stereotype : the fat american

HEY I was that fat American with the fanny pack on and my mouth was open because there was ICE CREAM on every damn corner.....with Flakes! 

I posted on another thread that I have been back in the states for 6 weeks and have gained all the weight I lost while in the UK  but I also said that I was SHOCKED  to see so many fat people in the UK.  It seemed that in the Midlands there were A LOT of not only fat people but big built people as well (women more so then men).  As a person who is not only fat but built big (yes I am big bonded too but it is the fat on them bones that really matters).

The more weight I lose, the more attention I pay to overweight people (or I guess I just notice them more)...

The last time I was in the USA (early June), I was surprised at how much I noticed other fat American people in the airports!  (I sat in 3 different airports on that trip.)  And I found myself wondering how various obese individuals were able to sit comfortably in their airplane seats & if they could fasten their seatbelts on the plane or needed extenders...  (These things occur to me because I've been fat enough to the point that these things concerned me personally at one time.  And I'm still far from slim & I still worry about these things.)  Geez -- I hope I'm not turning too English/European (falling prey to 'typical American' stereotyping) but I really was amazed at just how many really big people I saw in a somewhat confined area.

This doesn't have anything to do with being fat...just american.......

My old boss when I first went to work for him....wouldn't let me answer the phones cause I sounded "too American"
too twangy....

I used to get so annoyed with some of the ppl that would come in and tell us about their cruising experience with "THE AMERICANS"....how loud they were..how they took over everything..I tried to tell them that..that was only about 2% of the population...not all Americans are like that....and then proceded to complain about the way of life and the scenery......one woman got me so wound up that I told her if she didn't like it so much she should just stay out of the country and if she was as nasty to the ppl there as she was talking to me about them then they probably wouldn't want her to be there anyways........I kinda got into trouble...but god it felt good!

I told her if she didn't like it so much she should just stay out of the country

LORD NO DON'T SAY THAT...we need ALL the tourist bucks we can get. LOL Let em spend all they can here (even though the exchange rate is MUCH in their favor  )

yeah i know she just really p'ed me off....
What is really gonna hurt the US tourism is the provisions that are enforceing on the passports....i have heard so many people moaning about the bio metric passports and them making visitors scanning their fingerprints and photos...blah blah blah......

All day i have had that song that mean kids sing in my head

fatty
fatty
2 by 4
can't get through the kitchen door.


Gerrrrrr i can't get it out of my head.

The last time I was in the USA (early June), I was surprised at how much I noticed other fat American people in the airports!  (I sat in 3 different airports on that trip.)  And I found myself wondering how various obese individuals were able to sit comfortably in their airplane seats & if they could fasten their seatbelts on the plane or needed extenders...  (These things occur to me because I've been fat enough to the point that these things concerned me personally at one time.  And I'm still far from slim & I still worry about these things.)  Geez -- I hope I'm not turning too English/European (falling prey to 'typical American' stereotyping) but I really was amazed at just how many really big people I saw in a somewhat confined area.

I'm glad you posted this, Carolyn -- I haven't been back to the US since losing this last bunch of weight, so I focus on fat people over here, but, I, too, am fascinated with how people who are bigger than me go about their daily lives (this is because I used to be MUCH bigger and know what they're going through).  I know what they're worrying about (needing a seatbelt extension on a plane, not wanting to sit next to strangers at the movies, dreading communal dressing rooms, etc.), and I wonder if they know that there could be a light at the end of the tunnel.  I mean, when I was at my biggest, I thought I'd always be that big.  I couldn't imagine losing 7 pounds, let alone 70!  Now that I've finally found something that works for me, I get frustrated with obese people (and yes, I'm still obese according to the BMI chart  , but I won't always be!  ).  I want to slap fat people when I see them gorging on junk because I now understand what kind of damage they're doing to themselves.  It's none of my business, of course, and I don't go up to people thrusting the SBD book their hands, but I WANT to.  I want them (especially younger people who still have their entire lives ahead of them) to take care of themselves now and stop settling.  I know what it feels like to be fat...to be exhausted all the time...to just be physically uncomfortable all the time. 

