The picture above shows SOME of the diet pills and vitamins I've used over the past 6 years in a vain attempt to lose weight. SOME, not all. These are the ones I haven't already consumed or thrown away. There's easily a couple grand invested in that box.
I can hear some of you now. You think I'm stupid, gullible, lazy, and/or looking for a quick fix. And to a certain extent you'd be right. But I think the adjective most of you skipped over, the word that never occurred to you, is 'desperate'. Desperate to lose weight. Desperate to be accepted. Desperate not to die at a young age.
The common consensus of the public, be it TV, radio, internet, or other media platform, is that if fat people don't want to be fat, they should just stop being fat. To the "normals" it's just that easy. Wake up, say you don't want to be fat anymore, problem solved. We don't take that approach to those suffering from other addictions. That's why heroin addicts go to rehab instead of just saying 'I don't want to use heroin anymore'. Not only is that a ridiculous suggestion in both circumstances, but there is a big difference between food and other addictions. You can live without heroin, you can't live without food. Maybe you can in the short term, but it's not a viable 5-year plan.
Losing weight is a battle. Keeping it off is a war. Members of the plus size community put on armor every day hoping that today goes better than yesterday. It doesn't help that the opposing team is yelling slurs at us and trying to psych us out. Given that environment I ask you, does it seem like such a cop-out to resort to diet pills? Can you see why individuals would try anything at their disposal to get a leg up? The entire world is screaming at you to be thin yesterday so, yeah, you go to great lengths. We're lucky that today's elixirs are special teas, or green coffee bean extracts, or mysterious roots found only in the most remote corners of the rain forest. It wasn't that long ago that tapeworms were the recommended diet cure-all. And I bet if that was still an options, I'd probably have tried that, too.
Last night ABC aired an episode of the show 'What Would You Do?' that was particularly apt for this discussion If you haven't seen the show, I highly recommend it. They set up ethical dilemmas, then film to see if anyone will intercede. One of the dilemmas on last night's episode centered around teens using diet pills. ABC loaded up a public restaurant with hidden cameras then had two thin teenage girls (actors) pressure their chubby friend (also an actor) to take diet pills. The mean girls tried very hard to convince their friend saying things like 'Don't you want to be pretty?' or 'Don't you want a boyfriend?' Then they let the unsuspecting public do the rest. I gotta say, I am so proud of those unsuspecting patrons. Time and time again they approached either the group or just the lone girl begging her not to take the pills. They made the girl aware of the negative side effects that pills can have, but more importantly they warned of the negative side effects of keeping such crappy friends. They told her she was beautiful. They told her she was valuable. I was almost in tears.
I no longer use any of the pills in potions in the above referenced box. I finally woke up and realized that, if ANY of those pills worked, the world would not have an obesity crisis. I stick to watching what I eat (when my willpower allows) and letting Yolanda kick my ass in the gym. But not everyone has gotten to that point yet. I implore all of you to be more like the restaurant patrons and not the shitty friends. Encourage your friends. Praise them. But never, ever, ask them to comply with some arbitrary standard. Don't worry, they'll discover beauty on their own. Even if it takes them 30 years to get there.
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