Before my Weight Loss Surgery 20 years ago, I spent about 20 years in Therapy trying to resolve any emotional issues that might be causing my problems with food and weight. I gained lots of information about overeating behaviors, and insight into my own personal life. Therapy helped me learn to like and accept myself even though I was morbidly obese, but it didn’t take away my desire to be a normal weight. It also didn’t result in my becoming any thinner.

In my opinion, too much emphasis on the emotional aspects of overeating simply adds another narrative to “pathologizing” people with excess weight.

Most obese people are not gluttonous sloths without will power, nor are they emotionally-wounded wrecks. You can chose which of these you think is worse.

After a mentally-healthy-person becomes obese in this anti-fat biased culture, sometimes this will adversely affect all dimensions of their physical, emotional and functional health, which brings them close to a pathological state.

However, there are countless people with excess weight, who eat as much - or as little - as skinny folks. Throughout history, overweight and obese individuals have expressed incredible feats of determination and will power, and psychiatric wards are full of skinny people with mental illness.

If there even really IS an obesity epidemic…yes, I’ve read some excellent material disputing that fact … It is probably the natural response to living in an unnatural environment - or perhaps even the natural response to merely living with plenty of food at ready access.

For most people with excess weight, there is probably no real underlying “pathological” driver apart from being human. After all, what do most naturally thin people do to stay thin? The correct answer is often, “not much” … especially when compared to the lifetime efforts put forth by most of the people who have a natural tendency toward fatness.

There are lots of reasons for Obesity, and Scientific Research--as reported by the media - continually spins the Wheel of Chance in order to pick one. The high-calorie-sugared-water commonly known as SODA would certainly be a contributing factor for those people who choose to drink lots of it.

Below is a sneak peak of an advertisement that Coca-Cola prepared to possibly air during the Superbowl showing us that they are helping us fight obesity.
..... Uhhh....Right ......

Coca-Cola makes a lot of money selling sugared water.
… I must admit that It also makes a lot of money from me personally from the Coke Zero and Diet Cokes that I choose to drink.

In this ad, Coca-Cola indirectly admits that drinking a lot of sugared water might affect weight. However, it also attempts to reinforce the erroneous belief that you can "out train a bad diet", and it gives Coca-Cola ammunition against “unfriendly” legislation by suggesting that it is working hard to be “part of the solution”.

Coca-Cola wants to sell products.
As many as they possibly can.
That’s it. 

  It’s the way our society is built.

The aim of this advertisement is to do that.   Soda taxes or policies that restrict sales will be far worse for business than an ad like this which is designed to deceive the Public to make it believe that Coca-Cola is "part of the solution", and that we can "outrun" our glasses of sugar.

CAP, the people who write and maintain the United Kingdom’s advertising code
just published new guidelines regarding the advertising of weight loss products and services.

 No longer allowed is:  

• Claiming that people can lose a precise amount of weight in a specific period of time.

• Claiming that spot reduction exists.

• Advertising weight loss products or services to minors.

• Implying that weight loss will be permanent.

• Implying that weight loss will be easy.

• Implying that a person can eat whatever they want and still lose.

• Suggesting certain foods can help you lose specific amounts of weight.

• Making claims about services or products not supportable by means of evidence.

• Utilizing testimonials that suggest more than 2lb/wk weight loss.

• Utilizing products that purport to "bind fat".

• Implying vitamin or mineral formulations are beneficial to weight loss.

• Implying that a product or procedure will remove "toxins" from the body.

Included is this amazing statement:

"Obesity is frequently associated with a medical condition
and a treatment for it must not be advertised to the public
unless it is to be used under suitably qualified supervision."

Will United Kingdom advertisers actually FOLLOW those guidelines?
I don’t know, but -- Don’t hold your breath waiting for any similar Guidelines to ever ever show up here in the USA.

 

You can't reason a person
out of a belief
that was not based on reason
in the first place.