I guess that could all sound terribly judgemental, but I don't mean it that way.  I've walked a mile in those fat shoes and I know how really obese people feel because I was one of them...I guess I just want other fat people (especially younger women and girls) to know that it doesn't have to be their lot in life.   

Hmmm...I wonder what the psychology of the "fat" to "normal" transition is....do other people who have lost a substantial amount of weight find themselves overly interested in those who are still fat?   

I want to slap fat people when I see them gorging on junk because I now understand what kind of damage they're doing to themselves.  It's none of my business, of course, and I don't go up to people thrusting the SBD book their hands, but I WANT to. 

I have very mixed feelings about it.  When I was sitting in the airports & people watching as I waited to board, etc...more often than not (I'm afraid to say) -- the super-size people were also consuming super-size food & drinks purchased at the airport's Burger King, McDonalds, etc.  On one hand, I looked & thought -- oh that food looks & smells sooooo good (french fries, etc)!!  I love(d) my junk food as much as anyone!  On the other hand, I'm thinking oh that's sooo bad for you (and for me too).  I'm still struggling with the desire to have it & simultaneously psyching myself up/out over how gross it really is.

Hmmm...I wonder what the psychology of the "fat" to "normal" transition is....do other people who have lost a substantial amount of weight find themselves overly interested in those who are still fat? 

I thought about this after your post -- thinking about why I notice other fat people more now than I did before.  In my case, I think that before I was so concerned/worrying about if other people were looking at ME & looking down on me -- more of a self-absorption...that I probably didn't notice as many people/things around me.  Now that I am less negatively self-conscious, I seem to notice other things more -- and I think because of my experience with weight control, I just tend to notice other overweight people?  It's a theory (of the moment) anyhow.

When I lived in Switzerland, it seems like a lot of the Swiss people I met had BIG stereotypical views of Americans, #1 they kept asking where am I from after telling them I'm "American" just because I'm part asian, #2 they think all Americans carry guns or there are shootouts everywhere, #3 Yes, the fat American , they would even have a silly grin on their face when asking me about it.  It got really irritating after a while, but in my opinion the Swiss are a bit stuck up anyway.  I can't really remember British people asking me the same things, even though some of my british friends admit to thinking it.  One thing Ive noticed about Brits, they are so damn polite, even when they want you to move out of their damn way, they yell "Sorry!!" lol!

and I wonder if they know that there could be a light at the end of the tunnel.  I mean, when I was at my biggest, I thought I'd always be that big.  I couldn't imagine losing 7 pounds, let alone 70!  Now that I've finally found something that works for me, I get frustrated with obese people (and yes, I'm still obese according to the BMI chart  , but I won't always be!  ).  I want to slap fat people when I see them gorging on junk because I now understand what kind of damage they're doing to themselves.  It's none of my business, of course, and I don't go up to people thrusting the SBD book their hands, but I WANT to.  I want them (especially younger people who still have their entire lives ahead of them) to take care of themselves now and stop settling.  I know what it feels like to be fat...to be exhausted all the time...to just be physically uncomfortable all the time. 

I guess that could all sound terribly judgemental, but I don't mean it that way.  I've walked a mile in those fat shoes and I know how really obese people feel because I was one of them...I guess I just want other fat people (especially younger women and girls) to know that it doesn't have to be their lot in life.   

I've been thinking about this over the weekend... Lola, what do you think your reaction would have been if, at your heaviest, someone had come up to you and shared with you what YOU would now like to share with people with weight problems? If someone had said to you "I've done it and so can you - there is light at the end of the tunnel". ... would you have believed it? Or would you be annoyed or possibly embarrassed?

For me, it involves a little click in my head. A "no more" click that means "okay I can't take this anymore; I can't look like this anymore and food can't mean that much to me anymore".. Maybe that click isn't there for everyone. I don't know.

