November 22, 2013
I am banned from Facebook.
This morning I decided to vent on the current state of our obesity crisis in America. I was motivated by constant body (fat) acceptance campaigns strewn all over the internet followed by comments with the context of ‘you go girl!’ and ‘more power to you!’ The popular and unrelenting support received to those who are borderline obese (not just 30-40lbs overweight) frustrates me as a fitness advocate who intimately understands how poor health negatively effects a family, a community and a nation.
I am a firm believer that one should love their body in order to start loving and nurturing it. I’ve written about self-love many times throughout my 8 years of blogging online. What I don’t like is the fine line we are walking today – which is love and accept your body versus love and progress your body. We should celebrate any person who makes their fitness and nutrition a priority. There is no one-size-fits-all in fitness. It’s unfortunate that we don’t see more variety in the physiques that bombard our media streams. I get that. That’s why I’ve never posted a motivational poster with a fitness model attached to the message (you can now look at my FB history) because I don’t want to perpetuate the notion that ‘fitness’ looks a certain way.
Please start your keyboards now (as I know many are thinking I encourage people to look like me) because I’ve never said that. I am not a size 0 like most runway models and I don’t have a six pack like most fitness models. I am not a paid celebrity. I don’t work in a gym. I have a stressful life. I don’t have the perfect marriage. I have struggled with food addiction. And I was not blessed with the best genetics. I run when I’m tired. I avoid food when I’m stressed. I discipline my constant desire for chocolate. I am barely 5’4. I have stretchmarks. I have excess skin – and while not perfect, I know this is how my body (not everybody) manifests after children through consistent nutrition and exercise.
I have a passion for fitness. This passion is rooted in both love and hate. I love seeing people empowered by their physical strength and I love witnessing people translate their fitness success in other areas of their life. While fitness changes lives, the lack of fitness destroys lives. I hate the pain of watching my mother not take care of herself. I hate watching friends pop prescription pills for cholesterol, blood pressure and diabetes. I hate reading news about our healthcare crisis and I hate seeing people blame others for their lot in life.
That’s why I started writing fitness articles in 2004. That’s why I created a fitness nonprofit, Fitness without Borders, in 2007. That’s why I began a free mom-me fitness group in 2009 and that’s why I posted “my vent” this morning on Facebook. There are free resources when people are ready to make change, but one cannot desire change if one’s environment deems it okay to stay where they are. With the majority of Americans overweight we are unknowingly normalizing our unhealthy nation – and while it’s a fine line we are walking – it’s a line I’m going to cross.
You can either sit on the sidelines or get roughed up trying to win the game. I’m not going to play this life sitting on the bench talking about change… I’m going for it.
My personal history allows me to come from a place of empathy, experience, concern and most of all – conviction. Find your passion, discover your conviction and stand for something. You might get criticized, you might ruffle feathers – you might even get banned from Facebook…
But if you believe in something, nothing will stop you.
Here is my deleted post:
WARNING VENTING AHEAD:
I woke up this morning to news stories about how overweight nearly obese women should be proud of their bodies (as they posed in lingerie). I think we should all accept how any healthy body through good nutrition and exercise manifests but I’m starting to get annoyed and here’s why:
1. We have a health issue in America with over 2/3 overweight or obese.
2. We have a healthcare crisis. We spend over 3 trillion in healthcare yearly!
3. We have a childhood obesity issue, with many children suffering from adult diseases like diabetes.
4. We have magazines everywhere praising the celebrity (with all her resources) for being fit after months of giving birth and scorn the “real every day mom” who is able to be successful.
5. We keep blaming the culprit (school lunches, fast food, etc) when the real change starts at home – ESP those who lead, which are the parents.
There are some serious contradictions in our society. I know many people still get riled up with me and my convictions but the truth is I KNOW how it is to work your ass off and not have energy at the end of your day. I know how it feels to be overweight and not drop an ounce after years of disordered eating. I know how difficult it is to raise multiple children – all born a year apart – and make my fitness and nutrition a priority. Lastly, I know how it feels like to grow up with an unhealthy mother wondering if she will live to see your wedding day.
I know it’s hard. I know it’s not easy to break habits and build new ones. I know your environment challenges you and I know making your health a priority amongst the many priorities to stay afloat in today’s world is difficult. But I will tell you this: IT IS WORTH IT.
