Why is Trump going out of his way to make people suffer?

[excreationist]

If it's just about your weight I think what matters is calories, not necessarily what is healthy (but ideally both).

In response to myself, I can get to whatever weight I want by counting calories, but I can't get to my desired body fat percentage. I'm "skinny fat". I've read that if you keep on losing weight you'd eventually lose most of the belly fat but I decided that 71 kg (156 lb) is the lowest I want to go. I suspect that whenever I gain weight it is generally fat and when I lose weight it is muscle - so I count calories to minimize weight fluctuations.

 

[TV and credit cards]

Fat does not equal lazy.

Well what does being obese fat say about most people? I think it says they spend too much time sitting on their fat ass playing on their PlayStation stuffing their face with Ring Dings, Twinkies and the like.

So do any physiological or psychological factors come into play here? Work schedule that prevent a person from eating healthy regular meals? Abnormal hormone levels that regulate appetite (ghrelin and leptin) that tell a person when they are hungry or full? Disrupted sleep patterns that increase appetite? Stress, anxiety, boredom, loneliness, depression?

Or is it just lazy people living off a variety of government handouts?

 

[TV and credit cards]

If it's just about your weight I think what matters is calories, not necessarily what is healthy (but ideally both).

In response to myself, I can get to whatever weight I want by counting calories, but I can't get to my desired body fat percentage. I'm "skinny fat". I've read that if you keep on losing weight you'd eventually lose most of the belly fat but I decided that 71 kg (156 lb) is the lowest I want to go. I suspect that whenever I gain weight it is generally fat and when I lose weight it is muscle - so I count calories to minimize weight fluctuations.

Generally the body will use fat as it is a more efficient energy source. Protein intake and exercise (strength training) will affect this. But I'm sure it's not a one size fits all process.

 

[excreationist]

If it's just about your weight I think what matters is calories, not necessarily what is healthy (but ideally both).

In response to myself, I can get to whatever weight I want by counting calories, but I can't get to my desired body fat percentage. I'm "skinny fat". I've read that if you keep on losing weight you'd eventually lose most of the belly fat but I decided that 71 kg (156 lb) is the lowest I want to go. I suspect that whenever I gain weight it is generally fat and when I lose weight it is muscle - so I count calories to minimize weight fluctuations.

Generally the body will use fat as it is a more efficient energy source. Protein intake and exercise (strength training) will affect this. But I'm sure it's not a one size fits all process.

It seems fat can come off some areas before others. For me it seems it comes off areas like the buttocks earlier and the belly and manboobs would be later. It's even starting to come off my face (which would be worse if I went below 70 kg). BTW when I was in high school I was very skinny but I had a big bottom. Maybe hormones are an issue. To maintain my weight while eating cheaply and healthily I have up to 400g of nuts a day and that's 25% protein and 51% fat. I sometimes do chin ups and hangs and walk but find many forms of exercise too boring.

 

[lostone]

BTW 42% of American adults are obese and 74% are overweight or obese...

I'm borderline between overweight and obese. BMI 29-30.5. OTOH, I'm already 84, a life long foodie/gourmand, and I want to get SOME joy out of life in my remaining lifetime. I don't really eat that much, but I don't do a lot of physical exertion. Another issue is that at my age, falling is also a problem. I've fallen 2-3 times, and once blacked out while driving and totaled my car, so I quit driving. IMO, we have too much of this sanctimonious virtue signaling, fat shaming, etcetera. I try to do some light exercises.

 

[southernhybrid]

fat shaming is probably the worst thing to do if we want to help someone who suffers from obesity

It might hurt their feelings but it could be effective at least at first. I think the worst thing you can do is to say nothing and offer them food (being an "enabler"). Other possibilities involve suggesting different alternatives and not buy them food that is too high calorie. Fat shaming could make them anorexic but you'd get a bit of notice if they had been obese and they're approaching a normal weight. So once they reach normal weight make sure they don't lose any more weight at all - even a couple of kgs. I think there are different degrees of fat shaming - some can be indirect. You could talk about being "healthy" (that implies it is bad to be overweight).
BTW in the book quoted in post #40 it says:

Obesity, he realized, isn’t the fire. It’s the smoke

I'm just giving my advice as a medical professional, based on what I've seen and how people react when their providers disgrace them by fat shaming them instead of treating them with dignity and simply trying to help them find ways to lose weight and eat a healthier diet. My late sister was a victim of such criticism. Of course these days, at least in the US, there are a lot of very obese doctors and nurses, so what they can do to help others is very limited. First of all, a person has to want to lose weight. Some people these days are proud of their large bodies.

