Do you worry about your weight?

[BIG DAD]

I am overweight( according to my doctor)  and have a beer belly, although not caused by beer but lots of the wrong food. However i am not bothered, i love the way i am and am happy that i am a porker, i will not conform to what people say is right, why should i. I could be run over by a bus tomorrow so why should i suffer while i diet, excercise and struggle to get myself thin. If people could just be who they are and not try and be what the powers say we should be they would be a lot happier.

Do you worry about your weight because everyone says you should?

[Gemma1984]

here here big dad!

I am anti diets to! and my doctor says i am few pounds over weight but i dont care! i have started going to the gym but thats more for energy levels than to lose weight! I say we are who we are and should be loved the way we are!

[ALLO]

 it's the self asteem that gets me down. knowing i went from 112 lbs to 165lbs. it bothers me! i could care less what other people think. i want to feel good about myself. it's differant for men. men look sexy with some weight on them. women look horrible. well most. well i know i do anyway. if i had the money i would get liposuction, and a tummy tuck. but we all should be fit. i'm not saying that we have to diet, but atleast in shape.

[mslovely]

i feel exactly the same way i went from 6.7 to 8.9 stone and i feel so big its unbelievable (sorry if i have offended anyone its just it annoys me cos i was so skinny)

[BIG DAD]

I belive women who are overweight are only bothered because it is seen as not the NORM, if you look back through history larger women were more accepted and as far as i am concerned i find larger women more attractive, my fiancee is over weight and always complaining, i think she is gorgeous and would be upset if she was skinny.

[butter1]

I have just bought my first property and I have put on weight through stress.. I'm not really bothered about what other people think, I just feel uncomfortable in myself.  But, yes I agree....if you are happy with the way your are then don't give a damn what people say or think!

[Octavius]

I keep abreast of my weight because it makes me feel healthier and look better (in my own opinion, not others).  I am fortunate that I am not too overweight -  although I used to be - but I maintain what I do have by eating semi-sensibly (not dieting) and by being as active as I can be (or bothered to be!) by doing things that I enjoy like walking, gardening, DIY & the gym occasionally.

But I wouldn't say you should do it just because others tell you.  It's your life, you live it.  But really just make sure it doesn't affect others (dependants etc) in a negative way.

[oxeyedaisy]

as long as you are healthy it doesnt really matter what size you are..i am a bit overweight also and i dont care..it refuses to budge ..so i am keeping it..no one is perfect we all have flaws..thin people age faster they wrinkle..as they have less fat cells to plump their skin out..we are not all m eant to be the perfect shape..and what is the perfect shape?? i went to weight watchers once and because i had to cut things out or down a part of me took over that had to have those things to spite them..and i gained weight..so i give up..i hate skinny men anyway they look like they need a good meal..

[FP]

You are right BIG DAD.  There are too many pressures on people these days to conform to be a certain shape and size.  Even poor little children are suffering from anorexia because of it.  We are all different shapes and sizes and that's great!  When I was at school we just accepted that our peers were all shapes and sizes.  I was tall and skinny, my best friend was short and stocky and we never even talked about weight and dieting.

I am 58 and weigh a lot more than I did at 38.  The menopause and also medications which I have to take have made me put on weight.  I used to find this unacceptable and worry - however, life is too short so I now accept I am two sizes bigger and get on with my life.    I am happy to have a chubby face - it makes me look years younger!

As long as we eat sensibly,  do a reasonable amount of exercise and are happy and enjoy ourselves we have a good chance of keeping healthy.  Dieting, excessive exercise and the stress of trying to come up to unreasonable expectations is foolish and will not make anybody happy.

By the way meaty men are really lovely - someone to cuddle up to is good and who cares if they have a bit of a beer belly.  John Thompson and Bob Hoskins are two of the loveliest, fanciable blokes around!

Obviously extreme obesity has to be tackled but this is a different issue.

[nicola_red]

I totally agree that if people want to be big, as long as they're adults and aware of the health risks, that's fine.  The only issue really is that obese people can undeniably be a drain on the heath service.  However, I am a bit overweight and I am trying to lose some just cos I don't feel good about myself.  My clothes don't fit properly, my skin looks rubbish and I have all sorts of aches and twinges from being unfit. I am a self-confessed yo-yo dieter but I know I can lose the weight if I put my mind to it.  However, I must say I do like skinny boys - my bf is like a rake!

[jno]

the bus may even come off second best, BIG DAD. nicola_red, you look about right.

[Quicksilver]

Good on ya, Big Dad

[shaneystar]

Don't worry be happy.
When I was younger my Dad used to say if I stood sideways he would be able to spit through me.He would have a hard job now.As you long as you eat sensibly and do a bit of exercise and your weight stays at the same level I wouldn't worry too much about it.I can't move about as fast as I used to and don't burn it off.I have put on quite a bit of weight as I have got older and quite frankly I can't worry about it. In this hectic world we live in I think we are quite entitled to a cream cake when we fancy it.

[woofgang]

Is there anything that you want to do that your weight stops you doing? Can you run up and down a short flight of stairs or walk briskly up and down a long one? to you ever get hip or knee ache? How's your blood pressure?

Does normal activity ever make you pant for breath?

I have a weight problem at the moment due to menopause. I KNOW I won't be able to lose weight until the hormones stabilise and I am not going to wait to live my life until they do. That's not a licence to live on chocolate and champagne either :-(

Don't suffer and struggle. walk a bit more, take the stairs not the lift, eat a little more healthily and enjoy your life.

[flaming]

If the pressure is from people subscribing to an aestethic norm, yes it's wrong to conform, especially if it's only a stone or two 's weight we are talking about.  But if Big Dad's GP told him he was overweight, it could be that Big Dad's health is at risk.  The doc. is obliged to point that out.  If it's ignored advice, so be it.  But the insurers' risk tables about the life-span of people will show you how life expectancy rates are affected by our weight/age ratio, whether we smoke or drink, and so on. People must choose - a shorter happier life, or a longer one of denial!   Also, those tables are not hard and fast, merely a likely possibility, and there are accidents,  hereditary genes and other factors which counter those risk tables .  People must choose, but one should consider the facts. 

[funkychicken]

I'm a bit overweight but I don't worry about my weight, I would like to be thinner so that I can wear certain clothes without feeling as if people are staring at me. I don't worry about it though, if people don't like me the way I am thats their problem. People who do stupid things to get thinner are idiots.