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why do people think you can be healthy at every size?

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Replies

  • bpetrosky
    bpetrosky Posts: 3,911 Member
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    ceiswyn wrote: »
    I note with mild amusement that the OP has not returned to the thread since her underlying assumption that overweight people can’t be healthy has been proven so completely wrong.

    I wouldn't say it has been proven wrong. I am still not convinced.

    The more bizarre claim that OP made is that you can't become obese if you are healthy.

    But obviously someone BMI 26 (which is overweight) can be healthy. [Note: I see later you referenced obese only, but the initial post I was responding too said overweight.]


    I still fail to see how anyone could be obese and healthy. You simply cannot become obese following a healthy lifestyle. (Which includes a healthy and educated perception of how much one should eat, exercise, and not eating as a coping mechanism, all unhealthy behaviors)

    Body builders sometimes struggle when they have to bulk for months because it’s HARD to eat enough to put on so much weight if you are exercising and eating a balanced diet long term. It’s easy to gain a few lbs over indulging, but not the amount to become obese.

    I don’t know any obese people who exercise and eat right. I thought I did, but after living with two I realized both had a secret binging problem.

    Actually, I know a few people who had generally healthy habits that ended up overweight or even obese. That usually accompanied a change in habits (new jobs, having kids, etc) that meant they were not as active as they had been but hadn't adjusted their eating habits to match and gained weight over time (1-2 years, so they probably gained at about a rate of .5 lb per week on average). They weren't binging, just eating day-to-day according to the habits they had when they were significantly more active.

    Obviously, if a person has progressed to the higher risk obesity classes (35+ BMI) it's probable that there are co-existing psychological or behavioral issues that need to be addressed. It's a bad assumption that this is always the case for people who the overweight or low-risk obesity classes, however.



  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,885 Member
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    ceiswyn wrote: »
    I note with mild amusement that the OP has not returned to the thread since her underlying assumption that overweight people can’t be healthy has been proven so completely wrong.

    I wouldn't say it has been proven wrong. I am still not convinced.

    The more bizarre claim that OP made is that you can't become obese if you are healthy.

    But obviously someone BMI 26 (which is overweight) can be healthy. [Note: I see later you referenced obese only, but the initial post I was responding too said overweight.]


    I still fail to see how anyone could be obese and healthy.

    You are misstating the claim. What OP said is that a healthy person is incapable of becoming obese, that it requires that one already have a health problem in order to become obese.

    As for whether one can be obese and be healthy, it depends on how we define healthy. Obesity is a risk factor. To minimize the change of developing a health problem, it is something that should be changed (along with other risk factors, like eating a bad diet, not exercising, lack of sleep, stress, drinking to excess, smoking). The idea of healthier at any size (in a good way -- I have big issues with what HAES has become) is that even obese people can improve their risk factors (even if for them weight loss has led to unhealthy things like restricting and bingeing or rapid loss and regain). It says you focus on the risk factors that you feel like you can control -- improve the diet, become more active.

    I would personally separate being currently unhealthy (having bad test results or a medical condition) from having risk factors that ideally should be reduced. Saying someone may currently be healthy yet obese does not mean it's not a risk factor that can be avoided and that it's not better to lose weight, but one does not automatically suffer from poor health as soon as one hits 30 BMI.

    26 BMI is not much of a risk factor, and that's the number I mentioned.
    You simply cannot become obese following a healthy lifestyle.

    If you define as "a healthy lifestyle" never overeating or not eating even a little over one's maintenance for a period of years, I suppose, but that's a circular argument and so not very interesting.

    I don't think most people equate "being healthy" and "always living a healthy lifestyle in all ways" and usually when people are claimed to not eat a healthy diet, they mean nutrient poor or too high in sugar and unhealthy fats or some such. Or bingeing behaviors, perhaps. Not merely eating enough to gain 2-5 lbs per year, and it's easy to become obese doing that, over time.

    I think most people don't find it that hard to overeat some when food is available, and most probably don't have a good natural sense of how much they are eating vs. their maintenance requirements without some reason to start focusing on this and learn.
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  • Phirrgus
    Phirrgus Posts: 1,894 Member
    bpetrosky wrote: »
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    ceiswyn wrote: »
    I note with mild amusement that the OP has not returned to the thread since her underlying assumption that overweight people can’t be healthy has been proven so completely wrong.

    I wouldn't say it has been proven wrong. I am still not convinced.

    The more bizarre claim that OP made is that you can't become obese if you are healthy.

