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Interesting way that people excuse their overweight / obesity
Replies
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I don't think it's really an "excuse" all the time. When you get down to the last 5-10 pounds it gets harder to lose weight, or people plateau at a specific point and they think that they just can't lose the weight. It kind of makes sense to believe that your body isn't meant to go below a certain weight if you try and try to lose weight but it doesn't happen. Obviously it's not true, but it doesn't necessarily mean that they're trying to come up with excuses to not do it, although I agree that SOME people are but not all.3
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I don't think it's really an "excuse" all the time. When you get down to the last 5-10 pounds it gets harder to lose weight, or people plateau at a specific point and they think that they just can't lose the weight. It kind of makes sense to believe that your body isn't meant to go below a certain weight if you try and try to lose weight but it doesn't happen. Obviously it's not true, but it doesn't necessarily mean that they're trying to come up with excuses to not do it, although I agree that SOME people are but not all.
Oh, definitely. The body seeks homeostasis, and gets all kinds of pissy when you try to alter things quickly. After all, most obese people spent years getting there. Then they wonder why it doesn't just fall off with a month of caloric restriction.
I've actually found though, that the leaner I get, the easier it is to make my weight go whichever way I want. Now granted, I'm sure this has more to do with learning myself, and how my body reacts to various input, but I can't help but assume that everyone with an IQ above room temperature is capable of doing the same. Anything short of "incapable" is an excuse, by it's very nature.5 -
DeficitDuchess wrote: »I'm kind of interested in the way people explain their behavior. One example is pertinent to weight loss / diet. I was having a debate with my girlfriend about this, who was arguing what basically sounded like the set-point theory to me. The argument went something like this:
Me: "I think anyone can lose weight, it's just a matter of CICO."
Her: "Except that people's bodies naturally have a certain preference for a certain weight. You can force your body down to a particular weight, but then your body will want to go back to the weight it was at."
Anyone notice anything strange about this kind of use of language? As if "you" are separate from "your body." How can a "body" want something (like, a preferred weight range) without a person controlling it? Isn't this a strange use of language, like we're somehow divorced from our bodies?
Anyways, just a philosophical point really.
What about all the people that don't count calories, weigh, measure their food, eat whatever portions're available to them & stay a consistent weight? All 4 years of high school I weighed 137 pounds, when I got weighed; during my check ups, I was sedentary & consuming 4,000 to 6,000 calories a day. I ate for taste & because it was there. I'd eat until I had to unbutton/unzip my pants, could feel the food coming up my throat & never gained weight. I'd eat a meal consisting of a salad with extra dressing, an appetizer, a main portion, 2 sides an iced tea or soda (sometimes 2) a milkshake plus a slice of cake & get the same amount of food to go (minus the iced tea and/or soda) because a 5 minute car ride home, made me half as hungry again.
Very interesting, we all know people like this dont we? Seems like sooner or later the food does catch up to most of them though. Btw, ur post made me long for those days haha, great now lm hungry0 -
NorthCascades wrote: »
Pressure in the bladder or the sensation of air hunger isn't the "body wanting something" - which implies that our bodies have intentionality outside of our own as sentient beings. Which is a really odd duality - "you" can want something but your "body" can want something else (as if your body is somehow separate from you).
