As an occasional smoker who has a hard time maintaining an ideal body weight, I feel doubly slammed here. I'm going to cry, eat Bacon Double Cheeseburgers washed down with milkshakes and beer until I can't move and then just light up a cigarette...
I think I'd say that both are honestly my responsibility, but that it's easier to pick on smokers because they can (seemingly) "instantly" stop being smokers, whereas most people know that losing weight is pretty tough, if not from personal experience then from seeing others battle with it.
Neither giving up cigarettes nor losing weight is easy, but they're both life choices which will probably extend your life.
Cigarettes are considered twice as addictive as heroin (by dependency rate) and whilst the withdrawal symptoms aren't as grisly, it's still more socially acceptable to light a cigarette than shoot up, so it's harder to quit.
Food is delicious, omnipresent and our first source of comfort as humans, so it's really hard to stop putting it in our mouths, especially if you're already tubby and this is getting you down, whether directly or indirectly.
Here's an example: I was a thin kid, until about 8, when 3 of my grandparents died in relatively close succession. I got progressively plumper until about 16-17 because along with the rest of my family I comfort-ate like a ************. I got in a cycle of getting bullied about weight and comfort-eating, which got worse around puberty, because a fat kid doesn't get all that many dates. A couple of months shy of my 17th I finally got a mercy-fuck and this made a huge difference to my outlook as well as my comfort behaviour. That's a story for another time, but suffice it to say that I was a right little man-whore from 17 to about the time I met my penultimate girlfriend.
As for the "Big is Beautiful" brigade? Big *can* be beautiful (depending on the individual) I agree- as discussion of beauty is usually agreed to be highly subjective- I'd personally much prefer a larger lady with a pretty face to an ugly hard-body. If you don't necessarily agree, that's your call, but ponder this: the chubby pretty girl can lose weight and look drop-dead gorgeous, but the butterface is as hot as she's ever going to get.
This does not however make "Big is Beautiful" an excuse for a slide into morbid obesity. You can struggle with your weight, but please keep up the struggle! Try to eat better food (learn to cook for yourself- you'll save money and be able to control portion size and nutrition value better) and find an exercise you enjoy. Whether it's swimming, cycling, walking, or something to keep your brain occupied as well as your body (I find martial arts REALLY good for this, as well as providing a progress monitoring system which isn't completely trashed by the holiday season to keep you motivated) you need to do something to keep within a reasonable range.
It should be OK to criticise both groups, but from a position of concern, not vilification or hate. People are (or at least like to think of themselves) as individuals, so trying to bully or nanny them into a behaviour isn't too effective.
In most of Europe and North America, it's pretty hard to attack a smoker on the grounds that they're ruining the health of those around them. When all public buildings, public transport and even private cars are now non-smoking, to put yourself in danger from passive smoke requires you to actively seeking it. At that point it's not passive anymore, you're just being a pompous ass. Smokers know the risks, but choose to smoke anyway. The tax they pay on their habit pretty much covers the cost to the state of their health bill, especially when you factor in less years of old age care and pensions.
The "Fat Acceptance" movement is a bullshit, cartoonish extreme which has the potential to be disastrous to society because taxing food, even bad food, is political suicide: there's no way to differentiate someone who's healthy but eats a lot (athletes, for instance) from a human-atee because they both shop at the same place.
Sure, people shouldn't pick on someone who's a bit chunky, because it's mean, but once you need a mobility scooter, that's a warning signs too far. You should have stopped eating anything other than fruit and veg at the point where you couldn't see your genitals without a mirror. The last thing you need at that juncture is encouragement to keep up your unsustainable and dangerous lifestyle.
I think I'd say that both are honestly my responsibility, but that it's easier to pick on smokers because they can (seemingly) "instantly" stop being smokers, whereas most people know that losing weight is pretty tough, if not from personal experience then from seeing others battle with it.
Neither giving up cigarettes nor losing weight is easy, but they're both life choices which will probably extend your life.
Cigarettes are considered twice as addictive as heroin (by dependency rate) and whilst the withdrawal symptoms aren't as grisly, it's still more socially acceptable to light a cigarette than shoot up, so it's harder to quit.
Food is delicious, omnipresent and our first source of comfort as humans, so it's really hard to stop putting it in our mouths, especially if you're already tubby and this is getting you down, whether directly or indirectly.
Here's an example: I was a thin kid, until about 8, when 3 of my grandparents died in relatively close succession. I got progressively plumper until about 16-17 because along with the rest of my family I comfort-ate like a ************. I got in a cycle of getting bullied about weight and comfort-eating, which got worse around puberty, because a fat kid doesn't get all that many dates. A couple of months shy of my 17th I finally got a mercy-fuck and this made a huge difference to my outlook as well as my comfort behaviour. That's a story for another time, but suffice it to say that I was a right little man-whore from 17 to about the time I met my penultimate girlfriend.
As for the "Big is Beautiful" brigade? Big *can* be beautiful (depending on the individual) I agree- as discussion of beauty is usually agreed to be highly subjective- I'd personally much prefer a larger lady with a pretty face to an ugly hard-body. If you don't necessarily agree, that's your call, but ponder this: the chubby pretty girl can lose weight and look drop-dead gorgeous, but the butterface is as hot as she's ever going to get.
This does not however make "Big is Beautiful" an excuse for a slide into morbid obesity. You can struggle with your weight, but please keep up the struggle! Try to eat better food (learn to cook for yourself- you'll save money and be able to control portion size and nutrition value better) and find an exercise you enjoy. Whether it's swimming, cycling, walking, or something to keep your brain occupied as well as your body (I find martial arts REALLY good for this, as well as providing a progress monitoring system which isn't completely trashed by the holiday season to keep you motivated) you need to do something to keep within a reasonable range.
It should be OK to criticise both groups, but from a position of concern, not vilification or hate. People are (or at least like to think of themselves) as individuals, so trying to bully or nanny them into a behaviour isn't too effective.
In most of Europe and North America, it's pretty hard to attack a smoker on the grounds that they're ruining the health of those around them. When all public buildings, public transport and even private cars are now non-smoking, to put yourself in danger from passive smoke requires you to actively seeking it. At that point it's not passive anymore, you're just being a pompous ass. Smokers know the risks, but choose to smoke anyway. The tax they pay on their habit pretty much covers the cost to the state of their health bill, especially when you factor in less years of old age care and pensions.
The "Fat Acceptance" movement is a bullshit, cartoonish extreme which has the potential to be disastrous to society because taxing food, even bad food, is political suicide: there's no way to differentiate someone who's healthy but eats a lot (athletes, for instance) from a human-atee because they both shop at the same place.
Sure, people shouldn't pick on someone who's a bit chunky, because it's mean, but once you need a mobility scooter, that's a warning signs too far. You should have stopped eating anything other than fruit and veg at the point where you couldn't see your genitals without a mirror. The last thing you need at that juncture is encouragement to keep up your unsustainable and dangerous lifestyle.