    But obviously someone BMI 26 (which is overweight) can be healthy. [Note: I see later you referenced obese only, but the initial post I was responding too said overweight.]


    I still fail to see how anyone could be obese and healthy. You simply cannot become obese following a healthy lifestyle. (Which includes a healthy and educated perception of how much one should eat, exercise, and not eating as a coping mechanism, all unhealthy behaviors)

    Body builders sometimes struggle when they have to bulk for months because it’s HARD to eat enough to put on so much weight if you are exercising and eating a balanced diet long term. It’s easy to gain a few lbs over indulging, but not the amount to become obese.

    I don’t know any obese people who exercise and eat right. I thought I did, but after living with two I realized both had a secret binging problem.

    Actually, I know a few people who had generally healthy habits that ended up overweight ...

    This is me. I was never obese, about 20lbs or so overweight and while I have gotten more active in recent months, the primary difference is that I eat less now. I worked out several times a week, active on the job etc. I just had seconds every dinner and wasn't mindful of snacking throughout the day at all. It added up and snuck up.
  • Unknown
    edited March 2019
    This content has been removed.
  • Phirrgus
    Phirrgus Posts: 1,894 Member
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    ceiswyn wrote: »
    I note with mild amusement that the OP has not returned to the thread since her underlying assumption that overweight people can’t be healthy has been proven so completely wrong.

    I wouldn't say it has been proven wrong. I am still not convinced.

    The more bizarre claim that OP made is that you can't become obese if you are healthy.

    But obviously someone BMI 26 (which is overweight) can be healthy. [Note: I see later you referenced obese only, but the initial post I was responding too said overweight.]


    I still fail to see how anyone could be obese and healthy.

    You are misstating the claim. What OP said is that a healthy person is incapable of becoming obese, that it requires that one already have a health problem in order to become obese.

    As for whether one can be obese and be healthy, it depends on how we define healthy. Obesity is a risk factor. To minimize the change of developing a health problem, it is something that should be changed (along with other risk factors, like eating a bad diet, not exercising, lack of sleep, stress, drinking to excess, smoking). The idea of healthier at any size (in a good way -- I have big issues with what HAES has become) is that even obese people can improve their risk factors (even if for them weight loss has led to unhealthy things like restricting and bingeing or rapid loss and regain). It says you focus on the risk factors that you feel like you can control -- improve the diet, become more active.

    I would personally separate being currently unhealthy (having bad test results or a medical condition) from having risk factors that ideally should be reduced. Saying someone may currently be healthy yet obese does not mean it's not a risk factor that can be avoided and that it's not better to lose weight, but one does not automatically suffer from poor health as soon as one hits 30 BMI.

    26 BMI is not much of a risk factor, and that's the number I mentioned.
    You simply cannot become obese following a healthy lifestyle.

    If you define as "a healthy lifestyle" never overeating or not eating even a little over one's maintenance for a period of years, I suppose, but that's a circular argument and so not very interesting.

    I don't think most people equate "being healthy" and "always living a healthy lifestyle in all ways" and usually when people are claimed to not eat a healthy diet, they mean nutrient poor or too high in sugar and unhealthy fats or some such. Or bingeing behaviors, perhaps. Not merely eating enough to gain 2-5 lbs per year, and it's easy to become obese doing that, over time.

    I think most people don't find it that hard to overeat some when food is available, and most probably don't have a good natural sense of how much they are eating vs. their maintenance requirements without some reason to start focusing on this and learn.

    Very good points, I completely understand where you are coming from and your words have changed my thoughts on the matter.
    Phirrgus wrote: »
    bpetrosky wrote: »
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    ceiswyn wrote: »
    I note with mild amusement that the OP has not returned to the thread since her underlying assumption that overweight people can’t be healthy has been proven so completely wrong.

    I wouldn't say it has been proven wrong. I am still not convinced.

    The more bizarre claim that OP made is that you can't become obese if you are healthy.

    But obviously someone BMI 26 (which is overweight) can be healthy. [Note: I see later you referenced obese only, but the initial post I was responding too said overweight.]


    I still fail to see how anyone could be obese and healthy. You simply cannot become obese following a healthy lifestyle. (Which includes a healthy and educated perception of how much one should eat, exercise, and not eating as a coping mechanism, all unhealthy behaviors)

    Body builders sometimes struggle when they have to bulk for months because it’s HARD to eat enough to put on so much weight if you are exercising and eating a balanced diet long term. It’s easy to gain a few lbs over indulging, but not the amount to become obese.

