Obesity, is it really an illness or a lifestyle choice?
Discussion
To me it’s about WHY you’re overweight,
Is it due to having some kind of unhealthy relationship with food where it’s a substitute for affection or something or is it due to education and not eating nutritional things so you’re always hungry or is it due to some kind of physical disorder or imbalance.
None of those particularly look like lifestyle choices?
Obviously some people are fat because they just like food and drink and are really happy with it. Then it’s obviously a life style choice.
Is it due to having some kind of unhealthy relationship with food where it’s a substitute for affection or something or is it due to education and not eating nutritional things so you’re always hungry or is it due to some kind of physical disorder or imbalance.
None of those particularly look like lifestyle choices?
Obviously some people are fat because they just like food and drink and are really happy with it. Then it’s obviously a life style choice.
FNG said:
Lord.Vader said:
Genes may contribute but fatties are fat because they eat more than they burn.
We should fat shame it’s disgusting, people are quick enough to remark when someone is ‘thin’ and the fashion industry bans models who have a BMI (yes I know it’s not infallible) that regards them as underweight yet being overweight is deemed acceptable.
No one walked out of any POW camp fat, POWs in Europe had a 98%-99% survival rate.
There has been an increase in obese people due to our access to quick / easy junk food, a reduction in physical / manual jobs and an increase in commuting via car.
The ‘fat’ genes haven’t just appeared overnight yet nowadays it’s every lazy fekkers excuse.
Stop eating so much and you won’t be as fat it really is that simple.
Ok so let’s accept for a moment that it’s that simple. We should fat shame it’s disgusting, people are quick enough to remark when someone is ‘thin’ and the fashion industry bans models who have a BMI (yes I know it’s not infallible) that regards them as underweight yet being overweight is deemed acceptable.
No one walked out of any POW camp fat, POWs in Europe had a 98%-99% survival rate.
There has been an increase in obese people due to our access to quick / easy junk food, a reduction in physical / manual jobs and an increase in commuting via car.
The ‘fat’ genes haven’t just appeared overnight yet nowadays it’s every lazy fekkers excuse.
Stop eating so much and you won’t be as fat it really is that simple.
Aside from fat shaming, which isn’t going to help those great many people whose emotional crutch is food and which is very often the source of the problem, what do you propose we do about it?
Ok, so shaming people for being too thin is acceptable but being fat is ‘body positive’.
Smoking, drinking and gambling all have age limits, yet you can eat yourself into morbid obesity at any age, would a parent give their 7 year old 20 fags and 12 pints? you’d hope not. Yet takeaway junk and fizzy drinks every day of the week, nothing is said.
You need to introduce the same social stigma to junk food and being overweight as smoking / alcoholism, it’ll take time but at one point no one knew the dangers of, or at least ignored, smoking.
ETA, I stand by my original point, it IS simple.
Do not lift your hand to your mouth whilst it has food in it and you won’t get fat.
Comparing eating 20 chicken nuggets a day to playing golf at a professional level is moronic, one takes decades of practise, physical training, mental strength, etc.
The other takes £4 and at least one working arm.
If you eat more than you burn off you will gain weight, that ‘weight’ will be stored, the body’s medium for storing energy is … fat.
Stop making excuses, stop beating around the topic, it’s because if that attitude we have ended up as a nation where around 1/3 of the population is overweight to obese.
Edited by Lord.Vader on Thursday 17th June 14:18
kambites said:
otolith said:
Yeah that looks about what I'd expect. Look how few black dots there are to the right of the 25BMI point which fall below the 25% body-fat line. I'd say judging by that graph that around 99% of people with a BMI above 25 have a body-fat percentage above 25. FNG said:
ChocolateFrog said:
FNG said:
popeyewhite said:
FNG said:
TwigtheWonderkid said:
eldar said:
BBC article suggests it is genetic, biological
When the allies got to the concentration camps in 1945, it would strangely appear that none of those people had those genes or biology. I don't recall seeing a single person coming out of the camps with a big pot belly saying "been here for 3 years, worked like a slave for hardly any food, but I'm still 20st, I just can't shift it".They were all thin.