Anorexia was somewhat common when I was a teenager in the 60s, but to be honest, I have not known of anyone who suffered from that eating disorder since I was in high school. Over eating is the biggest problem now and it's hard for people to change a habit like that. My own late sister was very thin and beautiful as a young adult, but in her early 20s she began eating very large meals. I lived far from her but when we visited, I was amazed at how much food she ate at one meal. She also ate a lot of processed meat, which is very unhealthy if you eat it on a regular basis. She continued to gain weight throughout her 30s, 40s and early 50s. In her late 50s, she lost a large amount of weight, still over weight but not nearly as large as she had been. Sadly it was too late as around the age of 59 or 60, she was diagnosed with metastatic kidney cancer. Despite very aggressive treatment, she died at age 63. Sadly, my niece is also very obese although we no longer have a relationship with each other. The last time I saw her, she was dangerously obese. She also lives very far from me, but my other sister saw her about a. year or so ago and she told me our niece was still very obese. Her mother encouraged her to eat very unhealthy foods as a young child, so that might be how the problem developed.

My daughter in law is very obese, but so far my grandkids are very thin. I hope that remains the case. When I've been with them, I've never seen them eat too much. I think their late maternal grandfather was obese and he was a medical doctor, but the other three grandparents aren't overweight, so maybe they will be more like us. It's so complicated.

We've pretty much exhausted the topic without any good solutions imo.

 

[WAB]

Life is like a box of chocolates. It doesn't last as long when you're fat.

Fuck you.

I'm fat and I absolutely hate chocolate.

JK

The beginning of the original novel, Forrest Gump, actually reads, "Let me say this: bein a idiot is no box of chocolates." The movie changed it.

The book was very funny, the film, not so much.

 

[TSwizzle]

Fat does not equal lazy.

Well what does being obese fat say about most people? I think it says they spend too much time sitting on their fat ass playing on their PlayStation stuffing their face with Ring Dings, Twinkies and the like.

So do any physiological or psychological factors come into play here? Work schedule that prevent a person from eating healthy regular meals? Abnormal hormone levels that regulate appetite (ghrelin and leptin) that tell a person when they are hungry or full? Disrupted sleep patterns that increase appetite? Stress, anxiety, boredom, loneliness, depression?

Poor excuses in the main.

Or is it just lazy people living off a variety of government handouts?

A very large number of them are.

 

[lostone]

If it's just about your weight I think what matters is calories, not necessarily what is healthy (but ideally both).

In response to myself, I can get to whatever weight I want by counting calories, but I can't get to my desired body fat percentage. I'm "skinny fat". I've read that if you keep on losing weight you'd eventually lose most of the belly fat but I decided that 71 kg (156 lb) is the lowest I want to go. I suspect that whenever I gain weight it is generally fat and when I lose weight it is muscle - so I count calories to minimize weight fluctuations.

Generally the body will use fat as it is a more efficient energy source. Protein intake and exercise (strength training) will affect this. But I'm sure it's not a one size fits all process.

It seems fat can come off some areas before others. For me it seems it comes off areas like the buttocks earlier and the belly and manboobs would be later. It's even starting to come off my face (which would be worse if I went below 70 kg). BTW when I was in high school I was very skinny but I had a big bottom. Maybe hormones are an issue. To maintain my weight while eating cheaply and healthily I have up to 400g of nuts a day and that's 25% protein and 51% fat. I sometimes do chin ups and hangs and walk but find many forms of exercise too boring.

Exercise is boring. I have always had a fast metabolism, but when I got over 70, my metabolism began to slow down, and I started gaining weight. I try to eat lightly.

