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The Obesity piece on HuffPost
determined_14
Posts: 258 Member
Anyone talking about this? I looked around the forums but didn’t see it.
https://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/everything-you-know-about-obesity-is-wrong/
Obviously we as CICO practicers don’t believe in much of this article.
Is metabolism permanently lowered by obesity?
Will power isn’t a limitless resource— what should people do who can’t seem to stick to diets?
https://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/everything-you-know-about-obesity-is-wrong/
Obviously we as CICO practicers don’t believe in much of this article.
Is metabolism permanently lowered by obesity?
Will power isn’t a limitless resource— what should people do who can’t seem to stick to diets?
3
Replies
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I read the article earlier on Facebook,honestly it was boring to me and I learned nothing from it1
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In general the bigger you are the higher your metabolism is.10
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The piece strikes me as fluffy, light in actual science, and heavy on appeals to emotion.
Despite making the claim that weight loss significantly lowers metabolism until the high weight is attained again early in the piece, the author provided nothing to back it up. I read the whole *kitten* thing waiting for that. I want my 10 minutes back :grumble:19 -
Looks like somebody got paid by the word.
That article is basically a reiteration of the HAES (Health at Every Size) strong-arm branch that's twisted the general message of "be as active and healthy as you can be at your current weight" into "it's stressful to lose weight and few succeed at keeping it off in the long term so it's wrong to even try."
This branch even gets mad at HAES members and celebrities who try to lose weight, especially if they succeed over the long term.
No one should be discriminated against because of weight. However, the other end of the spectrum (exalting morbid obesity) doesn't do anyone any good either.15 -
Actually, I thought the article was interesting....certainly the physiological response is that CI < CO = Weight loss, but *losing weight* really is much more than just the physiological response. There is a whole psychological/emotional/sociological component to losing weight and that is what isn't addressed by the medical establishment. I know that my doctor has told me "you have to lose weight" many times, without really saying much beyond that. He did tell me that another patient lost weight, then was able to start running, and lose more weight. That is been the extent of our conversations.
Plus, I do believe that the state of the American food industry is responsible for alot of our obesity issues and this article aligned with my thinking, so of course the article is right.
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That Huffington Post article was way too long, would have taken me a week to read it. A couple years ago a story came out about Biggest Loser participants and how so many of them regained the weight, blaming it on lowered metabolisms. I'm still convinced that people regain weight, not because of lowered metabolisms but because they go back to the bad eating habits and lifestyles they had before. I know this for a fact because I'm one of those people. I've yo-yoed for years. If my metabolism was damaged, I wouldn't be able to lose weight again. But I always do.17
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As long as it is the fault of another, such as the food industry or advertising or more commuters or genes or what the mean man said that “made” you drive to Jack in the Box, little success will be seen.
Not saying these things and more are not factors. What I am saying is people can succeed in the face of challenges.
No one held a gun to the woman’s head when she would eat entire containers of ice cream in secret.
It is this sort of behavior that leads me to question some of the anecdotes and even some research that says metabolism is “damaged” by dieting.
How many participants are self reporting, but leaving out the carton of cookie dough ice cream in their food log?
Are there people with real metabolic issues? Of course. However, as per the BBC report that featured the actress who self proclaimed a slow metabolism, but when scientifically tested, she was perfectly normal and simply underreported her food consumed. So it is my belief that such people are the exception, not normative.
I am not saying it is easy. But my experience is it is almost impossible when one is not honest with themselves.
I told myself I wasn’t fat. Ignoring the scale that would bounce between 260 and 270. I was working out 4-6 days a week. Heck, i could ride 100km on my bicycle on a Saturday morning.
Yet high BP, Blood Glucose, Cholesterol and an elevated A1C in the diabetes range told a different study.
I couldn’t lie to the lab.
Seven months later, A1C down from 7.3 to 5.1 last month.
How?
By being honest about what I was eating and then tracking it per the plan of my Diabetes Coach and Dietitian.
Articles like this only reinforce the notion that people are powerless over their circumstances. Or that it is not as bad as they think.
No power in being hopeless, but plenty of opportunity to sell solutions.
I refuse to be powerless. I refuse to lie to myself.
I deserve better treatment than that.40 -
So why is losing weight so hard? I bet I'm like many people on this board - successful in many other areas of my life (career, family). I've overcome health issues (not related to being overweight), money troubles....yet the one area of my life that continues to be a struggle is my weight. Am I too complacent, give up too easily, ready to take the easy way out. I didn't in many other areas of my life. Why this?
I do feel that there is something that tugs me in the wrong direction when it comes to weight loss. Whether it is a biological drive to take in as many calories as possible or the food industry doing everything it can to keep us eating more and more or something else entirely.
