I sat in a regular chair last night

There was a time that I would come over to play the weekly Call of Cthulhu tabletop tabletop role-playing game (you know, like Dungeons & Dragons, but this is Lovecraft, so with tentacles and sanity loss) that we've been playing almost weekly since 1991, and I'd get out my 'special chair', a gold-coloured metal folding one. The reason is the gamemaster had this table that folded up and it has some chairs that folded up and were stored inside - but they were pretty flimsy, so much so that another player who was smaller than I in a fit of pique plopped down on one and busted it, and so he was pretty concerned with my weight (about 250 at the time) I would break them. Then he got a table with some sturdy farm chairs and I moved to those and have ever since, the special chair being retired. At some point he got a table and six chairs from his mother-in-law (while they were married) and they are normal but not particularly sturdy. I have never been in one, as I had been, at over 300 lbs. in danger of breaking one of them, and I would be embarrassed and it's not like you can replace something like that, something that's a set. So it was an unwritten agreement between us that I not sit in those.

Last night I was helping him with something but of course with my leg it was best if I did it sitting down. I thought he'd pull over the farmhouse chair I was currently sitting in at the kitchen table, but no, he got one of the kitchen chairs and motioned me to it. I asked him if he was sure and he said that there was no reason I couldn't. I set gingerly in the chair and finally eventually got comfortable.

I actually weigh less than he does at the moment and I know he's very proud of what I've done with the weight loss. But that moment really brought that home. You have to understand that he is never cruel about these things, just merely practical. He never meant to hurt my feelings by not letting me sit on certain chairs... He just didn't want anything broken or for me to be hurt. But he did mean to make me feel better this time. And I really appreciate it.

People who are normal really don't understand how much fat people walk on eggshells when it comes to chairs. You go out to a restaurant with friend and you're on the rickety chair, and you sit there balancing and wondering if it's just going to go out from under you. Or you sit there going oh please please please don't give me the booth because I won't be able to to enjoy my meal because I'm going to sit here squeezed in unable to even breathe. It's a real problem and don't even get me started on planes am I going to be able to fit even with the extended seat belt are they going to make me pay for another seat? I agonized on that when I went to Chicago those 5 years (well 4 years; when I got hit by the car I had to cancel one). It just is maddening and all because you're fat.

Of course 'fat' is a very subjective term. I thought I was terribly fat when was 12, and looking back, I wasn't. People 140 lbs. who were 120 lbs. in high school think they're fat. Certainly the weight tables and diet industry don't help. I'm supposed to weigh 145 tops for my height. The last time I weighed that I was 4'11" and in junior high. I would be fine at maybe 160-180 at smallest. I always said I'd be happy with the 180-200 range. This morning, even with the swelling, I'm at 217, which 1) is 5 lbs. less than Friday morning, so hopefully the swelling is going down and 2) means that overall I've lost more weight because the last non-swelling number was also 217, so if it weren't for the fact my left leg looks like an elephant's, particularly in the evening, it would be less. So I probably weigh something like 212 within the inflammation. That amazes me. And since I'll be away from the vending machines, junk food in general, and I don't have much appetite anyway, I may lose more. We'll see.

She has some very good points...

Like Comparing Fat People and Oranges

Let’s look at a final example: Research found that men with certain baldness patterns have a much higher risk of heart disease. Additional research found that the baldness and heart disease likely have the same root cause. Thank goodness the weight loss people weren’t in charge of this or instead of the additional research we’d have a government-sponsored War on Baldness and a sixty billion dollar industry telling men that they have to grow their hair back to be healthy and that if they don’t it’s their fault, accompanied by reporters whipping everyone into a frenzy with articles about how much bald men who get heart disease are costing society.

I really like this writer, who makes a lot of sense in a world where fat people are considered funny (and not in a good way), greedy, lazy, a drain on society, and immoral, simply because they are either overweight or sometimes, just because they are perceived as such even when they're an average size. People who have never been fat do not understand that while there are those of us who are fat and not particularly healthy (and I count myself in that category, as I need to work to increase my health--physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually), there are people who are fat who are, like this lady, training physically and eating well (she's working on finishing an Ironman challenge, for crying out loud), and yeah, they're still fat. I know that I will never be thin. That's okay. I would like to have some better stamina, balance, and be able to walk up stairs without going into an asthma attack. That's something I can do and improve myself. I think that's more realistic and more important than 'looking' thin. Fat phobia is real. I even have a lot of internalised fat phobia myself--I think most fat people do. People like Ragen Chastain are trying to get people to recognise the biases against fat people. And even more to the point, she's doing things that make her happy, and leads a full life, from what I can tell, and that's important no matter what size you are. Fat people have a tendency to hide away because they don't want to be seen doing things like dancing, biking, travelling, etc., when they should be embracing life. I highly recommend her blog.

Well, yeah

"Fat shaming" may make people gain more

Discrimination against overweight or obese people, commonly known as "fat shaming," does not help them lose weight and may do more harm than good, according to research from London.

Being harassed or treated with disrespect, receiving poor service while shopping or being thought of as stupid may actually lead to more weight gain, the researchers found.

"Our study clearly shows that weight discrimination is part of the obesity problem and not the solution," said the study's senior author, Jane Wardle, director of the Cancer Research UK Health Behaviour Centre at University College London (UCL).

"Weight bias has been documented not only among the general public but also among health professionals, and many obese patients report being treated disrespectfully by doctors because of their weight. Everyone, including doctors, should stop blaming and shaming people for their weight and offer support, and where appropriate, treatment," Wardle added in a university news release.