Diet, not lack of exercise, to blame for obesity

[FarCenter]

Sam Lister, Health Editor
Over-eating rather than more sedentary living is almost entirely to blame for the rise in obesity in the developed world, according to research.

A study of the US obesity “epidemic” — a precursor of world dietary trends — suggests that there has not been any significant reduction in levels of exercise in the past 30 years. It concludes that the surge in obesity is a result of excessive calories.

Researchers at the World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre for Obesity Prevention, at Deakin University in Victoria, Australia, said that the findings would be reflected in other industrialised countries such as Britain.

Last year the largest British study into obesity, backed by the Government and compiled by 250 experts, concluded that excess weight had become the norm. It predicted that by 2050, 90 per cent of today’s children will be overweight or obese — costing taxpayers an estimated £50 billion.

<SNIP>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article6250968.ece

[Taverner]

1. Its both

Look - if you watch TV all day, and just occasionally head out for work by bus or car - then it could be lack of excersize

If you are constantly active, but still have weight you want to lose, then it could be diet

[HereSince1628]

4. I know its incredible, but we did have television in 1979.

I must also say that back then healthcare people were already going nuts about obesity and heart disease and lack of active life-style.

[Taverner]

6. Hey - I was born in 70!

I know the "couch potato" syndrome has been a case for a while

[cbc5g]

2. Only partly right

It's the overeating of processed foods / HFCS products

The overprescription of anti-depressants

Poor exercise regime

[hyphenate]

61. I tend to agree on some of those things

being someone heavier than I should. However,

>>>>>The overprescription of anti-depressants<<<<<

I would argue on this point. Clinical depression is a very real disorder, and it can be helped with anti-depressants. Too many people believe that going to the doctor for an anti-depressant shows weakness, and end up suffering from a medical disorder they would not normally have to deal with. Anti-depressants are a first line of treatment and usually work for the most patients. And a good doctor will be more than happy to watch for signs of abuse or whether the prescribed med is working or not.

For the most part, anti-depressants are ongoing for about 18 months, with some people going off them sooner, and some, under their doctor's supervision, will stay on them longer.

It isn't anti-depressants that contribute to a "larger" population. It is the neverending devotion to a world of "time savers" and other contraptions which take away a lot of tasks with actual exertion, thus removing calories (which, BTW, is a unit measuring heat) from our daily routine. In the old days, a person walked, worked with his or her hands, did all the household chores without electrical appliances, rode horses, and had never heard of the phrase, "power tools." Three square was also not possible in some places, so loading up on carbs allowed them to make it through very long days.

The diets we have all been accustomed to are fine for the most part, but they need to be "slimmed" down to accommodate the much smaller activity level of the modern world. It's simple--work the hours our grandfathers/mothers did, and stay with the current diet. Or determine the average and current activity level and come up with a diet to fit it.

[pecwae]

159. I have to agree with all your points.

Those who are already obese or on their way may be depressed about their weight. The depression may be treated with an SSRI which carries a known side effect of weight gain.

Overprocessed/fast food consumption is, IMHO, the main culprit for weight gain and other health issues.

[Haole Girl]

3. Obviously, in the UK (and Australia) people get more exercise than in the U.S.

Maybe I can get a huge grant and study this.

:sarcasm:

[FarCenter]

23. Although the news article is in a UK newspaper, the study was of Americans

[Haole Girl]

24. I didn't read the whole thing. Just considered the source. nt

[Old Hank]

5. Genetics is, to me, the #1 factor

It is proven that there exists an obesity gene.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6547891.stm

Yes, eating in excess can make one even more obese, but the genetic link can by no means be disregarded.
This is not simply an exercise vs. diet thing.

[bananas]

8. How did this gene reach epidemic proportions?

They found people with two copies of a "fat" version of a gene had a 70% higher risk of obesity than those with none, and weighed 3kg (6.5lb) more.

6.5 pounds doesn't make someone obese.

[cbc5g]

9. genetics is mostly a scapegoat

for poor diet and a lack of exercise. Exercising for one month and then giving up because one doesn't see immediate results is not adequate exercise. Walking on a treadmill or down the street a 3-5 times a week isn't enough. It requires strength training with weights and more intense cardio, especially if one does not want to give up their favorite foods.

[8 track mind]

33. Martial arts! n/t

[eridani]

66. This is bullshit

Doing mild exercise 3-5 times a week produces large improvements in health independent of weight loss. "If you don't lose weight you should just do more" = "If you can't get over being attracted to people of the same sex you should just not have sex."

[dustbunnie]

100. Actually what the poster said isn't bullshit at all. n/t

[eridani]

102. Which poster? n/t

[CTyankee]

87. I bought into the "strength training with weights" thing when I retired at age 65.

As a result I got an injury, even tho I went thru training to do it right. I still have this golf elbow to this day. I also had an impingement in my shoulder. I had to have p.t. and quit exercising. This whole thing has made me depressed about weight training.

Weight training is probably good at earlier ages. As we get older, we need to be careful.

[LostinVA]

105. Weights should be done for as long as someone can physically do it

My 85-year-old granny does it -- it's great for you, espcially women. If you got an injury, then you were taught wrong.

[CTyankee]

109. I went thru a training designed esp. for seniors. I think I probably did too much.

I kept trying to do more and do heavier weights. Also, I used older machines at a local college gym. Maybe free weights at lighter weights would be better...

[LostinVA]

125. Your trainer should have helped you with that

I'm a 44-year-old female, and have been doing strength training since I've been about 15, and have never been injured, and I thank a high school track coach who showed us all what to do -- and not do -- thank goodness! Alot of people weren't training girls on weights then. It was probably the heavier weights, but Flvegan would be the one to ask!

[Obamanaut]

127. Careful is a good thing. I've been working with weights since I was

a teenager. I am now 66. I use much smaller weights, almost all dumbbells, than I did even as recently as 10 years ago.

I worked out with other prison guards, and on dumbbell day I did bench press with 100 lb dumbbells (one in each hand) and now I am using 45 pounders for bench press. But I've increased the reps. I eat less, ride a bicycle more. At 200 lbs still not embarrassed to be seen in public in a tee shirt.

Being careful with weights is a good rule.

spell check accepted ob for lb

[bananas]

16. Obesity Gene Trumped by Healthy Diet; Exercise Can Overcome Obesity Gene

• Obesity Gene Trumped by Healthy Diet
  
• Influence Of 'Obesity Gene' Can Be Offset By Healthy Diet
  
• Exercise Can Overcome Obesity Gene
  

[Old Hank]

20. It is extremely difficult for very fat people to lose weight, even with diets and exercise

And it's very difficult, probably impossible, for very skinny men to become muscular and even gain a considerable amount of weight.
Genetics are a huge factor.

[LostinVA]

27. Both aren't true at all

It just takes longer for obese people to get fit and very thin men and women to gain muscle. Genetics just means you'll lost the weight/gain muscle mass quicker, that's it.

I have a slow metabolism like my Dad, and it also takes me a long time to gain good muscle, so that just maans I have to work harder and eat better.

Blaming genetics is, mainly, a copout, an easy excuse. Nothing else.


on edit: Some people DO have legit medical concerns/reasons. Many don't

[dysfunctional press]

50. bullshit, bullshit, bullshit...

[Aragorn]

44. right on!