It’s easy to say “no fatties in Belsen were there” but it’s also uninformed.
Are you advocating fat camps then? Feed them gruel and/or force them to do star jumps?
On the subject of 'fat shaming', you only feel shame if an individual experiences an element of guilt at their overweight. I'd suggest a positive response would be making plans to get active, lose weight, enjoy life more as a fully mobile individual...rather than the negative response of self-pity and staying in an unhealthy condition.
Ultimately it is the individual's choice of course, but experts are undivided in that overweight is largely through personal choice, and overweight leads to all sorts of diseases and often early death.
Hand waving it away as merely a matter of personal choice will not help find solutions. There’s much more nuance to people’s relationship with food, their physiology, their mental health and their addictions if it comes to it, than saying be more disciplined.
I'm bigger than I ever have been at the moment, not really fat by societies standards but fat by mine.
I know exactly why and how it's happened and what I'd have to do to get rid of it.
Inclination and motivation are the reasons at the moment and I'm being a bit lazy.
I'm sure you could word it to sound more socially acceptable because I've got a young child, new job and lockdown restrictions have conspired to impact me mentally causing me to gain weight.
I’m in a similar position - time commitments and other issues meaning I eat and drink more than I work off. Don’t dispute it.
And yes lots of people are lazy or have given up on themselves.
But it remains more nuanced than the self discipline, just do exercise, don’t eat crap mantra that these threads keep circling back to.
Her example of going to uni and putting on 8 stone is a good example that people react differently to the same situations. Flip it on its head, I can remember quite a few people at uni going out drinking often, eating takeaways and not doing much exercise at all, yet staying skinny runts!
Not saying it is never down to the individual, but I bet it's more difficult to control that some here make it sound. I know people who are really trying hard, working out most days, tracking food macros (that's a pain!), yet struggle to get below 12st.
Not saying it is never down to the individual, but I bet it's more difficult to control that some here make it sound. I know people who are really trying hard, working out most days, tracking food macros (that's a pain!), yet struggle to get below 12st.
I think it is both a disease AND a lifestyle choice. Same as many, if not most diseases.
The sheer number afflicted would suggest it is not as easy to avoid as some other diseases.
If it was simple, there would not be billions made for donkeys years on dietary stuff and no 3am shopping for "fitness equipment".
The sheer number afflicted would suggest it is not as easy to avoid as some other diseases.
If it was simple, there would not be billions made for donkeys years on dietary stuff and no 3am shopping for "fitness equipment".
FNG said:
deckster said:
Lord.Vader said:
Stop eating so much and you won’t be as fat it really is that simple.
A lot of people are confusing "simple" with "easy".It is simple to lose weight: just eat less.
It is simple to get rich: just invest in the right stocks.
It is simple to play golf as well as Tiger Woods: just swing like he does.
Telling people that they are lazy, greedy, and they could lose weight if they just tried is entirely missing the point. If it were easy then there wouldn't be any fat people just like there wouldn't be any poor people or any bad golfers.
Now having said that I do happen to agree with the original premise of the thread. Overall, genetic factors are small and affect only a tiny minority of people. Society, lifestyle, and mental health pressures all have a much bigger effect.
I could stand to lose a couple of stone and indeed I have done so in the past, several times. But it's hard. It's hard to get the motivation to exercise. It's hard to ignore the fridge. It's hard to say "no" to mates who want to spend the afternoon in the pub.
Until we can have a mature discussion as to the causes of obesity, we aren't going to get anywhere. And whilst blaming your genes isn't going to work, nor will calling people lazy or disgusting.
At 5ft 10 and C.70kg I'm by no means heavy, but I do try and keep my eating in moderation, it's a constant thought process, sure I do treat myself but it's never on a daily basis. As much as I'd love a few pastries from my local bakery every day for breakfast I keep it to once a week!
Exercise is not easy, and motivation is difficult, I do some form of exercise each day as my ethos is that it's easier to maintain what I've got, rather than let it go and then to try and recover.
