Anyone seen this article on obesity?
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There was a fantastic programme (a BBC's Horizons) made out of the scientific research about metabolism, "natural shape", fat etc. Basically, it showed that for men and women that during a certain age window, the weight where you're at during that time SETS your "natural" weight that no matter what, you always bounce back to unless you're really strict with calories in vs calories out.
There is never going to be a right or wrong way to approach those with weight problems, we process things differently and individually. People can use these to see these programmes or doctors' research or theories as another reason for not bothering.
Some will actually bother and make a difference.
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If you rely on reducing calories to lose weight, I can see were you will eventually gain it all back. But if you get involved in activities you enjoy that cause you to move more, you will tend to keep it off.0
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Oprah uses this as her excuse all the time. Once you have those fat cells in your body you are doomed....then she says she has a problem with fries....0
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I think the problem is our quick fix culture treats obesity like an acute problem when it isn't.
It isn't a disease... It is a natural consequence of certain lifestyle decisions.
If you change those habits permanently, you will keep the weight off. If you go back to your old choices, you won't.
That simple (absent certain medical conditions).0 -
People this is SCIENCE. It is not their job nor intention to either provide you a reason to lose weight nor to give you an excuse never to try. This is not propaganda. Dismissing science because it makes you nervous about your current endeavors is foolish. Take this information for what it is, and use it to not slip back into your hold habits after you reach your goal weight.
It has been long and well established that a hunger hormone, ghrelin increases with weight loss and that you inherently have lower levels that leptin, a hormone produced by fat that is a satiety hormone (lose fat, make less hormone). These aren't excuses not to try these are FACTS. Learn them, use them, continue to work hard!0 -
TimothyFish wrote: »If you rely on reducing calories to lose weight, I can see were you will eventually gain it all back. But if you get involved in activities you enjoy that cause you to move more, you will tend to keep it off.
Losing / gaining weight is calories in vs calories out [with exception to those with med problems, and yes excluding the psychological reasons why people binge or starve etc]. Calories in vs calories out includes activity.0 -
dougpconnell219 wrote: »I think the problem is our quick fix culture treats obesity like an acute problem when it isn't.
It isn't a disease... It is a natural consequence of certain lifestyle decisions.
If you change those habits permanently, you will keep the weight off. If you go back to your old choices, you won't.
That simple (absent certain medical conditions).
To be fair, for some people, those "lifestyle decisions" are packed up with some deep-rooted psychological baggage.
I overate, initially, as a child, for two reasons: one, to gain a stern mother's approval because I had a sister who wouldn't eat, and I wanted to show what a good child I was, I had been basically ignored during that sister's prolonged illness; also, to make myself unattractive to relative who sexually molested both my sister and myself.
That act of eating for comfort became a learned behavior which has taken me years to undo, as do most things you sort out with the unformed reasoning of a child.
While it's true that at any time, the acts of undergoing a program of watching what I ate and exercising would have worked to reduce my weight (and they did, this isn't my first rodeo), my chances of sustained weight loss....? Well, as I said, this isn't my first rodeo.
I had to unpack all my baggage first before I was able to realize that yeah, it really just is that simple. There really is no gimmick. I just have to watch what I eat and exercise.
It sounds simple. And it is. But when you have baggage, it's like... okay, consider weight loss like a path you have to take. And each step is a stepping stone. Baggage is a fog that's making the path difficult to follow. You don't have a clear idea of what you're facing. When you've unpacked all that, the fog clears, you can see the path for what it is, and you can set out on it, knowing exactly where you're going.
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Thinking some more on the abstract that this article was based on, I guess I can see how the researcher has come to believe that any physical tools (weight loss surgery, drugs) that can assist weight loss maintenance need to be considered and used if needed.
I've been told I weighed 70 pounds when I was 4 years old. I've seen pictures of myself and I'm sure I did. So overeating is something I started doing early. I don't know why. My parents and siblings were/are not overweight.
I really don't want to have surgery or take drugs for the rest of my life, so I'm hoping that I can maintain the weight loss I'm working on. Have to say that I feel I will be able to and this is the first time in my life I've felt that way. The one other time I lost a good amount of weight I was focused on what I'd be able to eat once I finished the diet, and eating in a rather contrived fashion (original WW in the 70s).
Learning the science behind weight loss (CICO) as well as understanding maintenance calories (the actual number that my body requires) has really changed my mindset.
I've been at this (using MFP) about a year now and it feels sustainable; much more so than the months prior to finding MFP when I was "cutting back" and "watching what I eat" that I was doing after I first made the decision to lose weight.
Do most people who want to lose weight want to completely educate themselves on the process? Not sure. The people I know IRL are not too interested, I can tell you that. Their eyes roll back in their heads when I answer questions about how I've lost weight, even though I try not to go into great detail and only respond to people who I think really want to know. I think this is why Weight Watchers is so popular. You don't need to know what's going on if you don't want to. Just follow their instructions.
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mamapeach910 wrote: »dougpconnell219 wrote: »I think the problem is our quick fix culture treats obesity like an acute problem when it isn't.
It isn't a disease... It is a natural consequence of certain lifestyle decisions.
If you change those habits permanently, you will keep the weight off. If you go back to your old choices, you won't.
That simple (absent certain medical conditions).
To be fair, for some people, those "lifestyle decisions" are packed up with some deep-rooted psychological baggage.
I overate, initially, as a child, for two reasons: one, to gain a stern mother's approval because I had a sister who wouldn't eat, and I wanted to show what a good child I was, I had been basically ignored during that sister's prolonged illness; also, to make myself unattractive to relative who sexually molested both my sister and myself.
That act of eating for comfort became a learned behavior which has taken me years to undo, as do most things you sort out with the unformed reasoning of a child.