I think increased workload (why do both parents work, for instance) at the very least, makes many too tired to exert more than opening the chips and flipping the remote. Genes are a very big factor IMO, but not destiny.

[eridani]

67. First article--no actual data presented

Second article--no actual data presented
Third article--no actual data presented

Why would anyone believe a summary that someone wrote about someone else's research if they didn't include numbers? There was not a single reference to average BMI values for any of the study populations.

[ThomCat]

41. How did this gene suddenly spring into existence then

in the past 50 years, and become common enough to fuel an epidemic in only a few decades. :eyes:

Just because a gene exists that contributes doesn't mean you should use it as an easy excuse. People are responsible for over-eating and not getting enough exercise.

[anonymous171]

46. No, it is simply a "diet and exercise" thing.

If you are obese it is because you eat too much and don't exercise enough. It is that simple.

[flvegan]

51. No it isn't that simple. n/t

[Hansel]

88. No it isn't that simple.

Just like being short is not because you didn't strive to grow enough. Everyone is different and genes play an important role in people's height, hair color, skin color, gender, intelligence, disabilities, propensity toward certain diseases, I can go on...

So why, pray tell, would your weight and the ability to gain or lose not be impacted by genes? It's really a silly argument.

[brunhilde]

166. Yeah, right...

It's genetic to crave Ding Dongs and Snowballs over organic Swiss chard!:nopity:

[Name removed]

49. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[eridani]

65. A single gene controls amount of fat tissue deposited

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6977423.stm

The University of Texas team manipulated the gene, called adipose, to alter the amount of fat tissue laid down by fruit flies, worms and mice.

If the same effect could be achieved in humans, which also carry the gene, it is hoped it could lead to new ways to fight obesity and diabetes.

The study is published in the journal Cell Metabolism.

Lead researcher Dr Jonathan Graff said: "From worms to mammals, this gene controls fat formation.

"It could explain why so many people struggle to lose weight, and suggests an entirely new direction for developing medical treatments that address the current epidemic of diabetes and obesity.

[Name removed]

124. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Obamanaut]

129. From the same article "Don't give my patients another excuse to be

victims."

Did you overlook the part in the same article that suggested "...eat healthy and take exercise..."?

<snip>
Dr David Haslam, clinical director of the National Obesity Forum, warned that it could take many years to develop genetic treatments for obesity.

In the meantime, he said, the only way to tackle the problem effectively was to encourage people to eat healthily and take exercise.

"I don't want patients coming to me saying: 'It's not what I eat, it's all in my genes'," he said.

"Don't give my patients another excuse to be victims."

<snip>

[eridani]

130. Anyone who thinks that eating healthy and exercising = average weight is full of shit

Those things make you healthier, and will most likely make you weigh less than you would otherwise weigh. If they don't make you average weight as well, too bad.

Self-righteous health Nazis are the problem here, making weight the measure of health rather than the really important measures. The very people who benefit the most from exercise are the ones least likely to lose a lot of weight.

http://www.obesitymyths.com/myth4.1.htm

"Most studies of BMI and other measures of obesity have not adequately accounted for physical fitness, a known modifier of weight status and a potential mediator of the effects of obesity on CAD and adverse CV outcomes … Our data support previous studies showing that functional capacity appears to be more important than BMI for all-cause and CV mortality, especially in women."

[Obamanaut]

131. It was, after all, the source you used. But we can agree that BMI

numbers are borderline useless. They are merely a ratio of height/weight. A 260 pound body builder can appear, according to BMI charts, obese depending on his height but have an extremely low body fat content making him not obese after all.

Another problem "here" is the mindset that many seem to have that overwieght people are doomed to remain overweight because of fat genes, heredity, metabolism, etc. and use this as reasons to avoid lowering their caloric intake and/or increasing their exercise. There was even a statement made here on one of these threads that walking to the kitchen was part of the exercise program. Now THAT would probable signal to the average reader that the statement belongs to a heavy person who will be heavy even to the day they are struggled with by the coffin bearers.

BTW, using "full of shit", "shit stain" etc in replies does not improve your argument, but rather indicates thay you may likely fall into the category mentioned in the paragraph immediately preceding.

Have a nice day.

[eridani]

135. IF you are fat and you lose some weight, you are still fat

That is what is guaranteed by fat genes. This does not mean that fat people should not exercise and try to become healthier--just that attaining normal size is a stupid goal.

[Obamanaut]

137. Stop feeding the "fat genes" so much, and your plus size jeans

will appear loose.

If "you are still fat" then "you" could eat more lettuce. If "you" walk 30 minutes at a fast pace every evening, then perhaps "you" could increase it to 45 minutes.

Most overweight folks who say they cannot lose the extra pounds just simply won't put forth the required work. Proper eating is work. Eating less is work. Walking to the kitchen is NOT work. Exercising to the point of breaking a sweat and then keeping the pace is work.

Recall from the source you provided <snip>"...In the meantime, he said, the only way to tackle the problem effectively was to encourage people to eat healthily and take exercise.

"I don't want patients coming to me saying: 'It's not what I eat, it's all in my genes'," he said.

"Don't give my patients another excuse to be victims."<snip> Perhaps "you" might read all the way to the end of the sources "you" provide.

How many times in this thread has the excuse "it's in my genes" been used?

[eridani]

138. It is all in your genes. Eating healthier and exercising does not produce slimness

--in people with fat genes. It merely produces better health and lower weights, which is not enough for the snotty folks with the superiority complexes.

Fuck "more work." If you have time for 30 minutes instead of 2 hours, fuck people who insist that you are wrong for preferring to have a life.

[Obamanaut]

139. You are right of course. It is fat genes. (turns head, smiles)

Now go back and read the entire article that you provided a link to - here it is http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6977423.stm especially the last part about excuses. Remember, it is an article you provided.

When you see people brushing away donut crumbs using their dimple-knuckle fingers, say to yourself, "More fat genes at work."

Or, when you see thin people leaving/entering a gym, or running along a bike path, or walking rapidly from place to place, ask yourself "Why don't they have fat genes like the person with the donut crumbs?"

[eridani]

148. When you see fat people biking or walking, I'm sure you stop to sneer

According to you, they are failures by definition, who can't be doing it right, unlike the sneering ubermenschen. Skinny fingers brushing away donut crumbs are just fine, though.

[Obamanaut]

149. On the contrary, when there is a heavy person walking, biking, etc.

they are encouraged and/or applauded. They are doing something. They are not bemoaning the fate of the overweight, afflicted with terminal fat gene, from a computer with words to the effect that there is no hope, that they have "the gene", that they will never be thin, that they cannot lose the extra pounds they carry. They probably have a piece of fruit in their basket or knapsack for a snack rather than a bag of chips. They are working toward a goal. They might well be working toward that goal for years, but they are working.

Good for them.

And now, I bid you good bye. Have a nice day.

[eridani]

153. What planet are you from anyway?

Any fat person exercising in public is an instant abuse target, especially women. Men can be so damned smug sometimes.

[Obamanaut]

154. OK, check this out. It is a link to a recumbent bicycle that is much

more comfortable to ride than an upright with the miserable seat. http://www.easyracers.com/08-ez_1_sx.htm

I have one like this, and we have the trike version of the same thing that I attach a trailer to and haul the trash away (we have no curbside pickup in my county, but have central collection sites.)

