Weight Loss, Fluffiness, and a Pet Peeve Tangent - Oh My!

I saw a couple of pictures the other day while googling things about healthy lifestyles and weight loss. Here are the images: 

Picture #1

Picture #2

Here's the thing about these pictures. I am both offended and ... I don't know ... amused, for lack of a better word. First of all I'm amused because picture #2 has been me occasionally and I can definitely laugh at myself. Also, I know these pictures aren't addressed to me personally. In fact, I recognize picture #1 in particular represents an attitude some overweight people have. I know people who are overweight, complain about it, get depressed about it, and isolate themselves because of it, but they don't do anything. I want to smack them upside the head. 

Complaining about things and not doing anything to fix it is of my biggest pet peeves. Do I do it? Occasionally  Who doesn't?? But I try to make a point of either A) fixing things I find myself complaining about regularly or B) not complaining about things that I don't have any intention or capabilities of changing.  Case in point - I hated my job in Wyoming, so I quit and went back to school. I'm not saying I'm perfect. I complain just as much as the next person about work and money and student apathy and any number of things. I love a good bitch session! However, I really do try to make an effort to not complain on a regular basis about shit I don't plan on fixing. 

One thing I think I've always been good about is not complaining about my weight. Sure it may come up in conversation (see my "This Fat Girl" intro), but it's not something I dwell on. I joke about it, and if I find myself in a situation where my size prevents me from doing something, I meet it head on. For example, at CPR training a couple of weeks ago I said point blank that I wasn't going to be able to lean over and reach the mannequin on the floor to administer breaths because my boobs were too big and going to prevent my mouth from reaching the dummy. The instructor allowed me to move the CPR dummy to the table and work that way as long as I was able to maintain proper "form" in my arms. I did; I got certified; end of story.  

So if someone were to send me these pictures I think I'd karate chop them in the throat. First of all, the only person allowed to make fun of my size is me. Does that make sense or seem fair? No but I don't care. Secondly, I don't complain that I want to lose weight  while eating a bacon cheeseburger. I eat the bacon cheeseburger and probably say something like, "If I didn't eat so many of these things I'd probably be skinnier. But damn it's good!" I'm not blind to why I'm fat or that I do things that probably exacerbate the situation. But I don't complain about it. So when I see pictures like this my first reaction is "eff you." Then I have to remind myself that this isn't me and this is true for some people. 

But you know what? In the end I often come back to the "eff you" stance and here's why. 

I've met too many people (or read too much shit on Facebook and other websites) who take a kind of holier-than-thou attitude about people who are fluffy. They act superior. They act like they don't understand how someone can get "that fat." They act like it was a willful decision and it should somehow be easy to make a change. 

That's bullshit. Pictures like this piss me off because they feed into a preconceived notion about people who are overweight, that somehow if you're fat it's because you've sat down every. single. day. with 3 cakes, a case of soda, and a pound of crispy bacon and went to town only to complain later "Why am I so fat??" I don't know about you but my weight gain was a 15 year process, and I imagine that for a lot of people it's like that too. You gain and gain and gain and wake up one morning going "WTF?!" and struggle to figure out how to change. For some people, even if they want to change, change is nearly impossible. These people have developed a dependence on food as an emotional crutch and are deeply depressed. But pictures like these assume that if only a fat person would just put down the cake, bacon, and soda and go for walk everything would be okay. 

The people who post or make pictures like this don't understand that some people can't put down the food without talking to a therapist or a support group and that some people don't know where to start with becoming active. 

The second aspect (where to start when becoming active) is something I really relate to. I don't want to hold people back so when I get offers to do things like a 3K color run (during which I wouldn't have to run) I say "thanks but no thanks" because I don't want to be what holds my friend back from pushing herself. I would also worry about not finishing because of my size or getting too tired I have to stop which (yes, I'll be honest) is embarrassing. Should pride prevent me from taking an opportunity to be active? No, but sometimes it does because it's hard to be the only one who is physically limited by size. It's hard to look at your friends who are walking at a stroll (but it's a brisk pace for you!) and know they could take it up a notch or 5 but aren't because of you. And here's the thing. My friends never make me feel like I'm holding them back. In fact, they are nothing but nice and supportive so I know that it's my issue and not there's. I know this yet it doesn't change the fact that it makes being active difficult emotionally. 

I guess in the end what makes me the most frustrated is that these pictures simplify a problem that is much more complex than putting down the cheeseburger and getting off your ass. 

p.s. I do want to say that I see how picture #1 could be a motivator for someone wanting to make a change and that not all people who enjoy or create pictures like this are evil fat-haters :)