I have read a lot about things people say to those they feel are "fat". People always give me advice on how to lose weight. I need to exercise more, I need to eat less...blah blah blah. Those really don't bother me. It's the names behind my back that bother me.

I was out a few months ago and some kid called me "Fat Momma". Now, mind you, I am a big girl, but still...he wasn't skinny. It took everything in my power NOT to smack him up side the head, drag him to his mother and smack her for not teaching her kid better manners.

Now, I live in Sweden and do not speak the language very well, however, walking my bike two weeks ago while on my cell speaking in english I over heard a kid say to his friends, in swedish "Hon behöver inte en cykel för att hon är fett" (she doesn't need a bike because she is fat). I whihpped my head around and blurted out "Du behöver inte din hjärnan för att du är dum!" (you don't need your brain because you are dumb). Response from his friends was priceless and I smiled all the way home...on my bike.

Nothing like killing two birds with one stone. lol

Yep, no doubt about it, some people do feel like they have a free license to say cruel things to those of us who are fat. I can only think that they must have some deficiency within themselves that drives them to try to find flaws in others to make themselves feel better.

Hey, they can be as stupid, cruel, and hateful as they like. I might be fat, but I bet it is easier to lose weight than it is lose really ugly personality traits.

People can be cruel. It seems like people can be a little more open about the cruelness in Europe than in the U.S.A., not to minimize the hateful things people say here in the states of course. (Or to maximize what people might say in Europe either.) Just an observation. I think there are a lot more overweight people in the U.S., so people are just used to it.

You are doing this for you and your health. These people that say these things don't know you inside- nor do they have any business offering unsolicited advice. You are a grown woman and know what is best for you and you know how to deal with it accordingly. You sure knew how to deal with those little brats... ~loves it~

Probably very true... thanks to our fast food mentality and huge portions in restaurants, etc. However, I would add that here in the USA it definitely makes a difference what part of the country you are from. Here on the West Coast, people tend to be a lot more health and weight conscious and being fat is not nearly as "acceptable" as in some other areas.

However, none are doing all that great!!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4183086.stm

I do have one comment though, and I don't know if this applies elsewhere...but the US definition of "overweight" is often ridiculous. For example... when I get to my goal weight of 170 I will be VERY skinny... I know as I've been there before... esp. if I am beefed up from exercise. I am built large and have big boobs... and they DO weigh something! However, according to the USA chart I will STILL be 10-20 pounds overweight! The government wants us to be total beanpoles. If I get to the weight they say I should be I would look ridiculous.

Just for what it's worth. We ARE a bunch of fatties... but their statistics make it sound even worse and their goals make it impossible AND unhealthy for some of us.

===climbing down off of soapbox=======

Sounds like you understand and speak Swedish pretty well! Great comeback!

Yeah, I know the feeling. I was going down the sidewalk one day a couple of years ago (before I started my new lifestyle) walking to my MIL's house and there were kids looking out of an upstairs window from a house across the street from where I was and one of the "moo'd" me.

That hurt. And for some reason it hits a little closer to home when it comes from kids. I don't know why. I mean, these were little KIDS, couldn't have been more than maybe 7 or 8 years old. Moo'ing a fat girl.

According to the cdc and the gov site, they do say that BMI can't indicate how physically fit a person is- we know this to be true since our % body fat seems to be somewhat indicative of our health status. So i give them credit for recognizing that tidbit.

I think that many Europeans see America as the land of fat. And I for one, now that I have lived iin Europe for almost two years and haven't been back to the states understand why they think that. Rarely do I see people who are really overweight. I do see them, but they are few and far between. However, fast food culture is invading Europe as more more American influences take over. I do find, however, that most of my friends hate McDonalds, Burger King, etc, and because it is so expensive to eat there (15$ for one meal) the tend to stay away from them.

I know that by that BMI chart, even when I hit that healthy weight I will be "overweight" according to it.

hehehee, it just flew out of my mouth. I suprised myself.

Kids can be mean but I find that adults are just as bad, however, they are just more articulate.

Sorry that happened. I wouldn't blame the kids, I would blame the parents.

Yes, they are. But for some reason when it comes from a kid, it sounds worse. I mean, an adult I'll tell to poop off. But a kid, jeez, that's just rotten.

I've never been that way. I've never made fun of people. Heck, in high school, I was one of the kids that would try and get back at the bullies that picked on the geeks. I ran with "the wrong crowd", as my mother put it, but we weren't mean people, we just kept to ourselves. We weren't the popular princess types, we weren't jocks and we weren't nerds. We were the kids that ran around in torn jeans and jean jackets with pot leaves on the backs of them and got caught smoking weed and cutting school. But we never bothered anybody. But there was this one guy, his name was Steve. He thought his poopy didn't stink and would always pick on the 'little' guys and push them around and steal their homework and toss their books over balconies... you know the type. One day at lunch I went out to the parking lot, after he had beaten up some kid named Derrick, and jabbed my pocket knife (4" blade) into the tire of his car.

Not something I'm really proud of, but that's just the kind of person I was and boy, did it feel good.

wow! let's all remember to stay on your good side. hehehe

I have done things I am not proud of too. I think we all have. I am ashamed of some of the things I did, but as you say, it felt good at the time.

True... but they STILL class people as overweight at ridiculous standards.

Nixxie, what you say is true though IMO... Americans ARE becoming more and move overweight. I have been noticing lately when I go to the pool and there are a lot of young kids out there... a huge number of them are very overweight.

And pigging out is just plain popular here... the quality of a restaurant is often based on their serving huge portions. And it is acceptable... often if I comment on how expensive a restaurant is the response is "yes but their portions are huge" etc. But I don't WANT gigantic portions and don't like having to pay for enough food to feed four people just to get a meal out. And it is amazing how many restaurants I go to where there is absolutely NOTHING on the menu that is healthful!! The majority of people don't even seem to notice this or care.

And I know what you mean... I lived in the Philippines for two years and the people there who had been to America could not believe how huge the portions were. And when I first moved back here I was stunned when I saw it again too.

For me - high school was ****. I was picked on incessantly by a jerk and his friends because of my height - 6'4". Even though I was at a decent weight (one I can only dream of now), I've spent most of my life feeling terrible about myself. I caught my teenage son making fun of a fat girl one time. When I told him the terrible effect it had on me, he not only apologized to me but to the girl - who has become his friend and knows he's there when she needs a shoulder to cry on because of other cruel remarks kids make.

As parents, we have to teach our children how painful their "jokes" can be. They really do learn from your experience if they are shown how painful it still is to you.

I can't wait to see exactly how big the portions are when I come back there in November. I have been away 2 years. I am used to the smaller portions I get here and they are filling. I am sure I will be shocked!

People's comments can be outrageous sometimes. I remember being in a supermarket some years ago, and this 4 year old blurted out, "Look mommy, the fat lady." And mom did absolutely nothing. It crushed me to bits.

I once heard that fat discrimination is one of the last acceptable forms of discrimination in this country. No kidding.