The seat is comfortable. I've seen large people on similar models made by other mfgrs., and it is possible to ride one for quite a distance without undue stress or fatigue.

The homepage to the link shows other models along the left margin under 'bikes we make' and 'bikes we design.'

I have no financial interest in this or any other bicycle mfgr, dealer, or outlet.

[eridani]

155. I've tried them. They don't deal with the hilly terrain of Seattle very well

Seats are great.

You still are ignoring the public harassment that fat people get, and that you are facilitating despite not directly engaging in it.

[Obamanaut]

156. Actually, delta and tadpole recumbent trikes work extremely well

on hilly terrain because one can go so slow on them without a balance problem. But I guess you are right. Blame it on the hills, genes, metabolism, or whatever the excuse du jour is. Then go back to the source you cited and see if you can find the words "diet and exercise" hidden in the text.

edited to add this: There must be some interest in bicycle riding in hilly terrain Seattle, I googled "bicycle seattle" - shops, clubs, group rides are available.

Results 1 - 10 of about 683,000 for bicycle seattle wa

another edit to add: Results 1 - 10 of about 9,860 for recumbent bicycle seattle washington

There are even articles on people commuting 17 miles to work on bicycles - in hilly terrain Seattle

[eridani]

157. I feel way safer on a regular bike, and hills are less work.

What kind of bike you ride means exactly jackshit in reducing public abuse.

[Obamanaut]

163. Well, it's important to do less work when trying to reduce. I totally

give up. Enjoy your excuse-laden life.

Oh by the way, the beginning sentence in the subject is sarcasm.

[eridani]

170. Trying to reduce is useless bullshit. I'm trying to be active and healthy

If it results in weight loss, fine. If not, that's also fine.

[Egalitariat]

140. Have genetics changed that much over the last 30 years as compared to the rest of history?

nm

[joshcryer]

152. Are you obese?

Because justifying BS with BS is BS.

[Obamanaut]

158. Yes, they think they've found a fat gene, and people will use this

information as the excuse du jour to justify their girth.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6977423.stm

<snip>Dr David Haslam, clinical director of the National Obesity Forum, warned that it could take many years to develop genetic treatments for obesity.

In the meantime, he said, the only way to tackle the problem effectively was to encourage people to eat healthily and take exercise.

"I don't want patients coming to me saying: 'It's not what I eat, it's all in my genes'," he said.

"Don't give my patients another excuse to be victims."<snip>

So, folks who use the gene as their excuse will bemoan their poor lot in life, complain to the world about the verbal abuse heaped upon them, talk about the hilly terrain keeping them off bicycles or that they feel safer on a different kind of bicycle (it's gonna hurt if a car hits you or you fall down regardless of the non-enclosed vehicle you are riding), and on and on.

If you eat a donut, and you have metabolism issues, then of course you will need to work harder to keep the fat off than a person who does not have the same issues. That's life. Deal with it. Ignore the donut tray.

[pecwae]

160. A 'risk' of obesity,

not a 'guarantee'.

[flvegan]

7. I can't even bring myself to address this shit.

[auntAgonist]

10. ..

:thumbsup:

:popcorn:

[Scout]

18. like pounding your head on a wall, isn't it?

i have been working out with a personal trainer, and after i don't know how long of workouts and cardio i asked him when was i going to start burning the fat i had? he said i wasn't eating enough, and that cutting calories made my body protect the fat it had. once i started eating breakfast, dinner and several snacks/small meals in between then i started losing weight.

so i KNOW that people aren't fat just because they eat too much.

[flvegan]

22. As a trainer

I can tell you that he's absolutely right (as you've obviously experienced), and that's the first conversation I have with anyone that I work with. It's not just about getting on a machine and burning calories, it's about metabolism. More constant "grazing" of meals over the day keeps the body burning that fuel. One may have to cut calories if they're eating far too many, but it's just not that simple depending on their current diet.

People may be overweight for a number of reasons. Could be medical, genetic, metabolic, etc.

[JI7]

36. but isn't that because people tend to eat more if they are starving

throughout the day and not eating. if they ate the same number of calories as if they would spread out in several meals throughout the day it wouldn't make much difference .

[flvegan]

39. Erm, no.

Metabolism slows if the body is starved for a few hours between meals. Then you've got issues with insulin spikes, etc.

Energy levels are kept higher and hunger is better kept at bay by eating your calories spread out over several meals a day as well.

[Scout]

108. that's how our ancestors ate....

the "hunter-gatherers" would be more correctly called gatherer-hunters.

yes, they ate meat, but it wasn't necessarily daily. they got most of their calories from gathering, and they ate as they traveled about during their day. find food, eat some and take some with you ... find something else later and do the same.

when i graze throughout the day, i don't get those spells of just absolutely crushing tiredness--literally impossible to stay awake at my desk and work.

[nadinbrzezinski]

111. Me too, it is amazing.

I graze... and something else, after I fell in Mexico City, my body needed extra calories

I ate, and ate, and ate and ate... and if I kept a food diary, easily 1000 calories extra, for three days... then back to my normal

[Chulanowa]

43. It's not eating "too much" so much as eating unhealthily

If you gorge yourself on unprocessed foods that digest easily, you could be said to be "eating too much" but still not gain weight off of it. Do the same thing with the foods found in "wealthy" nations, which are quite processed and contain lots of salts, fats, and an overabundance of calories, and you'll become a Hutt in no time.

Your trainer is definitely right - Dieting AND exercise together don't get much results. Dieting without a serious overhaul in your patterns would be rather effective, as would exercise with steady caloric intake. Putting them both together makes your body hit famine mode.

[stoll]

48. Well said

Coming from a personal trainer, that is absolutely correct. I have been telling clients that for years and they always look at me as if I was crazy.

[flvegan]

52. Welcome to DU!

[LostinVA]

28. TRIPLEDOGDARE YOU

Hey -- have a private session with the Crossfit guy this week, before I take the group class.

[NashVegas]

143. Can You Address the Other Elephant In the Room?

ie, computer usage?

[Lex]

11. I started tracking my calories each day and it was a big surprise.

I don't think people have any idea how many calories add up over the day.

[sonic926]

13. tracking calories

I agree. At my job there's always pot lunches, or some type of lunch being brought in. People are eating this stuff all day, and then go home to eat dinner.

[cbc5g]

12. Another factor is the overprescription of anti-depressants

I've seen people that exercise more than most and still not lose fat or weight because they were on those drugs. Those drugs are meant to be on for a few months to overcome a serious issue, not many years. Sadly my mother cannot lose weight at all even though doing intense training because she is dependent on those drugs.

[puppyface]

14. I agree

I agree

[uppityperson]

17. Hi

first post

[Liberal_in_LA]

30. welcome to DU!

:fistbump:

A new agreeable DUer!

[brunhilde]

164. Ugh.

Why do you need people to agree with you?:puke:

[Bluebear]

15. Sweet! No more diets for me, then! nt

[nadinbrzezinski]

19. Ah yes diets don't work

and the industry will finally fail

Now the question is how do we deal with this? There is genetics in this, as well as processed foods and all that crap

The usual eat less, exercise more is not the ONLY response.

Oh I forgot, INTUITIVE EATING...

