Big fellow needs to drop weight — and his attitude

Advertisement

Advertise with us

DEAR MISS LONELYHEARTS: I’m a medium-height fat man, no two ways about it, at 350 lb. But I’m also a funny man — could have done standup, but I like to feel secure about my money. I have a big business now. I’m proud of it and I mention it online when I am trying to meet women.

Read this article for free:


or

Already have an account? Log in here »

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Subscribe and receive a limited-edition Free Press branded hat or tote.

Digital Subscription

One year of digital access for only $205*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles

*First annual payment billed as $205.00 + GST for one year. This annual subscription will automatically renew at $233.00 + GST every 52 weeks (10% off the regular annual price of $259.35). Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.

To continue reading, please subscribe:

Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional

$1 for the first 4 weeks*

  • Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
  • Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
  • Access News Break, our award-winning app
  • Play interactive puzzles
Start now

*Your next Brandon Sun subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $17.95 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $24.95 plus GST every four weeks.

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 15/10/2019 (2518 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

DEAR MISS LONELYHEARTS: I’m a medium-height fat man, no two ways about it, at 350 lb. But I’m also a funny man — could have done standup, but I like to feel secure about my money. I have a big business now. I’m proud of it and I mention it online when I am trying to meet women.

I’m single and reaching out, but the only thing women see is my fat body. Hey, I like to drink and eat, what can I say? I don’t want to live on lettuce! I can’t get any attention from the slimmer girls, only the chubbies, and I don’t deserve that. One fatty in the family is enough. Besides, I have a lot to offer.

I’m not an old guy — in my late 30s — with a multimillionaire future ahead of me. What do you suggest?

Wanting a Woman, South Winnipeg

Dear Wanting a Woman: You can’t have it both ways. You can’t expect most women to be so bowled over by your humour and money they will overlook your girth — although a person who really needed or wanted money might look past it.

It’s your attitude that is really off. You’re not a happy, loving, overweight guy. You are angry at women for not accepting you as you are, and it shows. You also give off a feeling of entitlement because of your money.

As a businessman, you should talk to yourself like this: “I have an obvious problem that needs to be taken care of before I can proceed to my goal of finding love and romance. I also need to take care of my anger and negative attitudes to succeed in this.”

Please see a psychologist or psychiatrist for help.

At the same time, hire a professional dietitian to help you take control and start losing your dangerous weight. That weight could kill you with a heart attack, even at a young age. You may be courting diabetes and other weight-related issues, such as high blood pressure, which can lead to a stroke. Why not see a trained dietitian and go on a healthy diet? You will have plenty of food besides lettuce to keep you full, and you won’t be hungry.

A private trainer with his own place for one-on-one meetings would keep you out of the gym, where people might watch. You have the money to hire a great one, so why not do it? You have every good thing to gain and a lot of problems to lose, by dropping the weight and the attitude.

 

Dear Miss Lonelyhearts: I’m writing with regard to the man who signed his letter Can’t Stand The Guy. Mr. Bully, his neighbour, came into the sex shop, came up to him and said, “Fancy meeting you here.” Unless he was stalking this man, which would be sick, he is really pushing the gall factor by making fun of his neighbour.

So, I think our guy needs to stand up to this guy and make the point that a real man who wants to please his mate is not ashamed to be seen in a sex shop. I think he should stand tall. As for the other guy, he was probably embarrassed and tried to push it off by by picking on this neighbour. Just sayin’!

Fearless, Winnipeg

Dear Fearless: Talking back to the man as you suggest would have been the best idea, but in the moment, that mortified guy couldn’t say anything clever. A response like that takes some thought and he was caught unaware — looking at something on display, no doubt.

“Mind your own business, and leave me on my own,” would have been abrupt, but not too harsh a retort for the smart-alec he was dealing with.

Please send your questions and comments to lovecoach@hotmail.com or Miss Lonelyhearts c/o the Winnipeg Free Press, 1355 Mountain Ave., Winnipeg, MB, R2X 3B6.

Maureen Scurfield

Maureen Scurfield
Advice columnist

Maureen Scurfield writes the Miss Lonelyhearts advice column.

Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.

Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.

Report Error Submit a Tip

More Stories

QDoc patients in tight spot over billing dispute

Chris Kitching 6 minute read Preview

QDoc patients in tight spot over billing dispute

Chris Kitching 6 minute read Thursday, Sep. 3, 2026

Manitobans have been pulled into a dispute between QDoc — a Winnipeg-based virtual health-care platform — and the NDP government over fees billed to the province for patient care.

An Aug. 24 email from QDoc to its users prompted concern or calls for clarity from Manitobans who use the 24-7 platform to see a physician or nurse practitioner through encrypted video calls.

