Obesity, is it really an illness or a lifestyle choice?

[MC Bodge]

It has been written repeatedly, but lifestyle factors must have a far greater effect than "genetics".

If you are lean, fit and healthy, then there is the natural tendency to think that everybody else should be like that too....

Personally, I can and do eat a lot at a sitting, but rein it in more nowadays, and I don't eat snacks. Most of my colleagues in the office would enthusiastically chomp the cakes and biscuits that were brought in regularly for "special occasions".

I enjoy physical activity, can cope with discomfort and I couldn't imagine being obese -the thought of it horrifies me. Being healthy, fit and capable is just a part of my own life and I hope to maintain it through to old age.

It has always appeared to me like getting out of debt: The best way to do it is not to get into debt or obesity in the first place.

Getting out of obesity must be very difficult as your whole life/lifestyle mindset has resulted in the weight gain.


Interestingly, over the past few weeks, for the first time, a few friends have commented on my fitness (I'm nothing special, just lean and conditioned from a wide range of regular moderate strength and endurance training and sport/activity over a long period. I enjoy it. And don't snack) and/or asked for suggestions about improving their own. In our mid 40s, the difference between those are are "fit" and those who are not becomes increasingly apparent.

Edited by MC Bodge on Saturday 19th June 11:37

[Mr Whippy]

Magnum 475 said:

BBC article suggested that there were genetic issues that can cause this. One leading to a tendency to store fat, and one leading to an almost constant feeling of hunger.

I may have one of these, as I almost always feel hungry. Even after eating a three course meal, I want more.

But, I have this strange thing called, wait for it . . . . self control. I know when I've eaten enough calories and need to stop eating. Yes, it takes some effort. Yes, some days I eat more than I should - so the following day or days I'll force myself to do at 18-hour fast. I've made the 18-hour fast a regular feature, it now happens at least twice a week. It hasn't lessened the feeling of being hungry, but I have a BMI around 23, which ain't bad for 50 years old.

So, is obesity a disease? No. It's a lack of self-control / self-discipline, and using genetics as an excuse. Use of will power and common sense is all that's needed.

We all store fat. We turn sugar bounties into fat to store to burn later.
That’s great 10,000+ years ago.

But when we get sugar and carb bounties as regular meals it breaks the way our bodies work and we just store tons of fat.

So storing fat is a good thing. It’s not a genetic defect.
It may have a sliding scale, and some people might store more, but if you do just eat less sugar and refined carbs.



On self control. Fat and protein make you feel full. You won’t eat a block of lard and want to eat more.
Sugars or refined carbs that trigger an addictive response (again good when you gorge on a bounty of it to store as fat to burn later) is fine.

The problem is most ‘staple’ foods these days are just junk.
A lot of carbs, often refined, no real quality protein, and low in fat, so your body doesn’t feel satiated, and actually ends up wanting more, moreish... by design, by the food makers, and cheap, and gaming the “health” indicators. A “healthy” food can be not very healthy for you.


Anyone who buys whole foods to cook with would struggle to get fat because you have to eat so much to get your calories, your body is saying ‘full’ before you get there.
You’d have to be really determined, stupid, and have lots of money, to over-eat whole foods and end up as fat as many people you see rolling around.

[VR99]

Obesity could be linked to either llness and/or lifestyle. Genetics certainly plays a role in terms of how easily or not so easily we store fat and where the fat accumulates but lifestyle factors can obviously help to offset the genes influence...as in eat less crap, don't consume excess calories and regular exercise.

The reality is that some will need to train harder and have a cleaner diet than others to maintain a healthy weight...no point dwelling on it, we each get dealt a different hand in life. By trial and error we can figure be what works and doesn't work.

I've been fat, skinny fat, muscular with some fat and then just 'fat' again at different points in my life. My diet and lifestyle choices were terrible when I was young and that continued well into teens, uni and early working life....it definitely impacted on my dietary discipline as an adult...it's much much harder (IME) to permanently change ingrained bad dietary habits but can be done gradually. I find.work stress impacts both my diet choices and training.frequency..when doing long hours I have less time to make healthy options and likely the increased cortisol directs me.to bad food choices. But we all can and have to make choices and sacrifices if we are serious about losing weight (excess fat to be precise).

[How u doing]

MC Bodge said:

Interestingly, over the past few weeks, for the first time, a few friends have commented on my fitness (I'm nothing special, just lean and conditioned from a wide range of regular moderate strength and endurance training and sport/activity over a long period. I enjoy it. And don't snack) and/or asked for suggestions about improving their own. In our mid 40s, the difference between those are are "fit" and those who are not becomes increasingly apparent.