We need to change this strange mentality we are breeding in the U.S. and start celebrating people who are a result of hard work, dedication and discipline. I’m not bashing those who are proud and overweight, I am empowering those who are proud and healthy to come out and be the real role models in our society. (Vent done)
Isn’t that nuts? They also deleted my post. While I’m certain this may be computer-generated
when several critics reported my post as offensive, you would think Facebook would be more
assertive about what defines ‘hate language’. (I’ve seen much worse on Facebook)
They said it would be 12 hours – but I have a feeling it will be a few days.
Poor baby misses daddy. He was in LA for a week at Team Rubicon’s headquarters
to assist with the operations in the Philippines and is now in Illinois
helping with the storms and tornado aftermath there. Check out this awesome
article written about him:
http://www.npr.org/2013/11/21/246432031/in-tornado-ravaged-illinois-war-zone-veterans-find-a-mission
I loved this turkey cake pop project with the boys. Even though I’m slightly OCD, I
let my boys get involved in the decorating process.
They didn’t turn out pinterest-perfect but they are perfect in my book!
I finally re-filmed my DVD! As some of you know, this is my 3rd try.
So happy to work with Empty Kingdom (based
out of San Francisco) and my good friend and photographer, Larry Wong.
My cute sports bra is from Affitnity! Thank you to Sandra Augustin for providing her
beautiful gym, Fitness Rehab in Sacramento!
557 Comments
I am a registered nurse who works in a Cardiac ICU – I completely agree with your comments about the health care crisis and obesity issue in America. I see it everyday, and the unbelievable toll it takes on a person’s health and the health care system. Keep up the good work by spreading awareness! I think it’s crazy you were banned by facebook! I’ve never seen that before!
agirlandhersparkles.blogspot.com
I am not sure what happened to freedom of speech? I guess Facebook is not about that! What I do know is that you are 1000% right on with everything you said. People who do not want to be accountable for their health and body is what is hugely not working for today’s society. Little do they know that the money they are now spending on junk food and unhealthy choices is fueling the industries that then send those people on to need more health care and they can then make the pharmacutical companies, healthcare industries wealthy as they realize that in order to now exist they need all these medicines. I am not saying everyone who is ill wants to be sick, but if your lifestyle ends up harming your body and organs and that is your only option then what? You get to own it and if you are like me who did eat her way into TYPE 2 Diabetes because she was not ready or willing to listen to the facts about what being obese can do to your body, you then get to choose…Take the pills, then possibly insulin, damage your organs, almost every one of them OR TAKE on the challenge of losing weight getting fit and saying NO to medications and unhealthy foods….I REFUSE to cause my own poor health! GOOD For you Maria for pointing this out and now unfortunately FB has possibly cost someone their life, because who knows what impact those words could have had on someone who is right now on the fence about being OBESE and not well.
Thankyou.
Maria, you have started a revolution. You challenged women to get fit. If you could do it, with 3 kids under 5, why not the rest of us?
That they attacked you personally, as they are doing now, is no surprise. EVERY SINGLE DAY I see women attacked, humiliated and threatened on the Internet. If one was to take just one of these insults, and slip in a term for a minority, all hell would break loose. But pillorying women is a fine Puritan tradition. I have observed, over and over, that women who post in open forums are villified. An awful lot of people do not like women. Including other women.
Now you understand that, Michelle Obama had a FB page, encouraging others to be the best they could be, they would find a way to dislike her “target marketing”. You targetted people who wanted to get fit, and more fit. I could forsee a Daddy version. I’m sixty, and I appreciated it.
The point is simple. Somewhere, somehow, there is a sista out there going through what I am. Pulling for me. I’m not alone in this.
So, beautiful lady, you have no choice. You must go on. We are here to keep you up, create our own Maria pages, and get behind something and someone that we believe in.
I completely agree with your post..I just can’t believe you got banned! You are such an inspiration to me. Keep on with what you’re doing.
I read and commented on your Facebook post yesterday. I didn’t agree with you, in fact I wasn’t exactly sure what you were trying to say but I now understand better after reading the blog today. That said I still don’t agree with everything you say but “I will defend to the death your right to say it”, as the famous quote goes. Facebook had no justification to remove your post. Totally, utterly absurd of them to say you violated “community standards” whatever that is. I would like an explanation from Facebook on what ‘standard’ they felt you broke? You stated a point of view, did not call anyone out by name, I can either read your post or not. My choice. I choose to read and follow you as you are an inspiration!! We don’t have to agree on everything, and for God’s sake, Facebook needs to grow a pair!
