I See Fat People

(Susan) #1

Now please do not be offended at the title of this post, it’s just the truth (and I also find it a little scary like the kid from “The Sixth Sense” did when he saw dead people, lol). Fact is, I’m still obese myself even after great progress the past 12 weeks – now around 20 pounds gone in 12 weeks, plus dropping a couple of clothing sizes. With 100 pounds left to lose, I am not criticising others, just truly noticing. Living in East Tennessee I am fortunate to be able to visit Dollywood frequently, something that is truly enjoyable to me. But over the past 20 years of slowly packing on an extra 120 pounds on my 5’1" frame the unthinkable happened – I became unable to ride all of my favorite roller coasters save one, the Tennessee Tornado (which is a great ride but not one you want to do over & over again, depending on your age, lol). But a trip to the park Friday proved that I’d lost/reshaped enough to ride an old favorite, Thunderhead and one of the newer rides the FireChaser…so much fun! Mystery Mine was closed that day and I failed two others’ test seats but thanks to keto just took it in stride and enjoyed the ones I could ride – and feel confident will be able to ride EVERYTHING I’ve been missing for so long by next summer. Usually I would get depressed and eat a bunch of unnecessary carbage, which in the long run kept me from losing weight to be able to ride the rides…kinda ironic. This time I found keto things to eat in the park and got ice water to drink during the day, really not difficult at all.

But I digress…it always seems like there are some really large people at the park, some barely able to walk or riding the rentable scooters to get around the park. Most of them looking quite miserable or uncomfortable at best, it’s a little depressing. And then for breakfast the next day we went to IHOP and there were some huge people there as well, have never seen so many big people in one place before, seriously.

I guess my point is that I wish there was a way to talk to all these people (some of you have mentioned something similar before, as in the grocery store) and let them know there is a better way without sounding like a crazy keto-evangelist :slight_smile: But it’s sort of hard to do with complete strangers vs friends and acquaintances who see you fairly often and who notice your results. And then I remember it took me a year to make the leap into keto with no one pushing me (have a wonderful neighbor who has been a quiet, great example of what LCHF can do) and try not to worry about others and do the best I can for myself. And hope and pray that others will find keto.

Now I want to plan some trips for next summer and fall to Busch Gardens and Cedar Point to ride some of the really big coasters…woo hoo!

Carrying the Message
(Stickin' with mammoth) #2

I feel ya.

Get yourself some keto t-shirts and just look real happy. The ones who are ready will ask. Just don’t ask the ones that aren’t ready, it’s like bathing a cat.

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(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #3

Interestingly, I’ve been experiencing the same thing, Sue. Even guys I would normally find quite attractive, I’m noticing how puffy their cheeks are and that bit of a spare tire that’s developing. Like you, I am still quite obese, so it’s not a criticism, just an observation. I remember when I was about a year sober, suddenly noticing how much certain people drank (and how little normal people drank, too!) and realizing I was looking at myself from the outside. It wasn’t a judgement on their behavior, just a realization that I must have looked like that, too, when I was drinking, but I’d been oblivious. It can be a bit daunting to see yourself as others do, though it’s probably a sign of healthy change, that the awareness has finally dawned!

(Sheri Knauer) #4

I can relate. The difference is I saw overweight people before and I used to think, “they must not eat right” or “they must eat too much and are lazy”, etc. Now I see overweight people and I think much differently. It makes me so mad that we have been lied to all these years about the way we should be eating. When I see someone with puffy hand, legs, and feet and excessive belly fat, I just want to tell them they don’t have to suffer and struggle anymore with that. That what we were taught, told by our doctors, and had pounded into our heads for decades is all wrong. But I don’t because I know most strangers probably wouldn’t appreciate being told by someone they don’t know that their eating habits are all wrong. I just hope that word gets out fast enough to help those who are struggling. What else I find appalling is the number of overweight kids I see in my kids elementary school and on their swim team. When there is an event or swim meet, the crap that they have available to these future athletes is just horrendous. Pastries, cookies, candy, chips, gatorade. More than half the swim team is overweight and I see these kids just scarfing down all this crappy carbage at the swim meets. Its insane. Sorry, went off on my own little tangent.

(Carpe salata!) #5

In my case I didn’t know i was suffering. Now, just don’t make me go back there.

(John) #6

The big problem I have found is now that I have lost my weight I just get that ‘what would you know about it’ attitude. There seems to be a lot of the overly defensive you weren’t as bad as me, don’t have problem x etc like it is a competition. People have been justifying their weight, especially to themselves, for so long they seem to not want to stop fighting.

(Mark Rhodes) #7

Or the “It’s your metabolism, you have one of those gifted metabolisms” to which I respond " Well yes, it is my metabolism. I took control of it and through a ‘radical’ nutrition plan and finally got to a place that allowed my metabolism to function properly. Would you be interested in learning how you too could do the same?"

(Deb) #8

Omg, this post is too funny! Every week I walk through Walmart thinking “Gosh, she could really use a keto plan!” or “man, that guy needs to get some keto for that!” I feel like I have this wonderful secret to share but people would whack me over the head if I approached them!

#9

I come at this completely differently. Until I look like Robb Wolf, Mark Sisson, or Peter Attia, I’m keeping my eyes and thoughts to myself and consider myself in the same group as those who are still very overweight. “Physician, heal thyself, then you can talk,” I guess.