Hell we saw it yesterday

We went to watch star trek... we only had a drink... but people all around us eating crap, because that is tradition, not hunger

[GKirk]

79. "The usual eat less, exercise more is not the ONLY response."

It may not be the only response but it is the best one. One thing abut exercise besides the calories that you burn while doing it is that you aren't eating while you are doing it. So in that regard doing something that takes you away from the routine of running to the refrigerator will save you from ingesting unneeded calories.

[nadinbrzezinski]

90. And we are finding out that it is far more complex than that

Current study locally at local medical center involves Pavlov and teens.

Lets just say we are finding out that this eat less, do more exercise is not just enough. Sorry, been following this for years, and had my share of struggles.

All who say that this is the main answer have not followed this. Suffice it to say Leptein is also involved, and I will leave it at that.

Hopefully the preaching will end once our puritan society realizes that it ain't that simple.

[FarCenter]

21. I think that heating and air conditioning play a big role

Metabolism increases quite a bit to either heat the body in the cold or to cool it in the heat.

Spending more time outdoors is helpful. Let the room temperature go down to 65 in the winter and into the 90s in the summer. Avoid using the car air conditioner unless it is really unbearable.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

63. Boy, you don't live in Texas, do you????

Going outside in the summer in Texas can be a death sentence. I once got heat exhaustion playing racquetball in an air conditioned gym (probably 80 degrees) and had to go to the Emergency Room to be treated.

Actually, right now, 2nd week of may, it's getting hotter and hotter. It hit 92 today with 90% humidity, and it's just now getting unbearable in the afternoon.

It doesn't cool off until the middle of November, if you're lucky. In June, July, August and September, it might be 90 degrees in the middle of the night and unbearably humid. It doesn't cool off at night b/c it's humid.

I grew up in an un-airconditioned house and I refuse to put up with that kind of torment anymore.

So I keep it at 72 year round.

If you don't like it, tough.

[Mike 03]

25. I think it's bad idea to suggest exercise has no role in weight loss.

It's true that, numerically, if you are trying to lose weight your priority would be to cut calories, but there are so many advantages to execise, including raising metabolism, building muscle and ultimately burning more calories (not to mention mood, cardiovascular conditioning, cutting cancer risk, lipid profile improvement) that I'm a little surprised to see a headline like this.

In particular, weight lifting has practical benefit when it comes to weight loss, because muscle burns more calories.

[Skittles]

29. very bad indeed

people need to spend more time exercising than they do eating, for sure

[eridani]

70. It's a bad idea to suggest that weighing less removes you from the "obese" category

The typical effect of exercise and healthier eating for fat people is that they become healthier and weigh less. Here's a clue-- 300lbs - 50 lbs = 250 lbs = STILL FAT.

[Obamanaut]

83. And at 250 lbs if still fat continue with exercises and healthier

eating. The example has removed 50 lbs, continue on. Or, throw hands up in despair moaning "I've reached my new set point where my body intuitively wants to be. Give me a donut."

If still fat, keep on working.

[eridani]

103. Don't be stupid. Continuing with the program won't result in more weight loss for most

In fact, you have to continue on if you want to maintain the new setpoint.

[Obamanaut]

110. Don't be stupid. If one loses 50 lbs with diet and exercise, one can

lose more by continuation of said diet and exercise. The exercise may need to be increased, and the caloric intake decreased (250 lbs takes fewer calories to maintain than 300.)

Embracing a magical "set point" as a panacea is the way rotund folks justify remaining rotund, usually while bemoaning their fate of having fat genes, bad metabolism, blue hair (or whatever excuse comes to mind) to keep from exercising self control and discipline - mainly discipline.

That, and a membership in donuts-r-us.

[nadinbrzezinski]

112. Try doing some readying on set points

granted, you are right insofar as 250 for a 5.1 woman is not a setpoint, but you have no clue if you think a set point might be higher than lets say, a 5.1 who has been naturally thin all her life. Hell from the genetics we now know due to those pesky genes, that set point might be ten to twenty pounds higher than "normal" no matter what you do.

You may be able to program a new set point in a limited way, but it will take years, at times decades, got it?

[eridani]

118. What horseshit. That's like saying that staying indoors will inevitably make your skin lighter

I know someone who has been able to give up insulin by exercising from 350 lbs to 250 lbs. She doesn't have time to exercies more than she already is, and eating less would just make it impossible for her to stay active. What she does not need is insecure shitstains calling her a failurs.

[Obamanaut]

121. Works for mushrooms, and they get larger too. nt

[Obamanaut]

122. self delete. duplicate post

[GliderGuider]

26. Our diets include a LOT more high glycemic index carbohydrates than they used to.

As a society, our insulin/glucagon metabolism is all fucked up as a result. The problem isn't just just too many calories, though that's a part of it. The source of the calories matters, and that has shifted dramatically over the last 50 years.

[LeftyMom]

53. Define "used to"?

I collect old cookbooks. 50's cookbooks are FULL of white flour, potatoes, refined everything. Ditto 60's, 70's, that doesn't even START to change in any significant way until the 80's, and even then it's only a minor shift outside of health food books. And in every one of those eras, Americans were a hell of a lot thinner than they are now.

There are a lot more products to be found with minimally refined/unrefined starches than there were. Even if you were health-minded, healthier breads, pastas, etc were hard to find and generally incredibly nasty tasting if you managed. Now there's a lot of unrefined stuff, it's good, and people eat it. But people are fatter than they've ever been.

It's overly simplistic to blame refined carbohydrates.

[alarimer]

55. Portion size may be a factor, especially in restaurants.

One dish I had was enough for three meals, just a couple of weeks. It was probably an entire box of pasta. And it's like that everywhere. I am not a member of the clean plate club; I will leave a lot or take it home. But I think a lot of people feel like they don't get their money's worth if they don't eat it all.

[LeftyMom]

56. Plus people eat out so much more often now.

I think that's part of it. At home there's less incentive to get a huge portion in because you paid for it, and you can't really maintain that level of denial about the nutritional content of your food if you made it yourself.

[eridani]

71. Don't see how this is relevant. What are "people bags" for, anyway?

I did some bike touring in Northern Europe in the 90s and found their restaurant meals to be huge. I suspect this was because it wasn't possible to save what you didn't eat and take it home. We learned to be much more careful about asking about portion sizes.

[GliderGuider]

76. Do cookbooks reflect daily diets?

Much has changed in our eating habits and the contents of the foods we consume in the past 40 years. The infiltration of sugar into just about everything we eat, the rise of snack foods as staples and the common use of soft drinks as the beverage of choice have all conspired to increase the amount of carbs in our daily diets. For an in-depth look at this story I always recommend Gary Taubes' book Good Calories, Bad Calories.

[AllieB]

94. You're absolutely right about sugar-it's in EVERYTHING.

Even at Whole Foods, if you read the labels, you'll see ingredients like 'cane juice' and 'raw sugar'. Your body doesn't care if it's HFCS, table sugar, or the frou-frou Whole Foods stuff. Carbohydrates drive insulin which drives fat accumulation.

You're also correct that cookbooks really reflected what was eaten at 'Sunday Dinner' in post-war America. Most people didn't eat the amount of carbs in those cookbooks.

And 'Good Calories Bad Calories' is a great book. :-)

[marshall]

31. I would like to see Congressman Nadler take on this issue

As a formerly Obese-American he can go far in explaining the pitfalls of this trend, and he can speak from experience about how to deal with it and come out successful.

