I Used To Be Fat.

[ZenMMA]

"As Cheap as a gang tattoo."

Bravo.

[ZenMMA]

Sorry, but after reading this book, I've been unable to swallow the "I'm too poor to skinny!" line.

I agree that obesity is down to laziness and a lack of self discipline, perhaps those qualities are also linked to poverty which explains the link between poverty and obesity.

[Petter]

I agree that obesity is down to laziness and a lack of self discipline, perhaps those qualities are also linked to poverty which explains the link between poverty and obesity.

I’ve never been either obese or poor, and I like to think I’ve never been lazy, but I find it hard to dismiss the whole thing like that. I’m sure there are poor people who are lazy. I am also sure there are poor people who try their damnedest but who have legitimate trouble finding a job that makes them enough money to escape from poverty, especially when you factor in things like commute costs in both time and money.

I also know that being poor can be perversely expensive, because when you live by the skin of your teeth from pay cheque to pay cheque, you may not ever have enough money to invest in things that save you money in the long run, you may always end up paying credit card interest, you certainly don’t qualify for premium rates, and so on.

I also recognise that although I make decent money because I’m smart and educated enough to get a decent job, this might not be the case had I been born into poverty. I was raised by educated parents, I was able to afford a good education. Hell, even childhood nutrition can affect intelligence through no fault of the child. So I find it hard to condemn, sometimes.

[Devil]

Your **** would be awesome if you were funny

My **** is awesome AND funny. You're just a humorless ******.

[Gabetuno]

As someone who has/sometimes is poor (running my own business), and as someone who was fat when I was a kid, then got skinny, then went to college (read: got fat), then got in shape again some years later, I can maybe shed some light on the situation.

Poverty is not a choice, and it is not a product of laziness, at least exclusively. Yes, being lazy and stupid can often lead to being poor, but there are myriad examples of exceptions on either end. The best conclusion one can make, based on the evidence, is that being lazy and stupid only increases your chances of being poor. Which means there are other contributing factors, and plenty of hard working smart poor people out there.

As for being fat, this is mostly because of laziness and or poor emotional development. I was, at my heaviest, a little over 265, and believe me, it wasn't muscle. I'm now 187, and cut to 170 for fights. If you pick any point in my life where I was fat - 6th-8th grade, 20-23 - the common theme had less to do with eating and more to do with lethargy. I didn't exercise regularly at these times in my life, and as a result I blew up like a tick.

There were genetic factors, sure, like the men in my family are girthy and thick, so we pack on fat well and easily like any self-respecting descendant of Russians might. But really, any time where I was running around or wrestling or doing something active, I wasn't fat, or noticeably fat. My definition of fat has changed over the years, of course, especially with my interest in fighting, but being obese isn't a category I've fallen into in quite some time.

I'd post pictures of a before and after, but you all can go **** yourself.

Edit: It's worth noting that if you have 3 jobs, 2 kids and are barely scraping by, you might not have time to go for a jog.