Facebook’s bans are temporary. Based on number of reports on a post.
It’s ridiculous! I sent a message to FB letting them know that I’ve seen worse during the political elections and nothing was done. It’s a double standard. Asked them to put you back up but not sure it will do any good. Keep up the message of health and fitness!
It wouldn’t make a difference, she could put it back up just to be taken down again. The days of fit people being free to bully and shame fat people are over!
You still don’t see the problem with what you posted Maria. You need to own it. It’s hate speech towards people. You act as if the only way a person becomes overweight is from living an unhealthy lifestyle. You just threw a big group of people under the bus and have shamed them. You’ve spawned some serious hateful issues towards overweight people. One of your loyal followers wrote this on your FB page. If you’re going to be in the public eye, you need to be more responsible with what you post.
———
I agree with you Maria. All those obese people should feel nothing but shame and never be proud of their bodies. Unless of course they are attempting to metamorphosis into a healthy body, through good nutrition, and exercise. Then, and only then, should they be given permission to feel proud from people who know what it is to feel real pride in oneself. I saw the lingerie woman and trust that you are able to discern from their photos that they are lazy and attempting to improve nothing about themselves. There is really an epidemic of fat people photos now and it needs to stops before they start replacing the real role models of the world. If something isn’t done to stop these fatties they are going to be on the cover of “Health and Fitness” magazine next. Keep fighting the good fight Maria and keep reminding us who has earned the feel proud of yourself badges!!
Leslie, I don’t know why you think I should feel regretful with anything I posted? I talked about our health stats, the contradictions regarding fitness in our society and empowering real-life role models? I completely OWN it (and not making apologies for it). There is no “hate” in my speech – I don’t control how people interpret my words and I have no control how they respond. You are focusing too much on the minority (the people spewing hate language) and not enough on those who are supportive and compassionate to the issue (the majority of comments). I DO believe the majority of people are overweight because of lifestyle. There’s a real issue and it’s not the minority of people who are unhealthy because of medical conditions. We are normalizing obesity and fit-shaming’ those who speak out against it.
You still aren’t getting it, Maria. You called being overweight a medical issue and then targeted the entire group. When you make broad sweeping generalizations, as you did, it’s hate speech. It’s no different in principal than saying all African-Americans are lazy and criminals, or all Ricans have a bunch of kids, or all men are dogs, etc. Those are generalizations just like you posted. No where in your post did you express at any point you were referring to only those with a lifestyle issue. You never clarified your own words that you weren’t referring to people with legitimate medical issues, or those taking medications, or genetic issues and disorders. You attacked people’s character with what you wrote. And saying I’m not supportive or compassionate is attacking mine. But that’s ok, because I know better than you who I am. I believe in standing up for those you are attacking. I’m not even overweight. I’ve belonged to a gym since I was 16 yrs old and have 15% body fat. You’re not the victim here. The victims are those who are being targeted with your words, and the resulting vitriol. I agree you do not control others, but what you are overlooking is INFLUENCE. You are greatly influencing others to be hateful when you posted what you did. Stop splitting hairs. You write “it’s not the minority of people who are unhealthy because of medical conditions.” Yet you have no facts, offer no facts, to back up your claims. When beliefs are based on non-facts, it becomes rhetoric, not reason. Read peer review research over the last decade. (Anything over 10 years is not considered best case at that point.) You would be surprised how many people have weight issues not stemming from an unhealthy lifestyle. The entire population of overweight persons as a result of something other than unhealthy lifestyle is greater than the population who is due to unhealthy lifestyle. You are completely responsible for what you post. And BTW, being banned from FB isn’t a computer generated response to someone or whoever may have reported you. PEOPLE read those reports, and people decided your post was inappropriate. A reasonable person would acknowledge these things. Attempting to shift blame elsewhere is paranoid. You posted it. You need to take responsibility for it… and the consequences. That’s what OWNING it means.
And I also want to clarify, I do not disagree that there is an issue around the world with being overweight from an unhealthy lifestyle. I disagree with making broad sweeping generalizations that put all persons with weight issues into one general category. It’s not okay.
Leslie, you are overly sensitive, and the logical flaws in your post shows that you are not used to reasoning properly.