 

[TV and credit cards]

Life is like a box of chocolates. It doesn't last as long when you're fat.

Fuck you.

I'm fat and I absolutely hate chocolate.

JK

The beginning of the original novel, Forrest Gump, actually reads, "Let me say this: bein a idiot is no box of chocolates." The movie changed it.

The book was very funny, the film, not so much.

Good book. Quirky.

 

[crazyfingers]

In another example of causing people to suffer for the pure pleasure of causing people to suffer, The Supreme Court today allowed Trump to implement his order that US Passports only have M/F markers and the generic sex at birth (which isn't always one or the other) in order to inflict cruelty on transgender people and possibly force them to be unable to travel internationally

It appears that the six conservative assholes on the court decided that it's just fine to be cruel to trans people because... no reason given.

The unsigned order by the 6 conservatives said

“Displaying passport holders’ sex at birth no more offends equal protection principles than displaying their country of birth – in both cases, the government is merely attesting to a historical fact without subjecting anyone to differential treatment,” the court said in an unsigned order.

How can they really be taken seriously? Of course it offends equal protection principles to make a passport next to worthless for no reason but cruelty.

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, named to the court by former President Joe Biden, penned another scathing dissent, joined by the court’s other two liberals.

“Such senseless sidestepping of the obvious equitable outcome has become an unfortunate pattern,” Jackson wrote.


“So, too, has my own refusal to look the other way when basic principles are selectively discarded,” she said. “This court has once again paved the way for the immediate infliction of injury without adequate (or, really, any) justification.”

The state department starting allowing trans people to change their sex designation on passports in the 1990s! But the scumbag in chief wants to make trans even more subject to injustice, violence, etc... because, cruelty is fun.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/06/politics/supreme-court-passport-sex-markers-transgender

 

[bilby]

Australian Passports explicitly do NOT show the holder's country of birth, because of concerns that doing so could lead to differential treatment.

The city of birth is included due to ICAO rules on what minimum information is required in a passport - but this is not usually sufficient to identify the country. Country data is included in the DFAT database (Passport Issue and Control System - PICS), so the Australian Government can access this information, but it is not routinely shared with foreign governments, or passport controllers.

As to sex/gender:

Sex (gender) on Australian travel document​

In accordance with ICAO Doc 9303 Part 4, Australian travel documents (ATDs) must record the holder’s sex. Consistent the Australian Government Guidelines on the Recognition of Sex and Gender, the Australian Passport Office (APO) interprets sex on the ATD to mean gender.
Under the Australian Government Guidelines on the Recognition of Sex and Gender [PDF 1.6 MB], the Australian Government is primarily concerned with a person’s identity and social footprint. As such, the preferred approach is for Australian Government departments and agencies to collect information on a person's gender. Consistent with these guidelines, APO interprets sex on the ATD to mean gender.

ICAO Doc 9303 Part 4 specifies that the holder’s sex (gender) is a mandatory field. This field cannot be left blank. Customers who identify as a gender other than male or female (intersex, indeterminate, unspecified, non-binary) may request that the gender in their ATD appear as X.

ATDs will record sex/gender as one of the following:

• M (male)
• F (female)
• X (intersex/indeterminate/unspecified/non-binary).

In most cases, gender is recorded exactly as per the customer's full original Australian birth certificate, foreign birth certificate or foreign passport.

Sex and Gender Diverse (SGD) customers may also present a B14 form [PDF 754 KB] or letter from a Registered medical practitioner or psychologist to support their preferred gender.

https://www.dfat.gov.au/about-us/publications/corporate/passports/passport-policy

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

Fat does not equal lazy.

Well what does being obese fat say about most people? I think it says they spend too much time sitting on their fat ass playing on their PlayStation stuffing their face with Ring Dings, Twinkies and the like.

Yeah, you know one group of people where I see a some amount of overweightness? RNs. RNs are about the least laziest people that exist, and one of the most important too. They are on their feet for 10 to 12 hour shifts. Probably should eat better, exercise more.

