Funny CW moments page 473

[Spubba]

There is a TON of CW Fail in these stories, but little of it belongs to the morbidly obese person. Most of us, if we woke up in their circumstances a few years earlier, would have had little chance of success in escaping their path down to this day.

Everything that MamaGrok said; and it's sad that knowing what we know now, reading what we've read, knowing what CW still tells people in spite of what the SCIENCE says, and knowing that this girl attended fat-camp after fat-camp where they probably fed her nonfat yogurt and cereal bars and all that garbage and basically starved her down, death-camp style, without really helping address the physical root of the problem - metabolic distress - and after reading ALL the success stories and being all over this board, people on MDA still want to place the blame on the obese person and their family for "not trying hard enough", and that us fat people have some kind of "mental disorder" and "obsession with food", and all that garbage. Sad, and I hope that more people with "food issues" are willing to come here and look into their own problems with an informed, critical eye.

Any of us could be this girl. How many times would YOU like to go to a forced labor camp? Willingly? Locked up, performing meaningless physical movements for hours upon hours? And pay for it? Knowing that you will be starved and screamed at and browbeaten? Knowing that it probably won't do any good, that you'll still come out of it just as fat and broken as you were before and you'll end up even worse afterwards?

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

The girl gave up and said "oh fuck it, nothing works, I'll just eat fish and chips and internet myself to death" because she is a sane person locked in a deranged body. My heart goes out to her.

[billp]

Most people who are morbidly obese since childhood started out gaining huge amounts of weight before they started eating ridiculous amounts of food. They try severe portion restriction; they try starvation; and as long as the foods are SAD, they lose nothing, and the cravings grow.

Exactly - the weight gain comes first, then they need to eat more food to maintain their current weight or what their body needs to weigh. She has gained fat at an enormously rapid rate since her diet, probably about the fastest it is physically possible to put on weight. No wonder she doesn't have any energy - it is all going into growing fatter. Multiple organ failure suggests she is not far from death.

[MamaGrok]

she is a sane person locked in a deranged body

Oh, me likey this!!

I lost 50lb with no exercise. But if I had listened to any doctors at all, I would never have succeeded. Most people listen to doctors. Their trust is misplaced, but I don't think that makes them crazy.

Another similar major CW fail is bulimia camp. They take these poor girls who have physical urges for "more sugar!" (purging is just a natural response to get rid of the binge; the BINGE is the problem) every minute of the day, and FORCE them to eat a certain amount of food each meal, with great classics like pancakes and syrup ... then force them to go the next X hours without eating till the next carb-heavy, protein-and-fat deficient meal, tormenting them further.

Exercise & starve tactics are pointless. Fix the broken cravings with a solid diet and they become totally unnecessary because your body starts to regulate food intake & movement naturally, the way it was always supposed to.

[lotusberries]

Most people who are morbidly obese since childhood started out gaining huge amounts of weight before they started eating ridiculous amounts of food. They try severe portion restriction; they try starvation; and as long as the foods are SAD, they lose nothing, and the cravings grow.

THANK YOU! No one understands this! I started gaining weight when I was around 3, and at 4 I was about a foot taller than all the other kids and was starting to gain fat. My mother made all her own baby food and fed super healthy meals. We were never allowed to eat out at restaurants or get fast food. By 5 I was sent for testing because I was gaining so much weight. I remember being in the hospital getting blood tests, head x-rays, CAT scans of my brain. By age 8 I hadn't stopped gaining and I was sent to a weight loss group. Didn't really work. I was the most active kid in my group of friends, was even on a competitive swim team.

My sister who wasn't active at all and ate the same foods I did was thin as a rail. I was around 200-220lbs by first year of high school and it was around this point the emotional eating started because the teasing was relentless. By the time I graduated I was well over 300lbs and topped out at almost 500lbs before I was 20. I lost about 250lbs in my early 20s by almost complete starvation. When I started eating again the weight came back, luckily only to 360lbs, and stuck there. I tried "healthy eating" diets and they did not work! I even had the "this isn't working, why am I even trying?" moments. The fact that I'm 310lbs now and still eating every day amazes me. I have never had weight loss without starving myself.

I feel so bad for this girl, and the fact it's all over the news is even worse.

[drssgchic]

It's stories like this that make me want to open up my own "fat" camp. Health camp, really. Put 'em to work on my (theoratical at this point) farm as they are able, and feed them real, good food that they help grow and cook. Functional movements, real food, and sunshine. For that girl, picking eggs and feeding the chickens would probably be a suitable start for the exercise. Won't be dramatic, but it'll be easier to stick to.