Edited by MC Bodge on Saturday 19th June 11:37

Worst 'I am considerably svelter than yow' post....... Ever.

[sjabrown]

Re the original title it is neither really.

Obesity is probably more a societal choice.

Exercising more to lose weight is very very difficult. Being mindful of calorie intake is a little less difficult.

Refined carbs are a huge issue: pizza - to many here it is a meal, to some it is a meal but with chips too. In Italy it is more a fast food. What is the tasty bit of pizza? The topping. The base is filler - filler to hold the topping and filler which adds girth. Same for pasta dishes in this country. And curries (rice = filler we don't need). And chips, bread/toast, biscuits. All dead nutritionally empty calories.

Eating patterns: having a snack is normalised. Coffees no longer as just instant coffee and hot water, but are coffee with milk or cream and often added sweets.

Biscuits are eaten by the packet.

Muffins are bloody huge and filled with sugar.

I could go on and on.

[MC Bodge]

How u doing said:

Worst 'I am considerably svelter than yow' post....... Ever.

Not really.

It just confirms what we all know:
A healthy diet, not too much food and a range of movement and exercise makes a big difference.

If somebody is in the habit of doing those things of their own accord from a young age it makes it easier. To suddenly introduce them must be difficult.

Edited by MC Bodge on Saturday 19th June 21:53

[GT911]

The human body was designed 100,000 yers ago to live through feast and famine.
The only food you actually require for survival is water, protein, fibre, nutrients and a certain amount of fat.
Carbs are totally unnecessary for survival and, 100,000 years ago, would have been absent from our diet for months on end.
Filling yourself up with refined carbs daily and then adding in lots of fat, plus copious amount of alcohol, the outcome is inevitable.
Trying to out-exercise this is usually futile, the only long term solution to address cravings is to reduce blood sugar spikes.
This can be done with slow release of glucose into the blood by regular intake of protein throughout the day.
Counting calories is only part of the picture, it's simply not the case that 100 calories of sugar gives the same result as 100 calories of chicken.
What proportion of the population are even aware of these things?

[glazbagun]

Drawweight said:

austinsmirk said:

Ok here’s a thought, perhaps for older people.

Why were there no fat kids at school when we were little ? I genuinely remember just one fat lad: Gary in my year of 120 kids. 4 x 30 kid/classes. That’s in the early 80’s. Can’t even remember one on the 70’s.

I take my daughters to school now and there are morbidly obese primary school kids.

Wtf ?

My childhood was the late 50's - 60's and nobody we knew was fat.

I have pics of me that look like I'd just come out of Auschwitz.

I was fed home cooked food, lots of fruit and I was outdoors from dawn till dusk.

That's the simplistic answer as to why I wasn't fat. There may be deeper reasons why the generations are getting fatter and fatter but I can only go by my experience.

There were fat people in my school (90's), but very few. I was out a lot, but still a computer game zombie. But I lunched on deep fried pizza, Irn Bru and penny sweets so I do wonder what has to happen for teens to be as fat as some I see.

I think something the "just eat less, fatty!" types are missing is that if you've grown up on a high volume diet, your stomach, etc, have likely grown to the extent where "normal" amounts of food might not seem enough to your less rational body.

I've been skinny most of my life, but struggle to eat 1500 calories/day unless I throw a weekend burger with full fat coke or something in. When I had a PT a few years back, eating enough was way harder than anything I did in the gym! Conversely, being hungry doesn't really bother me much, I can happily procrastinate over eating if I'm reading a good book or if someone is wrong on the internet.

If fat people are the opposite to me then that could get out of hand quickly!

[AW111]

An aunt of mine was obese.

She lived on low-fat meals (weight watchers), and there was no sugar, biscuits or sweets in the house unless she was having visitors.

She also worked full time and then some.


So yes, some people do have a genetic disposition.
Not everyone who is fat does, but some do.

I had the reverse - I ate whatever I felt like, did no exersize, and was skinny as a rake until well into my fourties.

So according to some of the idiots posting here, I am virtuous and she was lazy, despite her putting a lot more effort into losing weight than me.

[grumbledoak]

AW111 said:

An aunt of mine was obese.

She lived on low-fat meals (weight watchers), and there was no sugar, biscuits or sweets in the house unless she was having visitors.

She also worked full time and then some.


So yes, some people do have a genetic disposition.
Not everyone who is fat does, but some do.

I had the reverse - I ate whatever I felt like, did no exersize, and was skinny as a rake until well into my fourties.

So according to some of the idiots posting here, I am virtuous and she was lazy, despite her putting a lot more effort into losing weight than me.

Were her grandparents obese? Those same genes.