Amen! “Owning.”
Leslie, you are so far off base it’s ridiculous. Only you PC-types think a person has to document everything they say with “research” and “studies.” Get over it. Most overweight people are overweight because they over-eat a fat-laden diet AND lead a completely sedentary lifestyle. Period.
And all of these women who say Maria is “shaming” them and say things like, “Her words are a declaration of war,” are simply victims of their own internal, self-criticism and self-judgment. But then they have the intellectual dishonesty to blame their resulting feelings ON MARIA.
What krap.
Overweight people should own their obesity. Own their sloth. Own their lack of self-discipline.
Then, if their own values tell them to do something about them, then they should DO something.
Maria hasn’t done or said anything wrong.
Only a monster would suggest fat people should hate themselves thin.
Jackie, can you do us a favor and point to where Maria or anyone else has ever said that???
I can not believe that a group of evil people who can not live with themselves and the excess weight will surely have denounced your post. These are people who do not admit the opinion of others, and this is serious this century. But anyway … Your last post that is visible is the 20th of November. For me, I feel proud of the life you have and can you still fight and fight for your goals and personal fitness. You are a model to me!
Evil people attack those who face discrimination and prejudice. Evil people also justify their shaming of people struggling against a world that hates them, by making claims it’s beneficial to them to be bullied.
You were not attacking anyone. This is outrageous to be banned for saying the truth. I support your post 100%. Those complainers not only have a weight problem, they are insane.
Maria, although I agree with you that people should take charge of their own health, it does seem that you are targeting a specific group, mainly those that are overweight. Unhealthy bodies come in all different forms. I admit that I am a recent follower of yours, so I don’t know how often you’ve spoken out about these topics, but eating disorders and extremely underweight women can also be unhealthy, but where is the post about those statistics? In the US, 24 million people suffer from eating disorders, and eating disorders have the highest mortality rate from any mental illness in the US.
And when it comes to kids:
• 47% of girls in 5th-12th grade reported wanting to lose weight because of magazine pictures.
• 69% of girls in 5th-12th grade reported that magazine pictures influenced their idea of a perfect body shape.
• 42% of 1st-3rd grade girls want to be thinner.
• 81% of 10 year olds are afraid of being fat.
(Source: National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders)
Anyway, my point is, I agree with you, but I also feel that advocates of healthy lifestyles should address the other end of the spectrum also.
I did not agree with what you posted. I feel like you had no idea where in their journey those women were. And, frankly, why would you care if they wanted to look that way for life? I know we’ve been back and forth with this, but you really can be overweight and be healthy. And you really can be thin and be unhealthy. And, when the chips are thrown and fall, I get the sense that you really don’t care about all of these “fat” strangers. You really don’t want to help them. You just want to appear like you care so you can tell everyone how fit you are. And how difficult it is. And how you work so hard. And how you are just a little, itty bit better than most heifer moms out there.
Just take your comment “Unlike many moms, let my boys get involved in the decorating process”. Really. You think “many moms” don’t allow their children to partake in a fun cake pop making activity? Who in the heck are you hanging out with? Because, MOST moms I know do activities like this with their children constantly. Yet, you took this opportunity to make it like you were just a wee bit better than “many moms” . Why? Why are you programed to immediately think “I am different. Many moms wouldn’t do this with their children.” That thought should not have crossed your mind. You should have just posted the pictures and been happy you had a nice time with your boys, sans the “I am unlike many moms” because I did this with my children.
With all of this being said, I don’t think FB should have banned you. I obviously believe in free speech and I love to debate it.
many moms DO let their kids help in decorating just like many moms probably do not. I like your general messages, but your self-righteousness is really alarming. You do not need to put others down to make your self look better. You are fine. You are a good mom. You are in great shape. You are not better than anyone. Nobody is better than you. You could have just said “look what a great time my boys had decorating the turkey pops!” I think sometimes what erks people most with you as that you tend to have a holier-than-tho approach even though you do not seem to want to come off that way. My advice to you would be to keep up your advocacy but slow down on the unnecessary opinions and ASSUMPTIONS. How painful for your friends, because unless you personally know a TON of moms that you are not friends with and you know that they never let their kids have fun decorating, you would be talking about people that you know. Yikes.