Is there a profession that is free of overweight people?

 

[Shadowy Man]

Fat does not equal lazy.

Well what does being obese fat say about most people? I think it says they spend too much time sitting on their fat ass playing on their PlayStation stuffing their face with Ring Dings, Twinkies and the like.

Yeah, you know one group of people where I see a some amount of overweightness? RNs. RNs are about the least laziest people that exist, and one of the most important too. They are on their feet for 10 to 12 hour shifts. Probably should eat better, exercise more.

Is there a profession that is free of overweight people?

Acrobats?

 

[TSwizzle]

Fat does not equal lazy.

Well what does being obese fat say about most people? I think it says they spend too much time sitting on their fat ass playing on their PlayStation stuffing their face with Ring Dings, Twinkies and the like.

Yeah, you know one group of people where I see a some amount of overweightness? RNs. RNs are about the least laziest people that exist, and one of the most important too. They are on their feet for 10 to 12 hour shifts. Probably should eat better, exercise more.

Is there a profession that is free of overweight people?

Sure, Jan.

 

[TV and credit cards]

Fat does not equal lazy.

Well what does being obese fat say about most people? I think it says they spend too much time sitting on their fat ass playing on their PlayStation stuffing their face with Ring Dings, Twinkies and the like.

Yeah, you know one group of people where I see a some amount of overweightness? RNs. RNs are about the least laziest people that exist, and one of the most important too. They are on their feet for 10 to 12 hour shifts. Probably should eat better, exercise more.

Is there a profession that is free of overweight people?

The trusting assistant of the knife throwing act.

 

[Swammerdami]

I think Trump and his team are thinking a few moves ahead of their rivals. People get outraged every now and then but Trump and his team know they can get away with it. Then those things become normalized and so they keep on pushing the envelope.

There may be some truth to the idea that the would-be fascists have a plan. But I really think Trump is best understood when imagined to be a brattish child with ADHD. He inflicts cruelty just based on momentary whim and because he enjoys being a bully..

Just look at his cabinet. Who is the "Machiavelli"? Hegseth is a newscaster/drunkard. Bessent is a failed hedge fund manager whose main qualification is being a big Trump fund-raiser (Most Secs of Treasury have PhD's but not Bessent). Noem, Bondi, RFK are utter jokes. Marco Rubio -- the token intellectual in Trump's cabinet -- has some extreme right-wing positions but is no Project 2025'er. Alas, he has offered no push-back against Trump inanities.

Steve Bannon is the intellectual leader of MAGA but IIUC no longer has Trump's ear. (Bannon was an intellectual leader of Tea Party as well as of MAGA. I read those two collections of morons are now undergoing schism.)

"Four-dimensional chess"? There are some smart chess players -- Vlad Putin comes to mind -- who occasionally give clever advice. But mostly they stand back aghast and watch geese strut around the chessboard knocking the pieces over.

 

[excreationist]

About obesity/overweight in the US vs places like Japan:


That's like 11 slices of bread, etc, a day! (and burger buns, pizza bases, breakfast cereals) Then there are diets that completely cut out grains/cereal even though this pyramid says they're the most important part of a healthy diet...
Grain is the equivalent of "animal feed" used for fattening animals up...

Agricultural surplus: In the 1970s–80s, the U.S. produced massive amounts of wheat, corn, and other grains. Promoting high grain consumption helped absorb this surplus.
Lobbying pressure: Food companies and grain producers lobbied the USDA to emphasize grains as the dietary foundation.

 

[TV and credit cards]

The government is the last place I'd look for recommendations on a healthy diet. The people within who make these recommendations come from and return to the food industry.
It is best to replace red meat with beans and nuts as much as possible, keeping the fish and poultry.
Personally I largely stay away from dairy and prefer a vitamin D supplement.

Harvard's Healthy Eating Pyramid.


Look at the base of this pyramid. Looks like portion control and dreaded exercise.

 

[GenesisNemesis]

Oh come on!!! Do you honest think the GOOD and KIND-HEARTED Trump is trying to make people suffer?? He would never do such a thing, and ONLY cares about America!!!11