Don't get me wrong...I take full responsibility for my weight problems and I know that there is no magic pill and that I have to want it and work for it. I just think that if it really was a matter of "more willpower", more people would be successful.17 -
With the destruction of ISIS I was concerned about what was going to happen to the population of <80 IQ.
As a longtime proponent of charity I'm pleased that HuffPost is hiring these lovable *kitten*.
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I'll say this much - at least it's consistent with HuffPost's typical garbage level of 'journalism'.
I'm getting a lot more enjoyment from seeing it torn to pieces on Facebook by the evidence-based health/nutrition community than I did from reading the original article. It gives me a headache when I roll my eyes that much.23 -
So why is losing weight so hard? I bet I'm like many people on this board - successful in many other areas of my life (career, family). I've overcome health issues (not related to being overweight), money troubles....yet the one area of my life that continues to be a struggle is my weight. Am I too complacent, give up too easily, ready to take the easy way out. I didn't in many other areas of my life. Why this?
I do feel that there is something that tugs me in the wrong direction when it comes to weight loss. Whether it is a biological drive to take in as many calories as possible or the food industry doing everything it can to keep us eating more and more or something else entirely.
Don't get me wrong...I take full responsibility for my weight problems and I know that there is no magic pill and that I have to want it and work for it. I just think that if it really was a matter of "more willpower", more people would be successful.
It's hard to lose weight because for most of our history, starvation was a real problem that killed. We've evolved appetites for high calorie foods to keep us alive. On top of that, we keep inventing convenient ways to avoid burning calories, looked using email instead of talking to people, and databases instead of walking to the file room and getting the right one. Now we have easy access to lots of delicious calories, and less need for them, it's a one two punch.
Also, because most things with doing are hard.17 -
When I was heavier it was because I chose to be that way. I controlled my lifestyle, what I ate, what I could have done to avoid losing it. When I got honest with myself I changed. I don't think people should be ashamed of being fat, but don't lie to yourself either.17
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I haven't read it (and doubt I will) but I've already seen the commentary about it so I can guess what's in it. At one point in time, I would have made similar commentary and used articles like this as justification for staying obese. Confirmation bias.6
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It is a good article that drives home what we all know to be factual that going hungry is no way to lose weight long term or doing extreme exercise as per the data on the Biggest Loser TV show supports.
Once I learned my trigger to binging I made the choice to stop eating the trigger foods. That was Oct 2014 at the age of 63 and about to become immobile without assistance.
Losing weight was always rather easy by going hungry but restricting never worked out long term in my case. It was only after ditching all weight loss goals and just eating to improve my health markers that I met with success health wise. Having for 4 years now eat all that I want when I get hungry is like real FREEDOM to me.
My health is slowly improving since writing off dieting to lose weight. The funny part of never going hungry in the first year I lost 50 pounds and have maintained that lose for the past three years.
I only had to address my cause of binging because I have eaten 2500 but more like 3000 calories daily for the past 4 years. Strange but in my case it was not only the calories but the kind of calories that kept me obese by trigger binging.
We are all different so we need to work to find our own WOE that works for and with our own body. It was a hellish two weeks when I cut out food with added sugar and or any type of any grain but that passed quickly. My pain dropped like a rock in just the first 30 days which was proof in the pudding I needed to stay with my new WOE back in 2014.
Try to read this article in full where it is meaningful or not the first past. We did not overeat just to become obese by not counting calories but we all had reasons that we did over eat. Until one understands why they become obese there is no way to fix why we became obese and then yo-yo'ed weight wise when trying to lose weight and keep it off. Tracking net CICO is very easy for me by weighing my body once a day so there is no CICO to track calorie by calorie.
Yes at some point one must learn the amount of calories is in the food they eat but that should be a few weeks not a lifetime. Eating now is fun because I can do it all I want and not get obese again now that the desire to binge has been gone for 4 years now. Yes I know how to eat to start binging again and may do it when I lose my thinking ability. I have coached my family to make sure I keep eating LCHF if I lose my mind but none of them eat that way so I live in a house filled with food that does not work for my best health so that is not a valid reason to stay obese.
We do not have the right to tell others how to eat and know to ignore them when others try to tell us the best way to eat. OUR bodies will let us know what it wants and needs for its best health. I just did not listen to it for 40 years and paid a price. I can now walk any distance and dress myself quite well. I am restoring antique tractors and rehabbing a 2010 Ford 150 PU and a 22 foot equipment tilt trailer to haul them to tractor shows even solo.