(Jim Russell) #10

When I first started losing a lot of weight doing low-carb paleo about 8 years ago I tried to tell everyone. People would ask me what I’m doing and I’d tell them. Then I’d get the “oh, I could never give up X” response. Whether it was bread, pasta, candy, etc.

It just amazed me. You saw me lose over 100 pounds and you want to lose weight but you can’t give up bread? Seriously?

Now I just try to be the example and if people ask I tell them. Most of the time they are not interested. Fine. You do your thing I’ll do mine.

#11

As @Jimbo said. I have 4 close friends who are seriously overweight. One keeps trying diets similar but not quite keto and keeps screwing it up. They all know I am a big hobby researcher and I know what I am talking about and I still get, well I cannot imagine giving up whatever.

One of them needs a knee replacement and is considering bariatric surgery to lost enough weight to qualify. That part I cannot believe. You really think you are going to have a balanced diet after that?

My point being if I cannot convince by best friends, what chance do I have with people in the grocery store? I agree with @PrimalBrian, until I am normal weight (about 40 - 70 lbs away) no one will believe me anyway

I have never been to Dollywood but 17 years ago I went to Disney and decided it was the fattest place on Earth. At the time I was a size 18 which made me the biggest person I knew at a resort we had come from in Palm Beach and one of the thinnest walking around Disney. While I know it is keto approved, do not get me started on the image of the person on a scooter eating the turkey leg

#12

Yes, it really is the few who will choose to make such a drastic change in their WOE. People virtually look at a keto eater as if they have met an alien and, in my experience, quickly steer the conversation away from any attempts to explain the science behind the LCHF.

I prefer to stay a bit low key, (which is not easy with all the butter requests) but find that my non-keto husband has become my cheerleader and quickly tells waitress/waiter or anyone else about what I am doing…and then says “Tell them how it works, tell them what it does for you.” Aaaah!
I can see that most of these people feel just as awkward as I do and I have to muddle through. I really have to get my husband to relax a bit.

I do definitely see fat people, I have been there too, and I understand that wish to say “I found the answer!” But, each has to find their own way and if the truth will eventually be disseminated much more widely, then perhaps the tables will turn, and we will see lean, butter eating people!

(Jim Russell) #13

The problem is, how many times have they heard that? About completely different answers. Vegan is the answer. Paleo is the answer. Keto is the answer. Moderation is the answer. Eat less, move more is the answer.

Keto seems extreme, more extreme than vegan, at least in the eyes of mainstream culture. I would argue that the opposite is true via an evolutionary biology perspective, but that is not how it is seen.

The bottom line is that when they are ready, they will seek you out.

(Stickin' with mammoth) #14

Yup.

Yup.

My early-activation New Year’s resolution is to add health to my taboo list. It’s now religion, politics, sex, race, money, and health. No comment, no stress.

#15

They continue to hear it. I was hesitant and I still sometimes wonder about the long term keto result

I get asked a lot about my diet because I have gone to the merely overweight category, at least appearance wise if not scale wise. The minute I say Atkins everyone is ready to see me in the plus size clothing again sometime soon. The funny part is the most respect I have gotten recently is from an acquaintance who became vegan over the summer (plus her husband is into environmental inventions). When she said vegan I thought it would be cooler to say Paleo (I eat plenty of dairy but who cares). She definitely respected that as at least she is a fellow seeker as opposed to being led

(KetoCowboy) #16

Don’t expect anyone to believe you no matter what you weigh.

I think you may be underestimating the power of sugar addiction and nutritional ignorance. I’ve lost the weight I needed to do, and everyone who sees me can tell that I got the result I was after. But even so, they STILL don’t want to hear about insulin resistance and carbohydrate consumption; they want me to tell them to eat less and move more and that they can still have ice cream and cake on occasion.

Like you, I have close friends who are overweight (including one who weighs over 650 pounds and is trying to get down to 475 JUST TO QUALIFY for bariatric surgery.

But they aren’t interested in keto because they’re A) unable to fathom life without being on a sugar drip, B) terrified of fat because everybody on television tells them they should be, or C) both.

There’s one thing I can promise you: Now that I’m thin, their eyes glaze over when I talk about keto just as quickly as they did when I was overweight.

(Carpe salata!) #17

Good observation. It’s about their cultural hypnosis.

To extend the movie quote theme…
“The force sugar is strong with this one.”

#18

Sad but true.

The truth is my wake up call came from watching a close relative being wheeled into surgery for a triple bypass. He is a TOFI T2 but the reality is that it was the carbs. Even though I have known that and have tried to moderate carbs (would eat Quinoa and so on), I always ended up cheating at some point. While trying to stick to moderate carbs (lost 15 lbs from November to March and then 34 from March to last week) I found Fung in March and there was no going back. I honestly had no idea that protein was insulingenic and I read a ton before keto and probably have every diet book ever written that does not embrace being a vegan.

While a couple of my 35 plus BMI friends seem healthy, one has the knee and the other had cancer. Her doctors want her to lose weight because of the link between cancer and obesity. They do not care if she reduces or eliminates sugar. They. claim the research on sugar and cancer is not there. Needless to say she has not embraced keto. I think in her case there is some denial going on. She is very busy with work and her kids in their 20s and does not have time to think about diet. I tried to explain keto. Meanwhile she and her husband had been ordering in things like mozzarella and tomato and she had been eating the tomato and leaving the mozzarella for her husband

(Stickin' with mammoth) #19

Nicely said, Cowboy, nicely said.

(Stickin' with mammoth) #20

HAHAHAHAHAHA! I am so stealing that.