Someone on Facebook brought this up and I thought I would as your opinions. Does (did) being called fat or obese bother you? (Or morbidly obese) or did you not care? Did one bug you more? Why?

When you're young, fat is sad. But it didn't big me much as an adult as that's how I thought of/described myself. But obese I hate, especially MORBIDLY obese. I love when your doc says your morbidly obese , duh it's not a secret it's visible. The worst was my barium swallow (1st one) my note said "Reason- Super Morbid obesity due to excessive caloric intake" Was that last part necessary ? AND my bmi wasn't in the SUPER MORBID OBESITY range. Now I'm one point to only regular obese i think.

Overweight (not obese), if BMI is 25.0 to 29.9. Class 1 (low-risk) obesity, if BMI is 30.0 to 34.9. Class 2 (moderate-risk) obesity, if BMI is 35.0 to 39.9. Class 3 (high-risk) obesity, if BMI is equal to or greater than 40.0.

From the World Health Organization:

Any BMI ≥ 35 - 40 is severe obesity

A BMI of ≥ 40–44.9 is morbid obesity

A BMI of ≥ 45 or 50 is super obese

I was morbidly obese when I started this crazy ride.

While I hate the words...they're true. Fat was killing me.

Edited June 2, 20188 yr by Creekimp13

I was in denial about how fat I was at 270, I didn't feel that fat. I figured...meh...I'm kinda chunky. I conditioned myself to be very blind to my weight. Baggy shirts, long sweaters, great shoes. I look pretty average, right? I didn't...but I really thought I did.

Looking in the mirror didn't bother me. Losing endurance, energy, etc didn't bother me...I made excuses...Hell, I'm getting older, I'm slowing down and getting creaky. It is what it is.

I avoided addressing it.

Then, one day, my blood glucose test came back at the doctor's office prediabetic for the second time in a row. For whatever reason...THAT hit home. THAT made me go...oh my god...my health is being seriously affected by this, this will take years off my life. My leg swelling got worse, and I thought....Ok, I'm in trouble. This is bad.

Now, looking back at the old photos....I'm going...Wow...I really had no idea.

Edited June 2, 20188 yr by Creekimp13

I said this on the facebook thread but I'll share here again. I don't mind fat or obese. "Fat" is just a quick and easy descriptor to me, and far preferable to the euphemisms that folks have used to describe me over the years. Obese/morbidly obese/super morbidly obese (the latter of which I am) are just medical terms and they don't bother me. I've been fat since I was a kid - there was no slow creep of weight over the course of a decade or anything. The reality has always been there and I just prefer to face it.

What did bother me was when two separate medical professionals made complimentary statements about "how well I take care of my skin," referring, of course, to the skin on my belly and thighs, etc. It was a shock to realize they saw me as a person that might have difficulty taking care of myself. Ouch. That freakin hurt.

funny thing is that I am ok referring to myself as fat when that is the most accurate descriptor. But the was this woman that would say "oh don't say that about yourself." I didn't get it, I still don't. It is not an insult to me but a descriptor of all this insulation I carry around. Now if you called me ugly ... well... them's fighting words.

Wow 8 weeks I was once (barely) super obese,....But in 8 weeks I've lost enough that I will go down another step and be a severe obese person. I'm winning and I'm killing this!

This year I will fit in my kayak!

Names and tags don't bother me. I describe myself as super morbid obese when I need to. I have even told people to look for the fattest person in the room and it is probably me. I am what I am. I wish it did bother me because I'm one of those people that when something bothers me I fix it.

Agree with above poster. Many of these terms are medical diagnoses. They are what they are. If your BMI falls in that range, it is usually coded as such for medical/insurance purposes as well.

The reason your medical documentation states “morbidly obese due to excessive caloric intake” is because of the billing codes that are necessary for insurance purposes. I wouldn’t worry about that. And healthcare professionals have to use medical terminology. I do it all the time in my line of work.

Of course we know we are fat/obese. It never bothered me. But in my life I never experienced much name calling. I guess I was lucky.

I knew I was fat, so in adulthood it never bothered me, and if someone tried to use it as a quip or insult I'd always act shocked, look down at my stomach and throw my hands up and feign shock and awe at my unnoticed weight, then I'd just look at them with a "no $hit" look, that typically stopped them right in it's tracks. As a kid it bugged me, mainly because I really didn't know why I was overweight. I got teased often, and by pretty much everyone including family. I loved to swim, so I got the "Matt Matt the water rat, he is fat and that is that" quite often. Really killed my self image, to the point where when I was in the Military, I still didn't think or feel that I looked good. Looking back, I'd give anything to be 190 lbs of lean muscle again.

I really don't like the "...obese due to excessive calories" line, for me specifically because I've been banded since 2011, so, since 2011, I've been on reduced calorie intake, so, that's not quite the reason any more, I correct it every chance I get on my charts because it's just not accurate.

On 6/1/2018 at 8:29 PM, Creekimp13 said:

I was in denial about how fat I was at 270, I didn't feel that fat. I figured...meh...I'm kinda chunky. I conditioned myself to be very blind to my weight. Baggy shirts, long sweaters, great shoes. I look pretty average, right? I didn't...but I really thought I did.

Looking in the mirror didn't bother me. Losing endurance, energy, etc didn't bother me...I made excuses...Hell, I'm getting older, I'm slowing down and getting creaky. It is what it is.

I avoided addressing it.

Then, one day, my blood glucose test came back at the doctor's office prediabetic for the second time in a row. For whatever reason...THAT hit home. THAT made me go...oh my god...my health is being seriously affected by this, this will take years off my life. My leg swelling got worse, and I thought....Ok, I'm in trouble. This is bad.

Now, looking back at the old photos....I'm going...Wow...I really had no idea.

Totally. This was me. I somehow didn’t see how fat I was. I knew I was fat but I didn’t really think I was really obese, but I was. I would see my reflection or shadow and actually think I wasn’t seeing it right, I couldn’t be THAT round.

Here’s the clincher for me. My mom is obese plus she has Alzheimer’s. Every so often I do have to tell her that it is her weight why she can’t fit here or go there or why something is difficult (like getting in dan out of bed). And when I tell her what she weighs, or gently say she is very overweight, she (ok to smile here, it is so cute) looks down at her little wrist and says she’s not fat!!! She doesn’t have her marbles, so it’s kind of cute she does that, ignoring her enormous middle, but aren’t we all a little like her? How fat could I be with these lovely wrists?? Ha Ha Ha.

Slightly OT but maybe our seniors here can agree: I see every day that for normal daily function, obesity makes life much harder than old age does. By far Mom’s obesity is more of an hindrance than added years. She’d be quite mobile if she weren’t obese.

I try to figure things by saying I'm plump or pudgy but I know in my❤ I'm morbid biardering on super obese that's WHY I'm seeking a surgical,assistance,so much.!

Fat never bothered me because I my mind it was the truth and I fell into that category for a LONG time. But I was also in denial as I always thought “at least I’m not obese”. I knew that my BMI put me in the obese category but there was so much talk about BMI not being accurate, or a number to focus on so I dismissed it. To me being 250lbs was not obese because I was comparing myself to people that were over 400lbs.

Long story short obese and morbidly obese very much bother me because those words force me to admit what horrible shape my body really is in.