I'm fairly fit, but I do struggle with motivation, I pretty much force myself to do it. I can only imagine that being obese would require a lot more motivation and effort to exercise by comparison.
popeyewhite said:
FNG said:
But it remains more nuanced than the self discipline, just do exercise, don’t eat crap mantra that these threads keep circling back to.
Im afraid it doesn't really. Your brain rewards you with a dopamine hit when you eat foods that you like. Eventually if you don't eat the foods you'll crave the dopamine, so you eat. Dress it up how you want, but them's the facts.If you want to boil it down to that, fine, that's the basic issue. If you want to do something about it, it's far less simple.
Another poster above saying similar, it really is simple, just don't put the food in your mouth. That completely ignores the reasons people choose to put that food in their mouth even when they know what that food ultimately does to their body.
If you want to carry on with that very very simple summary, you're hand-waving away the issue. It's more nuanced than that, if it wasn't it would be much easier to do something about.
All the "we need to educate people, there aren't home economics classes any more" stuff also ignores the fact that largely people do know that fast food and processed food is bad, and fruit and veg is good - but there's a much larger reason why they still eat unhealthy food unhealthily and that needs to be addressed if we are to do anything about obesity.
I'm overweight, I think I'm actually obese by my BMI.
I make no excuses for myself, I'm over-weight because I consumed more calories than my body used for many years, be it beer or food.
I find it very hard to lose weight, that's just how my body works, to give you an example.
According to the NHS, to maintain my body weight I would need to consume around 3000 calories a day, whilst sitting on my arse watching TV at home, or banging away on the keyboard in work, but I don't.
I consume about 2000 calories a day, no weekly cheat day, no picking at the kids food, no "oh you don't count drinks", no "holiday calories don't count". I have two cheat days a year, my Birthday and Christmas. It was my Birthday yesterday, I had 2300 calories and felt pretty ill.
I'm in the Gym doing strength training Mon, Tues, Thurs. I ride my Bike Weds & Sat. Usually about 20km off-road, steep climbs etc, Weds ride is worth about 1500 cals, Sat about 2000 according to Strava so, in theory on Saturday I run about a 3000 calorie deficit.
I should, in theory being losing 2kgs+ a week, it should be falling off me. I'm doing well if I lose 0.5Kgs a week.
Despite my bulk I'm 'fit' RHR is 55ish, perfect blood pressure with a cuff, slightly raised ABPI on the right side, but better then the average man on the street at 43. I can't run for s
t (injuries)_but I can ride my bike for hours non-stop and aside from very steep climbs, I'm pretty quick too. I'm not hugely into heavy weights, not my thing, but I can squat 120Kgs (4 sets of 6) but don't take this as any sort of "My BMI is 34 because I look like Arnie in his prime" I'm all belly, bh tits and chins.
Some of my friends can't gain weight, eat whatever the hell they like, now what they like may be less than what I like, but they put zero effort into their diet and exercise because, well they don't have to. Some, like me, have to work at it, but mostly they have an easier time of it. A few took a good look at themselves at 40, saw the way the wind was blowing an dropped a couple of stone over a year. Me, I've been banging away at it for nearly 3 years, I'm getting there, but bloody hell it's hard work.
I occasionally get called a fat wker or something, it's an easy insult to throw I guess, it's usually from the safety of a moving car when I'm on my bike. FYI, it's not a 'motivator' for me, but if should they fall foul to an unhelpful red light, I guess it could lead to a punch on the nose, but I'm not much of a fighter.
I make no excuses for myself, I'm over-weight because I consumed more calories than my body used for many years, be it beer or food.
I find it very hard to lose weight, that's just how my body works, to give you an example.
According to the NHS, to maintain my body weight I would need to consume around 3000 calories a day, whilst sitting on my arse watching TV at home, or banging away on the keyboard in work, but I don't.
I consume about 2000 calories a day, no weekly cheat day, no picking at the kids food, no "oh you don't count drinks", no "holiday calories don't count". I have two cheat days a year, my Birthday and Christmas. It was my Birthday yesterday, I had 2300 calories and felt pretty ill.
