Is Being Over-Weight A Sin?

3rdHeaven · #31 15th January 2012, 01:46 PM

Originally Posted by Romanseight2005

How many times have you actually been to Ethiopia?

Furthermore, a person can stave themselves for months, and it is starving themselves. In a third world country where a whole nation is perpetually starving, you are talking about generations of starvation. Iow, children are born starving. They come out of the womb malnourished. Those aren't even comparable.

I have to say that these remarks concern me, because body image is a huge problem in the USA. I really hope someone who struggles with body image isn't reading this thread. Some of the statements on here could really cause a person a lot of pain, and cause a person to delve firther into anorexia.

Obesity is a larger problem in the USA

Niffer · #32 15th January 2012, 01:46 PM

Originally Posted by dreamer1982

Exactly romans...the emphasis should not be placed on weight but rather health and balance. Skinny does not always equal healthy or mean that that person doesnt struggle with sloth or gluttony. Also, spending too much time each day dedicated to ones appearance would be vain. Im not loving the tone of judgement in this thread...judgement based on appearance alone.

Okay, I am really trying to avoid that tone..
So thats why we need to be careful about how we post.
Thin does not equal healthy, it's more about our habits (good or bad) and how it effects us, and what habits we're supposed to have.

Originally Posted by Romanseight2005

Right Dreamer! An extreme focus on one's weight can easily stem from vanity, and not from a desire to maintain our Godly vessel.

Right!
Which is why I'm trying to keep the convo about health and maintaining God's vessel.
Not about how FAB-ulous we all need to look.

-Niff

Niffer · #33 15th January 2012, 01:48 PM

Originally Posted by 3rdHeaven

just keep it as a Godly vessel instead of a Titanic

Please 3rd..this is going to be hard enough to have a proper discussion about this without being judgmental or sounding harsh.
Please mellow your tone - I'd like to keep my thread respectful.

-Niff

Romanseight2005 · #34 15th January 2012, 01:49 PM

Originally Posted by Sailor_A

The thing is you can have bad habits and be underweight(my case). You simply can not judge a book by it's cover. Also gluttony is still gluttony even if you spend half your day exercising to be trim because you over ate.

Exactly! I had the worst habits when I looked the best. Also, I think that gluttony is a sin because it's about selfish indulgence, without considering the needs of others. Like taking more than your share, and leaving someone else without, kind of thing. Working out all day after overindulging, may even be worse. It may be motivated by greed and vanity, combined.

3rdHeaven · #35 15th January 2012, 01:50 PM

Originally Posted by Niffer

Please 3rd..this is going to be hard enough to have a proper discussion about this without being judgmental or sounding harsh.
Please mellow your tone - I'd like to keep my thread respectful.

-Niff

Sorry, but Titanic seemed like a natural response to the God vessel

(I will unsubscribe before I slip again)

Romanseight2005 · #36 15th January 2012, 02:02 PM

Originally Posted by 3rdHeaven

Obesity is a larger problem in the USA

But to be honest, I think that has so much more to do with what they are eating, rather than how much, or a lack of exercise.

I do think that back in the day, people got more exercise out of necessity. You know, baling hay, or carrying heavy buckets, etc.

I get lots of exercise at my job, in that I am running to and fro most of the day, quite literally, but it's still not the amount of exercise that I really need. In order to get what I really need, in order to maintain a healthy eight, while not being gluttonous, and eating in a healthy manner, I would need to get more intensive exercise throughout the day.

Here is an example. I have always been an insomniac. When I went camping, I had spent the day canoeing, swimming, and hiking. While hiking we had picked raspberries, came back to the cabin, and baked them into a custard, By the time nightfall came, I slept like a baby.

But, the normal daily grind leaves me with a lot of responsibilities that require 16 hours of mental work. This really wears me out. So if I eat right, and get 1 hour of intensive activity, along with the running I do on the job, I still am overweight. It really would be nice to be able to spend my days with more rigorous physical activity, but it isn't my lot, at this time. That's okay though, because I am sowing into other people's lives, with how I am spending my time.

Niffer · #37 15th January 2012, 02:03 PM

Originally Posted by 3rdHeaven

Sorry, but Titanic seemed like a natural response to the God vessel

(I will unsubscribe before I slip again)

ahh, I get where you're coming from now..vessel, as in boat as in titanic..got it...and while punny, probably not the best time for that joke.

Speaking of weight and health; while its true I haven't suffered from over-eating, some of you may remember my issues with under-eating.
Another huge issue, and a sin - that I fell into while trying to fulfill certain worldly standards of beauty.

Okay, so another question - stores are all carrying bigger sizes to accommodate for the obese, and we have ad campagines that promote the whole 'big is beautiful' thing, and while size doesn't always equate health, it's a generally accepted fact that to have a healthy BMI and be a proper weight is the healthiest for you.
So! Why should we cater to an unhealthy lifestyle? Or promote it for that matter?

What if we had ads promoting that to be only 100lbs at 6'2 was a good thing? That being underweight was more beautiful? If we had photo's of seriously anorexic women portrayed as an acceptable lifestyle choice?

I doubt anyone would say: "There's nothing wrong with that."
We all know how horrible unhealthy anorexia/bulimia are, how it can kill you, but the same is true for obesity - so why is it portrayed as being "good"?

Is it because the majority of the population is obese? (Or close to the majority) so they just cater to the highest denominator?

Thoughts?

