The Question I Won't Tackle

Over the weekend, I was looking back through some blog posts to share a picture with someone on Twitter of asparagus ice cream. In one of my posts about the Stockton Asparagus Festival, I found this:

I was actually not having fun deep-frying asparagus. It's hot, nasty work.

I can hardly believe that is actually me, but there you have it. In April, 2009, when this picture was taken, I weighed somewhere around 200 pounds, and, because I topped off at 5'2" when height was handed out, I was considered obese. At this point, I was two months into my weight loss journey.

But here's the question of the week, maybe even the month: was I medically sick? Mentally ill? Lazy? Uneducated? 

All of the above?

The blogosphere I follow--feminists, fitness buffs, fellow weight loss success stories--have been discussing the recent announcement that the American Medical Association (AMA) has declared obesity a disease. Everyone has an opinion, it seems, so of course, Meg of the Little Pink Blog probably has one too, right?

Thing is...I don't.

I can only analyze the factors in my own life that led me to be obese, and while I believe that my mental health played a large part of it, making it very much a disease in its own right, my obesity also stemmed from bad food information, a complete lack of interest/confidence in physical activities, and a tendency to react to stressful situations by comforting myself with treats. Chocolate cake on a bad day. Mac & Cheese for dinner because damn, work was just too much to deal with today.

But this only pertains to me. Doctors can analyze my case 'til the cows come home and it won't be exactly the same as someone else. Someone else may actually have a severe thyroid problem that causes weight gain/retention. The next person may be a food addict. This person, the lady typing her story on a pink blog in a forgotten corner of the blogosphere, had her own issues and dilemmas--they weren't medical, they were completely related to mental health. They're not entirely gone. I've just learned strategies for coping with the anxiety that leads me to "cure" my angst with food. It also helps that I learned to love working out.

Is obesity a disease? An addiction? An epidemic? It's none of these, and all of these. It's entirely dependent on the individual, not a group of thousands. I simply can't answer any of these questions with a simple yes or no answer, because human beings go much deeper than that.

There is one point on which I do have an opinion, however:

If declaring obesity a disease causes physicians to take a deeper look at what is causing it in their patients, and helps more people find their way to a healthier lifestyle--not necessarily smaller clothing, just a healthier lifestyle in terms of eating and physical activity--then it's a good call. Maybe, instead of sitting with a Kaiser Permanente nutritionist being given terrible advice like, "Well, here's a food pyramid, and...uh, maybe have half a bagel at breakfast instead of a whole bagel,"* people will actually get information that can help them thrive.

*Yes, this happened to me. It's why I turned to a personal trainer at my gym to help me kickstart the weight loss process.