Fat and Happy

It takes a lot to feel confident and satisfied with one's life. We have many measures that we hold ourselves up to: work importance, title, paycheck, net worth, philanthropy, volunteering, family, friends, intelligence, wisdom, skills, physical prowess, material possessions, you name it. We identify markers of how we feel our peers are doing and compare ourselves to them on various things we rank in importance. Maybe having the nicest car isn't important, maybe the biggest paycheck isn't as vital as having a job where you feel you are doing good work or having a happy and healthy family. One of the most crucial markers in American society is physical appearance.

Second City, the Chicago comedy group perhaps best known for being a feeder group for Saturday Night Live, has this great video up I'll post at the end. The woman in question states she has a great job, a wonderful husband and two good kids. But she's fat! Says the announcer. And you know what? This comedy video has a point. Why do we as a society condemn ourselves for being overweight when otherwise we might just shut up and consider our lives are pretty good. We get good jobs, have good healthy familes. Many of us who are overweight are often otherwise healthy. But we look fat so we beat ourselves up.

I'm not a part of the Fat Acceptance movement, but I think it has some good points. As in, accept and love your own body. Yes you should strive to be healthy. Eat healthy, eat fruits and vegetables, and get enough exercise (which most Americans do not). But otherwise don't hate yourself or your body. And learn not to judge or hate others who look overweight.

Unless you're a medical doctor, like total a-hole George Lundberg, MD who uses his pretigious medical degree and experience in the field to treat your obesity with this sound advice: stop eating fatty. I know fat shaming and mere words have always worked for me. I know when I just think oh, I need to eat less! I just lose weight like it's melting off. All the comments who back him up come from people who jog five hours a week. So I think the real message here is to just start jogging five hours a week. If you're not physically capable of that right now, well f- you buddy.

So what the hell does this have to do with engineering? Nothing. But I might write Mr. Lundberg and tell him that I spend 40 hours a week or more in a cubicle designing the giant, mechanical machines that defend this country from terrorist threats like Godzilla and Mothra. And I've tried eating less, but the shame I feel about how I look just makes me hungry, as did his article. Pretty much everything makes me want to shove food in my mouth, or watch Star Wars, or both. And if I'm supposed to go start working out who will build the machines to stop Godzilla? If Godzilla finds Mr. Lundberg and starts picking him apart for his juicy bits and a tasty meal I hope the good "doctor" has more sound advice like "hey Godzilla, stop eating me! You're fat enough!" I mean, that'll probably work. He's already solved the obesity epidemic, he might as well move on.

Now for the laughs.