Obese Surgeon General Good or bad?

[BroomJockey]

Either he agree with his military stance or he doesn't. You seem to be waffling just to stay contrary to my argument.

Er, no. You just seem to have a loose grasp of subtlety and nuance. You can quit if you're feeling aggressive, I'm still calm.

[Flyndaran]

Er, no. You just seem to have a loose grasp of subtlety and nuance. You can quit if you're feeling aggressive, I'm still calm.

Calm but enjoying being contrary just to be contrary.

[AdminAssistant]

Oookay, let me try the pop culture thing again. How many TV sitcoms have complete schlubs with totally hot girls? King of Queens, Still Standing, According to Jim...many others. How many have a totally hot, smoking, guy with an even slightly overweight girl? Maybe that new Lifetime show Drop Dead Diva, but I haven't watched it (looks pretty good, though, interesting concept). When we're talking about being slightly overweight (pleasantly plump, slightly horizontally challenged, etc.) it's socially acceptable for men and not for women. End of story.

And no, I still don't think she looks morbidly obese. Of course, in my mind, morbidly obese is like 300-400 lbs. She looks, what, 250 at the most? (Hard to judge weight by pictures). She is overweight, meaning, over a weight that would be healthy for her. I am overweight. As is most of America. And perhaps, something good could come out of this, in that someone who is experiencing a condition that so many people have, is in a chief administrative medical position.

Doctors aren't supposed to be perfect. They're supposed to do the best they can. Every now and then there'll be a real jack-hole that blames all of your problems on smoking or obesity or drinking or whatever, but many are compassionate and want to help people. And quitting smoking and losing weight are both extremely difficult things to do. Both are about fighting an addiction.

[violetyoshi]

Oookay, let me try the pop culture thing again. How many TV sitcoms have complete schlubs with totally hot girls? King of Queens, Still Standing, According to Jim...many others. How many have a totally hot, smoking, guy with an even slightly overweight girl? Maybe that new Lifetime show Drop Dead Diva, but I haven't watched it (looks pretty good, though, interesting concept). When we're talking about being slightly overweight (pleasantly plump, slightly horizontally challenged, etc.) it's socially acceptable for men and not for women. End of story.

And no, I still don't think she looks morbidly obese. Of course, in my mind, morbidly obese is like 300-400 lbs. She looks, what, 250 at the most? (Hard to judge weight by pictures). She is overweight, meaning, over a weight that would be healthy for her. I am overweight. As is most of America. And perhaps, something good could come out of this, in that someone who is experiencing a condition that so many people have, is in a chief administrative medical position.

Doctors aren't supposed to be perfect. They're supposed to do the best they can. Every now and then there'll be a real jack-hole that blames all of your problems on smoking or obesity or drinking or whatever, but many are compassionate and want to help people. And quitting smoking and losing weight are both extremely difficult things to do. Both are about fighting an addiction.

Drop Dead Diva, as has been generally agreed up on by the FA community, was a good attempt at a show benefiting plus sized women. It completely and irrevocably failed, when they portrayed the plus sized character as eating pastries and mainling cheese wiz when she felt upset, while the thin woman before she died had only a grapefruit wedge for breakfast. They're playing into the stereotypes, that they claim they're trying to fight.

What I find interesting is how people like to claim that overweight people suffer from a "food addiction" is that you need to eat to live. You don't need to smoke, drink alcohol, or do drugs to live. This is what people forget when they try to suggest food is within the same range as other addictions.

Now, there's eating too much, you shouldn't do that. You can't just quit eating either however, you have to find a balance. That's much more difficult than dealing with an addiction, that is uneccessary for you to live.

[anriana]

I don't go to a doctor so I can interact with a human who is it better at being healthy than me, I go to get access to the knowledge that comes from 4 years of med school, X years of residency and Y years of practice. I don't really care if they're applying that knowledge to their own lives or not. The health risks of something don't disappear because the person telling me about them is at risk for them too.

[Nyoibo]

you have to find a balance. That's much more difficult than dealing with an addiction, that is uneccessary for you to live.

