My commentsââNo, you certainly canât say that youâll lose weight if you stop eating fast food, get more exercise, and eat more vegetables. Itâs true, of course, but youâre not allowed to say it.ââwere meant to be read in the context of Ms. Englishâs admissions about her eating and exercise habits, not yours, Kate, or those of all overweight people everywhere. For the tiresome olâ record: I do solemnly swear that I believe people come in all different shapes and sizes, and that not everyone can or should be a size 0, and further I believe that people can be healthy, relatively speaking, and large, and I believe that big people are attractiveâto people who are attracted to big people.
But you know what, Kate? Thereâs a difference between big or heavy or stocky and morbidly fucking obese. Ms. English weighs 392 pounds. That is unhealthy and unsustainable. Her health risks are legion. And by her own admission, Ms. English is making âeasier choices,â i.e., fast food, no exercise, and she has a poor diet. And if Ms. Englishâa 400 pound womanâstops eating drive-through garbage, starts exercising, and eats a few more vegetables, sheâs going to lose weight. Period. Is she going to be a size 0? Probably not, Kate, but I donât think she needs to be a size 0, and I never said that she or you or anyone else had to be a size 0. Ms. English will, however, if she can resist the drive-through and get off her ass, be lighter and healthier than she is today.
And anyone whose eating and exercise habits are similar to Ms. Englishâs eating and exercise habits is going to lose weight and keep it off if he or she knocks off the fast food and gets a little more exerciseânot as a temporary measure, not as a diet, but as a permanent lifestyle change. If youâve already done that, Kate, and youâre still big, maybe you are at your bodyâs naturally âset weightâ or whatever itâs called. But Ms. English, at 400 pounds, has a weight problem, and a potentially life-threatening one.
Of course, if Ms. English is content at 400 pounds, and wants to assume the health risks that come with morbid obesity, and isnât interested in making changes to her eating and exercise habits, thatâs her absolute right. She shouldnât be mocked or discriminated against or poked with sticks. But the rest of the world doesnât have to pretend that eating and exercise habits donât have an impact on weight just to make Ms. English feel better about the unhealthy choices sheâs making now.