While it's true that at any time, the acts of undergoing a program of watching what I ate and exercising would have worked to reduce my weight (and they did, this isn't my first rodeo), my chances of sustained weight loss....? Well, as I said, this isn't my first rodeo.
I had to unpack all my baggage first before I was able to realize that yeah, it really just is that simple. There really is no gimmick. I just have to watch what I eat and exercise.
It sounds simple. And it is. But when you have baggage, it's like... okay, consider weight loss like a path you have to take. And each step is a stepping stone. Baggage is a fog that's making the path difficult to follow. You don't have a clear idea of what you're facing. When you've unpacked all that, the fog clears, you can see the path for what it is, and you can set out on it, knowing exactly where you're going.
I'm so sorry that happened to you.
And I agree with all you said. I had to overcome a lot of mental health issues before I was able to even *want* to lose weight. It was only when I was under treatment, was I able to clear that path and create success for myself. I'm not blaming my obesity on anyone but myself - my decisions led me to where I was. But I do feel like tackling my issues has a lot to do with my success so far.
I think the issue with some people regaining is that for some, overeating is tied into psychological issues - comfort eating, emotional eating, boredom eating. And people lose the weight, without ever really addressing the underlying issues. So they revert back to their old behavior patterns. This is all my opinion of course.
And before anyone jumps on me, I'm not saying psychological issues are an excuse to be/stay fat - I do think for many, it's a reason that, once addressed will help people to be more successful.0 -
"the average adult with sustained obesity has less than a 1% chance of reattaining and maintaining a healthy body weight without surgery."
I think you have to realize it's not a win/lose situation like those sort of statistics make it sound. You don't have to be morbidly obese for life OR be a healthy BMI forever after weight loss. Losing down to just 'overweight' BMI has huge health benefits, from obesity. Losing and then regaining over and over is even preferred to what is the alternative for many-- simply gaining and gaining.0 -
WalkingAlong wrote: »"the average adult with sustained obesity has less than a 1% chance of reattaining and maintaining a healthy body weight without surgery."
I think you have to realize it's not a win/lose situation like those sort of statistics make it sound. You don't have to be morbidly obese for life OR be a healthy BMI forever after weight loss. Losing down to just 'overweight' BMI has huge health benefits, from obesity. Losing and then regaining over and over is even preferred to what is the alternative for many-- simply gaining and gaining.
This is true, but I agree with someone else (some documentary or research paper or other) who said that a lot of people get discouraged if they're still overweight after all their effort because they want to be a healthy BMI and look good, and this can cause some people to give up and go back to their old eating habits. I know I didn't work this hard becoming half the woman I used to be just to end up chubby, so I am one of those people.0 -
WalkingAlong wrote: »"the average adult with sustained obesity has less than a 1% chance of reattaining and maintaining a healthy body weight without surgery."
I think you have to realize it's not a win/lose situation like those sort of statistics make it sound. You don't have to be morbidly obese for life OR be a healthy BMI forever after weight loss. Losing down to just 'overweight' BMI has huge health benefits, from obesity. Losing and then regaining over and over is even preferred to what is the alternative for many-- simply gaining and gaining.
More people need to understand this. I lost about 300 after RnY. I've gained back to a size 22, while my lowest was a 16. Some people look at that and insist it's an example of surgery not working. From my perspective, I'm still more than 200 lbs less than I was before, and I'm not debating between buying clothes in a 5X or a 6X. That's an entire person gone, and no intelligent argument can suggest that I'd have been better off not doing it at all.
More importantly, I have a condition that was never diagnosed because it was camouflaged by the fat. If I hadn't lost the weight, assuming I didn't die of a heart attack before I turned 30, it's highly likely I would've died from DVT complications or developed one of the cancers that can occur if it goes untreated. The number on a scale is probably the least important thing anyone should be worried about in the grand scheme of things.0 -
WalkingAlong wrote: »"the average adult with sustained obesity has less than a 1% chance of reattaining and maintaining a healthy body weight without surgery."
I think you have to realize it's not a win/lose situation like those sort of statistics make it sound. You don't have to be morbidly obese for life OR be a healthy BMI forever after weight loss. Losing down to just 'overweight' BMI has huge health benefits, from obesity. Losing and then regaining over and over is even preferred to what is the alternative for many-- simply gaining and gaining.
This so much.0 -
The thing that bothers me about this stuff is no one teaches children how to control their weight in school. You don't learn true good nutrition in school. That's when you need to learn it, before it becomes a serious health problem. There is no money in it.0
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I think it is a very ingrained psychological thing. Comfort eating, not realizing how much you are putting in your mouth (and not caring either) is VERY hard to overcome. I think that some therapy and behavior conditioning should be included in a prescription for weight-loss. And honestly, in my opinion, it all starts with parents. Parents to get their kids outside, to cook with them, shop with them, teach kids the importance of portion sizes and doing active hobbies.
I was not raised with proper perceptions of food. Food was a reward, a show of love, "starving kids in Africa" stuff. My son will be taught different, and hopefully we can break the cycle of morbid obesity in both mine and my husbands family.0 -
That 1% statistic is very discouraging.
I gained back the 80 lbs that I lost in 07 and then some. I just want to get back to a size 18 or 20 again. It's so hard to maintain. I did for a few years and then I had to take meds that put on the pounds.0 -
dougpconnell219 wrote: »I think the problem is our quick fix culture treats obesity like an acute problem when it isn't.
It isn't a disease... It is a natural consequence of certain lifestyle decisions.
If you change those habits permanently, you will keep the weight off. If you go back to your old choices, you won't.
That simple (absent certain medical conditions).
Agreed0 -
I call BS. The body's natural state of health is to be a healthy weight.0
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