Born to be fat vs. Temporarily fat?
Jun. 27th, 2007 06:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sarahmichiganIn my last post, I swapped one innaccurate metaphor (carrying "extra" body weight being like hauling around a backpack with X pounds in it) for another (athletes wearing arm and ankle bands). Of course, as it was pointed out, athletes don't carry around their ankle bands and wrist bands or weighted vests 24/7.
However, very fat people don't get very fat instantly, either. They've often been heavy for a long time and have put on their mass quite slowly, giving their muscles, joints, tendons, and bones plenty of time to get strong enough to move that mass around. Some thin celebrities have been getting into the whole "fat suit" craze in Hollywood lately, and some have remarked on how limited they feel their movement is in the fat suit. Well, if someone gave me a fat suit that doubled MY body weight instantaneously, I'd also take some time to adjust to my new dimensions. But someone who has been that size for a long time could probably move with considerable grace and efficiency.
I think that someone who is naturally meant to be around 130 lbs. pounds but, because of a serious medical condition, balloons up to 200 pounds in one year could very possible feel uncomfortable and even immobilized in a way that I definitely do NOT feel at 208 pounds, a weight I have hovered around for five years or so. I think some people who are meant to be thin but temporarily gain a lot of weight quickly are definitely going to feel it in a different way than say Jennifer Portnick, a 240-pound Jazzercize instructor who stood up to Jazzercize and won, and who was, last I checked, teaching aerobics classes six days a week. Or Kelly Bliss , an aerobics instructor whose BMI is squarely within the "obese" range and who teaches aerobics classes five days a week and estimates that she walks an additional 10 hours a week because she doesn't own a car.
Do I think that some people who are heavy feel better when they're smaller? Absolutely! I'm not discounting anyone else's personal experience of feeling better or worse at different weights. But I don't think it's a universal at all that larger people feel burdened or immobilized by their size.
However, very fat people don't get very fat instantly, either. They've often been heavy for a long time and have put on their mass quite slowly, giving their muscles, joints, tendons, and bones plenty of time to get strong enough to move that mass around. Some thin celebrities have been getting into the whole "fat suit" craze in Hollywood lately, and some have remarked on how limited they feel their movement is in the fat suit. Well, if someone gave me a fat suit that doubled MY body weight instantaneously, I'd also take some time to adjust to my new dimensions. But someone who has been that size for a long time could probably move with considerable grace and efficiency.
I think that someone who is naturally meant to be around 130 lbs. pounds but, because of a serious medical condition, balloons up to 200 pounds in one year could very possible feel uncomfortable and even immobilized in a way that I definitely do NOT feel at 208 pounds, a weight I have hovered around for five years or so. I think some people who are meant to be thin but temporarily gain a lot of weight quickly are definitely going to feel it in a different way than say Jennifer Portnick, a 240-pound Jazzercize instructor who stood up to Jazzercize and won, and who was, last I checked, teaching aerobics classes six days a week. Or Kelly Bliss , an aerobics instructor whose BMI is squarely within the "obese" range and who teaches aerobics classes five days a week and estimates that she walks an additional 10 hours a week because she doesn't own a car.
Do I think that some people who are heavy feel better when they're smaller? Absolutely! I'm not discounting anyone else's personal experience of feeling better or worse at different weights. But I don't think it's a universal at all that larger people feel burdened or immobilized by their size.