It really isn't.

[Flyndaran]

It really isn't.

I have to agree to a degree.
Some food addictions can be incredible in intensity.
But some drug addictions can also be incredible in intensity.
It's not a contest. It sucks all around

[Depot Denizen]

What about Dr. Joycelyn Elders? She was the US Surgeon General from September 8, 1993 – December 31, 1994 under Clinton.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joycelyn_Elders

She wasn't a slim woman either. On an aside, she was strongly in favor of being able to provide contraception in schools and promoting safe sex (including masterbation). Clinton fired her because he didn't agree with her.

[violetyoshi]

It really isn't.

So you need drugs to live? I wasn't aware of that.

[McDreidel09]

Does her weight really matter when she is in charge of the whole cigarette thing?

Unless there is another part of the Surgeon General that I am not aware of, because the only time I hear anything about the Surgeon General is when it deals with cigarette warnings.

[Nyoibo]

So you need drugs to live? I wasn't aware of that.

No, but you don't need massive amounts of food to live either, all it takes is some responsibility and self accountability... oops, forgot that only exists in my happy place.

[violetyoshi]

No, but you don't need massive amounts of food to live either, all it takes is some responsibility and self accountability... oops, forgot that only exists in my happy place.

Not everyone who is fat eats massive amounts of food. I'm sorry to have to burden you with that reality, when it's so much easier to see people in black and white, good and bad terms.

[AFPheonix]

No, but you don't need massive amounts of food to live either, all it takes is some responsibility and self accountability... oops, forgot that only exists in my happy place.

That apparently doesn't work too well considering the obesity levels in this country.
Some people do have issues with food. They self-medicate with it. Those people need more than just being told to pull themselves up by their bootstraps, they need professional help to get to the bottom of the underlying problem.
Other people have physical issues with food, in that they don't feel full when normal people otherwise would.
Regardless, no one is above the first law of thermodynamics. We cannot create matter or energy from nothing at all. While there is some wiggle room in regards to metabolism, most people who are grossly overweight and obese are there because they take more energy in than they use, and store it as fat.

[Flyndaran]

What about Dr. Joycelyn Elders? She was the US Surgeon General from September 8, 1993 – December 31, 1994 under Clinton.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joycelyn_Elders

She wasn't a slim woman either. On an aside, she was strongly in favor of being able to provide contraception in schools and promoting safe sex (including masterbation). Clinton fired her because he didn't agree with her.

She was fired because Clinton didn't have the balls/ego that Bush did to push his opinions as facts and tell the opposition to screw itself.

So you need drugs to live? I wasn't aware of that.

I think he meant that dangerous self-destructive behaviors are mostly the same.

No, but you don't need massive amounts of food to live either, all it takes is some responsibility and self accountability... oops, forgot that only exists in my happy place.

Don't sink to her level. It doesn't help her or you to give her persecution comples ammo.

Not everyone who is fat eats massive amounts of food. I'm sorry to have to burden you with that reality, when it's so much easier to see people in black and white, good and bad terms.

Everyone that is obese and certainly morbidly obese does eat too much. Genetics and hormones may make it far easier for certain people to maintain extreme weights while eating less than others. What makes me fat would make others obese. But eating fewer calories would still lead to weight loss to a "just" fat body. Most peopel don't realize just how much they eat on a weekly basis. They focus on that one day or two that they didn't eat that much, but forget about that one day that they eat just enough to make up for those days plus a hint more.

[violetyoshi]

Everyone that is obese and certainly morbidly obese does eat too much. Genetics and hormones may make it far easier for certain people to maintain extreme weights while eating less than others. What makes me fat would make others obese. But eating fewer calories would still lead to weight loss to a "just" fat body. Most peopel don't realize just how much they eat on a weekly basis. They focus on that one day or two that they didn't eat that much, but forget about that one day that they eat just enough to make up for those days plus a hint more.

The problem is people who can't tell the difference between obese and a "just" fat body. Those who feel it's somehow their place to talk down to anyone who looks even the least fat, like they're a idiot, and don't know how to take care of themselves.