Modern society is very warped when it comes to a lot of things, particularly image...self and otherwise.

 

 

 

Several years ago, I was extremely sick (extremely severe ulcerative colitis, you don't want to know more). I had just gotten off of another round of Prednisone; a horrible drug known to cause all sorts of nasty side effects including drastic weight gain (the least of my worries at the time). I couldn't stay on the stuff for very long or it'd probably kill me (which the disease was already doing), so they had siphoned me off of it.

 

 

 

As soon as I was off the drug, I found myself completely unable to eat; everything I would try to eat I would throw up. I could still drink some select beverages, but that was it. I went like this for three months and lost eighty pounds. Almost every time I would try to stand up, I would black out, faint, or something else that caused me to lose consciousness. I could only stand very, very slowly and only for a short while.

 

 

 

Guess what? People were COMPLIMENTING me on how 'good' I looked after those three months. People who KNEW that I was unable to eat, and that I was extremely ill.

 

It didn't matter that I couldn't eat, that I couldn't stand! It didn't matter that my disease was killing me (I'm still amazed that I made it out of that alive). No, it was always "You've lost weight! You look good!"

 

 

 

Does beauty matter more than life? Is it better to be skinny and dead than fat and alive? Where do you place your values?

Wow. I am very sorry to hear about your illness. But, I want to say that I agree with you 100%. Society is screwed up with the way they look at people.

 

 

 

As far as weight goes, I eat what I want. :P Whatever makes me happy. I don't consider myself to be super skinny, but I've found that if you have enough self esteem, you don't care what people think of you.

 

 

 

I had mononucleosis for about six months last year. I lost close to 30 pounds. People still compliment me on how I've lost weight.

Perhaps they were trying to be nice. Like people saying "you look gorgeous" to a girl with severe facial burns.

 

 

 

I'm not saying you will have looked awful or anything, just that if YOU think you did then they might have too and were only trying to restore your self esteem.

Perhaps they were trying to be nice. Like people saying "you look gorgeous" to a girl with severe facial burns.

 

 

 

I'm not saying you will have looked awful or anything, just that if YOU think you did then they might have too and were only trying to restore your self esteem.

 

But they were also saying "You look way better than before!"

 

 

 

Besides, I think it;s a liiiiiittle bit odd to be basically saying "Hey, that symptom looks good on you!"

good to hear that you made it. 3 month witout anything "real" to eat. thats a long time. did you take anything, compunds, etc?

 

 

 

well, i guess some people adore other for being skinny (pro ana?)

 

personally, i would be the one asking you if you want chocolate or something...

Wow. I am very sorry to hear about your illness. But, I want to say that I agree with you 100%. Society is screwed up with the way they look at people.

 

 

 

As far as weight goes, I eat what I want. :P Whatever makes me happy. I don't consider myself to be super skinny, but I've found that if you have enough self esteem, you don't care what people think of you.

 

 

 

I had mononucleosis for about six months last year. I lost close to 30 pounds. People still compliment me on how I've lost weight.

 

My disease is gone now.8)

 

I had my entire colon removed, so the chances of getting THAT again are nil...unless I suddenly develop a whole new large intestine!:lol:

 

(I DO have a good number of other autoimmune diseases now, but none so severe as that).

 

 

 

Mononucleosis almost sounds nice, compared to the hell I've been through...

Why? Would you rather have them pity you?

i dont think anything is wrong with modern culture. you dont have to follow it.

 

 

 

and i think those people were just trying to be nice.

Wow. I am very sorry to hear about your illness. But, I want to say that I agree with you 100%. Society is screwed up with the way they look at people.

 

 

 

As far as weight goes, I eat what I want. :P Whatever makes me happy. I don't consider myself to be super skinny, but I've found that if you have enough self esteem, you don't care what people think of you.

 

 

 

I had mononucleosis for about six months last year. I lost close to 30 pounds. People still compliment me on how I've lost weight.

 

My disease is gone now.8)

 

I had my entire colon removed, so the chances of getting THAT again are nil...unless I suddenly develop a whole new large intestine!:lol:

 

(I DO have a good number of other autoimmune diseases now, but none so severe as that).

 

 

 

Mononucleosis almost sounds nice, compared to the hell I've been through...

 

 

 

I'm glad your disease is gone. That does sound like hell. :(

 

But they were also saying "You look way better than before!"

 

 

 

Besides, I think it;s a liiiiiittle bit odd to be basically saying "Hey, that symptom looks good on you!"

 

 

 

Wouldn't you want to know that you looked as good or better after going through something like that? It sounds more like encouragement for getting better rather then complimenting on your weight. But then again knowing that around ~60% of adults and ~35% of children in America are overweight or obese, there is a good chance that you should have lost the weight for health reasons.

Why? Would you rather have them pity you?

 

No, I hate being pitied. Hate it.

 

 

 

However, these are the same people who bug me to lose weight now. D:

 

One of them, my grandmother, scolded me when I was having a meltdown after my surgery because I "didn't have a right to cry", that my "cousins had it worse" and that I should focus on losing weight.

 

 

 

Is it so wrong to think of THAT kind of thing being @#$%ed up?:x

 

But they were also saying "You look way better than before!"

 

 

 

Besides, I think it;s a liiiiiittle bit odd to be basically saying "Hey, that symptom looks good on you!"

 

 

 

Wouldn't you want to know that you looked as good or better after going through something like that? It sounds more like encouragement for getting better rather then complimenting on your weight. But then again knowing that around ~60% of adults and ~35% of children in America are overweight or obese, there is a good chance that you should have lost the weight for health reasons.

 

But at the time it was impossible to lose that weight in a healthy manner. Not eating at all should not be condoned!

 

I had a LOT more to worry about than losing weight. Like, dying.

 

 

 

Also, you see, I NEVER started to look like I was feeling better during those three months. I kept getting sicker and sicker, and eventually ended up in the hospital after finding out that my platelet count was basically zero, my hemoglobin level was eight, and I was going to have to get my entire colon removed or DIE. No, I never looked better during that. That was a downwards spiral.

 

 

 

Anyone who knows me knows that I appreciate honesty and would not lie to me for my 'feelings'. Some people told me that I looked like I had been run over by a truck. But others told me how good I looked now that I was skinnier.

I think they wanted to say something positive but lacked the intelligence to do so...

^ My thoughts exactly. I don't think they're that vain.

^ My thoughts exactly. I don't think they're that vain.

 

 

 

agree as well

 

 

 

thats not to say there aren't people out there who wouldn't say that, because there quite a few people in the world who believe self image is everything.

Yet somehow, the idea of people being so daft fails to give me faith in humanity either. D:

Do you think this incessant pessimism is really helping?

Of course it is.

 

 

 

My take on it is that when an optimist expects the best and gets the worst, they're disappointed, and that when they get the best, that's just meeting their expectations.

 

 

 

But when a pessimist expects the worst and gets the best, then they're in for a nice surprise. ;D

Damn, you beat me with a cliche! :XD:

prednisone eh? I had to take that for a few years.... i ended up being forced off of it after i attempted to murder a kid for making fun of me in 4th grade :wall:

xD

 

 

 

Yes, the mood reactions can be quite brutal.

 

 

 

At any rate, what were YOU on it for?