“When I first read it, like many others, I assumed they were going to be nixing the service altogether because that’s the way it was presented,” Tyndall resident Stephanie Pituley said.

“Upon further research, obviously that’s not the case, but I am still concerned to be honest. How many people did that research, I don’t know.”

Read
Thursday, Sep. 3, 2026

Woman who saved child, father from Red River uncomfortable with hero label

Scott Billeck 6 minute read Preview

Woman who saved child, father from Red River uncomfortable with hero label

Scott Billeck 6 minute read Wednesday, Sep. 2, 2026

A Winnipeg woman who’s been hailed as a hero by police for saving a father and his young child from the Red River says she doesn’t feel like one.

“I’m a mom… and I would do it again,” said Jayclyn Morrissette, who was walking with her neighbour through St. John’s Park on Aug. 24 when they spotted a young girl flailing in the nearby river. “I was meant to be there and that was supposed to happen.”

Morrissette, who spoke to the Free Press Wednesday after police released details about the rescue, said she and her neighbour began looking for the child’s parents and found them at the nearby playground searching for her.

Morrissette waved them over. The father, who she said could not swim, jumped into the river first and immediately began to sink.

Read
Wednesday, Sep. 2, 2026

Man who pleaded guilty to killing three cats dies before sentencing

Morgan Modjeski 2 minute read Preview

Man who pleaded guilty to killing three cats dies before sentencing

Morgan Modjeski 2 minute read Friday, Sep. 4, 2026

A Winnipeg man awaiting sentencing after admitting he strangled three cats to death and dumped two of their carcasses under a city bridge, has died, the Free Press has learned.

Randy Jensen, 25, pleaded guilty on May 13 to one count of wilfully causing injury or suffering to animals in connection to the 2024 killings.

He was scheduled to be sentenced in January.

“That’s not something that anybody wanted,” said Kristy Zamonsky, founder of Project Artemis Animal Advocates. “We were all hoping for justice through the courts.”

Read
Friday, Sep. 4, 2026

Agriculture sector wary of ‘strong headwind’ from south

Laura Rance-Unger 4 minute read Yesterday at 2:01 AM CDT

Industry analysts talked in circles on a recent webinar as they discussed the implications for agriculture of Canada’s deteriorating relationship with its largest trading partner.

On one hand, panellists for the hastily convened Canadian AgriFood Policy Institute event acknowledged the futility of negotiating on quicksand: a deal made today with the United States might be sucked into the muck tomorrow.

But on the other, webinar panellists speculated with varying degrees of optimism over what it will take to get negotiators back to bargaining.

This disconnect isn’t unique to this cluster of analysts. However, it underscores the difficulty of coming to terms with the seismic shift in America’s attitudes towards Canada.

Dynacare labs quickly reach capacity ahead of strike

Nicole Buffie 4 minute read Preview

Dynacare labs quickly reach capacity ahead of strike

Nicole Buffie 4 minute read Yesterday at 3:06 PM CDT

Patients were being turned away from several Dynacare locations Saturday morning as people packed the labs in hopes of getting their blood collection done before workers strike.

By 10:30 a.m. the lobby at the Dynacare at 1581 Regent Ave. was standing-room only and walk-up patients were being turned away as the wait time for those lucky enough to get in creeped past two hours.

One woman got in right before workers cut off walk-ins at 10 a.m. after travelling to two other locations.

“I was driving by at 7:15 this morning and there was already a line-up to the road, so I was like ‘nope, not going there’ so I went to the one on Sterling Lyon (Parkway) and it was closed, and then I went to the one at St. Vital Mall and there had a line zig-zagging all the way through the corridors so I gave up and came back,” said Joanna, who declined to give her last name.

Read
Yesterday at 3:06 PM CDT

$8.7-million detox centre called ‘high-priced drunk tank’

Carol Sanders 4 minute read Preview

$8.7-million detox centre called ‘high-priced drunk tank’

Carol Sanders 4 minute read Friday, Sep. 4, 2026

The new facility to detain people in a drug psychosis for up to 72 hours is operating the way it should, the government said Friday, even though just 26 people have been held for that purpose since it opened.

“The (protective care centre) is doing what it’s meant to do: support people, meet them where they’re at, provide a caring environment,” Addictions Minister Bernadette Smith said after updated data were posted online.

The vast majority of those detained at the 20-room facility at 190 Disraeli Fwy. were recovering from alcohol intoxication, the update shows.

In total, 4,425 people were detained from the time the site opened on Dec. 2, 2025, until June 30, for an average of less than five hours.

Read
Friday, Sep. 4, 2026