[Lex]

35. he had gastric bypass surgery

as I recall

[marshall]

38. Gastric Bypass is going to be as common as a root canal in a few years

If he keeps the weight off he will have to have adjusted his eating habits. With so many people needing gastric bypass surgery (and at younger and younger ages) Nadler can be the voice of experience.

[eridani]

72. Maybe not. It has an unacceptably high level of complications and death n/t

[mwooldri]

120. Gastric bypass isn't for everyone.

My wife really wanted one (she was at one point 350 lbs) but we were both frightened about the risks. However she learned about the stomach band (sometimes known as Lap Band) which goes around the stomach and can be made tighter or looser by injecting saline into the band through an access port near the sternum. She lost 100lbs this way so far ...

[Mari333]

32. ...

:popcorn:

[LostinVA]

34. That better not be BUTTERED popcorn in this thread, Missy!

[Mari333]

37. *Mmmphfffgggg gug* *bUaRp* nt

[Recursion]

114. "Butter" has nothing to do with the bright-yellow hydrogenated muck that gets put on popcorn

Actual butter on movie popcorn would leave us all a lot better off.

[Vickers]

40. I've lost about 26 pounds over the last 4 months.

It wasn't one single thing that I did, but a "tweaking" of several things.

1. Portion control. Figure out what you want to eat (or snack), put it in a bowl, and put the package away. I try to limit between-meal snacks to 100 calories or so, and try to keep it healthy.

2. Regular meals, but spaced out (for instance, having a sandwich for a meal? Split it in half and eat one half then the other half 1.5 hours later).

3. Eating better. At least one bowl of steel-cut oats per day.

4. Drinking a LOT more water, up to about a gallon a day.

5. Walking. Started at 1.5 miles per day, up to 5.5 miles per day (or at least 4 times per week), and looking to add some other exercises.

6. Lay off the beer.

I still have about 15-20 pounds to go.

My point is, you have to look at ALL aspects of your health, tweak the ones you can, and stick with it.

[Mike 03]

42. Congratulations, that is awesome work!

Good luck with those last few pounds.

I'm sure you'll achieve your goal; you sound very motivated, and your plan is so well conceived.

[Vickers]

45. Thanks Mike.

I have about the least amount of willpower of anyone on earth, but if I write something down and have clear goals I can (generally) adhere to them.

It wasn't enough for me to vaguely say "Hey, I need to lose some weight" it was more like "I need to lose 20 pounds in the next 3 months, and then a total of 40 pounds by the end of the year."

I also have several interim goals that I've set, which gives me a sense of accomplishment every few months.

Again, thank you...encouragement from my family, friends and colleagues has helped a LOT.

[Mike 03]

91. You are awesome, and you inspire me too. Thank you. NT

[LeftyMom]

57. You lost me at #6.

:P

[Contrary1]

59. Congrats! That has been my approach the last six months also.

I bought a pedometer. The first few days with, I just monitored my normal day. It ended up around 3,000 steps a day. Yikes! Now, I make sure I put a minimum of 10,000 steps on it a day. That's a bit over 3 1/2 miles for me.

I eat 5 times a day, and try to keep my caloric intake no higher than 1,300. I keep a food journal. I have lost roughly 38 pounds in 6 months. I am halfway there, and I'm not about to give up.

I haven't touched a morsel of fast food in over 6 months. I have lost my taste for pizza, pasta, cheese. So when we do go out, it is very easy to order something that is decent. I usually take more than half of the humongous serving home, and get 2 additional meals from it.

My blood pressure and diabetes meds have been cut in half. I have more energy than I have had in several years, and I do not spend sleepless nights tossing and turning any more. I can barely sit still long enough to watch the few programs on TV that I actually enjoy.

My doctor told me that my genetics do play a role in my tendency to be overweight. I've been dealt the hand; it's up to me how to play it.

From here on out, I refuse to be breathless when I walk up a flight of steps. I will no longer eat until I'm full. I do not want to become either of my parents who died from heart related issues.

My advice to anyone who cares to read it: It becomes much harder to get back in shape as one gets older. I know what I am talking about here. Don't waste another day waiting for "tomorrow" to start.

[Vickers]

92. Way to go!

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

I think the main thing is to have some sort of plan...some ground rules, and ACHIEVABLE goals. Keeping a diary has been good for me (mine is mainly the physical part).

And if you ARE measuring anything, be it weight or waist size, ONLY DO IT ONCE A WEEK!!!

[Missy Vixen]

47. I know it makes those of you feel so morally superior when you post these threads

After all, the fatties don't deserve to live, do they?

It's unfortunate that some of you have nothing better to do with your time than celebrate because you won the fucking genetic lottery.

Whether or not you want to accept it, genetics plays a large role in weight. There's also been a study whose evidence was announced during the past six months: There is actually a virus unique to the bodies of those who are obese as well. I'm sure the pharmaceutical industry will seize on this ASAP - after all, they can get in on the $33 billion per year diet industry profits. We have no idea what food additives, stress, or pollution do to the human body. One thing I do know, though -- human bodies come in all shapes and sizes. I also know that those who are fat will do just about anything to be thin and "acceptable", up to and including submitting to a surgery that has a 1 in 200 mortality rate.

Weight, and overweight, are a complicated issue. There is no easy answer. When you continue to expose your prejudice and your ignorance on this issue, you show yourselves to be exactly what you are: BIGOTS.

The bullying and shaming must be really good for some of you. It makes you feel powerful, doesn't it? After all, you continue it in the face of the realization that you hurt and malign people you don't know and have never seen IRL. I'd be interested to see how some of you would treat some of us if you had to come out from behind your keyboard and face us.

[anonymous171]

54. There is a difference between being fat and being obese. nt

[Missy Vixen]

58. And your point is?

Can't wait for you to enlighten me.

[RandomKoolzip]

62. Bullying? Shaming? Feh. Whatever.

Look, i used to be over 300 pounds, and I hated myself and my image and my inability to meet anyone of the opposite sex who wasn't appalled by my weight. I was also sick of feeling like utter shit all the time: out of breath, tired, cranky, bitter, envious of more attractive people. I finally got sick of it, and started eating better and working out. In January of 2006 I was 260 lbs.; in December of 2006, I had lost about 80 lbs. Three years later, I still work out all the time to maintain my weight (about 190 now), and i LOVE IT. There's nothin' better than getting outside on a nice spring day and running around my neighborhood for an hour, or going to the local gym and pounding weights with some Fugazi or a sweet Zappa bootleg cranking on my iPod. I live for that hour!

So, NO, I didn't win the "fucking genetic lottery," whatever the fuck that means. I was a fat motherfucker, and I did the hard work to become healthy. And it WAS hard work, believe me. VERY hard work. There were days when i said "FUCK IT!" But i refused to give up completely. Now, the hard work has become fun work, something I look forward to everyday. And it all came down to two simple rules: eat less and exercise more.

Now, i KNOW no one likes to hear that, but it's honestly the only thing that works if you want to lose weight. If there is such a thing as a "fat gene", I had it. I dieted and worked out for three months a before I began losing even the tiniest amount of weight. BUT I KEPT DOING IT UNTIL IT HAPPENED. If it takes longer for someone to lose weight because of some biological factor, then that's unfortunate, but that's how it is and you'll have to work through it like I did.