I've been thinking about this over the weekend... Lola, what do you think your reaction would have been if, at your heaviest, someone had come up to you and shared with you what YOU would now like to share with people with weight problems? If someone had said to you "I've done it and so can you - there is light at the end of the tunnel". ... would you have believed it? Or would you be annoyed or possibly embarrassed?

I don't know -- I guess it would depend on who said it to me.  Don't misunderstand me, though -- I would NEVER go up to somebody and say anything about their weight.  I guess my point is that I now know that it can be done, whereas at certain points in my life I was totally convinced that I would always be heavily overweight. 

For me, it involves a little click in my head. A "no more" click that means "okay I can't take this anymore; I can't look like this anymore and food can't mean that much to me anymore".. Maybe that click isn't there for everyone. I don't know.

Maybe that's why my situation is different -- I didn't have that little "click".  I just picked a Monday and threw all of the junk out of the house and went shopping for "real" food.  I'd probably weigh 80 pounds more if I were still waiting for that click....I think my brain is clickless!   

Lola, it's a relief to me to read what you've said about fat-watching. I watch fat people on the street and get really angry!! I see them waddling along and I remember waddling along, too. Waddling right to Burger King for a Whopper value meal, and wondering why I was cursed with a fat gene and why diabetes runs in my family, etc. And I do want to (but would never) stand up and shout, "Do you think there may be some connection between your not being able to walk around your own thighs and that large order of chips with brown gravy you are sitting there inhaling!!"

But of course I just keep walking.

What a relief to know I'm not the only one!

Was still thinking about this on the way to work -- and I think what Carla just posted kind of sums up how I feel -- I used to think that I was fat because I was BORN to be fat and that no matter what I ate I'd still be fat.  Once I cut out the simple carbs and sugars, the weight started to fall off.  I was eating the wrong things all along (usually in the wrong quantities, obviously!).  I do have a medical issue that makes it very easy for me to gain weight and very difficult to lose it, but I didn't find out about that until 2000 or so, and then just used it as an excuse for my weight.

So what it boils down to is frustration -- I do get frustrated when I see severely overweight people eating total crap.  Obviously I don't know why they're eating it -- they could be on a diet and that's the one treat they're giving themselves for the month.  OR they could be totally resigned to weighing 100 pounds more than they should and are just eating because they see weight loss as a futile exercise...those are the people I wish I could say something to...just to let them know that they CAN change things and that they'd feel so much better if they did. 

This all just hit home to me the other week -- I was at the bus stop and a youngish (maybe early 20s) girl walked by.  She was quite tall and very large and was dressed inappropriately -- her stomach was hanging out of her shirt and the sleeves on her top were too short and too tight.  The two ladies sitting next to me (apparently strangers, one in her 30s and one in her 60s) looked at each other as she passed and made gagging faces.  I was mortified for that girl, but also really angry at her because she was probably a really nice person but she's mistreating herself and doing herself such an injustice and she could do something about it.   

Though obviously it's none of my business what people do or eat........I just can't help feeling the way I do..... 

Was still thinking about this on the way to work -- and I think what Carla just posted kind of sums up how I feel -- I used to think that I was fat because I was BORN to be fat and that no matter what I ate I'd still be fat.  Once I cut out the simple carbs and sugars, the weight started to fall off.  I was eating the wrong things all along (usually in the wrong quantities, obviously!).  I do have a medical issue that makes it very easy for me to gain weight and very difficult to lose it, but I didn't find out about that until 2000 or so, and then just used it as an excuse for my weight.

This is really an interesting topic! I've never felt the way that you have, Lola -- that I was born to be fat. My problem is that I wasn't always big at all. It's only happened since my early 30s -- so the last 10 years, really. Before that, I was pretty slim, even too slim at times. So in my mind, I'm not fat. I still think of myself as a thin person. And then when I see photos of myself, I'm FLABBERGASTED! Is that me?!?! That huge fat woman?!? It can't be!! I'm thin!!! Anyone else feel this way?

Im thin too! I have always been thin! I dont know who this fat person in the mirror is or where she came from.