Kelly – criticism well put. Forgive me as my sons are only in preschool and pre-k. My experiences so far has been exactly what I stated – which is many parents (not all) don’t allow their kids to participate in the process. For example, we were told to bring Valentine cards to school and have your child write their name (that’s it) – but I was shocked to find beautiful hand written cards (by the parents) plus perfect goodies to go with it. I had no idea this was the ‘custom’ for many moms. So, I’m agreement – I will reword it as I definitely don’t think I’m better than anyone.
Thank you. Sometimes it is hard to recognize our own wording and how it might be viewed by others, happens to me all the time as a student mental health therapist. I think you have a really awesome approach and your advocacy is going places, the biggest thing is just that as a society as a whole we tend to generalize in order to streamline what we are saying (our world is fast paced). I also recognize the pinterest perfect moms (my kids are 5 and 6) and in kindergarten (10 months apart). So much of it probably stems from the factor that many moms want and feel pressured to seem on their game all of the time and kids can miss out on a lot of fun that way. You have a good message just try to keep it heartfelt and not generalized. Being banned from facebook is ridiculous. I am 60 lbs above my cross-country running, dance team leading high school pre-pregnancy days. I am text book healthy in terms of the numbers, but I know my body fat is a ticking time bomb. People like to be in denial. People think that in order to be “not obese” you have to be the opposite extreme (six pack abs) because fit is the “new skinny”. Health as a whole needs to be focused on and the extremes left for discussion amongst the exteremists. You can help only those who are willing to take it. Keep offering up your messages. Thanks!
But why would the “Unlike many moms” thought even cross your mind? Stop thinking of those horrible, loser moms that signed their kids Valentine’s and sent in perfect goodies. Just enjoy the moment with your kids. You are having a special time and you are thinking back to almost a year ago when your boys received Valentine’s? WHAT?
Kelly-I agree 100% I know people that act just like Maria. They do things. Normal things. Everyday things. Yet, somehow, someway, they are doing it the BEST. Better than everyone. And nobody is doing it as well as them. It’s weird to think it. It takes it to a whole other level to type it out. To allow others to read that you really thing this way. Yikes!
Right down to decorating little cake pops. I think it is so strange to preface a simple activity with “Many moms don’t do this”.
It has to be taxing and tiring to the people that surround her.
One thing I must agree with her on is her FB should NOT have been shut down. That stinks.
Faith- There are many people that act that way and it is very tiring to be around and must be extremely tiring for them and I feel sad for people that do have to live with so much self doubt that they have to preface everything with extreme excellence and preface anything they do so that people know how special it was. Maria was kind to reply if you see the above and clarified what she was trying to get across. As a mother myself, I am saddened how much kids miss out because mom and dads want their kids to be the best, stand out in everything, and turn everthing (even simple child fun) into a way to compete with other parents based upon their own insecurities. Pinterest is wonderful, but in the wrong hands, it can become a tool for perfection competiton and can really make kids and parents miss out on living perfectly imperfect. We just need to let our kids apply their efforts now (as Maria had said about parents writing the kids names when the kids were supposed to) or else at 10 their names will still look sloppy. Kids need to be allowed to be kids and allowed to make mistakes and ruin what is supposed to be beautiful lol!
Facebook should just be shut down and I’m not sorry saying it. THIS is ridiculous.
If you do not agree with this blog than simply do not comment. I am a mother and probably considered overweight and nothing written here offended me. Why? Because I accept it as the truth.
Maria I think you are inspirational 🙂
Hi Maria!
I agree with what you said. It was almost as if I had written it myself. I am so sorry there is so much negativity surrounding you. But you still have so many people that support you. Keep being you <3
When people listen to you from their heart, they WILL hear what you are TRYING to say. People that are mis-TAKING what you’re saying is a reflection of their ability to hear you. Maybe they have issues. Maybe they just haven’t taken the time to get to “know” you by reading other things you’ve written so they don’t have a good foundation for understanding you. They haven’t taken the time to understand your passion. They’re jumping in mid-game and basically have no idea what’s going on. A nice way of looking at things: the MORE people you encourage, motivate, and help the MORE your opposition will be. It’s kind of a good gage when you look at it that way! Be blessed!
I am really sorry you are banned
Maria, I’ve read your post over and over, and I honestly don’t see why people were so upset. I challenge Leslie to show documentation to support the statement that the population of people overweight NOT due to an unhealthy lifestyle is larger than the population of those unhealthy due to lifestyle. I have never read research to support such a claim, and have many research articles (I do have a medical background) that says overweight is due to an unhealthy lifestyle.