I'm in the Gym doing strength training Mon, Tues, Thurs. I ride my Bike Weds & Sat. Usually about 20km off-road, steep climbs etc, Weds ride is worth about 1500 cals, Sat about 2000 according to Strava so, in theory on Saturday I run about a 3000 calorie deficit.
I should, in theory being losing 2kgs+ a week, it should be falling off me. I'm doing well if I lose 0.5Kgs a week.
Despite my bulk I'm 'fit' RHR is 55ish, perfect blood pressure with a cuff, slightly raised ABPI on the right side, but better then the average man on the street at 43. I can't run for s
t (injuries)_but I can ride my bike for hours non-stop and aside from very steep climbs, I'm pretty quick too. I'm not hugely into heavy weights, not my thing, but I can squat 120Kgs (4 sets of 6) but don't take this as any sort of "My BMI is 34 because I look like Arnie in his prime" I'm all belly, bh tits and chins.Some of my friends can't gain weight, eat whatever the hell they like, now what they like may be less than what I like, but they put zero effort into their diet and exercise because, well they don't have to. Some, like me, have to work at it, but mostly they have an easier time of it. A few took a good look at themselves at 40, saw the way the wind was blowing an dropped a couple of stone over a year. Me, I've been banging away at it for nearly 3 years, I'm getting there, but bloody hell it's hard work.
I occasionally get called a fat w
ker or something, it's an easy insult to throw I guess, it's usually from the safety of a moving car when I'm on my bike. FYI, it's not a 'motivator' for me, but if should they fall foul to an unhelpful red light, I guess it could lead to a punch on the nose, but I'm not much of a fighter. FNG said:
If you want to carry on with that very very simple summary, you're hand-waving away the issue. It's more nuanced than that, if it wasn't it would be much easier to do something about.
As I've said, it's fact. It may be a bit trite for someone like yourself looking for deeper answers, but there really aren't any..It's as simple or as complicated as the overweight person wants to make it. See also drug addiction, alcoholism etc. There may be mental health issues, people turn to food as a distraction/comfort, or something like dysmorphia. These might be helped through counselling and medication.FNG said:
All the "we need to educate people, there aren't home economics classes any more" stuff also ignores the fact that largely people do know that fast food and processed food is bad, and fruit and veg is good - but there's a much larger reason why they still eat unhealthy food unhealthily and that needs to be addressed if we are to do anything about obesity.
They enjoy them. There is nothing left to understand. Not sure why you're so keen to rob individuals of self determination/responsibility but you seem to be searching for some Holy Grail of cause of obesity, and it's been found.
Alex@POD said:
Her example of going to uni and putting on 8 stone is a good example that people react differently to the same situations. Flip it on its head, I can remember quite a few people at uni going out drinking often, eating takeaways and not doing much exercise at all, yet staying skinny runts!
Not saying it is never down to the individual, but I bet it's more difficult to control that some here make it sound. I know people who are really trying hard, working out most days, tracking food macros (that's a pain!), yet struggle to get below 12st.
Yep.Not saying it is never down to the individual, but I bet it's more difficult to control that some here make it sound. I know people who are really trying hard, working out most days, tracking food macros (that's a pain!), yet struggle to get below 12st.
My dad is like that. Never done proper exercise nor had to watch what he eats in his life. Slags off my spare tyre - I take after my mum's side of the family, although I stayed slim and fit til I got injured in my mid-30s and could no longer run, cycle or row.
Easy to criticise when you're lucky enough that you don't even know that it can be hard to stay thin, though.
P-Jay said:
I'm overweight, I think I'm actually obese by my BMI.
I make no excuses for myself, I'm over-weight because I consumed more calories than my body used for many years, be it beer or food.
I find it very hard to lose weight, that's just how my body works, to give you an example.
According to the NHS, to maintain my body weight I would need to consume around 3000 calories a day, whilst sitting on my arse watching TV at home, or banging away on the keyboard in work, but I don't.