If we are still breathing often we can make changes that helps us regain quality of life. Best of success in listening to your body let you know how to eat and move that is best for your future health.28 -
The article makes several good points, and a lot of iffy ones. I agree with its overall questioning of both our societal attitude towards obesity, and the way that the health care system addresses the problem.
But the writing is flawed by hyperbole and failure to understand the research it cites. For example:
I can directly contradict the bolded. I've lost 4.5% of my starting weight, and was very seldom hungry while doing it. As I write this, I've only eaten 80% of my allotted calories for the day and I'm not feeling particularly hungry at all."As early as 1969, research showed that losing just 3 percent of your body weight resulted in a 17 percent slowdown in your metabolism—a body-wide starvation response that blasts you with hunger hormones and drops your internal temperature until you rise back to your highest weight. Keeping weight off means fighting your body’s energy-regulation system and battling hunger all day, every day, for the rest of your life"
This kind of sloppy expression of one point makes me question everything else in the article. I wish the author had tightened up his fact-checking, because I'd really like to know which of his points are valid.
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Evelyn_Gorfram wrote: »The article makes several good points, and a lot of iffy ones. I agree with its overall questioning of both our societal attitude towards obesity, and the way that the health care system addresses the problem.
But the writing is flawed by hyperbole and failure to understand the research it cites. For example:
I can directly contradict the bolded. I've lost 4.5% of my starting weight, and was very seldom hungry while doing it. As I write this, I've only eaten 80% of my allotted calories for the day and I'm not feeling particularly hungry at all."As early as 1969, research showed that losing just 3 percent of your body weight resulted in a 17 percent slowdown in your metabolism—a body-wide starvation response that blasts you with hunger hormones and drops your internal temperature until you rise back to your highest weight. Keeping weight off means fighting your body’s energy-regulation system and battling hunger all day, every day, for the rest of your life"
This kind of sloppy expression of one point makes me question everything else in the article. I wish the author had tightened up his fact-checking, because I'd really like to know which of his points are valid.
I've lost 27% of my body weight (and maintained the loss for nearly a year so far), so that means I should have experienced a 153% slowdown in my metabolism according to their math. And I should have a body temperature somewhere in the 80F degree range and be "blasted with hunger hormones" and wanting to do nothing but eat all day and night.
What a steaming pile of bovine manure.30 -
So why is losing weight so hard? I bet I'm like many people on this board - successful in many other areas of my life (career, family). I've overcome health issues (not related to being overweight), money troubles....yet the one area of my life that continues to be a struggle is my weight. Am I too complacent, give up too easily, ready to take the easy way out. I didn't in many other areas of my life. Why this?
I do feel that there is something that tugs me in the wrong direction when it comes to weight loss. Whether it is a biological drive to take in as many calories as possible or the food industry doing everything it can to keep us eating more and more or something else entirely.
Don't get me wrong...I take full responsibility for my weight problems and I know that there is no magic pill and that I have to want it and work for it. I just think that if it really was a matter of "more willpower", more people would be successful.
Losing weight means a lifestyle change---permanently. I think most people don't realize this. MFP helps get you started and helps you see how this can happen. Staying at a healthy weight means choosing lower calorie options almost always, with exceptions being infrequent celebrations and outings with friends and family. Ordering a lower calorie meal at a restaurant, or taking home half to eat the day after need to become habits. People often come to realize how important exercise is and continue after losing the weight..another habit. Without changing how you think about your life and health, it's easy to regain.
PS: For those who do a lot of exercise, bodybuilding, etc. They can eat a lot of food and not gain. Most people don't fall into that category.9 -
My condensed take on the original article is, self respect is at the bottom of so many issues, enable everyone to like themselves and they will not continually press the self destruct button. Naturally there are some all pervasive, destructive health conditions which need addressing adequately, most are of endocrine origin, get this right, people feel well and one's self respect is elevated.2
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Evelyn_Gorfram wrote: »The article makes several good points, and a lot of iffy ones. I agree with its overall questioning of both our societal attitude towards obesity, and the way that the health care system addresses the problem.
But the writing is flawed by hyperbole and failure to understand the research it cites. For example:
I can directly contradict the bolded. I've lost 4.5% of my starting weight, and was very seldom hungry while doing it. As I write this, I've only eaten 80% of my allotted calories for the day and I'm not feeling particularly hungry at all."As early as 1969, research showed that losing just 3 percent of your body weight resulted in a 17 percent slowdown in your metabolism—a body-wide starvation response that blasts you with hunger hormones and drops your internal temperature until you rise back to your highest weight. Keeping weight off means fighting your body’s energy-regulation system and battling hunger all day, every day, for the rest of your life"
This kind of sloppy expression of one point makes me question everything else in the article. I wish the author had tightened up his fact-checking, because I'd really like to know which of his points are valid.