[ELizabeth826]

ETA 210 days binge-free!

Little late, and I know we have moved on, but.....

CONGRATULATIONS! That is amazing and inspiring.

[MamaGrok]

It's stories like this that make me want to open up my own "fat" camp. Health camp, really. Put 'em to work on my (theoratical at this point) farm as they are able, and feed them real, good food that they help grow and cook. Functional movements, real food, and sunshine. For that girl, picking eggs and feeding the chickens would probably be a suitable start for the exercise. Won't be dramatic, but it'll be easier to stick to.

DO IT!!! Just don't forget the big fat-and-protein breakfast, no IF'ing at all until uncontrollable cravings are gone and metabolisms repaired.

People like quelson, lotusberries, & spubba here are such an inspiration. Many people would have given up on life by this point, but you refuse to quit even in the face of regular ridicule & failure, even from the people here who should be supporting you.

WE ARE ALL BROKEN IN DIFFERENT WAYS. Some people get fat b/c of SAD; some people get MS; some people die. Why do we only make fun of the ones whose brokenness reveals itself as excess adipose tissue?

That itself is a "CW fail" attitude that needs to disappear here.

[billp]

It's stories like this that make me want to open up my own "fat" camp. Health camp, really. Put 'em to work on my (theoratical at this point) farm as they are able, and feed them real, good food that they help grow and cook. Functional movements, real food, and sunshine. For that girl, picking eggs and feeding the chickens would probably be a suitable start for the exercise. Won't be dramatic, but it'll be easier to stick to.

That is actually a really good idea. Do you know To Hell with Farming?

Like that. Probably the only real way to make a small farm truly pay. It would work. The food would be good - you could see to that - and the exercise would be moderate enough while heavy enough to benefit everyone. Once you started getting a few successes they would tell all their friends and punters would come flocking. Capital costs would be low, because you wouldn't need all the farm equipment they need today to keep labour costs down - you would have all the labour you needed. You could totally do that with just a rented few acres and a couple of huts. It wouldn't even need to be cleared ground, as they could do the clearing too.

[Spubba]

That is actually a really good idea. Do you know To Hell with Farming?

Like that. Probably the only real way to make a small farm truly pay. It would work. The food would be good - you could see to that - and the exercise would be moderate enough while heavy enough to benefit everyone. Once you started getting a few successes they would tell all their friends and punters would come flocking. Capital costs would be low, because you wouldn't need all the farm equipment they need today to keep labour costs down - you would have all the labour you needed. You could totally do that with just a rented few acres and a couple of huts. It wouldn't even need to be cleared ground, as they could do the clearing too.

I agree that this is a lovely business idea; but I know nothing about the legalities involved! Especially if you were caring for minor children (and we have to admit that life threatening obesity and diabetes is affecting younger and younger kids) and going against CW; I'd bet no insurance company would touch this business the second they found out that the diet program was high in fat, regardless of what the O:3/O:6 ratios looked like.

Now, if you pitched it as a "Dude Ranch" summer for these teens and the program stressed outdoor camping, social activities and sunshine rather than measuring food portions, counting fat-grams and weekly weigh-ins like a "Fat Camp" you might be able to squeak it by...

Stupid ideas, never mind me...

[Owly]

DO IT!!! Just don't forget the big fat-and-protein breakfast, no IF'ing at all until uncontrollable cravings are gone and metabolisms repaired.

People like quelson, lotusberries, & spubba here are such an inspiration. Many people would have given up on life by this point, but you refuse to quit even in the face of regular ridicule & failure, even from the people here who should be supporting you.

WE ARE ALL BROKEN IN DIFFERENT WAYS. Some people get fat b/c of SAD; some people get MS; some people die. Why do we only make fun of the ones whose brokenness reveals itself as excess adipose tissue?

That itself is a "CW fail" attitude that needs to disappear here.

This. I'm so tired of the fat-bashing crap. I have immense respect for anyone who is working to regain their health, and I think people have no idea what it means for someone who's very overweight to take one more chance on one more diet and the work it takes to lose 50+ pounds or kick diabetes meds or whatever. I don't--I only know about it from what friends and people here have told me--but I respect the fortitude it takes to do it.

But then, I also have this crazy idea that all people deserve dignity and respect.