So...we're at the softball field last night working the concession stand. Every other person who comes to buy something is overweight. I feel this almost uncontrollable urge to suggest better food choices to them. I mean, it's just like biting my tongue to not tell the guy buying his overweight kids Snickers bars and nachos and Laffy Taffy that we have better food choices available.
I know six months ago I would have been ticked at anyone who offered me a chicken sandwich when I ordered a big old hot dog, but it's almost more than I can do to keep my mouth shut. Does anyone else have this overwhelming need to save the world???
Last edited by traci in training; 06-29-2007 at 11:25 AM.
Nah, can't say that I do. Though I do admit I look at young kids who are extremely overweight and can't help but think that their parents should be more concerned about their weight.
We were at a festival last weekend, and there was a little girl about my son's age (6-1/2). She must have weighed about 80 pounds. Her mother was also super obese at around 300+ pounds. They were buying cookies from one of the booths. All I could think about was how bad I felt for that little girl because I grew up the "fat kid" and how I wish her mom would try and help her now before she gets older.
When I'm at the grocery store, I look at people's carts and I'm just amazed at the amount of food in the cart with almost zero nutritional value....so much sugar and processed foods. I really feel sad when I see overweight parents with overweight children and no vegetables or fruit anywhere to be found in that cart. I'd love to stop them and "share" some insight.....do they know that sugar makes their children's brains sluggish and they don't do as well in school...have they heard about he epidemic of adult onset diabetes in children?!!.... do they know how cruel other children can be to kids that are overweight? But, I know my insight would not be appreciated.
Our oldest daughter works at a grocery and she is always amazed at the stuff people buy. She sees some of the same people three or four times a week (we live in a pretty small town) buying pop, chips, junk over and over. She's quite sure some people must use vegetable oil as fuel for their cars because no one could actually be eating all that fat and still be walking around.
Yep, you should see all the junk my parents buy, and to this day my mom is still very thin and trim. If it wasn't for her multivitamin and protein drink every morning, I wouldn't have a clue how she was staying healthy, because she sure doesn't do it by eating. If only I developed her metabolism...
Yes I have the same problem. I see other people in the same cycle as me and I just want to say no, don't, stop that. But I bit my toung. I realize it isn't my place to say anything to other people.
However if people ask me about my eating habits I am more then willing to share what I've done and how I've changed to lose my weight. My sisters sometimes get annoyed eat out with me because I talk about the menu choices and why I'm not getting different things. They say I take forever to choose anything while eating out.
Once my DH and I were at the store and we bought pickles, ice cream and iron pills. The clerk looked at me, and I realized what I'd bought and what she thought, and said, Uh-uh, no way!
The only person I'd really like to "save" is my DD, and I know she's got to want to "save" herself so I just shut up and try to set a healthy example when she visits.
I notice what other people each much more than I used to -- I was completely oblivious! But like others, I don't feel the need to say anything. I know when I was there I would NOT have appreciated someone saying something about what I should or shouldn't eat. I would have eaten it anyway to spite them!
The other thing is that there is so much conflicting research out there. I've read so much of it, and decided that a diet based on whole grains, fruits, and vegetables is the right choice for me. But I know that Robin, for example, would never touch the brown rice that makes up so many of my meals, and I try to stay away from the chicken breasts that she loves. I also wonder why you felt a desire to talk to those who were overweight or who had overweight children and not the thin people making those same poor choices. In my experience, most people who buy food from concession stands are not making good food choices. Thin people are also susceptible to diet-related health problems.
I'm just the opposite. I try and defend what they're doing if they mention it to me...so they don't think I'm judging them. For example, last week I went to the movies with a friend and she had a huge bag of candy. She offered me some and I said "no thanks" and she said that she wishes she had my determination and that was why she was staying so fat and instead of trying to help her I didn't want her to think I feel superior to her so instead I just said "Once isn't going to kill you." I have no idea why I'm like that.
Saving the world from fat