You are not virtuous and she was not lazy. She was miseducated, malnourished, and overeating.

The whole "low fat" campaign was designed to push people toward cheap, profitable, staples. By people who understood nutrition better than your aunt. These foods are low in nutrients that your body needs. You cannot fight the hunger forever, so you have to overeat to get the nutrients, and then you cannot work off that excess energy.

Sadly, when the cure causes the disease then you've got repeat customers.

[Ayahuasca]

It is a lifestyle choice. Nobody is forcing fat people to stuff their faces with crisps.

Obesity should be viewed like drink driving and smoking. Things that are unhealthy and are now socially unacceptable.

[GT911]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Are you worried I’m encouraging more people to eat chicken dinners…

[AW111]

grumbledoak said:

Were her grandparents obese? Those same genes.

You are not virtuous and she was not lazy. She was miseducated, malnourished, and overeating.

The whole "low fat" campaign was designed to push people toward cheap, profitable, staples. By people who understood nutrition better than your aunt. These foods are low in nutrients that your body needs. You cannot fight the hunger forever, so you have to overeat to get the nutrients, and then you cannot work off that excess energy.

Sadly, when the cure causes the disease then you've got repeat customers.

Thanks for that - someone you know nothing about except what I just posted was "miseducated, malnourished, and overeating".

And "people who understood nutrition better than your aunt".

You arrogant ##%$&#-.


Give your head a wobble, and do try and think before posting, if you can.

[sevensfun]

AW111 said:

Thanks for that - someone you know nothing about except what I just posted was "miseducated, malnourished, and overeating".

And "people who understood nutrition better than your aunt".

You arrogant ##%$&#-.


Give your head a wobble, and do try and think before posting, if you can.

She ate too much


Simple

[grumbledoak]

Ayahuasca said:

It is a lifestyle choice. Nobody is forcing fat people to stuff their faces with crisps.

Obesity should be viewed like drink driving and smoking. Things that are unhealthy and are now socially unacceptable.

You have misunderstood the cause and are blaming the victims.

It's not the crisps making them fat. It's this

[Ziplobb]

Defintely a lifestyle choice for a significant number here on the Isle of Wight. The number of fat kids and trog mums is alarming. My shop where I spend 5 days a week is situated within 100 yards of McDonalds, Dominos and a chippy. I see on a daily basis the custom these establishments attract. Also the sheer number of deliveries by Uber etc leaving ? Dominos is delivering their st pizza from mid day onwards everyday who is consuming it ? MaccysDs starts early with cars parked along the street delivering uniformed fat kids for breakfast before school. Interestingly there is a ‘vegan’ cafe between me and Maccys. Opens early - casual observation but the customers that go in there are not suffering from fat.

The other day i saw a fat uber eats driver get in his car outside my shop and drive off up the one way. I was off out to a backstreet that runs parallel with where we were. I had walked no more than 500 yards and he had gone round the block to deliver a Maccys to a house in the street that runs behind. Absolutely unbelievable.

[APontus]

There are going to be a small number of people with conditions that make weight gain more likely. For the majority it's an over supply of calories.

[MC Bodge]

AW111 said:

An aunt of mine was obese.

She lived on low-fat meals (weight watchers), and there was no sugar, biscuits or sweets in the house unless she was having visitors.

She also worked full time and then some.


So yes, some people do have a genetic disposition.
Not everyone who is fat does, but some do.

I had the reverse - I ate whatever I felt like, did no exersize, and was skinny as a rake until well into my fourties.

So according to some of the idiots posting here, I am virtuous and she was lazy, despite her putting a lot more effort into losing weight than me.

I didn't know your aunt, but we can't, at this sort of level, as far as we know, contravene the laws of thermodynamics.

"Low fat" weight watchers meals aren't necessarily a good thing anyway.

[smn159]

MC Bodge said:

AW111 said:

An aunt of mine was obese.

She lived on low-fat meals (weight watchers), and there was no sugar, biscuits or sweets in the house unless she was having visitors.

She also worked full time and then some.


So yes, some people do have a genetic disposition.
Not everyone who is fat does, but some do.

I had the reverse - I ate whatever I felt like, did no exersize, and was skinny as a rake until well into my fourties.

So according to some of the idiots posting here, I am virtuous and she was lazy, despite her putting a lot more effort into losing weight than me.

I didn't know your aunt, but we can't, at this sort of level, as far as we know, contravene the laws of thermodynamics.

"Low fat" weight watchers meals aren't necessarily a good thing anyway.

It's hard to think of a worse diet than heavily processed ready meals, even if they do say 'low fat' on the lid.

[APontus]

Low fat often = Ton of sugar.