[Niamh.]

Originally Posted by Brillopad

I do agree with that on the whole and am not necessarily saying we need to be offensively rude to people for the sake of being rude but I do think treating the subject by ignoring it for fear of causing offence has a negative affect.

I think now is an easier time than ever to address the issue with more and more people using gyms these days - people of all ages and shapes and sixes. It is far less humiliating these days and people are more likely to admire people for making the effort rather sitting at home and simply fuelling the problem.

I don't think it's ignored, I mean look at all the ads on TV for slimming world and weight watchers etc, you go on FB and there's always people advertising as personal trainers and people showing before and after pictures etc. That's all positive and encouraging and will get more people motivated. Calling someone the fat one isn't exactly going to inspire them to get on the training gear and go for a run, it's more likely to make them feel like s**t and make them want to hide away

[Cherie]

Mental health issues play a big part in over eating as well, and these cannot be addressed by going to the gym, its difficult to get the right help as well as without sounding mean we seem to be at a point where people need professional help for everything and everyone has a label so services are overstretched diagnosing everyone and given them a label

[Brillopad]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

I don't think it's ignored, I mean look at all the ads on TV for slimming world and weight watchers etc, you go on FB and there's always people advertising as personal trainers and people showing before and after pictures etc. That's all positive and encouraging and will get more people motivated. Calling someone the fat one isn't exactly going to inspire them to get on the training gear and go for a run, it's more likely to make them feel like s**t and make them want to hide away

Thing is there is a name for that - wallowing - and nothing positive ever comes from it.

As I am getting older and not always eating the healthiest as knackered when I get home from work - it is easy to opt for convenient foods with a resulting weight gain. I used to worry I was too thin - seems silly now. Anyway now I am back from my holiday I plan to go to the gym, something I would never have previously considered, as it is now so accesible for all these days and I have no reservations about it. I am less concerned about what anyone else may think and more focused on my health and having more energy. People need to stop wallowing in my opinion as it achieves nothing and only holds people back.

Don’t get me wrong - I am not advocating being openly rude to people but people need to get over themselves and think bigger.

[Cherie]

Originally Posted by Brillopad

Thing is there is a name for that - wallowing - and nothing positive ever comes from it.

As I am getting older and not always eating the healthiest as knackered when I get home from work - it is easy to opt for convenient foods with a resulting weight gain. I used to worry I was too thin - seems silly now. Anyway now I am back from my holiday I plan to go to the gym, something I would never have previously considered, as it is now so accesible for all these days and I have no reservations about it. I am less concerned about what anyone else may think and more focused on my health and having more energy. People need to stop wallowing in my opinion as it achieves nothing and only holds people back.

Don’t get me wrong - I am not advocating being openly rude to people but people need to get over themselves and think bigger.

Each individuals lifestyle is their own choice though, some people are happy in their own skin and if they are not seriously obese to the point where they are at risk of death whose business is it, anymore than people who drink too much or smoke too much, it smacks of nanny state and interfering in peoples life's, what right does someone in a workplace have to tell someone else how to live their lives, I really don't get it.

[Brillopad]

Originally Posted by Cherie

Each individuals lifestyle is their own choice though, some people are happy in their own skin and if they are not seriously obese to the point where they are at risk of death whose business is it, anymore than people who drink too much or smoke too much, it smacks of nanny state and interfering in peoples life's, what right does someone in a workplace have to tell someone else how to live their lives, I really don't get it.

No right to interfere and no right to ridicule. Personally I was speaking more from a health point of view for some and people not getting too bogged down with what others think which can be an easy thing to do. At the end of the day people need to do what’s right for them.

[caprimint]

Originally Posted by Niamh.

I disagree with that, a person who is over weight knows that other people see that too, being reminded of it is just nasty

But my point is that they don't actually hear it so maybe they just try not to think about it too much or something.

Originally Posted by Cherie

So you feel its okay to pass comment on someone else's life who you know nothing about because they are not the size you would like them to be?

I don't personally care what size anyone is. It's simply a way of describing someone. Nobody has a problem with 'the skinny one' when that can be just as much of an offensive term as well.