The people on this thread suggesting and promoting good health and lifestyle habits shouldn't be maligned as "bullies" (yeah, right!) just because they're giving practical advice. Nobody here wants to shame or bully anyone else - if your disproportionately defensive response is any indication, i think this thread may have hit a personal nerve. However, I doubt anyone's intention was to enter this thread to make fun of or humiliate overweight people.

And if you think that THIS post is bullying, then god help ya. :eyes:

[Skittles]

73. good job, RKZ

lots of friends and coworkers talk to me about exercise because they know I exercise an hour every day - when they start and become discouraged because they're not losing tons of weight I tell them not to tie themselves to that scale - the benefits of exercise go way beyond the scale - I tell them, it's good for your heart, lungs, bones!! Keep at it! Those that do find the same thing you found - that not only do they start losing weight, just the benefit of FEELING better makes them want to keep at it and yes, eventually they look forward to that workout. :thumbsup:

I do feel for Miss Vixen though because I hear where she is coming from; it's very hard and very frustrating that some people only see fat on a person and not the person inside - it's a very ugly bigotry indeed. :thumbsdown:

[eridani]

74. Health promoting habits don't lead to "ideal" weights

And yes, it is bullying to insist that they should. If I stay out of the sun, my skin gets a lot lighter. Lots of people stay pretty dark no matter how much time they spend indoors. The difference between me and them is not that they are doing it wrong.

[Obamanaut]

80. Not bullying, but rather real life the way it is. Good for you! nt

[eShirl]

75. who are you talking to?

what bullying? what shaming?

p.s. I am an obese person reading through most of this thread and wasn't offended by anything

[LostinVA]

106. I'm wondering that, too

I see "Ignored" was a jerk, but that's it.

on edit: I would also like to see a link to this "virus" study.

[LostinVA]

86. I didn't win the genetic lottery -- I hhve to work very, very hard not to get overweight

And, it gets harder the older I get.

[Missy Vixen]

98. So, the rest of us are sitting on our asses? n/t

[LostinVA]

104. Because that's exactly what I said -- not

And, you know it. You just want to fight with people and act liek everyone's attacking you and insulting you, when they are not. I'm not playing anymore.

[Vickers]

101. I don't feel superior, but I do feel better.

:thumbsup:

FTR, "big bones" run in my family.

[Obamanaut]

123. Usually, on one of these diet discussion threads, the subject line

gives the topic away. One wonders why anyone offended by such a discussion would click to open it rather than press the hide button.

[backscatter712]

60. IME, exercise does help with diet.

If you sit around and are mostly sedentary, you'll want to eat more - the cravings will kick in.

If you exercise, you'll have an easier time sticking to a diet.

That's my experience anyways. I find that cravings aren't so rough if I exert myself, even a little.

But yeah, it's diet that's the primary factor. Assuming you have a normal metabolism and you don't have medical conditions like a bad thyroid messing with you, your weight is determined in a large part by how many calories you consume.

I recommend the Hacker's Diet - it's a computer-geek/engineer's take on the human body, dieting and how to control your weight. It literally has worked for me. While I've never gotten to the point where I've become really obese, I've become somewhat overweight in the past, and I've used the advice of the Hacker's Diet to keep my weight under control.

http://www.fourmilab.ch/hackdiet/www/hackdiet.html

[Manifestor_of_Light]

64. 27 million Americans have a thyroid problem.

Many of them are undiagnosed. So don't say that metabolic problems are rare.

17 million Americans have what I have, Hashimoto's disease which is an autoimmune disorder.
There are lots of autoimmune disorders that cause weight gain. One I am familiar with is polycystic ovary syndrome, which a friend of mine has. Autoimmune disorders are quite common in the American population and the tendency to them is hereditary (thanks Mom.....). :eyes:

My mother got Hashimoto's disease when she was eleven or twelve years old; I got it at the same age.

An idiot doctor once took me OFF of Armour thyroid extract and after about five years, I almost died. I finally found a doc who would put me back on it. All my life I've been called lazy, slow and fat.

Doctors do NOT want to give patients enough thyroid to relieve their symptoms. This is common all over the world. They want people to take Synthroid, and not Armour, which works better for many people.

I was of normal weight in high school but have gradually put on weight over the years.

I also got harassed for being a picky eater and "Not eating enough to keep a bird alive". I have learned to eat several times a day to control my blood sugar.

I came home from school and crashed for three hours every afternoon, and slept till noon on weekends. Teenagers are supposed to have more energy than that. I was on thyroid but I was not taking enough, just enough to function and be tired all the time.

:wtf:

I need to put in a swimming pool to get exercise, or join the Y, because it's too damned hot in Texas to go for a walk most of the year. I did not have access to a pool growing up, as well as not having air conditioning. There are many states where it's too hot and humid in the summer to exercise.


A good website about thyroid disease and patients: www.stopthethyroidmadness.com

[Hannah Bell]

68. The causality on polycystic ovary syndrome is the reverse; if you're heavy, you're more prone to it.

If you lose weight, symptoms decrease or disappear, though some thin women get pcos too.

Insulin resistance & high circulating levels of insulin appear to be causal. The most typical cause of insulin resistance = excess weight/low activity.

Losing weight/increasing activity/bariatic surgery resulting in weight reduction/diabetes drugs which improve insulin sensitivity have shown high effectiveness in treatment.

autoimmune disease is the body attacking itself. there's no evidence of this in pcos to my knowledge.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

85. Let me tell you about the friend with PCOS.

She had a gastric bypass and could not keep food down. She was starving to death and had to have the bypass reversed. When I saw her last she was about 300 lbs.

[Hannah Bell]

99. i don't know your friend or her case. i just know pcos isn't autoimmune.

if you believe it's the case, tell me which tissues & cells the body is destroying in pcos.

[Mari333]

82. hey I have Hasimotos too

had a goiter when I was 12, then, it kicked in again when I was 45. been on synthroid ever since.
I am proper weight, but I knew it kicked in when I started to gain weight fast. once I got the synthroid I lost it all.
plays havoc with ones metabolism.
thanks for the link

[Tx4obama]

69. It's sitting on our arses and eating badly....

When I got married in 1983 I weighted 99 pounds.
I became a stay at home person and gained tons of weight - up to 175 pounds!
Got divorced and stopped eating all junk food and lost tons of weight - down to 100 pounds!
Stayed at home again and gained weight - up to 170 pounds!
Went to Italy and stopped eating junk food and BUTTER walked a lot each day and got skinny again - down to 100 pounds again!
Came back to the states and BUTTER was back in the diet - sat around on the computer a lot and got fat again.

The reason people are fat is because of BUTTER and COMPUTERS !!! That's my story and I'm stickin' to it ;)

[Obamanaut]

77. Some say that the body "knows intuitively" what its own "set point"

is. Rarely will this thinking lead to a healthy percentage of body fat vs muscle.

edit for apostrophe

[JonLP24]

78. I'm pretty much the same no matter what I do

Working out 2x a day, 5 days a week I could barely put on muscle or weight. Now that it's been a year since I left the Army I hardly ever excersize and don't care at all what I eat I haven't gain more then 5 pounds and I still have the same muscle tone. It isn't simple, I know people in the Army that go on long distance runs and excersize sometimes more then most people and they are still overweight. Those who say diet and excersize is a simple solution isn't aware of the truth. I've known people that woke up at 3am and go for runs in an attempts to make weight before height and weight measurements so they don't get flagged(no chance for promotion or reinlistment) still don't make weight. I've seen it over and over again overweight people that work out more then I did and watched their food intake still did not make height and weight measurements while I stayed a consistently 5'9 160 lb give or take my entire adult life no matter what I did.