I consume about 2000 calories a day, no weekly cheat day, no picking at the kids food, no "oh you don't count drinks", no "holiday calories don't count". I have two cheat days a year, my Birthday and Christmas. It was my Birthday yesterday, I had 2300 calories and felt pretty ill.
I'm in the Gym doing strength training Mon, Tues, Thurs. I ride my Bike Weds & Sat. Usually about 20km off-road, steep climbs etc, Weds ride is worth about 1500 cals, Sat about 2000 according to Strava so, in theory on Saturday I run about a 3000 calorie deficit.
I should, in theory being losing 2kgs+ a week, it should be falling off me. I'm doing well if I lose 0.5Kgs a week.
Despite my bulk I'm 'fit' RHR is 55ish, perfect blood pressure with a cuff, slightly raised ABPI on the right side, but better then the average man on the street at 43. I can't run for st (injuries)_but I can ride my bike for hours non-stop and aside from very steep climbs, I'm pretty quick too. I'm not hugely into heavy weights, not my thing, but I can squat 120Kgs (4 sets of 6) but don't take this as any sort of "My BMI is 34 because I look like Arnie in his prime" I'm all belly, bh tits and chins.
Some of my friends can't gain weight, eat whatever the hell they like, now what they like may be less than what I like, but they put zero effort into their diet and exercise because, well they don't have to. Some, like me, have to work at it, but mostly they have an easier time of it. A few took a good look at themselves at 40, saw the way the wind was blowing an dropped a couple of stone over a year. Me, I've been banging away at it for nearly 3 years, I'm getting there, but bloody hell it's hard work.
I occasionally get called a fat wker or something, it's an easy insult to throw I guess, it's usually from the safety of a moving car when I'm on my bike. FYI, it's not a 'motivator' for me, but if should they fall foul to an unhelpful red light, I guess it could lead to a punch on the nose, but I'm not much of a fighter.
So what do you think your body’s secret is then? You claim to be in a near constant calorie deficit for 3 years yet are still obese. I suspect your numbers are wrong somewhere - either you’re not being honest with yourself on intake or (likely) you’re not burning 3000kcals a day doing nothing. I make no excuses for myself, I'm over-weight because I consumed more calories than my body used for many years, be it beer or food.
I find it very hard to lose weight, that's just how my body works, to give you an example.
According to the NHS, to maintain my body weight I would need to consume around 3000 calories a day, whilst sitting on my arse watching TV at home, or banging away on the keyboard in work, but I don't.
I consume about 2000 calories a day, no weekly cheat day, no picking at the kids food, no "oh you don't count drinks", no "holiday calories don't count". I have two cheat days a year, my Birthday and Christmas. It was my Birthday yesterday, I had 2300 calories and felt pretty ill.
I'm in the Gym doing strength training Mon, Tues, Thurs. I ride my Bike Weds & Sat. Usually about 20km off-road, steep climbs etc, Weds ride is worth about 1500 cals, Sat about 2000 according to Strava so, in theory on Saturday I run about a 3000 calorie deficit.
I should, in theory being losing 2kgs+ a week, it should be falling off me. I'm doing well if I lose 0.5Kgs a week.
Despite my bulk I'm 'fit' RHR is 55ish, perfect blood pressure with a cuff, slightly raised ABPI on the right side, but better then the average man on the street at 43. I can't run for s
t (injuries)_but I can ride my bike for hours non-stop and aside from very steep climbs, I'm pretty quick too. I'm not hugely into heavy weights, not my thing, but I can squat 120Kgs (4 sets of 6) but don't take this as any sort of "My BMI is 34 because I look like Arnie in his prime" I'm all belly, bh tits and chins.Some of my friends can't gain weight, eat whatever the hell they like, now what they like may be less than what I like, but they put zero effort into their diet and exercise because, well they don't have to. Some, like me, have to work at it, but mostly they have an easier time of it. A few took a good look at themselves at 40, saw the way the wind was blowing an dropped a couple of stone over a year. Me, I've been banging away at it for nearly 3 years, I'm getting there, but bloody hell it's hard work.
