Do you let someone kill themself to be nice?

Okay, so today I am going to blog on a topic that could be looked upon as being mean spirited, but trust me when I say that I am not in that frame of mind right now.  Not to say, I don't poke fun, because I can be insensitive at times, but that is not my point today.

So in my office there is a gentleman who is obese.  If I had to venture a guess, I would say he weighs more than 300lbs.  You can literally feel the floor moving when he is walking to his desk.  He seems like a nice enough guy, although I haven't really met the guy yet.  Just that picture alone tells me that this man must have a caloric intake that is hugely inflated above what the "average sized" person would consume. 

Now, I know people can balloon up because of medications, etc, however my guess is that it is more diet and lack of exercise related.  My clue to that is the fact that the man just spend the last 15 minutes eating a bag of chips.  Not that he has any less right to eat those chips than anyone else, but I have to wonder if that is your morning snack at work, what else are you consuming in the run of the day that is maintaining this inflated weight.

I also wonder where the line in the sand is that shows members of his family and friends that they are not allowed to comment on his diet and the effect that weight must be having on his overall health.  Surely, he is feeling some sort of discomfort, or even pain from burdening his muscles and bones with the excess weight.  And is he already diabetic?  or have heart disease?  And those concerns do not address the effect on self-esteem and strain on relationships.

I am not saying that I am anywhere near perfect, but I do think that I am fairly aware of my eating habits and I do go to yoga and the gym regularly to stay physically active.  My father died at 52.  52!  And that is part of my motivation to try and avoid a sedentary lifestyle.

I look at him and wonder if it was me, if my family and friends would stand up and ask me to take better care of myself.  Or would they turn a blind eye because they don't want to offend or upset me?  My request is to call me on it.  Don't let me get to that point because it is so hard to get back and I want to live a long and fulfilling life.  Don't let me kill myself just to be nice!!