Fat vs. Obese: Which Is Worse?

I am about 4 pounds into clinical obesity. It's not healthy. I'm working on it. I think people ought to know at exactly what weight they go from normal to overweight and from overweight to obese. It's not about vanity or being shallow, it's a public health issue. I realize that for some people, the BMI system isn't 100% accurate, but it is a helpful guideline. If you check your BMI and it says you're overweight or obese, you probably are. You can't blame it all on a little extra muscle or big bones.

Hmmm... I think I disagree.. There's no justifiable reason why an adult should ever reach the limits of physical obesity I've seen. I've worked in a lot of different fields, including fast food. I think they should have a cut off limit for fat people. If you're in a bar, when you have too much to drink they cut you off, for your safety and for the safety of others around you. Not to mention all the embarassment etc... So they should do the same thing with fat people. Restrict their diets to a healthier, low-fat menu items instead of whatever they want... I, personally, call fat people FAT. I may refer to them as obese when I'm talking about them, as a group of fat people, but to their face I always call them fat. Here's the shocker.. They KNOW they're fat, and choose to do nothing to solve the equation. At a certain point, when majority of your body weight is no longer (A GOOD portion of it is bone, muscle, and fluid etc, and your organs) regular body weight and MORE than half of what you weigh becomes fat... Then I consider you fat. You're no longer made of meat, you're made of fat.. It's simple logic. I don't consider their feelings, and I refuse to help them kill themselves faster. They don't consider the feelings of their loved ones who are "ok" or "at peace/terms" with their fatness, if they did they wouldn't be so out of control. America is all about over-indulgence, and we have lost respect for our morals and manners. I'm in my 20s, and I feel like I belong in the 1950s, because I care about myself and the people around me. We have world hunger problems all over the place, INCLUDING america, and a huge portion of our population is overweight. How considerate is that? I don't go out of my way to make people feel bad, but I'm not going to sugar coat the morbid truth. If you are overweight and don't fix it, and you keep eating and eating without moderating your diet, you will suffer with health problems and die. That won't be on my conscience, it's your own fault. Imagine how many more resources our health care system would be able to utilize if we weren't treating (MAJORITY OF THE POPULATION) with health problems because they're obese? We can blame the government all we want (though it's governed by the people), but it starts with the individual.. Every ant in a colony does its purpose, the colony thrives. If the ants take the food for themselves and get too fat to make it back to the queen, she dies and it all falls apart (rome, anyone? for gluttony?)

Stevee-we do not live in a one size fits all society. Some people become obese because of a very serious trauma or organ transplant that prevents them from gaining weight. If a person can't move or they are taking steriods, they gain water and weight. Please do research before you put out an essay that has no bearing and you make a fool of yourself!

I agree with you up until the physician comment...if it is your friend or family member that you love and your looking out for them, then it is definitely your place to talk with them. No matter how unpleasant a conversation can be..truth is always best. Sometimes people tip toe to much about obesity or being overweight, and worry to much about feelings rather than the reason for the talk. It is always better to "talk."

red, while that is true, what do you think is the percentage of people who are overweight for those reasons?

My mother is very obese. She actually rejects healthy eating because it suggests that what she's been doing is wrong. My eleven-year-old sister looks pregnant because of of the fat on her belly.

I am a dancer, so I have lots of muscle, particularly on my thighs and glutes, which accounts for a large portion of my weight, but I do have a good portion of flab which I have been losing steadily for the last couple of months. I have dragged my mother into my weight loss, because, even if she doesn't care, I love her too much to watch her do this to herself. I want my mother to live long enough to see my wedding and the growth of my future children. I want her to feel good, and good about herself.

Frankly, I couldn't care much less about the way I look, nor about what people think of my appearance. Therefore, calling me neither "fat" nor "obese" will affect me very much. However, I do recognize the health aspect of my not-yet-too-serious condition, and I want to live a long, happy, healthy life, free from the sleep problems, heart disease, emotional instability, and other problems which have their roots in obesity.

I think people would be less abhorrent of the idea of weight loss and healthier living if, as I have done with my mother, they were joined by their loved ones to make it easier.

A few years back my Husband flat out told me I was fat and becoming more and more unattractive. It hurt really really bad; what hurt the most is that I knew it was absolutley true. It sparked something in me; fourty pounds later i will never be that FAT again. It may not be nice, it may hurt your feelings, but there is no better way to get the point across!
FAT IS FAT ALL DAY LONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I guess it would be like a plastic surgeon telling someone they were downright ugly and they need this plastic surgery to go out in public. People will say that "ugly" doesn't hurt your health, but it does, it hurts the mental health..good/bad health isn't always physcial.

I have to agree with Michelle. It's not anyone's place to demean someone. You're right to say what you think only extends to the point it interferes with someone else's right to live their lives in their own way. I don't know of any obese/fat person that strives to become that way nor wouldn't change it if it was an easy thing to do. Most have spent 10 to 60 years getting there and people expect it to drop off in a matter of a few months. That's an unrealistic expectation. Forcing people to eat healthy or diet as stevee suggests is equally inane. Prohibition didn't work and neither does cutting someone off at the bar. They will just walk to the next bar or take a bottle home. The responsibility lies within the person and only they can correct their own behaviors. When people feel they have the liberty to criticize others, I always wonder what faults they are overlooking in themselves.