It wasn't until I started a Creatine diet that I gained any serious muscle.

[noamnety]

81. The obvious solution:

continue using our tax dollars to pay farmers to produce more high fructose corn syrup.

Why the f*** we are paying for that is beyond me. It's great and all that the Obamas have a vegetable garden at the white house - but let's face it, stopping that subsidy would do a hell of a lot more good for Americans. I really don't think our problem was that our president wasn't being a good role model.

[L0oniX]

84. Imperfect ...must sterilize.

[bemildred]

89. Stupidity, not lack of information, is the cause of these studies. nt

[BlooInBloo]

93. Bzzt! In DU-world, there's absolutely nothing that obese people can do to lose weight...

And anyone suggesting that it's remotely within obese people's ability to control, moderate, or choose what to eat and how much energy to expend are fat-haters, or something like that.

You have to learn that obesity is always a genetic condition, and that obese people are really the most powerless people on the planet.

[GliderGuider]

95. Obesity isn't a genetic condition, it's a metabolic condition

The problem is that the recommended ways to tackle it (exercise and calorie reduction) just don't work very well. Read Gary Taubes' book, and weep for our overweight society -- we are dying from an overdose of ideology and a deficit of metabolic knowledge, thanks to the AMA, NHLBI et. al.

[oxygen destroyer]

96. Yes, isn't it funny how people who refuse to take control of their eating...

refuse to take control of their eating?

:think:

[Obamanaut]

132. Yes. And it is also amazing how people will site various resources

that will allow them to continue with their bad eating habits saying words to the effect that it is their "fat genes", or "ancestry", or their "set point is higher than it was", or similar.

Then they will type responses telling that diet and exercise don't work.

[Sparkly]

97. Clearly, this is a hot topic.

Listen, there are asshats in all shapes, sizes, and stripes. Not all non-obese people are being judgmental jerks in discussing the topic, and I don't believe obese people are merely making excuses for things that are in their control.

I don't think anyone *really* knows what combinations of factors are involved. I've seen it suggested that it's about calories taken in and burned off, period, and thus completely behavioral; or that it's about muscle tissue, metabolism, genetics, thyroids, viruses, toxins, etc. In other words, nobody knows. It's probably not the same for all people, and it's not fully understood.

For what it's worth, I am a thin person, but I've had major body-image issues I still deal with to some extent. (In other words, thin people aren't all happy and confident!) I am aware that there is real discrimination against obese and even just overweight people that isn't readily addressed.

People talk about my genetics, and that may be a big part of it. But my family also had an unusual sense of what a "serving" is, compared with most people. I couldn't believe other kids could eat a whole sandwich -- we got half sandwiches for lunch and that seemed like a lot. Visitors literally thought that a piece of meat on a plate was theirs, not to be cut up for the whole family. I remember being so painfully hungry for dinner, I pleaded for a bite of anything at all, and the answer was "no" -- we eat at 5:30, and no snacks or you'll "ruin your appetite." Not a bite of a carrot stick -- nothing. Everything was "balanced." I pleaded for Twinkies (is was also a fashion thing, and in fact the kids with new clothes got them daily in their lunchboxes - I was so jealous!).

Looking back, it wasn't so normal in any sense of the word. It might be something my parents learned from their (thin to normal) parents, or it might be something weird about them. In any case, the one theory that would make sense in relation to this is the idea that weight in adulthood has to do with the number of fat cells acquired in childhood. (Is this still considered a viable theory?) That is, we acquire a certain number of fat cells beyond which, at a certain age, we can't gain any more of the cells, but those we have can grow and shrink to some extent. God knows my parents must have produced a limited number of fat cells in us, and while my sisters and I have different bone structures, none of us gains much weight. It would explain why other people can diet and exercise and still not lose as much weight as they want to.

In any case, I have plenty of weirdness about appetites, food, body image, control, etc. -- maybe I am a flip side of the coin. I'm much healthier about it all now than I ever was before, physically and mentally. I realize I don't suffer the discrimination that obese people face, but I am sensitive to it. I think if it were possible to go from obesity to size 2, it'd be happening all the time. It's definitely more than behavioral, and it's certainly NOT a "moral" or "character" issue. People don't "choose" it.

I just think it's too easy to make assumptions and "absolutes." We want to make things nice and simple, even when all evidence shows it isn't.

[JonLP24]

107. This is the best post

You even covered things not previously mentioned such as 'toxins' that I learned about in the past day. It is not a simple, cut, and dry solution. Me, I can pretty much live how I want and I stay a 155-165 lbs. Meanwhile people in the Army, paticularly older worked out and excersized much more then I did and were overweight, many of them worked out rigourously to BARELY make weight. On the flip side there were people in the 40's in great shape that ran like Cheetahs. You're right, it is not easily understood as I didn't understand it. If it was diet and excersize then I should either be fat or overweight as I haven't done any serious excersizing over a year ago and I never pay attention to my diet other then water to avoid dehydration.

[Recursion]

113. Speaking English makes you fat

Find any evil food and you'll find countries that eat more of it than the US and the UK; we still have higher levels of overweight than those countries.

Speaking English makes you fat.

[otohara]

115. It's True -

I can no longer exercise due to this sucky post-polio - but I watch what I eat very closely. Fresh whole foods, smaller portions - no soda pop, juices or fast food for 15 years. Drink lots of water.

Weight is maintained easily.

[pipi_k]

116. Wrong!

At least partly.

I've been largely inactive for a few years (for physical reasons) and tried changing my diet but it didn't work.

At the end of March I became mom to a pair of ten month old German Shepherd puppies. They keep me hopping from 7 AM to 11 PM each and every day. I move because I have to.

Last night one of my stepdaughters said that it looked like I had lost weight since last time she visited.

My diet is pretty much the same. It's the increased activity that did it.

[cwydro]

117. Yes.

I am very active as far as being a regular runner and bicyclist.

But for about 3 years I had a very sedentary job and I gained weight despite my regular running. I figured part of it was because of getting older.

Though I have never been what anyone would consider fat, I hated that extra 15 to 20 pounds.

When I quit that job and got my present job, which is EXTREMELY active, I immediately dropped almost 20 pounds. Exercise makes a difference. You can't convince me otherwise.

[killbotfactory]

119. Our over-processed food is packed with sugar and fat

And sold to us in large portions.

It's cheaper to do that than to use quality ingredients.

