Being fat isn’t just a source of shame. It’s also a source of health issues. While historically a woman with a bit of meat on her bones was viewed as healthy and therefore fertile, nowadays, excess meat on those bones can mean poor health and infertility. Yup, as good as that pizza looks, it’s the Grim Reaper that’s the delivery boy.
A few years ago in Japan, new health care legislation set new standards on what is overweight. For men, it’s 33.5 inches. For women, it’s 35.5 inches (that’s just one of my thighs). Companies can be fined if employee or insurance-covered family members’ waistlines are too expansive, since obesity can lead to a slew of health problems, which in turn affects insurance companies, the economy, ad infinitum. Bottom line: fat affects everyone.
On the other side of the pond, being fat still carries a stigma, but at least you have the option of being applauded for your consumptive efforts. At the Coronary Cuisine, a medical-themed restaurant in America, customers who weight over 300 pounds eat for free. Menu options include Prescription Strength Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich and Open Heart Hamburger—no wonder the franchise motto is “When You’re Dying to Eat.” Bottom line: screw the world. I’m going to eat what I want.
We all have excuses why we are overweight and don’t change our lifestyles to combat this problem, but in the end it boils down to how you want your life to end. Do you want to die at an early age from obesity-related causes, or do you want to live life to its fullest with the people you love, doing the things you love to do, without the stigma of being a burden or anathema to society?
Bottom line: it’s all up to you.