Would you...

An interesting quote I came across...

"" Forty percent of women admit that they would give up three to five years of their lives in order to achieve their ideal body weight. ""
(http://angelingo.usc.edu/issue01/culture/littler.html)

So, would YOU give up 3 to 5 years of your life to achieve your ideal body weight?

I certainly would not.. and I think that if this quote is actually from a valid study, that this reflects very negatively on American culture as it stands. How vain have we become?

Wed. Feb 6, 4:37pm

Not in a million years!

Although in my youth I smoked for awhile and that kept me very thin. So in some ways I actually did probably trade some life expectancy for slimness. Stupid, stupid.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008, 4:41 PM

yes I would. My goal weight seems so far away......

Wednesday, February 6, 2008, 4:42 PM

It's not about vanity for me, it's about feeling healthy and energetic.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008, 4:43 PM

NOPE - I know that my hard work will pay off and I'll be at my goal weight in about 5 months...Even if I thought that it would take 2-3 years to get to my goal weight, I'd prefer to work hard to get to it...

Wednesday, February 6, 2008, 4:53 PM

Depends how long I live...If the difference were 101 to 98 yes, if it were 58 to 55 - NO WAY.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008, 4:55 PM

YES! I would get so much more out of having a healthy, thin, life.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008, 5:05 PM

NO WAY!!!!

Every second of life is a blessing; I would never be so foolish to do such a thing. Being thin does not equal happiness. You have to learn to love yourself as you are to truly be happy. When you can except and love yourself as you are, the "weight" will be release permanently.

We need to make peace with our bodies and with food. Our bodies are not our enemy, neither is food. What we need to do is focus on the positive things about ourselves; even if at the beginning this is difficult. There has to be at least one thing that we like about ourselves. Sometimes we treat other people better than we treat ourselves; this is so wrong.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008, 5:09 PM

If I were guaranteed to keep it off

Yeah, I might. I mean, I have been fixated on my weight since I was ten years old. If I added up all the time spent over the years planning diets, feeling guilty, vomiting, crying, hating myself, and could trade that in for weight peace for the rest of my life, I'm sure I'd actually end up living longer! I know it's sad, but it's true.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008, 6:11 PM

I would do it in a second. For a few reasons. To be extremely overweight takes years off your life anyway. And at the weight I am I exist. I don't have a life. So to trade 3 -5 years of my life to be able to have a life, to be able to go out and do something, to feel like I matter and have value to other people, to not be critisized everytime I turn around, to be able to fly somewhere, to be able to go into a store and not have people staring at you or children yelling how fat you are. To be able to go up front in church for prayer and not be afraid.......Ya I would give up years of my life to have that peace and joy.
How many years have I given up alread and for what? Food.

I think the answers varry so much because not everyone is desparate. Not everyone is in this place.
But put yourself in their place and you might feel the same way.

Wednesday, February 6, 2008, 10:20 PM

I think it says less about how vain we are and more about how impatient we are!

Wednesday, February 6, 2008, 10:24 PM

I think it's a bit confusing because it sort of sounds like the choice is one or the other...either achieve your goal weight and live 3 years less, or stay over weight and live 3 years more. If that is the case I'd much rather take a shorter but higher quality of life.

However now that I have almost reached my goal weight on my own without selling any years of my life, I have to say I would never go back and take a quicker route. This journey has taught me so much about personal strength.

Thursday, February 7, 2008, 12:56 AM

No. The whole reason I'm losing weight in the first place is to ADD years to my life.

Thursday, February 7, 2008, 8:43 AM

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