Why Are Thin People Not Fat? (Video)

That was really interesting. The key points for me were:
* the best thing we can do for our children (or nieces/nephews, grand-children, etc) is to help prevent them gaining the extra fat cells in the first place as it starts off life long challenge.
* unfortunately once you have put on weight it will be hard to lose and maintain a smaller size.
* nobody told these people about the calorific wonder of nuts. I am sure they could have met their targets in a more comfortable way with cashews on hand instead of all of the chocolate and dairy (and clotted cream by the spoon!).

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Ill have to save this for later.

Cliffs:
When your body cannot store any more fat in it's existing cells, it creates new fat cells.
You cannot get rid of fat cells once your body has created them.
Thin people don't have as many fat cells in your body, therefore it is harder for thin people to gain weight.

That was amazing! And slightly scary! I was slim as a child until 9 years old, when I started comfort eating. I've had a weight problem ever since am also slightly worried for my niece, as my sister feeds her such crap! My mum is obese (due to alcoholism) my dad is obese (alcohol again), my sister is overweight now since having a baby and I am obese. I eat the most healthy though out of all of them! I maintained a size 12 from age 11 until I started contraception at 16. Ever since then ive gone up a dress size a year probably. It really is remarkable how our bodies work. But the bit at the end was the bit that truly scared me; the people who lost weight and were permanently hungry because their body saw obesity as it's normal weight. That is terrifying, and I sure hope that my body doesn't feel that way!

The "set weight" or "set point" theory was first established by Ancel Keys in his Minnesota Semi-Starvation Experiment. Essentially, we have physiological differences that cause some people to be more resilient to further weight loss or weight gain beyond a certain point than others. Although I believe genetics plays a significant role, ones eating and exercise habits likely has a strong, contributing influence towards their "set weight." I am sure if every subject in the study would have eaten that amount of calories, in the absence of exercise, throughout their adult lives, they would have become quite fat. It's just some would end up gaining more rapidly than others.

Another key discussion involved the hormone Leptin, which is the master hormone of the body and is responsible for regulating energy balance and satiety. Leptin serum concentration levels are monitored by various Leptin receptors throughout the body. Typically, as a person becomes more fat, not only do Leptin levels increase, but the receptors' accuracy in monitoring such levels become impaired. Thus a person does not get the appropriate message that they have exceeded energy needs and should stop eating. This leptin resistance, is one symptom of the Metabolic Syndrome and usually is a precursor to others including insulin resistance. Leptin resistance is also observed among those with eating disorders such as Anorexia.

This was a very interesting documentary, and was scary in many ways. I have 2 daughters. 1 is 10 and has been overweight since 1st grade. She has a very large belly while the rest of her body is a normal size. My other daughter is 7 and can eat constantly without gaining any weight. Just bought her a communion dress and she had to get a 6x so that it wasn't too big on her. My thinner daughter eat much more than my overweight daughter. They are equally active.

Watching this video makes me worry about my overweight daughter because I'm sure all her fat cells have already multiplied. Weight for her will probably always be an issue. No one informs you of this as a parent of a newborn...