Taking responsibility for obesity

Lumen1505

Pardon the pun but its like the elephant in the room. I kind of wish someone had said something to me, but then again I cant imagine saying something to someone else for fear of upsetting them etc. I think that while it is our own responsibility it is also the health care providers responsibility to highlight the dangers in a factual way - perhaps taking the emotion out of it.

almc170

Great article, thanks for sharing!

bellesouth18

I read it last night. Great article with some eye-opening information. Thanks for posting it.

littlepinkhearts

loved the article!! thanks for posting

edited to add my favourite part...... "This depends on your definition of hunger. Eating is not a purely rational, biological act. I can give you a diet that will keep you full all day and make you lose weight, but it won’t be very entertaining: it will be mainly made up of watery vegetables like cabbage and celery, egg whites and very lean meat. The pain of abstinence, of unmet desire, is something quite separate from the pain of an empty stomach. The pleasures of eating are complex and multifaceted. In our society, consumption is a form of entertainment and pleasure. Eating is part of this: from the theatre of a meal at a fine-dining establishment to a bag of chips augmenting the television-viewing experience. Most people do not overeat because of a feeling of hunger emanating from the stomach; they are giving in to a desire to consume – they are seeking pleasure or relief, or hoping to fill a void."

nrvo

Great article!

lcfairbairn74

Fantastic read. Thanks for sharing it!

nikilis

bump for more readers

jennontheroad

Obviously I think that there is a problem with being super morbidly obese (the other writes of those at 200- 300 kg), and morbidly obese.
And, I understand vanity as much as the next person- I want to build muscle, lose weight and/or maintain my healthy weight to look good.
However, I do think that those people who fall under the overweight and possibly even obese BMI categories would do well to learn some self-love and learn and practice healthy habits- healthy cooking, moving and exercising. Weight loss can be secondary to achieving health.
That is to say- in my opinion being overweight does not necessarily equal poor health.
Moral of the story- don't throw away your health, people. That includes mental and emotional health. No matter what you weigh.

nikilis

That is to say- in my opinion being overweight does not necessarily equal poor health.

that is true as the equation isnt overweight=immediately poor health. but being in the overweight category increases the risk of diabetes, heart problems, stroke and a lot of other fun stuff.

for example, before I changed my lifestyle I was 86kg, which is a BMI of 26. thats one point out from healthy. but being out just that much with the amount of fat I was carrying, in particular around my waist, increases your chances of the serious health conditions mentioned before by a lot, up to 50-70% in some cases.

now have a think about the average weight of the overweight category. its probably higher than a BMI of 26, which increases the chances even higher.

I was carrying an extra 15kg in my body. sometimes I run to get the milk these days, and I can feel that 2 litre bottle in my bag. its 2kg. I can feel the weight of while im running. there used to be 8 of them attached to my body, all day every day. thats crazy.

we are in a strange time for health right now. in america, around 20-25% of people are under weight. around 20% around 30% obese or morbidly obese, so that leaves 25% of people in the healthy weight range.

heres an interactive BMI graphic that I thought was pretty cool, but startling also. most of the world seems to be overweight.

http://chartsbin.com/view/577


I've rambled on here. but in terms of being overweight/underweight not equating to poor health, it might not immediately, but in the long run, yes it does. it will shorten your life. and if you let it get out of control, it will kill you.

nikilis

let me clarify.

being overweight or underweight IS unhealthy.


you might not have any health problems and your diet might be good, but you are unhealthy, just from being overweight or underweight.

otherwise healthy isn't healthy.

inside_lap

Good read

tequila09

I had a friend who had been anorexic and spent her teenage years in and out of hospital, being fed through a nasogastric tube. She recovered in her 20s and managed to channel all of her intrusive obsessional thinking about food into athletics. One day she said to me that she didn’t understand why she could be hospitalised against her will for not eating enough, and yet there was no limitation on how fat you could get. It was completely unfair, she said, that you could be refused alcohol if intoxicated but roll into your local fish-and-chip shop 100 kg overweight and be served the equivalent of a week’s worth of calories for lunch.

That right there. Just WOW!

There really should be something like this. It is a mental disorder to be anorexic or a compulsive overeater.

boatsie77

THIS...THIS...THIS! THE most important point made in the article:

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"Most people do not overeat because of a feeling of hunger emanating from the stomach; they are giving in to a desire to consume – they are seeking pleasure or relief, or hoping to fill a void."

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All the fast food, junk food, pharma and diet industries are doing is cashing in on this human flaw. The sooner we individuals recognize this problem and take personal responsibility to deal with it, the sooner we will be free from their grip. It's up to each individual to take back their power...if it's not food, it will resurface as some other type of harmful or unhealthy addiction.

nikilis

I had a friend who had been anorexic and spent her teenage years in and out of hospital, being fed through a nasogastric tube. She recovered in her 20s and managed to channel all of her intrusive obsessional thinking about food into athletics. One day she said to me that she didn’t understand why she could be hospitalised against her will for not eating enough, and yet there was no limitation on how fat you could get. It was completely unfair, she said, that you could be refused alcohol if intoxicated but roll into your local fish-and-chip shop 100 kg overweight and be served the equivalent of a week’s worth of calories for lunch.

That right there. Just WOW!

There really should be something like this. It is a mental disorder to be anorexic or a compulsive overeater.

yah, its more acceptable to be overweight than underweight. I'd say predominantly people would see someone with an underrating disorder is sicker than someone obese. I don't think that is the case.

you could say both are driven by compulsion and emotional issues at the extremes, so yeh, that sounds right.

its going to be interesting to see how thing go in the future, how countries deal with this epidemic causing massive strain on the health services and also the drop in life expectancy.

shadow2soul

interesting article. Thanks for sharing :flowerforyou:

simonc14

Excellent article, and very thought-provoking. Sometimes things do need to be laid on the line don't they? Thank you for sharing it with us.

astrovivi

Wow, so glad this article resonated with so many of you. It did for me too.

Some excellent points made above too!!

I look at the author's underlying point that there is something fundamentally wrong with modern society ... the overeating/compulsion to consume, whatever is a symptom of perhaps a greater malaise (and all that sneaky marketing by the big food companies of course).
We seem to be so much more unhappy as a collective today ... stressed, depressed, whatever.

There are some things each person can do to change their own lives, if affected. It's much harder, I think, for governments, or medical authorities to do much on a macro scale (most efforts prove ineffectual with populations).

This is partly the point ... that if everyone takes responsibility for their own health first and foremost, it's the best start to winning the war against obesity and all the associated chronic diseases that come with the risk.

I think eating disorders (particularly severe ones) are more tricky and for people with severe psychological issues that lead to compulsive eating, just saying "take responsibility" is hard. In these cases, intervention is required because you're not just dealing with lifestyle choices.
But for the majority of overweight/obese people in society, it's a good move!

SimpleStepsHealthCoach

Thanks for sharing!

Mokey41

Great read. I hope everyone will read it all the way through. Enough with excuses!

acpgee

Thank you OP.