What you, Maria, wrote is true. Our country IS in a health crisis, we DO spend tons of money on health care related to obesity/diabetes/cardiac disease – and our rates of these diseases is definitely not low compared internationally. It is a crime that our children are growing up with much higher rates of diseases such as diabetes, that there are teens seeking gastric bypass. No, the rates of genetic disease occurring that result in overweight due to a disease did not multiply manyfold in just a generation or two. I am aware of diseased like Prader-Willi syndrome, and that is not what the vast majority of obese teens have causing their weight problems.
Our country is so full of overweight people that being larger is now becoming the norm, and people within a healthy BMI seem almost too thin. Yes, if someone wants to rant that lots of muscle can increase BMI, feel free. It does. Anyone with functioning vision can see the difference between a person with lots of muscle definition and one with extra fat rolls. This is common sense. I am sure that you, Maria, were not referring to people a bit heavy because of lots of muscle in their bodies.
Maria, you are spot on. I am so tired of hearing you can be overweight and healthy. My husband for years would go to the doctor and have every number be perfect – BP, glucose, etc. except that he was significantly overweight, definitely obese. Over the years, the stress of the weight has caught up to him, and now he has diabetes, etc. Just because he tolerated the weight well when he was younger doesn’t mean that it wasn’t slowly impacting his health. I live with him, I see the multitude of problems he has now, and of course now the docs say “Oh, you need to lose weight” DUH! Of course he does. He did 20 years ago, even if the numbers were ok back then.
I challenge Maria to back up her claims as she’s making them. I’m not going to do her job for her. If she’s going to say they are in the minority, she needs to prove it- with real research. Your challenge is to Maria to back of what she started.
Above I did make a post with a short description of a new study and I will post it here. I can post study after study after study stating the same thing, that overweight and poor ill are most frequently caused by poor lifestyle choices, not a genetic fluke that is targeting Americans. Now that I have posted a VERY recent study, please show me studies that say the majority of overweight does not come from lifestyle. I am truly interested to read what you have in your mind as you make that statement.
America Lags Behind Other Nations in Health
America’s health compares poorly with that of other developed nations, according to an annual survey conducted by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) of its 34 member nations. The U.S. life expectancy is 78.7 years, below the OECD average of 80.1 years. Twenty-five nations fare better, with Switzerland on top at 82.8 years. The United States is by far the most obese nation at 36.5 percent of the population, with some of the highest rates of infant mortality, dementia, diabetes, and death from heart disease. The United States also spends the most on total health care, compared with other nations, 17.7 percent of its GDP (almost 50 percent more than the next highest nation). The authors attribute the poor outcomes to poor lifestyle (including dietary habits), a fragmented health care system, and a high uninsured population.
OECD (2013), Health at a Glance 2013: OECD Indicators, OECD Publishing. Accessed November 22, 2013. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/health_glance-2013-en.
As an added point… even if we had a magic pot with unlimited funds to give platinum level health insurance to every citizen in America – the majority of the money would be spent treating problems related to the poor lifestyle choices. I still support what Maria said 100%, and so far I’m read people with hurt feelings, but I would truly LOVE to read someone post studies saying that what she said – not what people accuse her of saying or think she meant – is incorrect.
Angela I think it’s awesome you looked for some research, however that is not research. It’s a study of statistics. by members of an organization, not peer review research. Peer-reviewed research is the highest credible form of research there is, it’s not posted in an organization’s survey, it’s not posted blips on a website. It’s a formulation of a hypothesis, testing of it, qualification/ quantification, populated results which is then reviewed by peers (scientists) whose aim to duplicate and test the integrity of it. You can’t prove something in science, you work to disprove it. Beyond that, what you posted doesn’t support the idea that persons who are overweight are so by majority due to an unhealthy lifestyle, but instead lists descriptively what their thoughts are on as to why people are overweight based on stats that don’t go beyond a preliminary set of data. There’s no breakdown within the subset at all, no hypothesis, just statistical conclusions, and its sites no actual scientific research. Nice try, but you’re not there yet. I’ll give you an A for the effort, but not for the logic employed.