    I don’t know any obese people who exercise and eat right. I thought I did, but after living with two I realized both had a secret binging problem.

    Actually, I know a few people who had generally healthy habits that ended up overweight ...

    This is me. I was never obese, about 20lbs or so overweight and while I have gotten more active in recent months, the primary difference is that I eat less now. I worked out several times a week, active on the job etc. I just had seconds every dinner and wasn't mindful of snacking throughout the day at all. It added up and snuck up.

    I definitely was not talking about this. I have always known small lifestyle changes like this could cause someone to be overweight. I was more talking about obese/morbidly obese. But I guess if you do nothing about it for years you would get morbidly obese. (Even with a higher BMR counteracting it)

    I really think I would have gotten there if I didn't get a wake up call. It still bugs me that I let it get that far lol.
  • ceiswyn
    ceiswyn Posts: 2,256 Member
    I originally got obese because I was always hungry.

    Is feeling unbearable hunger pangs when bored an illness?
  • glassyo
    glassyo Posts: 7,739 Member
    lemurcat2 wrote: »
    If you look at the "why did I gain weight" thread, 99 percent of the reasons are due to not being healthy. (Coping mechanisms, eating too much, eating too much high calorie food, being lazy, not being active etc)

    If "eating too much" means you aren't healthy, then sure, but that's not a normal definition of what healthy means. People can be healthy and indulge in non-healthy behaviors. One can be healthy (as in their physical condition, test results, absence of illness and medical problems) and fail to wear a seat belt, for example.
    It seems as though eating too much is a result of UNHEALTHY coping mechanisms or circumstances, thus leading to obesity.

    Eating too much will lead to obesity no matter why you overeat, and it's simply not accurate to claim that people only overeat as a result of being already unhealthy. Environment matters and for many people in the current environment one will have to take affirmative steps to avoid overeating.
    No one comments "I got obese by eating a healthy diet and I didn't have any unhealthy mental issues".

    Lots of people get obese (let alone overweight) by eating a diet that is generally healthy but for the overall calories and without any unhealthy mental issues (and I would also dispute whether having some bad coping mechanisms makes you "unhealthy," especially since we are talking about physical health). It's easy and common to overeat a little over the course of a year (or gain some weight during pregnancies) and not really pay that much attention or put off dealing with it because you are focused on other things and then end up at age 40+ being within the obese category.

    But in order to get obese you have to eat considerably over your maintenance for a long period of time. You don’t become obese with a generally healthy diet with occasional indulgences. You have to considerably overeat which is hard to do day in day out unless you have unhealthy reasons to do so such as mental and coping problems, etc.

    I can see being overweight, but not obese which is what I am talking about. You would have to have a warped perception of how much a person should eat if you could get obese eating a healthy diet. Thus not healthy mentally and an issue that needed to be addressed.

    You are telling me you know or can find examples of someone who got obese eating a healthy diet, not binging in secret or have mental struggles with eating too much, and while exercising regularly? I find that hard to believe.

    Check out the Why Did You Get Fat (or whatever it's called) thread. I'd search and link but I'm on my tablet. I'm sure some have said they ate "healthy" but just too much. And I've seen people people say that before.

    You can overeat chicken and broccoli just as easy as big macs and fries with or without an underlying mental reason if you enjoy that chicken and broccoli enough.
  • aokoye
    aokoye Posts: 3,495 Member
    If you look at the "why did I gain weight" thread, 99 percent of the reasons are due to not being healthy. (Coping mechanisms, eating too much, eating too much high calorie food, being lazy, not being active etc)

    I still would not classify eating too much as being "healthy" regardless of what the diet is made up of. It seems as though eating too much is a result of UNHEALTHY coping mechanisms or circumstances, thus leading to obesity.

    No one comments "I got obese by eating a healthy diet and I didn't have any unhealthy mental issues". And I have not seen one person get morbidly obese while eating a healthy diet (not grossly more than they need), exercising, and without mental issues.

    What I bolded is far from universal. There is no one reason why people consume more calories than they burn. Additionally there are so many maladaptive coping mechanisms that aren't related to food.
  • Theoldguy1
    Theoldguy1 Posts: 2,496 Member
    ceiswyn wrote: »
    Theoldguy1 wrote: »
    What priorities prevent one from putting less food in their mouth?

    So given that you're on a weight loss site, what's your own answer?

    Establish table push aways and fork putdowns as your primary form of exercise. Eating less would take less time allowing people to devote to the priorities mentioned.