Weight shouldn't exist (Obesity)

Member Name: MrsE

Product:	Obesity
Date:	02/11/09 (40 review reads)
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Following on from reading Totalserenity's review on the weight issue I wanted to write my own. My opinion may mean nothing to some people, especially as I myself am not overweight. However, what many people fail to forget is the loved ones that have to listen to nasty comments regarding their parents/siblings/partner/friends weight issues.

Like I said, I weigh what is an average weight for my height. I am 5'4 and weigh just over 8 stone. My Mum is the same height and is considered very overweight. In saying that I dont look at my mum and think she is any less beautiful. It is heartbreaking to watch somebody you love battle with weight. My mum has been on every diet going and some she has won at and actually lost the weight. But then a few weeks or maybe months goes by and she gains all the weight back and is back where she started.

I have had many conversations with her about why she continues to diet. She says it's to make herself feel better and if that were the reason I would fully support her (which I do anyway). Sometimes though I can't help wonder whether the comments that people make and have made over the years have made her think that way. My mums first marriage didn't work with my Dad and to be honest when my Mum went from a size 8/10 and then added baby weight on to that and with it a few dress sizes, he was not the supportive man he should have been. They divorced and she is now with somebody else and they have been together 20 years. My stepdad is also overweight so they can moan at each other now but without the nastiness that she had previously been used to.

In the past there was one occassion that sticks out in my memory. I was in a restaurant with my Mum and Stepdad and I heard the waitress make a comment about my Mum. I waited until we were leaving and made out I had forgotten my jacket. When I went back in I made sure that the waitress never made a comment like that again. I wasn't proud of myself for having to do something as horrible as that, but the ignorance of some people gets my back up.

On the flipside, my elder sister is very tall around 5'8 I think and used to look very underweight. Having spent days upon days with my sister, I can assure you that her diet is one that is not only calorie packed, but is a feat that many men could not achieve. She has the appetite of a horse sometimes. However, at one stage in her life she looked almost anorexic. I had discussed it with her and as we were quite close I beleived that she didn't have an eating disorder but a medical disorder. She too received nasty comments and hurtful jibes about the way she looked. A few years on and she is now a healthy weight, maybe it was just her body catching up with the rest of her. The comments have stopped but she now hates eating in restaurants for fear of people watching what she is eating.

So there you have it, I spend my whole time when I eat with my family watching and listening like a hawk just in case somebody makes a nasty remark or looks at them in a certain way. So what if my sister orders a whole chicken and then doesn't fancy it, or god forbid my mum wants to treat herself to a pudding.

I find that weight is far too predominant in our society and some people are so ignorant to the fact that we are all people with feelings. Just because we don't conform to the ridiculous expectations the media puts out there it doesn't make the overweight or underweight people any different.

It's about time people got real and get a life. Women in the UK wearing a size 14 and over outweight the size 12 and under. People should stop making judgments about people because of their weight and get to know them first. I agree that for health issues we should all try to maintain a healthy weight. I recently got some scales for home. What I loved about these scales is that although they give you your weight, they prioritise other things such as BMI and skeletal muscle mass. This makes you focus on your health as opposed to your weight.

At this point (and I will make it my last I promise) I must point out that my Mum who is 4 dress sizes bigger than me goes to the gym 3 times a week, plays tennis twice a week and can outrun me at anything. She eats healthily and has a good attitude to her health and focuses on that instead of the numbers on the scale.

Summary: Don't judge people by their size, big or small