[flvegan]

126. I knew knew knew this thread wouldn't disappoint.

[dustbunnie]

128. After reading DU for a number of years, I've come to the conclusion -

that most people don't understand what true morbid obesity is. Many slightly or middle-sized overweight people get defensive when it really isn't about them at all and that's why these threads escalate. It's dysmorphic disorder. When it comes up in conversation people are usually disgusting towards skinny people and make comments that amount to: thinness is all about some mental dificiency. Try saying the same to a person who can barely walk, has diabetes, no muscle tone, and is basically a tv-ad, mesmerized, corpie-addicted "yes I must eat another burger-plastic thing cause it's good value" 400 pound idiot who drinks gallons of pepsi and self-medicates with junk food. That's personal choice apparently. :)

[jeanmarc]

133. It's almost all about diet, exercise is far behind on controlling weight

Go to a gym and check out the calories per hour you are burning off when you run on a treadmill. You have to run for a long time to burn off that piece of pie you ate earlier. It's not even a close contest.

Lower your calorie intake, and that is far easier and wiser than trying the same calorie loss through exercise. Of course doing both is a wise thing, but it's about diet primarily.

[Vickers]

134. But they are all tied together. For instance, when I'm exercising it

would be next to impossible for me to be eating ice cream.

:P

Plus, exercising seems to lower my snack urges, and increase my water urges.

[JNelson6563]

136. I disagree

The most overweight folks I know not only eat very large amounts of food, they don't move much. Of course the more weight they gain the harder it gets to move so then they move even less. Vicious cycle.

Guess I'm lucky I'm too poor to overeat.

Julie

[TwilightGardener]

141. Stop eating so damn much. The heavy people I'm related to all suffer from

"Hand-To-Mouth" disease. They eat, all day long, whether they're hungry or not. In fact, they really believe they ARE hungry, when they've probably never had a truly empty stomach in years--don't even know what it feels like. All they know is, if it's 8 am, they're hungry. If it's snack time, they're hungry. If it's noon, they're hungry. If the McDonald's Drive Thru is calling, they're hungry. I mean, it's been, like--what? Three or four hours since they last ate? They're FAMISHED! Light-headed! Then they end up diabetic and have bad joints and can't move around and eat some more to make themselves feel better--vicious cycle. I suffer from Hand-To-Mouth sometimes, too, so I know of which I speak. Only cure is to PUT DOWN THE SECOND PORK CHOP. DON'T EAT THE COOKIE. DON'T SUPERSIZE. Learn what TRUE hunger feels like, don't eat out of habit, or because the clock says it's lunch, or because it's simply there. Pick the right foods. And move your ass.

[Scout]

142. geem my personal trainer, who is in great shape, eats at the MINIMUM

every three hours ... and has advised me to do the same.

i love these fat threads, because i can learn which ignorant posters to put on ignore, so i don't have to bother with their uneducated bullshit.

[TwilightGardener]

144. Yes, it's ignorant to suggest that people stop eating so much. That's clearly

counterintuitive. What people should do is EAT MORE, all day long, non-stop, because we're all personal trainers who spend our days in the gym. Talk about ignorant.

[Scout]

146. you obviously don't have a clue about this

because no one has said EAT MORE all day long non-stop except for you....

my trainer doesn't work out all day himself ... duh ... he's training other people.

i had been working out and not losing weight because ... wait for it ... i was not eating enough! when you cut calories, your body guards its fat more closely. once i started eating enough, then my metabolism began to burn the stored fat.

yes, i'm talking about ignorant :eyes:

[nadinbrzezinski]

150. Actually humans are designed to graze

not overeat

And CDE (Certified Diabetic Educators) also advise their patients to have five to six small meals a day

They're also ignorant or have a clue you obviously missing?

I will gladly clue you in... it has to do with insulin response

Now this means SMALL meals... this may be a fruit, a yogurt, half a slice of bread with some cheese...

You dig

[Obamanaut]

147. I usually eat about every three hours also, and I am not a trainer.

I am 66, 200 lbs, lifted weights since teen years (I use only dumbbells and an ez curl bar now), ride bicycle, and work in the yard.

Eating small portions every three hours (approx) works well for most people, even us non-trainers. Almost never feel hungry, am not embarassed to be seen in public wearing a tee shirt - multiple small meals works, but most people won't try it.

I've read that this is also good for diabetics.

[nadinbrzezinski]

151. Yep, diabetic educators recommend it due to the

insulin response

[pink-o]

145. All these studies just obscure the obvious:

In order to lose weight, you have to burn more calories than you take in.

Simple. Sorry, not sexy, not pretty, just true.


However...

I truly believe processed foods, regardless of the calorie count, should be kept to a minimum. They have other harmful properties, and are highly addictive so you don't really know how much you're eating.

And most Americans, who drive one block to the grocery store, who drive across the parking lot in the mall to another store, who stand on an escalator that's GOING DOWN fergodssake, don't realize how little exercise they're actually getting. How many of us go to Europe, then come back and kvetch about how much we had to walk? They have staircases in a lot of Metro stations--stairs one actually has to climb.

Americans don't have a realistic idea of how much they're eating and how little exercise they're getting. It's far easier to cite a study about genetics or a fad diet or just blame the luck of the draw. But the only way to succeed is to do the hard work: consume fewer calories, cut down on processed foods and step up your exercise. It may take longer than you think, but if you keep at it, it'll do the trick.

[Tripmann]

161. Further to a post upthread,

Eating small amounts more often does promote weight loss and energy levels. I was on an eating plan where I ate 5 meals a day spaced a few hours apart each. Was never hungry and maintained good overall energy levels and mood.

It is safe enough to say that in the VAST majority of cases, burning more calories than you take in will result in weight loss. The important thing to remember is not to take in too few calories as this will put your body into a starvation like mode where your metabolism slows, you feel crap, and are no longer in a calorific defecit i.e. losing weight.

For most overweight people, aim for around -500 calories of your daily requirement. This equates to only 1 pound loss per week, but you'll lose it in a maintainable manner and your body will not switch down to its 'economy' mode.

[Obamanaut]

162. Nah. See post 93. Here people don't want to hear any of that.

There will be one excuse after another why their destiny is intermingled with and even controlled by fat genes.

One poster cited a work that said there is a fat gene. But the poster did not include the part at the end of the article that said diet and exercise are necessary, and not go to the author of the article with fat gene as an excuse.

These diet threads are always a hoot.

[brunhilde]

165. Let's face it: couch potatoes who drive 4 blocks to the nearest Taco Bell

don't have a glandular issue!:rofl:

[hedgehog]

167. Wouldn't it be a hoot, if sometime in the next 20 years, some

researcher proves that either a common rhino virus and/or exposure to environmental contaminants (Petro-chemicals, I'm looking at you) alters the metabolic set-point in certain people so their normal weight is well above what we consider acceptable?

From what I've read, it is very hard to make people gain weight, it is very hard to make people lose weight. This seems independent of calories, type of calories and levels of physical activities. The one fact that everyone agrees on is that if someone loses weight, the overwhelming result is that within two years they end up weighing more than what they did before losing weight. In other words, the one sure way to put weight on is to attempt a reducing diet!

[mamaleah]

168. Not sure about all that

I used to walk a out 3 miles every morning. When I stopped (due to a busier schedule and to just plain laziness) I packed on about 25lbs in a few months.

So I saw I had a choice: switch to very low calorie/fat free/sugar free/OMGITSSOBORINGKILLME diet, or re-invigorate my exercise ethics.

I am back to walking my 3 miles a morning. It's starting to show again too!

[mainer]

169. I really disagree.

All I did was add 2 miles of walking a day, and I lost 14 pounds, without changing my food intake one bit. And I drink, too!