Dear Stephanie (unlike her blog, I don't reduce people to initials to save dignity) says "How about fat people? How about talking about all the fat people at the buffet?"

I looked around. Sure enough, about half the people within easy glancing distance were morbidly obese. About half the remaining people were overweight, but I would not use the word morbid.

Oddly, my diet got happier then. I'm trying to lose about another 10 pounds, to put me between 160 and 165 lb on a 5'10" frame. I'm not fat by any stretch, but the belly is a little rounder than I'd like. In that retaurant, I looked like the proverbial frickin' runway model.

Stephanie's already lost her weight. I wouldn't say what that weight is - it wouldn't be gentlemanly - though I'm not sure why. She's skinny now. I kept arguing with her, during her Weight Watcher's phase, hoping that she would stop. When she started, yes, she could afford to lose a couple of pounds. Of course, I never would have said that out loud, because it really wasn't important. There's a difference between "not perfect" and "flawed enough to take action". Steph's weight was never in the latter category.

But I digress. Steph's lost her weight, and is concentrating on maintenance. I've lost half of what I want to lose, and just need a little more willpower (and a little less Bourbon and Coke) to get to my end state.

But I've digressed again. The suggested topic was fat people at buffets. Why are they there? Stephanie and I go because we have different tastes in food, and we don't eat much. That means when we get "ethnic food" (I'll refer to the Chinese food that way, because neither of us is Chinese), we have to order way too much, or someone has to eat stuff that's not their favourite. And eating out, for me, is a treat - which means I should get exactly what I want, since it's costing me a lot more than eating at home.

So, the buffet. We both peruse and pick and choose and get just what we want. The all-you-can-eat part really doesn't enter into it. Except for having two helpings of dessert, which would kill our budget if we had to pay twice.

Obviously, the all-you-can-eat part is a major selling feature for some of the patrons. And they will all die too soon. They will all die of some debilating weight-induced disease. They will become diabetic and lose their limbs. Or their hearts will just give out. Or some random member of Greenpeace will mistake them for beached whales, and roll them back out to sea where they will drown.

And, in the meantime, we will all have to pay for their health care. And there's nothing we can do about it.

Maybe this comes across as mean and uncaring. It's not meant to, although I AM a mean and uncaring person, at heart. I just don't know what can be done. There's enough medical data out there. Morbidly obese people should know they are at risk. And I can't believe that every single one of those people at that restaurant had a medical condition and it's "not their fault"...

I heard an ad for some miracle weight loss thing. I don't remember what it was. But to paraphrase the ad: "It's not your fault if you fail when trying to follow a diet that leaves you hungry all the time!"

Yes. Yes it is. Lack of willpower is not a medical excuse. If that's the only reason your diet fails - because you're hungry - it's your own damn fault. That's exactly the reason that I haven't reach my personal goal yet. I get hungry, I eat food I don't need, and I don't lose the weight I want.