-Niff

Romanseight2005 · #38 15th January 2012, 02:35 PM

Originally Posted by Niffer

ahh, I get where you're coming from now..vessel, as in boat as in titanic..got it...and while punny, probably not the best time for that joke.

Speaking of weight and health; while its true I haven't suffered from over-eating, some of you may remember my issues with under-eating.
Another huge issue, and a sin - that I fell into while trying to fulfill certain worldly standards of beauty.

Okay, so another question - stores are all carrying bigger sizes to accommodate for the obese, and we have ad campagines that promote the whole 'big is beautiful' thing, and while size doesn't always equate health, it's a generally accepted fact that to have a healthy BMI and be a proper weight is the healthiest for you.
So! Why should we cater to an unhealthy lifestyle? Or promote it for that matter?

What if we had ads promoting that to be only 100lbs at 6'2 was a good thing? That being underweight was more beautiful? If we had photo's of seriously anorexic women portrayed as an acceptable lifestyle choice?

I doubt anyone would say: "There's nothing wrong with that."
We all know how horrible unhealthy anorexia/bulimia are, how it can kill you, but the same is true for obesity - so why is it portrayed as being "good"?

Is it because the majority of the population is obese? (Or close to the majority) so they just cater to the highest denominator?

Thoughts?

-Niff

Tbh, Niffer, I think it's more of a way of trying to move the perceptions back to the center. Many girls may not look too skinny, yet they may be trying to lose weight through starvation. I think the pint of the ads, is to try to change the perceptions about weight, so that we can get back to focusing on a healthy lifestyle, as opposed to appearance. When one is seeing things through a filter of, I need to look like this, then that needs to be changed, so that they can be okay with with where they are, and stop focusing there. You knw, then they can move the focus to lifestyle, without obsessing over whether or not their bodies are measuring up.

Furthermore, the beauty standard that is set in magazines, isn't a healthy one. Models are generally underweight, so that is the standard that many girls attempt to achieve. That's why a standard of more weight is to be shot for, but the pendulum has swung the other way.

As to bigger sizes etc, I agree with you. It's really all about eating the right foods, that won't leave you hungry. When we eat the wrong foods, we eat more of it, because we aren't getting what our bodies need, and it keeps craving more.

Athene · #39 15th January 2012, 03:20 PM

Originally Posted by Niffer

ahh, I get where you're coming from now..vessel, as in boat as in titanic..got it...and while punny, probably not the best time for that joke.

Speaking of weight and health; while its true I haven't suffered from over-eating, some of you may remember my issues with under-eating.
Another huge issue, and a sin - that I fell into while trying to fulfill certain worldly standards of beauty.

Okay, so another question - stores are all carrying bigger sizes to accommodate for the obese, and we have ad campagines that promote the whole 'big is beautiful' thing, and while size doesn't always equate health, it's a generally accepted fact that to have a healthy BMI and be a proper weight is the healthiest for you.
So! Why should we cater to an unhealthy lifestyle? Or promote it for that matter?

What if we had ads promoting that to be only 100lbs at 6'2 was a good thing? That being underweight was more beautiful? If we had photo's of seriously anorexic women portrayed as an acceptable lifestyle choice?

I doubt anyone would say: "There's nothing wrong with that."
We all know how horrible unhealthy anorexia/bulimia are, how it can kill you, but the same is true for obesity - so why is it portrayed as being "good"?

Is it because the majority of the population is obese? (Or close to the majority) so they just cater to the highest denominator?

Thoughts?

-Niff

Well, tbh I think that's exactly what we do have, not stated explicitly. But in beauty magazines, ads which promote beauty products we see very very underweight women being touted as the ideal. There are websites springing up all over promoting an anorexic and bulimiac lifestyle, and every year increasing numbers of young men and women are being diagnosed with that condition.

I guess it could be different over in Canada, but over here obesity isn't promoted. We have campaigns for real sized women, that's models who are a UK 12-14 instead of a 4-6 but we don't have anything celebrating people who are extremely obese. Every so often the NHS is in the news moaning about the obesity epidemic, we're the fattest country in Europe, our kids are the fattest, in 50 years time if we head this way then most of us will be obese, the obese are costing the NHS billions. I don't feel that in my country, obesity is promoted at all. It's the opposite, being stick thin is the ideal.

snoochface · #40 15th January 2012, 04:03 PM

Over-drinking is not healthy, yet we still have alcohol promoted on television, movies, every bar and club in America, colleges fraternities, magazine ads, etc.

Over-gambling is not healthy, yet we have Atlantic City, Las Vegas, and reservation casinos.

Why do we allow/promote/encourage these things, as well as developing larger sizes of clothing for the overweight population? Because in America, we allow personal and individual freedoms, people can generally make their own choices about what they want to allow into their lives, and the businesses who create jobs and set the economy for the country adapt to suit the desires of the population and the profit margins of their balance sheets.

What does any of that have to do with sin? Not a blipping thing. Because we don't live in a theocracy.

Is being overweight a sin? No. Is the gluttonous behavior that may lead to being overweight a sin? Obviously. I think we all knew that though. The answer to the OP could have been established in one post. All the rest is just rhetoric about how gross/unhealthy/unappealing/whatever fat people are, and has nothing to do with sin.

You can be a glutton for money, a glutton for power, a glutton for material goods and possessions, a glutton for status, as well as being a glutton for food. Is having too much money a sin? Is being a high-ranking public official with a lot of power a sin? Is having too much stuff filling up your home a sin? Is being really popular on FB or a forum a sin? All forms of gluttony, right?