I was just reading a post by someone in Colorado saying how out-of-place they felt being overweight. I know NYC and LA are very strict, but I always think of the places in the middle being more lenient. Come to think of it, though, I HAVE heard that CO is very fit. How is your town?

Interesting post topic! My sis lives in Colo., and I noticed when I was out there, people were SO active, hiking, biking, everything, and the restaurants had so many healthy options. I loved it. it seemed the same when I was visiting Utah, now that I think about it.

I live in the midwest now and obesity in my city is rampant. All the way to the young school children.

I am in middle Tenneesee and around here obesity is very common. Folks refer to me as being 'little' and 'tiny' even though I'm well overweight. LOL

Funny how your area does dictate a lot of that stuff.

Its not as horrible as some areas I've seen, my sis in law is from Mississippi and it is definitely worse down there, but it still is the 'larger' end of the scale.

I think that is pretty much the story of the South.

In my town, I'm at the upper range of what's normal weight (by normal, I mean the REST OF THE WORLDS definition of what would be normal). Which, frankly, just blows my mind. I see these kids running wild, mine included, looking like stick children and then see their older siblings, like 13+ just steadily gaining, and when they graduate college, they're already obese. I see parents who can barely walk down the grocery store aisle, pushing a cart full of oreo's and frozen snickers ice cream, while berating their preteen overweight son that he didn't grab the right cheezy poofs, while telling their overweight teen daughter to put that soda down or it'll make her fat. My heart just breaks.

I'm considered merely average, and actually had some of the hubby's friends wives tell me I didn't need to diet and their hubby's saying anything without fluff was just a bag of bones. The mind just....boggles that obesity is considered normal here, it's accepted and actually looked at like a positive thing. But, then you meet their extended families and see they're all just graduated sizes of the heading towards seriously obese. Like the stackable Russian dolls, but instead of height its weight. The thing that bothers me the most is like there's this shift in mentality, either from kids or parents/grandparents, from these kids that go from <12 yrs old, these kids are usually very very thin, knobby knees, etc. Sometime during that 12-13 yr summer, the activity STOPS and the junk munching begins. And it's like DRASTIC to see the changes in a picture gallery on the walls, you know? They've taken these normal weight, healthy, active kids and turned them into kids who no longer have a desire to play outside, ride their horses or participate in sports, until they get to high school.

I live in Wisconsin and most people are overweight here. Cheese, beer and cold weather, you know? I don't want to be normal though.

Actually, I found NYC not to be that strict. There was more diversity in ethnicity so plenty of beautiful women in all shapes and sizes. Then I moved to Phoenix which is totally fat phobic.

Here in Florida I see all kinds. I grew up in Boca Raton where the standards of beauty are a bit... unrealistic? Extremely superficial. But FL is a weird place in general and depending on the region/city/street you will see many kinds of people.

Last summer I went to San Francisco and I felt huge, like I stuck out. Everyone there seemed to be fit and healthy, I also attributed it to the lifestyle. Walking up and down those hills is killer and I enjoyed a bike tour around the city. It seemed like a great and convenient way to get around for the locals.

Hmm, y'know, you're right--some ethnic groups in NYC are more enthusiastic about full figures.

I think it's definitely relative... I've pretty much lived in Manhattan my entire life, so I think my view on what constitutes being "overweight" tends to be more than a bit skewed by my experiences here... and all it takes is for another Fashion Week to roll around like just last week for me to feel "fat"... But when I really look around when I'm out and about here there is definitely no shortage of overweight and obese people walking the streets... So the only real difference that I see between New York and anywhere else in the rest of the country that I've been to when it comes to being overweight is maybe New Yorkers are a bit more stylish...

I'm from the NW and people are pretty fit, but I live close to Portland where Organic food and bikes are a must! I am the biggest out of my group of friends (some of them taller than me and still weight less than I do)

I have lived a lot of places and I don't see a lot of differences in norms regarding size.

I also felt like in New York, because groups were mixed, if a guy (of any race) wanted to show up to something with a bigger (but well put together) girl, that is totally socially acceptable. I feel there is a much bigger stigma here in Arizona.

I've lived in both Manhattan and Brooklyn. If you asked me then, I probably would have said there was still a stigma - which there is no matter where you go. BUT .. now that I live in Phoenix, I see just how much more accepting NYC was than out here......

I grew up in the Midwest, moved out to California for 13 years, and am now living back in the Midwest.

When I was growing up, I was definitely out of the norm weight-wise. I think there was maybe one other girl I knew who was my size. In California, it varied a bit, but people there were healthier overall. Now that I'm back here, I see a lot more people who are my size and plenty who are even larger.

Another thing that I've noticed is that socioeconomic status seems to have an effect. During my time at a four-year university, there were very few people who were obese. I was definitely one of the heavier students there. When I took a hiatus to work, I attended community college at night. I was still one of the heavier students but not the heaviest.

I live in Vancouver, Canada (the birthplace of Lululemon), and I guess we're considered a fit city. I remember reading an article a few months ago by a woman who was Portland and was complaining that Vancouver hated obese people. Part of her conclusions was based on the fact that Vancouver had fewer clothing options for obese people in comparison to Portland. I admit to never noticing the difference.

I generally find the entire west coast relatively fitness-focused, although there is no shortage of people with their personal weight issues. I have never been to Southern or Middle or Eastern US (will be going to NYC this summer!), so all these stories of an obesity epidemic and childhood obesity tend to be something I understand in an academic way than a real life way.

when i was growing up i was ALWAYS the heaviest kid around....but looking back on it i think it was due to the isolated area and the poverty there...in Interior Alaska...the people that i grew up with at a Christian commune were very, very poor and so were the kids in the neighboring Native villages...in fact in high school i remember having this grand diet idea, where i would lose weight by not eating my lunch, and instead give it to the poor native boy that needed food, thereby killing two birds with one stone....i look back on my pictures from ages 4-18 and i wasn't really ever heavy, maybe a bit chubby as a kid but i ALWAYS felt like a huge whale growing up

here where i live now, i see people of all shapes, sizes and ethnicities...the one thing that i do notice is not so much weight, but fashion...which is nonexistent...around here you could pretty much roll out of bed, grab whatever you find with your eyes closed, get dressed and leave home and fit in with the rest of the people around town LOL....maybe because it's Alaska, maybe because it rains 99% of the time here so there's no use in wearing something nice....i don't know...