myself
6. I want to be athletic again like i used to be
7. I want to be a success story and help my mom be one as well
8. I don't want to lose out on employment opportunities b/c I am fat
9. I want to feel beautiful
10. I want to delve more deeply into one of my careers without fear of criticism and have my ideas dismissed

I'm sure there are many more but that's all i can think about right now.

Disaster: Why are you in the obesity support group? If you're happy with your weight, why do you need support? I feel like you're bragging about how you don't care about your weight. Good for you, but we all, obviously want to lose weight and we have great reasons for it.

Because I'm obese. It's a support group for obesity, not a support group for losing weight, or am I wrong? I still have problems that maybe I'd like to talk about, but I decided to post on this thread to wish you luck, sorry if I'm not welcome but I really don't think it's that big of a deal that you needed to be that rude.
I understand the desire to lose weight, and maybe I'd still like to talk about it at some point but for now this is the only thread I saw that I was interested in, and yes, you do have great reasons to lose weight, didn't I say that in my reply?

I'm loving coming back to this discussion to read the new posts...just about every reason is one I can relate to in some way...thanks to all, you are amazing!

Since I got the guts to mention it in another thread and no one has posted it here...

I would like to wipe my butt without feeling like I was exercising.

THERE. I said it.

(((Disaster117))) It isn't that we don't want you here, but like Purple4, I also felt like you were bragging a bit. Most of us here are accepting of ourselves, but we still have specific issues revolving around obesity. We aren't here to celebrate and support each other to continue being obese.

This is a support group for obesity, and there is a support group for diets & weigh matinance, but being obese causes problems that people who only need to lose 20-50 pounds don't understand. Plus, it is easier for us to talk about our problems with people who we feel are more accepting of our obesity.

Think of it this way, you are also part of the depression support group. Do you go there to tell people that you are ok with being depressed? I doubt it. I believe people go to the depression support group to overcome their depression.

As far as your comment about sex, you are 18 and weigh 270 pounds. You have said that you have been overweight most of your life, so you probably haven't gotten the joy of having sex at a normal weight. I am 28 and weigh 280. When I was 140 pounds, sex was a lot more 'adventurous' than it is at 280. It has nothing to do with how I look or if a man likes how I look. It is about huffing and puffing through sex like you do when you go up the stairs or not being able to get your body into the positions that you used to. You just simply don't have the years in to realize some of these things.

When was the last time you had your cholesterol or blood pressure checked? Do your knees hurt? At 18 and 270 pounds, these things are definitely in your future and diabetes may be around the corner. Ask anyone here if their obesity is causing them to have health problems.

I am 10 pounds heavier, and I don't have problems with seatbelts either. BUT - I barely make it into an airplane seat. I also have to use a seatbelt extender on the airplane.

Next time you go to the doctor, ask him or her if your weight is unhealthy. Many doctors don't talk to their patients about weight. Sometimes it is because they feel the patient already knows. Other times, it is because 99.9% of patients won't do anything about their weight. Or because talking about it hurts the patient's feelings. Personally, I do talk to my patients about their weight becuase it is so close to my heart, and I know their struggles.

I want to have a baby. It's been my no. 1 reason the whole time.

I want to be able to run and play with my daughter. I never ever want to see that sad look on her face again, because I have to say, "Mommy just can't run anymore right now."

I want to be able to set a good example for my children to follow into their adult lives. I don't want them to think that because I was fat they will be too.

I want to grow old with my husband, not die early from a health issue cause by my obesity.

I want to have a baby.


Disaster, I can understand your feelings of comfort with your weight given your age. When I was 18 and over 200 I didn't feel uncomfortable either. My classmates didn't make fun of me, I wasn't made the outcast because of my weight. Therefore it wasn't an issue.

However, shortly after graduation the issue with my weight and how it would hold me back became all to clear. When it came time to choose a profession and a college. I found that physcially I couldn't do the job I had always really wanted to do. I wanted to be a surgical nurse, but that would have required standing for 12+ hours at a time, in the same spot. Very little walking around because all of your supplies are right there. Yes, I could have sucked it up and gone to college then could have done the job. The toll it would have taken on my knees and back would have made me hate the job.

Now I work as a CNA and I really do hate it. Everyday I wish I had a desk job because my lower back and knees hurt SO much at the end of my shift, and that still after dropping 61 pounds. Part of it could be the actual heavy lifting I do, but I imagine that the majority of it is still the extra weight I'm lugging around. I don't only care for the elderly. I also care for a 30 year old woman who is over 600 pounds and in a nursing home because she CAN NOT care for herself anymore. It takes 10 of us to lift her from her bed to her wheelchair because she exceeds the weight limit on the mechanical lift, and ours can lift 650 pounds. She cries every day because of it. It's so embarassing and degrading to her to have to lay in bed with no clothes on, just two sheets to cover herself, then to have 10 people come in to move her to her wheel chair. Then once in her chair she can't leave her room because she has no clothes to cover herself with. We just have to wrap sheets around her, then close her door when we leave to ensure her privacy. It's so very very sad, and a great eye opener.

Find cute clothes that you want to wear is easy for you now. What will happen when you need a professional dress or suit for that all important job interview. Will you be able to just go buy one that fits properly? Most likely no. You may find one that is so outrageously overpriced that you can't afford it. OR You will only find dresses that look and fit like a sack and appear to be made out of drapes. OR The only clothes you will come across have cartoon characters printed all over the front. Which is just adding insult to injury I think.

I'm sure your dr does have concerns about your weight, but if he/she brought them up would you truely listen and take action? I never did, as I'm sure pleanty of us didn't at 18, 19, or even 20. While you may not have any health issues now, it's a given that you will. More than just being winded after walking up the stairs. High cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, sleep apnea, even infertility... yes being overweight can cause infertility due to insulin resistance and Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome. I have it, it's manageable, but who wants to just manage a health problem when you can cure it. What will you do when your 20 something and want a child only to find out that it will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars (my husand and I have spend nearly 300,000 in five years and still don't have a biological child... we stil had to adopt.) just to get pregnant. What will you do when NO insurance company will insure you because of your weight. You will be labeled a liability everywhere you go.

It's true that there are tons of men out there who are attactive to overweight women, but not all of them are the kinds of men you want to have. Many of them will say they like you because of your weight, but that's only so they can further abuse you and break you down. They will tell you that you are beautiful, here have another piece of cake. Then later hurl insults at you because you're disgustingly fat. (True story) Then you will stay with him because you'll feel like you must. Who else will want you? These men do their best to break our spirits and they succeed. Truth be told one of every five "chubby chasers" out there will just be preying on the weakness he knows is in you, even if you don't show it outwardly.

These are things to think about. You may not want to loose the weight now, but you will someday and I hope you think back to this post and take some of these reasons to heart.