Tough topic. My girlfriend is... Borderline obese. Especially now that there are more chores than ever, that kind of pains me. Not just for her health's sake (she has pain in her back, knee and /or feet on an almost daily basis), but because she becomes so damn dependable. She often can't even lift our little one, let alone do actual work (last time she really helped with house renovations was before her pregnancy). It's not laziness, but it's often hard to keep that in mind when she tries to do the laundry but has to outsource the 'put the laundry in the machine' part to me (result : don't ask us who does the most in our household, because she still thinks she does the laundry).
We've talked about an operation, but while it was initially her idea, she now postpones it all the time.
Don't get me wrong : I don't mind her being overweight by itself. I dislike that she sees herself as ugly (I can tell her she's not, but society disagrees). I dislike she won't even start with doing sports because of how she looks (1). And I'm kind of frightened on what kind of an example she's setting to our child.
On a more global scale : a former girlfriend of mine was fat (not obese) because of her genes. I've seen her food intake and sportive behavior long enough to know it's not some sort of urban myth. The tragedy wasn't so much with her (she had accepted that life dealt her a bad hand so she had to continuously live sober just to prevent ending up on an obese level) as that is such an easy excuse. My girlfriend, for example, isn't her weight because of genes (another easy way to start a fight between us : bring that up). And neither am I.
*sigh * I'm a bit overweight myself. Not visible, but lack of karate class do that (okay, and eating is just about the only fucking comfort left nowadays). It's my own fault. I hope to do better later on.
(1): actually, her main excuse is bad knee marrow. But any suggestion on any sport is rejected based on that. Plus : it's not like she cares enough about that knee to watch her snack intake