Okay I just gotta point out this is is a cop out. you are arguing language semantics. you know what they meant.0 -
See "starvation mode isn't real" and I'm going to nope on out of here. Hormonal imbalances don't exist, science doesn't exist, only the studies that back up what you specifically believe, right. There is no medication that drastically speeds up or slows down your metablosim /s0
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DisruptedMatrix wrote: »See "starvation mode isn't real" and I'm going to nope on out of here. Hormonal imbalances don't exist, science doesn't exist, only the studies that back up what you specifically believe, right. There is no medication that drastically speeds up or slows down your metablosim /s
You seem to only believe studies that back up what you believe too. Starvation mode doesn't exist as you believe it does otherwise anorexics would be obese. Yes your metabolism slows down but not enough to counteract the weight lose. There are very few medications that "drastically" slow down your metabolism. A lot of the time they increase appetite so you eat more. I don't see you linking to any studies4 -
singingflutelady wrote: »DisruptedMatrix wrote: »See "starvation mode isn't real" and I'm going to nope on out of here. Hormonal imbalances don't exist, science doesn't exist, only the studies that back up what you specifically believe, right. There is no medication that drastically speeds up or slows down your metablosim /s
You seem to only believe studies that back up what you believe too. Starvation mode doesn't exist as you believe it does otherwise anorexics would be obese. Yes your metabolism slows down but not enough to counteract the weight lose. There are very few medications that "drastically" slow down your metabolism. A lot of the time they increase appetite so you eat more. I don't see you linking to any studies
your assuming I believe misinformation. I don't believe that starvation mode causes you to gain weight, but that it makes losing weight harder. your metabolsim slows down, that's it.
There are a lot of medications that effect metabolism, but it would be impossible to provide a source for this without spending hours copying and pasting different medications, which I'm not going to do.0 -
I didn't say medication doesn't effect metabolism. I said few medications "drastically" change metabolism.2
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DisruptedMatrix wrote: »singingflutelady wrote: »DisruptedMatrix wrote: »See "starvation mode isn't real" and I'm going to nope on out of here. Hormonal imbalances don't exist, science doesn't exist, only the studies that back up what you specifically believe, right. There is no medication that drastically speeds up or slows down your metablosim /s
You seem to only believe studies that back up what you believe too. Starvation mode doesn't exist as you believe it does otherwise anorexics would be obese. Yes your metabolism slows down but not enough to counteract the weight lose. There are very few medications that "drastically" slow down your metabolism. A lot of the time they increase appetite so you eat more. I don't see you linking to any studies
your assuming I believe misinformation. I don't believe that starvation mode causes you to gain weight, but that it makes losing weight harder. your metabolsim slows down, that's it.
There are a lot of medications that effect metabolism, but it would be impossible to provide a source for this without spending hours copying and pasting different medications, which I'm not going to do.
None of these things have very significant impacts, though.
Weight gain caused by any of them, with caloric intake being what it should, would be minimal. The people usually blaming medication for metabolic slow down or metabolic adaptation are obese, not carrying around an extra 10 or 20 pounds.
That was painful to type, because metabolic adaptation is debated to begin with because it was found that the people supposedly stalled were... quelle surprise!... eating (binging really) food and not logging it.
For people who have been dieting a long time who have hormonal issues, simply eating at maintenance for a bit and perhaps moving a tiny bit more counters any difficulties.
In none of these instances is weight gain experienced.1 -
Her answer is right and maintaining weight will be a life long effort0
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Guns_N_Buns wrote: »I'm not fat, I'm big boned!
of course you are. the cemeteries are full of obese skeletons!
Big Boned!!! bs..1 -
I read once about a study: that an adults fat cell count and size is determined by a blueprint set during puberty. Your shape, fat cell count, and BMI are all set at an "ideal" when you go through puberty, and throughout your adult life, your body will always try to go back to that preset. This is why you can destroy fat cells with surgery, but they will grow back to what your body considers idyllic.
My last endocrinologist (who I see for my Hashimoto's disease, along with 3 other autoimmune diseases) consulted with my nutritionist, and they both said "you are doing everything right, we can't ask you to go below 1,100 calories, your body just wants you to be overweight. It's okay, because you're healthy, but your body just doesn't want you to lose weight, so if you want to, you'll have work much harder than others have to"
I fired that endo. CICO works for me for basic weight loss. I was extremely, heartbroken this year, distressed and in a daze for months, and didn't eat much more than 500 calories a day (usually in the form of a McD sandwich and a pack of cigarettes). No starvation mode here: I lost 30lbs in 6 weeks.
