Question: How would you explain the emotional toll of your long-term morbid obesity to someone who has never been fat?

Trigger warning for depressing thoughts...

Question: How would you explain the emotional toll of your long-term morbid obesity to someone who has never been fat?

My Answer:

(sorry for the wall of text but feel free to skip this and just answer the question above)

I've been obese since I was in my late teens. Morbidly obese throughout my twenties. I'm in my early thirties now.

Yesterday a close friend of mine asked me what being morbidly obese was like - not in a mean way, but with genuine curiosity. She'd never struggled with her weight. Here's how I explained it to her:

In my case, going through the last decade as an obese then morbidly-obese person is like living a TRIAL version of life, and I mean that in the video game sense. Like how you can sometimes access a trial version of a video game before you pay for the real thing - you get a sense of the gameplay, the story, can access various levels and weapons... just not ALL of it and usually not the good stuff.

Everyone is running the same game of real life - walking through the same streets, entering the same stores and going to the same social events, but some of the features are just GREYED OUT for me. I can't click them...

If my friends and I go to the regular department store, they can buy things but I can't because nothing will fit me.

If we go to a bar together, they will have guys buying drinks for them but I won't. I can only access the "go stare at yourself in the bathroom mirror" side quest.

My energy bar is just shorter compared to everyone else because of my girth. I get tired faster.

A large amount of bandwidth/game time that should be dedicated to other regular adult life activities and experiences is spent obsessing over food.

Over time, watching everyone else enjoy the full features of the game takes a toll. Especially because everyone's pretending like you've got access to the full game too, even though they know you don't...

... and I know it's my responsibility. Only I can change the way I look - I know that but...

Changing your body and habits is just very very hard. It's turning out to be the most difficult thing I've ever tried to do. When I was younger, I really thought I'd figure it out. I didn't think I would still be dealing with this issue in my thirties.

​

My friend was pretty empathetic & comforting after hearing this answer but respectfully emphasised that this was something (even if it's difficult) that's ultimately within my control... which is true.

Which brings me to the question: How would YOU explain the emotional toll of your long-term morbid obesity to someone who has never been fat?

submitted by /u/poppa_di_corn
[link] [comments]

source https://www.reddit.com/r/loseit/comments/kmrdug/question_how_would_you_explain_the_emotional_toll/