Sunday, March 24, 2013

Why am I so fat?

It's an interesting question, and you would get a variety of guesses from different people. Some would say I'm just lazy; others would assume that I don't care about my health. More enlightened folks might say that I have emotional issues that I treat with food, then there are those--few though they may be--who would guess that I have an addiction to food. The most vocal guessers would be the ones who have contempt for my size, who would use words like "gross," "disgusting," "dirty," "ugly," and so on. The stereotypes abound and continue to be perpetuated by commercials, comedians, and the film and television industry.

The "why" behind obesity is varied and mostly misunderstood. There are emotional, psychological, and physical reasons why people become fat. Both internal--low self-esteem, fear--and external--poor food choices, processed foods--causes are to blame. Finger-pointers like to accuse the fast food and processed food industries, television, restaurants, video games, and more. Always the fingers point away from themselves, well, ourselves.

I decided to start Chunky Pudgy for a few different reasons: to explore my own issues with food, body image, self-worth, etc., to examine causes, perceptions, and depictions of obesity, and to chronicle my attempts to lose weight and improve my health.

Let the journey begin.