To the OP: I have many "reasons" for my weight. Hashimoto's disease, genetics (my family is all obese), my parents feeding me ramen and candy apples and pizza every day while not encouraging exercise. And of course: my own lifestyle choices; choosing to sleep 20 more minutes instead of jog, eating leftover Halloween candy instead of pawning it off on others, drinking that diet coke instead of more water. It's a big mixed bag for me. I hold a lot of resentment toward my parents for how they raised me: I was 180lbs and a women's size 18 by age 12. I was over 100lbs at age 7, and I haven't been below 200lbs since I was 13.
But as an adult, I just try my best, no matter who I was yesterday, I WILL be better every single new day, and if I mess up I own up to it.1 -
shredcamps wrote: »Guns_N_Buns wrote: »I'm not fat, I'm big boned!
of course you are. the cemeteries are full of obese skeletons!
Big Boned!!! bs..
My nutritionist said I was big boned!! No lie, she measured my wrist bones and said it's a thing and that I'm big boned!! But she did say it doesn't affect your weight as much as people want it to LOL0 -
Actually, CICO doesn't work for everyone, mostly because not all calories are created equal. Per MFP, I restricted calories to 1300/day. According to MFP I should have been losing weight, but I was gaining fat in my midsection. It wasn't until I learned about a protein/fat/carb nutrition plan that I realized the CICO flaw. When you restrict calories drastically, your body may go into starvation mode and want to store fat. And since a lot of my calories at the time were just carbs (fruit, veggies, dairy, grains), there was a lot for my body to convert to fat and store. Once I increased my calorie consumption and got 40% of my calories from protein, I was able to drop the weight. I also started eating 5 smaller meals/day, which revved up my metabolism and allowed me to eat even more food without burning more calories.
As for your friend's viewpoint, it makes sense that if you continue the same eating and exercising (or sedentary) habits, your body will stay the same weight. To say that's where the body "wants to be" is a bit of a stretch. More like where that person is comfortable. And of course if you go through steps to lose weight and then go back to old habits, you'll go back to your old weight. That's just common sense.
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Mary_Anastasia wrote: »shredcamps wrote: »Guns_N_Buns wrote: »I'm not fat, I'm big boned!
of course you are. the cemeteries are full of obese skeletons!
Big Boned!!! bs..
My nutritionist said I was big boned!! No lie, she measured my wrist bones and said it's a thing and that I'm big boned!! But she did say it doesn't affect your weight as much as people want it to LOL
I would get a new nutritionist.5 -
Mary_Anastasia wrote: »shredcamps wrote: »Guns_N_Buns wrote: »I'm not fat, I'm big boned!
of course you are. the cemeteries are full of obese skeletons!
Big Boned!!! bs..
My nutritionist said I was big boned!! No lie, she measured my wrist bones and said it's a thing and that I'm big boned!! But she did say it doesn't affect your weight as much as people want it to LOL
as i said. no fat skeletons. your Nutritionist is an idiot.4 -
Interesting pov... Obesity based on genetic factors :
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/11/01/health/americans-obesity-willpower-genetics-study.html?rref=collection/sectioncollection/health&action=click&contentCollection=health&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront&referer=http://www.nytimes.com/section/health1 -
My genes never shoved a pan of brownies in my mouth.
Environment affects genetic expression. This is a case where we can control our environment instead of letting our environment control us.6 -
Call it an excuse if you want (technically I guess it is) but I was uneducated about HOW to keep the weight loss off.
I can diet like no ones business but once I lost the weight I thought all I had to do was eat less than my regular eating habit. HOW much less I had no clue, I missed that chapter in the books.
Therefore I gave up, for a while.0 -
Interesting pov... Obesity based on genetic factors :
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/11/01/health/americans-obesity-willpower-genetics-study.html?rref=collection/sectioncollection/health&action=click&contentCollection=health&region=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront&referer=http://www.nytimes.com/section/health
And a POV is all it is. And a flawed, biased one at that. It was not a "study", it was a survey, which was funded by the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. It's nothing more than typical clickbait junk.2
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