Wednesday, May 6, 2009

In Which I am a Hypocrite.

I have to start this post off by saying that I am overweight. I know I am. It sucks, and I’m pretty much failing at eating healthier (although, I do try!) Losing weight is not easy- especially when, up until about 4 years ago, I was technically underweight. I was actually one of those annoying people who could eat whatever the heck I wanted to and still not gain anything. I mean, I still had thunder thighs, but that’s just genetics. But seriously, I barely broke 100lbs until after I met my husband. (At first it was “happy weight”, and then it got out of control when the PCOS took over.)

ANYWAY- this post is not about me.

Over the weekend, I went to my old high school to watch my baby sister’s stage debut in their spring musical. It was cute. I hate going to see music related stuff there, though, because they have THE WORST vocal director I have ever met in my life, and so I always see so much wasted potential. And then I get distracted by imagining all the ways to get this chick fired………. Aaaaaand I’m off topic again.

Before the show, we stopped in to ACME to pick up some flowers for Baby Sister. On the way in, we passed a mother and her daughter. This girl couldn’t be any older than 8, but I bet she was 180lb easily. It made me so sad, because obviously this girl never got a chance. (The mom was way heavier- 380 is a lowball estimation.) This poor little girl is probably fed only processed foods that are high in sugar, refined carbs, and fat. How is she supposed to grow up and be healthy when she doesn’t know any better? It made me think back to the days when I worked in a clothing store, and mothers would bring in their children who were in grade school to shop in the plus size section. I would always get so so sad for those girls, because I know how cruel their peers can be. Kids can be really mean to each other.

So I was thinking about that when I sat down to watch the show. At some point, I noticed the actors on stage were mostly overweight. Why is this? Why is it that so many teenagers now are overweight or obese? I thought back to my HS class. Honestly, I couldn’t remember too many of us being bigger. Is it because there is more fast food around? I doubt it, because my friends and I ate Wendy’s at LEAST once a day. Is it because they aren’t as active? Maybe that’s part of it. Is it because the economy is in the crapper, and healthy food is expensive? That’s probably part of it, too….

Maybe it’s because I’ve been watching The Biggest Loser, or because my company has hired a fitness/nutrition guru to do seminars, or because I’ve been doing my own research to try and get my PCOS under control, but I’ve been really noticing all of this lately, and it really bugs me.

Any thoughts?

3 comments:

jenn said...

I am in no way a skinny person either, but it does break my heart when I see all of these really over weight kids running around. I think alot of these kids are big, because their whole family is big and they don't have a great example to follow. It's pretty hard to eat healthy as a kid if your parrents only buy crappy food.

The Captain's Wife said...

I have spent my entire life trying to not become obese. I am certainly overweight, however not to the point that I feel unhealthy. My mother, sister, niece, and many Aunts and Uncles are Obese. I eat healthy and exercise...but no matter what I do, I will always be a good 15 lbs "over weight"...frankly my best weight, the weight I an happiest at is 145...that's quite a bit more than a 5.4 girl should be.

I will really try to keep baby K healthy, that is my goal. Over weight, under weight - what ever. I want her confident and happy. I am.

Beautiful Mess said...

I know exactly what you mean. I see kids all over town that are either chubby or fat and it makes me so sad. One of my nieces is chubby. Part of it is due to genetics, but a lot of it has to do with her not being active and eating a bunch of crap. I've tried so many times to gently tell her father that SOMETHING needs to be done.