Reply #131: This has been an amazing thread to read.

[GaYellowDawg]

I guess I'll jump in here. I still remember running cross-country in high school. As a senior, running 8+ miles a day, I still weighed 175. Well, it's been a LONG time since high school, and I'm around 280. This year, I've made a real effort to exercise - I swim at least 20 laps (a lap being down AND back) at least five times a week. On Fridays, when I know I've got two days recovery time coming up, sometimes I can knock out a mile. It's a rare day when I reach 1500 calories. I've lost a grand total of 35 pounds this year.

Frankly, I got this way because I stopped exercising and kept eating. What's happened to me has been pretty much my fault. That said, I'm smart enough to realize that there are plenty of people out there who have weight issues that aren't their fault. Everyone has different metabolisms and everyone is physically different. My personal habits would have made zero difference in some people. They would have made some people weigh 400 pounds.

I know I'm a newbie, but I'll say this: those of you who have been chiming in and been rude and hypercritical can consider this a gold-plated invitation to kiss my entire ass. If you consider it anathema to invade the sexual lives and preferences of others, how dare you condemn the eating habits and weights of others? Save your contempt for those who have problems with their ideals, not their weight.