And also I’m already proven correct that what she posted is exactly what I claim it is. It’s why she was suspended on FB and the post removed. People may not like that it’s called “hate speech,” but that doesn’t change that it is. FB is very clear in their language a person cannot attack or target a group of people based on a medical condition. By her own words, she’s calling being overweight a medical condition. It’s that simple. It it walks like a duck, and talks like a duck… it’s not a horse. Do I think she had ill intentions? I haven’t seen anything that supports that. Doesn’t change it was irresponsible, and she needs to find more constructive ways of addressing herself.
I am very aware of what peer-reviewed research is, double-blind studies, etc. It is also true that scientists cannot split up groups of people at birth to control everything and make a pure study of exactly what influenced each person’s ending weight, without anyone knowing what was changed. This topic certainly isn’t like studying the effects of one experimental pill. So, if that is what you want me to find, then I bow to you that I won’t. That doesn’t mean that scientists haven’t used valid measures to look at what factors influence weight. Do some people have issues that make it easier for them to gain weight than others? Sure. Men vs women is an easy example. Some are issues that need medication. Some people have a very hard time losing weight. All true. So is the sad state of health in this country, which was Maria’s point.
I would go on, but I have a ton of things I need to attend to tonight. I do appreciate your points, and have thought about them a good deal and will continue to mull over them tonight.
Thank you. I am in total agreement, especially in your last paragraph. Just because someone can tolerate the weight now does not mean they will later – excess weight puts strain on the organs and bones.
I’m completely not in disagreement about Maria’s intentions and what she wanted to convey. It’s the language. I’m hoping I will have the time next week to get into the database and I’ll pull an incredible piece of research which is tracking a randomly sampled group concerning this. I have to see what protocols are assigned to it. It’s very eye opening. Factors that correlate to being overweight go way beyond an unhealthy lifestyle and move to what’s occurring at a genetic level- with the genotype. There’s been more deeper level discussion by another research group concerning diseases of civilization as it relates to this homo sapien genotype. I was aware of (without ever having given much thought to it) a vestigial trait for the taste bud for fat. It may not be as vestigial as I (or perhaps many more) thought. It’s “deep.” I think that may be a good word to describe it.
Can you fight this? ? Thanks to me adopting your fitness calendar I have lost 50 pounds in about 8 months there is more hate speech in the comments directed toward you than what you have ever posted if there is something we can do like right to facebook on your behalf please let us know!
Thanks to adopting your Fitness calendar I have lost 50 pounds in about 8 months I have seen more hate speech directed toward you you have never posted anything that I have perceived as hate speech is there anything that we can do such as write to Facebook on your behalf?
Maria, I know you are so busy right now and may not even have time to read this. And I rarely ever comment on blogs, but I felt absolutely compelled to leave you a comment to encourage you. You are an inspiration to all of us, and you have never been anything but open, honest, raw, compassionate, and tough-loving. We all know that the road to fitness is not easy, and you simply refuse to sugar coat it, and that is why we all love you. Please don’t be discouraged by the facebook incident, because we all still have your back. keep doing what you’re doing!!!
Courtney thanks so much! I usually get to see my website comments more than emails or Facebook (well, since I can’t access Facebook right now it’s easier lol) but I want to say I appreciate you commenting as I value encouragement. I’m not made of stone and this recent backlash – ESP being blocked on a social media site – was not a good feeling. Thank you
You’re awesome, Maria! You are the reason I changed my bad eating habits. My mom and dad passed away at the tender age of 61 because of health issues that could have been prevented if they made healthy food choices. I want to be around for my kids and their kids for as long as possible so I’ve changed my mentality on health by reading your posts. Educating ourselves and our children about food and exercise is key or we will fail! Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom with us and not giving up on us!!
Maria, everything you stated in that post is the truth. I am morbidly obese. I have no one to blame but myself. I eat my feelings. In the past I could lose weight. I have currently been fighting the residual effects of thyroid cancer and for the past 2 1/2 years since my thyroid was removed, I have not been able to get my levels within normal range and no matter how hard I try eating right, I cannot lose weight. THAT BEING said, my weight problem is still an issue I brought upon myself. I can’t “hate” you for speaking the truth about what is going on, wrong, with our society. Keep doing what you are doing. You can’t motivate everything with your words, but those who do find your words inspiring will thank you. Why my thyroid levels allow me to start losing weight again, I’m in the game with changing my lifestyle.