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Hello, my name is Liz and I like to buy stuff. I am addicted to stuff. However, I am getting better. Getting married, acquiring 2 teenagers, having 2 kids of my own, and not having my silicon valley salary fixed a lot of it.

We try to get more stuff that is used. My husband likes the “reuse” part of reduce, reuse, and recycle.

LizPs last blog post..10/02/08 First Dentist Appointment

Blogger Dads last blog post..It’s the most wonderful time of the year

Having said that, once I had reached a certain weight, it became harder to lose weight because of changes in my body. But, and here’s the part most fat people don’t or won’t admit, it CAN be done. It’s hard as hell, but it can be done.

My brother is a perfect example. He was as large as I am, if not larger, and he lost weight. How? Eating healthier foods, walking, bike riding, and eventually some strength training. There’s no secret. Most fat people can lose weight if they want.

As for the fat people in developing countries, I’m glad you asked. If you are speaking of African children who appear fat, that is their stomach bloating from malnutrition. If it’s other countries, where people do have food to eat, then there is another culprit. The western diet of processed and corn syrup-laden foods.

If people are healthy and happy with their body weight, then that is awesome. I believe society has VERY unrealistic weight expectations, particularly for girls and women. It’s bothersome, to say the least. I am simply addressing those whose excess is driving them to a place they would rather not be.

Speaking from experience, I can eat small amounts and be fat, and I can eat large amounts and lose weight–and I do not mean large amounts of salad; try steak and heavy cream and full-fat cheese! Calorie theory seems to turn completely on its head with me. I suspect if you ask most fat people they will agree with that sentiment.

I think that where overweight has anything to do with health, it’s caused by bad nutrition. Not too much, just the wrong kind. We’ve been sold a bill of goods about what good nutrition means. And of course obesity does not always mean bad health. If it is not associated with metabolic syndrome or diabetes in an individual, it is also not associated with a higher mortality risk. This has been proven through research as recently as 2006.

I take a bellydancing class on Tuesdays (no gut jokes, please) and another cardio dance class on Wednesdays, and I passed a slender guy jogging in the other direction when I walked to the rec center for one of those classes last week. It occurred to me that that guy might have wondered just for one second why I didn’t get up off my fat butt and exercise. Then I realized there are probably a lot of fat women in my situation, people passing them on the street thinking “go on a diet” and not realizing they were going to exercise class. Then I got to the cardio dance class and wouldn’t you know it, my instructor was overweight too! And could run circles around the classroom without breathing hard! I also know a fat woman who runs marathons and am aware of others who are triathletes and other kinds of active people. And there are people in developing countries who are fat, too–they don’t eat a lot of food, so what’s going on there?

You just never know.

With our family of seven children, we had to learn to live fairly frugally, especially when the company my husband was working for collapsed and went bankrupt, with no severance pay, and no paycheck for the last month he worked ~ we had just found out we were expecting our fourth baby. For almost a year he couldn’t find permanent employment {I was working 4 jobs to help out at this point and he stayed home}, until he found a job 5 hours away from our town. We were expecting our fifth at this point. He ended up staying at his best friend’s house for 2 years, coming home every second weekend. It was an interesting time.

All this to say that for years, we lived on very meager funds, and still had to pay our mortgage, our car, our insurance, etc, etc, etc… I look back and wonder how we did it sometimes. But, with a hubby’s now stable {as much as it can be in the computer industry}, steady job {going on 4 years}, it’s been a bit more lenient money-wise. We can actually go out to the movies {we still have no cable nor satellite ~ mostly by choice now}, or even go out for a fancy supper. These are such priviledges, and we don’t take them lightly.

As for the children, we don’t need to buy used clothing {I still do sometimes, as old habits die hard }, our foods are more organically centered, and our everyday cleaning products are all organic or natural. The extra cost of this is worth it for the long term health of our family, don’t you think?

Matthew – Same here about the wife! If it were up to me, we’d be living in a house made of empty Diet Pepsi 12 pack cases and CD cases.

Tara – Thanks. Good points you made. You mean your kids don’t already have iPhones?! What kind of mother ARE you?!

Dave – Great comment, especially the part about the extremes. I couldn’t agree with you more. As for living as an example for your children, that is the voice of wisdom there! Thank you for adding your thoughts to this discussion.

Sal – Welcome back, buddy! (I’ll head over to your blog later to catch up). Your brother sounds like a real bastard. (just kidding). Thanks for the comments.

Betsy – I know what you’re saying. Everytime I’ve moved, I thought to myself, it would be so much easier just to sell, donate, or hell, burn everything I own, rather than rent a moving truck and haul it from town to town! I’ll likely write a post about stuff and death at another date, at which time I will expound on this a bit more. Thanks for your great comment!

CK Lunchbox – Thanks for sharing your story. I’ve often thought, if only I could get one of those ridiculously high paying jobs. I would SO save all the excess money. I tell myself I wouldn’t be led into the temptation to spend it all. Of course, if I spent the small paycheck I made just eight years ago as quick as I made it, I probably wouldn’t of done much better with more money. Fortunately, I’m about 500 percent better than I used to be. Though, to be honest, I REALLY, REALLY want a Playstation 3. Of course, being broke means it ain’t gonna’ happen. But, man, there’s a few games that I REALLY REALLY want.

Jamie – Thank you. I’m glad that you’ve been able to find success doing something you enjoy!

GreenJello – You wouldn’t be getting rid of a PlayStation 3 anytime soon, woul you? As for the moving thing, I am totally there with you. Heck, I told my wife if we move again we’re sleeping on air mattresses, because I don’t feel like moving our bed!

Caroline – Great post! I know a few people living like you once did and the funny thing is, they are among the most miserable people I know!

Writer Dad – Yeah, we are like creepy long lost twins or something. Only, I got all the “fluffy” genes. I have a friend like you, who puts me to shame when it comes to eating. We used to go to Denny’s when they did the All You Can Eat breakfast. He took “All You Can Eat” as a personal challenge! He ate – no lie – at least eight plates of food, while I got one refill. And the skinny bastard is like 155 pounds! Jerk. As for the no sugar fast, man, I feel for you!

Pink Ink – Thanks for stopping by and for the nice comment. Congratulations on heeding the call not to spend!

Jen – Well, at least you avoided debt. That’s good. I hear that Dave Ramsey is pretty good with money advice. I read some of his stuff, but haven’t yet put it to practice, as my job loss happened at the exact same time, and I couldn’t do some of the things he suggested.

B J Keltz – Thanks for stopping by and sharing your experience. It sounds like your wise decisions saved you some real heartache when your husband lost his job. As for cell phones, I LOATHE that they have become a necessary part of life! I got rid of ours and got the prepaid ones which cost $30 bucks a month (for two) – much better than the nearly $80 bucks we were spending. Yeah, they don’t have fancy features, but I never used those anyway.

Barbara – Those are some great rules to live by. Thanks for sharing!