I occasionally get called a fat w
ker or something, it's an easy insult to throw I guess, it's usually from the safety of a moving car when I'm on my bike. FYI, it's not a 'motivator' for me, but if should they fall foul to an unhelpful red light, I guess it could lead to a punch on the nose, but I'm not much of a fighter. popeyewhite said:
FNG said:
If you want to carry on with that very very simple summary, you're hand-waving away the issue. It's more nuanced than that, if it wasn't it would be much easier to do something about.
As I've said, it's fact. It may be a bit trite for someone like yourself looking for deeper answers, but there really aren't any..It's as simple or as complicated as the overweight person wants to make it. See also drug addiction, alcoholism etc. There may be mental health issues, people turn to food as a distraction/comfort, or something like dysmorphia. These might be helped through counselling and medication.popeyewhite said:
FNG said:
All the "we need to educate people, there aren't home economics classes any more" stuff also ignores the fact that largely people do know that fast food and processed food is bad, and fruit and veg is good - but there's a much larger reason why they still eat unhealthy food unhealthily and that needs to be addressed if we are to do anything about obesity.
They enjoy them. There is nothing left to understand. Not sure why you're so keen to rob individuals of self determination/responsibility but you seem to be searching for some Holy Grail of cause of obesity, and it's been found.
I've been very fit, from beanpole in my childhood and teens to mid-range BMI despite a large frame to obese according to BMI but with a six pack, and since injury I've put weight on for a number of reasons, some personal circumstance, some lack of discipline, some medical.
I know people who get a takeaway every night and never put weight on, and those who balloon; people who see food as tiresome but essential fuel who can and do eat exactly what they need to maintain their weight and it doesn't bother them in the slightest; people who just can't shift it no matter what they do or how little they eat; people who reach for the chocolate as soon as they break a fingernail; people who just love junk food so much they can't resist.
There's any number of reasons for obesity, it's such a thing these days because food and booze is cheap and available whilst hard manual labour is rare, which is why it's much more common. It's not "just don't eat crap", "you're responsible for what you put in the hole in your face", or any of the other trite s
te that comes out in these threads, largely from people who simply put just don't have a weight problem and don't get what it's like to have one.And with that, I don't think I can say any more. Some will get it.
As a self-confessed fat - there's no one, right answer.
Yes, there are genetics involved. Metabolism, genuine illness etc are all factors to being overweight, and being unable to lose it.
Addiction is a real thing, especially junk food. It doesn't tend to have the same response as alcohol or drug addictions.
But;
Being fat, and overweight is not healthy. No matter how much mainstream media try to glorify it. Being 5st overweight will result in health problems. Not necessarily in 1,2 or 3 years, but certainly in 10,20 or 30.
- there's no one, right answer. Yes, there are genetics involved. Metabolism, genuine illness etc are all factors to being overweight, and being unable to lose it.
Addiction is a real thing, especially junk food. It doesn't tend to have the same response as alcohol or drug addictions.
But;
Being fat, and overweight is not healthy. No matter how much mainstream media try to glorify it. Being 5st overweight will result in health problems. Not necessarily in 1,2 or 3 years, but certainly in 10,20 or 30.
A friend of mine who is carrying quite bit of weight made a few points when we talking about it a few months ago. She reckoned I was lucky because I am naturally slim. I am to an extent, but I can carry weight like everybody else. What I do is eat well, exercise and for over a year, have not had a drink. She seemed to think that for anyone not obese, it was just luck and genes, so the converse of what we are talking about above.
She made the point that she knew she ate too much. It was to an extent, a comfort to her. She also commented that eating is addictive - it releases endorphins and dopamine and other pleasant brain chemicals. she got a "hit".
Importantly, she faces her "addiction" everyday - she has to eat. She can't avoid food, unlike a smoker or drinker could avoid cigs and booze, food is absolutely necessary and she has a dysfunctional relationship with it.
