There’s been a lot of “weighty” issues around the blogs this week (least the ones I regularly read) and it’s got me thinking.

I think the single most annoying assumption people make about those with weight problems is that we don’t know anything about losing weight/eating healthy/good exercise habits. Most people assume we’re just waiting around for that one hot diet tip or new exercise routine; that we don’t know what we should eat instead of that pint of Ben and Jerry’s. And you know what? That’s so totally wrong. Most overweight people I know are more knowledgeable about this stuff that your average joe. We have to be. We read all the articles, we know plyometric and isometric exercises, we know our resting heart rate and target heart rate, we know the physiological reason the high protein diet is so effective (if not the most healthful). At least, again, most of the people of size I know personally know these things. I know these things...it doesn’t stop me from lying on the couch and choosing not to exercise on some days or going ahead and eating that pint of B&J’s (of course along with an otherwise healthy diet the rest of the day). And I know if I exercised every day and didn’t eat the whole pint I could lose weight. I’ve done it before and I know I can. I’m not going to say my genes make me fat or place blame. I know why I, myself, am overweight. I do eat more than I should and move less than I should. But that doesn’t mean I don’t know anything about health. It doesn’t mean that I don’t walk a mile most days. It just means I’m unfortunately being defined by a few poor choices I make in my daily life.

This is brought into focus by a “friend” I have who recently lost a bit of weight. She now takes it upon herself to try to enlighten me on proper weight loss techniques. Um, I KNOW how to do it, I’m just not choosing to make it a priority at this particular moment. And just because I look heavy, how do you KNOW that I’m NOT working on it? It’s these assumptions that bother me, especially coming from someone who has been where I am and knows more closely what I’m feeling than most people.

I guess my point is, don’t judge fat people. We’re not stupid or lazy, most of us just have a passion for good food which is just one small trait of our personalities, ourselves.