IMO, there is no justifiable reason for you to refer to a person’s weight at all (well unless they have asked you or you’re their doctor or a “concerned” loved one or any situation such as that). I don’t think there are any Ambassador’s to US Weight Patrol, here.

In my everyday life, whatever the situation may be, when I am referring to another, I try to not to use qualifiers… especially qualifiers that are perceived by the majority to be hurtful or rude, I feel acting that way is crass and tacky. So if that’s the way you roll, cool… I’m sure if you are that obtuse you don’t have many “fat” friends anyway. I try to be a little more polite in my dealings with others.

I agree with Michelle. Fat is fat. Obese is a medical term & it is a dangerous health issue.

Michele, ya said it just about the best way to say it...seldom is it EVER warranted to call people either, inless you're PAID to do so. And frankly, longevity is starting to look way too overrated to me these days, anyway. Me-thinks it's time to start thinking about dying happy. I can just hear the self-righteous pro-lifers now!

finding out you're obese hurts more, because "fat" can be anyone... i'm in a size 14 and i heard a woman in a size 7 say that they're "fat". i always thouhgt of obese as beyond fatness.

It hurts to be called obese because the truth hurts. People make excuses for being a "few" pounds over weight. Personally I hate it when people make excuses for themselves. I don't. I spent most of my life being a stick. When I hit puberty I had a dramatic weight gain. 80lbs in 6 months. Not kidding! obviously I have health issues. The doc gave me a prescription for a treadmill, now that hurts, but I tackled those issues with diet and exercise. No lap band. No lipo. No pills. I did it the hard way and kept it off. There is nothing wrong with having a few extra pounds, but dont mistake the difference between 30 and 10 lbs of FAT. Its very unhealthy to have that much extra weight. No excuses, if you look in the mirror and you have a few extra pounds, are you really doing all that you can do to keep those lbs off?

I agree we shouldn't be name calling. Obese is used in a medical setting and should stay there. I work in childhood obesity and I see a problem with parents who don't like a pediatrician describing their child as obese. However, it is the correct term. If a child or adult has diabetes, the physician isn't and shouldn't sugar-coat it (pun intended) by saying they have a sugar problem. Obesity describes a distinct condition and should not be offensive when used in private clinical discussions. Parents who don't like that term for their child, should spend time helping their child by making sure there is adequate physical activity and a healthy diet and calorie management.

Try being called Short. there is no Nutra system or Jenny Craig for that.
Face the problem and overcome it.
There are options for obesity.

I feel some of you are NOT getting the point of my post. Yes most of us know being overweight is unhealthy. Yes most of us know that most of the time it is preventable. My point is; who are you to tell another they are fat? Unless you have a vested interest in this person, it is none of your business. And yes, if you are going to call someone fat it is hurtful. It makes you seem rude, crass and impolite. Again, if that’s “who you are”, you probably don’t have a lot of friends that like you anyway… just sayin’…

My doctor, trainer, husband, mother and children can tell me I am obese, too thin, looking tired, need some lipstick, need a new haircut… whatever, but you John or Jane public have no business in my or anyone else’s business. You should always keep your opinions and self righteousness to yourself unless the situation warrants your opinion and 90% of the time it doesn’t.

I have to disagree.
FAT is something I trim off the edge of my Porkchop.
OBESE is a term applied to a person, and it cuts you to the core when you hear it in reference to yourself or your body type.
I had years of experience with being "obese", and I hope to never go back. My "high weight" was 257, and I have hovered around 180lbs. for the last 20 years.

I am 320 pounds, If you call me fat, i step toward you, step on your foot, and bump you with my bulging "Gut" and you fall down, and i got you but i just say "O i am so sorry, i did not see you were so close. Then I help them up apologizing but the stay away from me!

My Dad was 275 pounds but wanted to lose weight so he did a very simple diet limitation and lost 100 pounds in next 5 years and kept it off for 20 years, until he died. His simple diet was NO Bread or wheat products, and no sweetened beverages, (No artificial sweeteners either.) Water and coffee with whitener only, Pie eat filling leave the crust, hamburger, leave the bun. Limited fruit juice (Natural, unsweetened.) otherwise he ate everything as the family did, he even liked "Buffets" but only once weekly. And he lost two pounds a month 24 pounds a year, 100 pounds in five years. Sometimes a simple solution is best. Jenny and Weight Watchers wont want you to try this, slow changes are less likely to cause other problems, and once the weight is off a couple years the cravings are non - existent Dad even ate a PINT of ice-cream every once in a while.

Either way it hurts but, I have a question... if my weight is so offensive to people. Costs my employer (which it doesn't - I have had perfect attendance for many years) and adds millions to the cost of health care, why doesn't my insurance cover treatment? If I were an alcholic, if I smoked or if I used drugs, my insurance would cover treatment. The difference is that I don't have to be around booze, I don't have to be around cigarettes or other drugs, I have to be around food. I can avoid those other vices but, need food to live. If we as a society want to "correct" weight issues, we must be willing to cover it as a medical problem. If not, then don't complain, judge or otherwise make comments about my weight. If we had a famine, I would live... skinnies would be dead first.