A number of people have occupations that would be adversely impacted by weight control issues. For instance, flight attendants need to make their way down that narrow aisle with the service cart. Years ago, I think the airlines would only hire svelte people. I do believe that a number of them were sued for discriminating hiring policies and now it is quite common to see overweight people in this position. Clearly, it seems to be more difficult for the overweight attendants to perform their work. Professional sports players, most notably football players, will be called to task if their weight is higher than it should be. As a physician, especially one involved in a weight loss program, I feel pressure to be a "role model" to some extent and not be overweight. Obviously, other occupations such as modeling, personal trainers and many others would be adversely impacted by weight issues.
No matter what the occupation, I do believe we are all better perceived by our bosses, clients, co-workers when we present a healthier image. Promotions, hiring and other job-related issues although not directly mentioned, will in fact be influenced by some extent by our appearance. This may not be fair, but it is reality. Losing weight will also help us in our professional careers. Yet another bonus of losing weight.
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Good point. Here is an article I read recently about good looks and career advancement. It sucks but its true.
"Here’s an unarguable truth: We like good-looking people more than bad-looking people. I am not going to discuss whether or not this is good. It’s a moot point. The evidence is overwhelming. Mothers give better care to good-looking babies. Teachers do a better job of teaching good-looking students, and good-looking people sell more (of anything) than less good-looking people.
How that plays out in the business world is pretty straightforward: Fat women earn less than slender women. Tall men earn more per inch than shorter men. Former cheerleaders are so much more successful than other demographics that there are recruiting agencies that specialize in cheerleaders.
So what can you do about this?
Go to the gym. There are some things you can’t control, but you can control your weight. So if you want to succeed in business, you must exercise. Ninety percent of CEOs work out three times a week because they know powerful people are almost always fit. Successful people also have self-discipline — as exhibited by their workout schedule — and there is more research than you can imagine on the benefits of exercise: You think better, you are a better friend, and you have more self-discipline in other areas of your life.
And, of course, fit people are better looking. You might not have a god-given set of great gams, but drop sets in the weight room can give you a great butt. And people want to hire attractive people. Which is logical since attractive people do better at work, according to research published by Gordon Patzer in his book, “Looks: Why They Matter More Than You Ever Imagined.”
In fact, you are more likely to do well at work if you are good-looking than if you are smart because, according to research from Tiziana Casciaro, professor of management at University of Toronto, it’s more important to be liked than to be competent. People want to work with people they like more than they want to work with people who are merely skilled at their job."
Oh and one more thing...
There is no correlation between getting good grades and doing well in your work because being the hardest worker is rewarded at school but not on the job. So work too hard and you will look lame — like you have some sort of problem that requires you to put in more hours than everyone else to get your job done. Which is why you should get only 80 percent of your work done and then leave work and head for the gym. Your time at the gym will go farther to get you a promotion than your time at your desk doing the 20 percent of your work that, truth be told, no one at the office cares about anyway. Do you think all your work you do is really important to everyone? If you answer yes, this is a very bad sign. Think about this while you’re at the gym.)
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