She would love to lose weight, she has tried, but it is a spiral - she has little self worth because she is fat, tries to lose weight but fails, eats more, hates herself more and around we go.
Not everyone has the mental capacity to overcome their addiction. some will do it and loose half their bodyweight, just like some skinnies can do an ultra run or 200km bike ride for charity, but not every skinny can, just as not every fatty can.
The icing on the cake (sorry) was another colleague giving her lecture, when I know for a fact that colleague is caning at least one bottle of red everynight whereas fatty is teetotal.
FNG said:
Well that's a bit of progress in recognising there's more of an issue than telling people to eat less, at least.
I acknowledged medical/mental health issues in my first post (p2). 
FNG said:
I'm not keen to rob anyone of anything apart from their ignorance.
That could be ironic.I don't think you're approaching this from the correct perspective. You seem unable to grasp fundamental facts regarding physiology. It doesn't matter what the precursor to eating too much food is, the result will always be weight gain if the individual is sedentary enough. There is no use saying you know people who eat such and such every night and they remain a bean pole - the facts don't change and in the instance you describe they are either eating less than you imagine, the food is lower in calories than you imagine, or they are less sedentary than you imagine.
FNG said:
There's any number of reasons for obesity
No, there isn't. Sorry. Perhaps you mean there's any number of reasons that drive people to overeat?Badda said:
P-Jay said:
I'm overweight, I think I'm actually obese by my BMI.
I make no excuses for myself, I'm over-weight because I consumed more calories than my body used for many years, be it beer or food.
I find it very hard to lose weight, that's just how my body works, to give you an example.
According to the NHS, to maintain my body weight I would need to consume around 3000 calories a day, whilst sitting on my arse watching TV at home, or banging away on the keyboard in work, but I don't.
I consume about 2000 calories a day, no weekly cheat day, no picking at the kids food, no "oh you don't count drinks", no "holiday calories don't count". I have two cheat days a year, my Birthday and Christmas. It was my Birthday yesterday, I had 2300 calories and felt pretty ill.
I'm in the Gym doing strength training Mon, Tues, Thurs. I ride my Bike Weds & Sat. Usually about 20km off-road, steep climbs etc, Weds ride is worth about 1500 cals, Sat about 2000 according to Strava so, in theory on Saturday I run about a 3000 calorie deficit.
I should, in theory being losing 2kgs+ a week, it should be falling off me. I'm doing well if I lose 0.5Kgs a week.
Despite my bulk I'm 'fit' RHR is 55ish, perfect blood pressure with a cuff, slightly raised ABPI on the right side, but better then the average man on the street at 43. I can't run for st (injuries)_but I can ride my bike for hours non-stop and aside from very steep climbs, I'm pretty quick too. I'm not hugely into heavy weights, not my thing, but I can squat 120Kgs (4 sets of 6) but don't take this as any sort of "My BMI is 34 because I look like Arnie in his prime" I'm all belly, bh tits and chins.
Some of my friends can't gain weight, eat whatever the hell they like, now what they like may be less than what I like, but they put zero effort into their diet and exercise because, well they don't have to. Some, like me, have to work at it, but mostly they have an easier time of it. A few took a good look at themselves at 40, saw the way the wind was blowing an dropped a couple of stone over a year. Me, I've been banging away at it for nearly 3 years, I'm getting there, but bloody hell it's hard work.
I occasionally get called a fat wker or something, it's an easy insult to throw I guess, it's usually from the safety of a moving car when I'm on my bike. FYI, it's not a 'motivator' for me, but if should they fall foul to an unhelpful red light, I guess it could lead to a punch on the nose, but I'm not much of a fighter.
So what do you think your body’s secret is then? You claim to be in a near constant calorie deficit for 3 years yet are still obese. I suspect your numbers are wrong somewhere - either you’re not being honest with yourself on intake or (likely) you’re not burning 3000kcals a day doing nothing. I make no excuses for myself, I'm over-weight because I consumed more calories than my body used for many years, be it beer or food.
I find it very hard to lose weight, that's just how my body works, to give you an example.
