I’ve said more that once that I’m inventing the 21st Century Diet. That is, if I can just maintain my moderately overweight body, I will eventually be overtaken by almost everyone else and finally be “thin”. Looks like it could really happen.
According to this report, many obese people don’t recognise how overweight they really are. One of the reasons is that, as society gets fatter, people compare themselves with those around them and don’t feel so fat any more.
In my view there is a very clear tendency for individuals with obesity to feel that they do not stand out from the crowd,” says Jonathan Pinkney, a consultant in endocrinology and diabetes from the Association for the Study of Obesity (ASO).
This is because the median BMI has increased so much. For example, if some 4% of women now have a BMI of more than 40, then arguably you need this sort of BMI to begin to look obviously obese when you walk down the street.
I guess it’s the same but opposite phenomenon as healthy sized celebrity-obsessed people who are convinced they are fat by comparison.
Oh my, yes, this is so true. For example, this past weekend I had my mother in law, sister in law and girlfriend of my step son here for Thanksgiving. I was much the smallest woman and I am easily 50 lbs over what I could be. It’s truly insidious how this works on your mind. Instead of being aware that I am still 50 lbs overweight, I was much more aware of being the small person in the room.
Hmmm, just thought of something. Did this false sense of ‘thinness’ give me permission in my mind to go off track this week? If that’s the case, then I really need smarten up. Other people’s food issues do not provide an excuse for my food issues. I need to own my own problems.