I got an email today from someone that doesnt really like my writing style. The comment below was placed in regards to this article on why cant I lose weight. Here is the email I recieved,
I “stumbled” (literally) across your article and I want to tell you something. I think you could word things a little better. How about instead of saying: I hear it all the time, “I cant eat that much or I will get fat”. Well, you’re already fat so why don’t you try to lose weight my way? Why don’t you say this instead: I hear it all the time, “I cant eat that much or I will get fat”. Well, you’re already over weight so why don’t you try to lose weight my way? You have quite a few demeaning and deconstructing phrases like that throughout your article. I’ve lost 70lbs and managed to do it without someone verbally berating and demeaning me along the way. I just don’t think people that are already feeling helpless and hopeless need to be spoken to like that. Just my opinion.
-=-=-=-=- So whats the public opinion? Do you think I’m too hard on the fat people? Do you think “fat” is a demeaning term? Is saying someone is “overweight” kinder than saying they are fat. Maybe this month. Next month, perhaps we should switch to “big boned” or maybe we could say “fluffy”.
The fact of the matter is that everyone has a clientele that responds to them. People that are ready for change are mine. If you can call yourself “fat” and don’t want to be that way anymore, then I will help you achieve your goals.
The fact of the matter is that sometimes, a certain group of people will be motivated by strong talk. I also write articles that are very uplifting. I TRY TO GET TO EVERYONE. I’m a trainer and a writer. You dont have to like me. But if you want to get in shape, you might want to think about spending less time with politically correct words and more time sweating.
Excess tissue on your body is fat. SO, if you have an abundance of that excess tissue on your body…you are fat by default. Technically, I could say you are 35% fat…but that takes too long.
The word “fat” could have a derogatory context where one is ridiculed for having an accumulation of bodyfat. However, I think the critique is misplaced on this site where the whole focus is to help people get a healthy body for one’s own benefit as well as their loved ones (for example, exercising to have energy to run around with a toddler).
Ray’s direct, no-nonsense style of writing has a point: stop wishing for a better body, start doing something to get a better body.
A few posts ago, Ray dealt with some obstacles people presented as excuses to avoid doing exercise (vacation, analytical paralysis, and so on). I admit I have had some of these excuses. Ray did not mince words to obliterate those excuses. But Ray also gave examples of action to help people to progress to a healthy way of living.
So, given the above, I agree with the following sentence:
“But if you want to get in shape, you might want to think about spending less time with politically correct words and more time sweating.”
No I do not think you were to harsh in your response to that e-mail. Not everyone who asks a question can handle the answer though.
The actual definition of ‘fat’ is not offensive, it’s just a fact, but another fact is the term ‘fat’ is often used as a derogatory term so I can see why some would be sensitive to it. In the end, society dictates the definition, not Websters Dictionary. Heck, gay used to mean happy! However, that is not what struck me in your response.
You may (or may not) want to reconsider referring to people who are overweight as ‘fat people’. Their weight doesn’t define who they are as a person. That would be like referring to people who are black or white as black people or white people. Their are people who happen to be fat, autistic, black, white, employed, unemployed etc. It is not the single trait that defines that entire person.
Toxins and Obesity
If you have a difficult time losing weight, it may be a result of the toxins that are constantly being introduced into your bloodstream. The more fat your body has, the more toxins it will retain, and as you lose weight those fat cells will release toxins into the bloodstream. Once the toxins are in the bloodstream, they can cause harm to the body.
Detoxification is the process of binding up these toxins and releasing them from the body.
Although the study of detoxification and its impact on obesity is relatively new, researchers do understand some of the mechanisms involved with how toxins impact weight gain. In particular, toxins can impact your ability to lose weight in three significant ways:
• Toxins slow your metabolism
• Toxins decrease your ability to burn fat
• Toxins slow down the satiety response time (the time it takes you to feel full)
Toxins Slow Your Metabolism
In the past it was thought that your resting metabolic rate (RMR) declined with weight loss primarily because of the decrease in caloric intake or changes in the ratio of muscle to fat. But clinical studies are now showing just how toxic internal toxins can be to our weight loss efforts.
One of the first things toxins do when released into the bloodstream is slow down your RMR. So, as you begin to lose weight, those surfacing toxins begin to inhibit your ability to lose weight. However, if you can eliminate those toxins from the body quickly enough during or before a period of weight loss, you may be able to reduce the decline in your metabolism.
Toxins Decrease Your Ability to Burn Fat
The last thing you want to hear is that something in your blood is preventing your body from burning fat, but that is just what toxins can do. In 1971, for example, a study at the University of Nevada Division of Biochemistry determined that chemical toxins weakened by 20 percent the co-enzyme necessary to burn fat in the body. In 2002, researchers concluded that toxins released during weight loss had the capacity to damage the fat-burning mitochondria.1
The damage was significant enough to negatively impact the body’s ability to burn calories and, in effect, fat.
I have dedicated my life to All Natural and Organic living. I’m trying to help educate others through my store, my facebook fan page and great blogs like this. You can click on my name and follow the link to my store, plus the links for my facebook fan page are located on my store’s website. I encourage everyone to post articles on my facebook fan page that help educate people and also take articles to post them on your websites. We can beat America’s Health problem by educating as many people as we can about the dangers of mass produced, genetically modified, un-natural and chemically enhanced food most people consume. Only when we can show big business that we’re incontrol because we demand better quality over their profits and quantity, can we really beat Obesity and other Health issues in the US.
Thank you and I hope to be posting more articles on this blog in the near future. I hope everyone will spread this information or their own on the subject.
Hey Roger… why don’t you email your articles over and that way I can put them on your own page for you.