Telling an overweight person to eat less and move more is exactly like telling a person who suffers from depression to cheer up. It’s literally just that bad. I heard someone today tell an overweight person to just eat less and move more today, and the look on the girl’s face said it all; she was embarrassed and hurt. I interjected and told the person offering the advice that there was a lot more to it than that, and that it really isn’t anyone’s business but their own. They tried to laugh it off, but really, it’s no laughing matter.
People used to give me this advice all the time when I was obese, and it felt so insulting, embarrassing, and made me feel like a failure. Of course eating less would really help me lose weight. I felt like I had failed life, that I had failed on fulfilling one of the most basic human needs properly: eating enough, but not too much. I had tried so often and failed, and yet here are all these people who somehow were keeping it together, eating food, and staying thinner than I was. I obviously didn’t know what I was doing.
The problem is that we aren’t taught the right way to lose weight easily and safely, and it seems so out of reach for those of us who are obese. Low-carb/High-fat (LCHF) was the method I found that worked for me. There are many ways for people to get healthy and to lose weight, and I implore you to find what works best for you. I hope that the rude people don’t discourage you and don’t keep you from finding the path that leads you on your own journey to good health. It’s so worth it. You’re so worth it.
Paleo Marine 
Ohhhh EJ, I could go on an on about comments said to me over my lifetime. The pain and rejection I endured still is a head trip some 45 to 50 years later. While growing up, I was “the big boned daughter” I was not tiny and small like my mom and my 3 sisters. I always felt judged and like I was a freak of nature. When I was physically fit, I guess in their eyes I was too physically fit. They felt I was too muscular. Fat or fit, I realized that they just have a problem with me no matter how I am. Putting all of this aside, I want to lose the weight for me so I am healthy. Looking better is a side benefit but is is not my main goal. Words can do much damage. It is sad to me that others so “knowing and mighty” offer theirs. I find just loving people the way that they are is a gift. Loving them and offering them acceptance and wishing for them a beautiful existence is a blessing. When one decideds for themselves to put in the work to lose weight, it will happen. Getting all of the well meaning comments of a lifetime Our of your head is where it’s hard. I stuggle with this every day. This is where I need help.
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I really like your comment that “Loving people the way they are is a gift.” Perspective is a powerful thing and it’s important to try to view a situation through the eyes of another person to try to truly understand the gravity of a situation. Weight loss is no easy task, and getting healthy is more and more elusive with all the bad information out there. Just telling someone to “Eat less and move more” is insulting, at best.
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