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[Guest guest]

Hi -

I admire your honesty and your courage. And I can honestly say that I used

to feel the same way about myself that you feel about yourself. Some days I

still do. I find myself looking at overweight people the same way you

described, but now it is more with the wish that everyone could be healthy

and comfortable with themselves, not a sense that they are inherently bad

because of their size.

I spent 15 years in therapy sessions learning how to deal with depression,

and one of the big time answers that I got was to learn to love myself and

to find a way to surround myself with people who love me for who I am.

I do not like being " fat " . I've never met an overweight person who would

choose to be overweight. With that much said, it seems obvious that if what

you weigh is a direct result of what you eat, then fat people must choose to

be fat, right?

I honestly don't think it is that simple. We are all genetically different

and what one person can eat and be perfectly healthy and trim will make

another person fat. Some people are born more athletically gifted than

others... with metabolisms to match... does this make them " better " ?

I had to make a choice a couple of years ago. To put it bluntly, it came

down to learning to live with who I am and make the best of it, or I was

seriously considering a suicide attempt. I say " attempt " because to this

day I don't think I really wanted to kill myself, but that's another long

story. I chose to live and to make the best of my life. To me, that choice

means that I have to make every effort to love myself, to do what is best

for me, to accept my limitations, to ask for help when I need it... it means

a lot of different things.

It means that I recognize that I get one life and only one life. This isn't

the dress rehearsal, it's the real thing. If I want to be happy, ***I***

have to do something about it. I can choose to feel miserable about my

height, weight, or any of a number of things... I can choose to delay living

by saying " I'll do whatever after I've lost weight " . But why should I? And

why should you or anyone else, ? You and I have just as much right to

live our lives and be happy as anyone else. I truly believe that.

Anne

P.S. If you really want to know the nutrient content of McD's food and most

of the other fast food places, go to their websites. I've read through some

of them. It's a little scary.

[Guest guest]

Anne

> ... I can choose to delay living

> by saying " I'll do whatever after I've lost weight " .

> But why should I? And why should you or anyone

> else, ? You and I have just as much right to

> live our lives and be happy as anyone else. I truly

> believe that.

Thanks for the inspiration, Anne. I am going to have to think about all this

but I have learnt a lot in the last two or three days so at least I am

making progress instead of slipping backwards into the abyss.

[Guest guest]

Anne wrote:

<< P.S. If you really want to know the nutrient content of McD's food and

most

of the other fast food places, go to their websites. I've read through some

of them. It's a little scary. >>

Also, check out the following web site, CalorieKing, for nutritional info on

80 chain restaurants:

http://www.calorieking.com/cgi-bin/ck/fastfood.cgi

Susie