According to the NHS, to maintain my body weight I would need to consume around 3000 calories a day, whilst sitting on my arse watching TV at home, or banging away on the keyboard in work, but I don't.
I consume about 2000 calories a day, no weekly cheat day, no picking at the kids food, no "oh you don't count drinks", no "holiday calories don't count". I have two cheat days a year, my Birthday and Christmas. It was my Birthday yesterday, I had 2300 calories and felt pretty ill.
I'm in the Gym doing strength training Mon, Tues, Thurs. I ride my Bike Weds & Sat. Usually about 20km off-road, steep climbs etc, Weds ride is worth about 1500 cals, Sat about 2000 according to Strava so, in theory on Saturday I run about a 3000 calorie deficit.
I should, in theory being losing 2kgs+ a week, it should be falling off me. I'm doing well if I lose 0.5Kgs a week.
Despite my bulk I'm 'fit' RHR is 55ish, perfect blood pressure with a cuff, slightly raised ABPI on the right side, but better then the average man on the street at 43. I can't run for s
t (injuries)_but I can ride my bike for hours non-stop and aside from very steep climbs, I'm pretty quick too. I'm not hugely into heavy weights, not my thing, but I can squat 120Kgs (4 sets of 6) but don't take this as any sort of "My BMI is 34 because I look like Arnie in his prime" I'm all belly, bh tits and chins.Some of my friends can't gain weight, eat whatever the hell they like, now what they like may be less than what I like, but they put zero effort into their diet and exercise because, well they don't have to. Some, like me, have to work at it, but mostly they have an easier time of it. A few took a good look at themselves at 40, saw the way the wind was blowing an dropped a couple of stone over a year. Me, I've been banging away at it for nearly 3 years, I'm getting there, but bloody hell it's hard work.
I occasionally get called a fat w
ker or something, it's an easy insult to throw I guess, it's usually from the safety of a moving car when I'm on my bike. FYI, it's not a 'motivator' for me, but if should they fall foul to an unhelpful red light, I guess it could lead to a punch on the nose, but I'm not much of a fighter. I've had blood tests from tge GP, fitness tests by the PT. My body seems to be frustratingly efficient, I tried cutting down to 1500 cals a day, but I'd get dizzy spells and feel faint, or just be trying to fall asleep a lot.
I should be clear, I weigh 25Kgs less than I used to, but it's slow, hard progress.
popeyewhite said:
FNG said:
Well that's a bit of progress in recognising there's more of an issue than telling people to eat less, at least.
I acknowledged medical/mental health issues in my first post (p2). FNG said:
I'm not keen to rob anyone of anything apart from their ignorance.
That could be ironic.I don't think you're approaching this from the correct perspective. You seem unable to grasp fundamental facts regarding physiology. It doesn't matter what the precursor to eating too much food is, the result will always be weight gain if the individual is sedentary enough. There is no use saying you know people who eat such and such every night and they remain a bean pole - the facts don't change and in the instance you describe they are either eating less than you imagine, the food is lower in calories than you imagine, or they are less sedentary than you imagine.
FNG said:
There's any number of reasons for obesity
No, there isn't. Sorry. Perhaps you mean there's any number of reasons that drive people to overeat?FNG said:
TwigtheWonderkid said:
eldar said:
BBC article suggests it is genetic, biological
When the allies got to the concentration camps in 1945, it would strangely appear that none of those people had those genes or biology. I don't recall seeing a single person coming out of the camps with a big pot belly saying "been here for 3 years, worked like a slave for hardly any food, but I'm still 20st, I just can't shift it".They were all thin.
It’s easy to say “no fatties in Belsen were there” but it’s also uninformed.
Are you advocating fat camps then? Feed them gruel and/or force them to do star jumps?
I've struggled with being a fatty for a couple of decades. Recent I've massively reduced my alcohol content, cut out snacks, and eat more healthy meals
In the past month I've lost a stone, and I aim to lose 2 more. No forced exercise or gruel needed.
Being fat is a choice.
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