Heavy thoughts

So, yesterday I am officially down 22.2 pounds. I am pretty excited to finally break the 20 pound mark. I've been hovering there for three weeks and I've been getting annoyed.

My roommate decided to start an exercise and diet plan that emulated my own. I helped her with planning her meals and engaging in exercise. She finally weighed in yesterday with me and she had lost 5.4 pounds. I was very proud of her and secretly jealous that I have never been so lucky. Sometimes I forget how hard this will be with my medical problems. We did the same exercise, ate the same things, and her weight is plummeting.

She is a bit bigger than me (we were only 20 pounds apart when I started losing weight) and I've been worried about her, so we discussed a plan of action. Part of our discussion talked about the costs of being overweight. I've decided to list a few things that we talked about. First, let me say that your health is the biggest reason... and it's also the main point everyone discusses. These are the "costs" or "problems" with being overweight that I convinced her to consider:

1) Being overweight means you have to check weight limits on things. Sometimes you are afraid to have a seat because you don't think it will hold you. But that's not the only thing. I went on a boat this weekend and was afraid I would tip it over because of how much it moved when I walked across it! Being heavy is all about concern of these situations. Not the fear of being wrong and getting hurt; heavy people are afraid of the embarrassment that would come from breaking a chair or bench, or tipping a boat.

2) Self-esteem is a huge issue for overweight people. Feelings of inadequacy are not uncommon. If you are concerned about what people think based only on your weight, then you'll miss the bigger issue at hand. You may deny yourself affection or be distrustful. I used to be afraid to eat in public. You would think this helped me, but it exacerbated my eating at home.

3) A big question for overweight people is "will I fit?" This could apply to anything- not just clothes. You have to fit into tiny airplane seats or venue chairs. There are size restrictions on roller-coasters. People will have to consider your girth when calculating car rides (will she fit back there with the kids or should we not invite her because of space?). Then there's "one size fits all" outfits (think Halloween costumes or blood pressure cuffs) that don't really "fit all". Of course there are small spaces that a big person may want to fit into (maybe at the playground with the kids, or playing hide and seek) and can't.

4) You are the new elephant in the room. For a very, very long time in America, race or culture could make a person feel outside of the norm, especially when ignorant Americans refused to accept others. However, the new noticeable feature of a person is size, and it can be just as detrimental. For one, studies prove that overweight individuals face job discrimination. The same article highlights that the bias extends to sexual partners. Weight can be a very big dis-qualifier, because the general opinion is that fat people are lazy and lack self-control.

5) Obesity raises healthcare costs for everybody. The biggest person, of course, is the individual. Insurance companies can charge more to cover an obese person than a person of normal weight because of the higher risk of illness. So, not only do you already shell out more money for more health problems, but they can charge you more per visit.

6) Obesity can cause infertility. Any woman who wants to reproduce and is obese could potentially get some bad news from the doctor. It is the worst news ever- that the baby you want more than anything cannot be made as a result of YOUR decisions or, sometimes, medical maladies that led to your condition. It's a hard pill to swallow- trust me, I know.

There are countless other "costs" that we discussed, but I'm glad we had the conversation. It helped her understand why it was so important to try to start losing weight now.