I've lost 27% of my body weight (and maintained the loss for nearly a year so far), so that means I should have experienced a 153% slowdown in my metabolism according to their math. And I should have a body temperature somewhere in the 80F degree range and be "blasted with hunger hormones" and wanting to do nothing but eat all day and night.
What a steaming pile of bovine manure.
I lost 23% of my body weight in 2014-2015. My REE at 275 lbs was 2470. My REE at 215 was 2070. Body temperature remained the same. All this while hypothyroid.
Cherry picked post-modernist bovine squeeze. If you want to waste time and view the studies sourced in this you find the same drivel. Caloric intake self reported. No peer review. Analysis based upon reported as opposed to collected data. Subjective nonsense aligned to push a narrative of re-branding failure.13 -
I agree with an earlier poster... I want those 10 minutes of my life back that I wasted reading the entire article. We should never fat shame anyone. That said, I don't think it's acceptable to just shrug our societal shoulders and "accept" obesity as something that can't be addressed and changed.11
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I don't need my 10 minutes back, I never read anything on HudfPo. If it's true, someone more credible will report on it too.12
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NorthCascades wrote: »I don't need my 10 minutes back, I never read anything on HudfPo. If it's true, someone more credible will report on it too.
Ditto6 -
Exactly. It's just another version of "safe spaces" and/or "everybody gets a trophy". Telling people to not feel bad about being a failure because it's not their fault.Evelyn_Gorfram wrote: »The article makes several good points, and a lot of iffy ones. I agree with its overall questioning of both our societal attitude towards obesity, and the way that the health care system addresses the problem.
But the writing is flawed by hyperbole and failure to understand the research it cites. For example:
I can directly contradict the bolded. I've lost 4.5% of my starting weight, and was very seldom hungry while doing it. As I write this, I've only eaten 80% of my allotted calories for the day and I'm not feeling particularly hungry at all."As early as 1969, research showed that losing just 3 percent of your body weight resulted in a 17 percent slowdown in your metabolism—a body-wide starvation response that blasts you with hunger hormones and drops your internal temperature until you rise back to your highest weight. Keeping weight off means fighting your body’s energy-regulation system and battling hunger all day, every day, for the rest of your life"
This kind of sloppy expression of one point makes me question everything else in the article. I wish the author had tightened up his fact-checking, because I'd really like to know which of his points are valid.
I've lost 27% of my body weight (and maintained the loss for nearly a year so far), so that means I should have experienced a 153% slowdown in my metabolism according to their math. And I should have a body temperature somewhere in the 80F degree range and be "blasted with hunger hormones" and wanting to do nothing but eat all day and night.
What a steaming pile of bovine manure.
I lost 23% of my body weight in 2014-2015. My REE at 275 lbs was 2470. My REE at 215 was 2070. Body temperature remained the same. All this while hypothyroid.
Cherry picked post-modernist bovine squeeze. If you want to waste time and view the studies sourced in this you find the same drivel. Caloric intake self reported. No peer review. Analysis based upon reported as opposed to collected data. Subjective nonsense aligned to push a narrative of re-branding failure.12 -
Exactly. It's just another version of "safe spaces" and/or "everybody gets a trophy". Telling people to not feel bad about being a failure because it's not their fault.Evelyn_Gorfram wrote: »The article makes several good points, and a lot of iffy ones. I agree with its overall questioning of both our societal attitude towards obesity, and the way that the health care system addresses the problem.
But the writing is flawed by hyperbole and failure to understand the research it cites. For example:
I can directly contradict the bolded. I've lost 4.5% of my starting weight, and was very seldom hungry while doing it. As I write this, I've only eaten 80% of my allotted calories for the day and I'm not feeling particularly hungry at all."As early as 1969, research showed that losing just 3 percent of your body weight resulted in a 17 percent slowdown in your metabolism—a body-wide starvation response that blasts you with hunger hormones and drops your internal temperature until you rise back to your highest weight. Keeping weight off means fighting your body’s energy-regulation system and battling hunger all day, every day, for the rest of your life"
This kind of sloppy expression of one point makes me question everything else in the article. I wish the author had tightened up his fact-checking, because I'd really like to know which of his points are valid.
I've lost 27% of my body weight (and maintained the loss for nearly a year so far), so that means I should have experienced a 153% slowdown in my metabolism according to their math. And I should have a body temperature somewhere in the 80F degree range and be "blasted with hunger hormones" and wanting to do nothing but eat all day and night.
What a steaming pile of bovine manure.
I lost 23% of my body weight in 2014-2015. My REE at 275 lbs was 2470. My REE at 215 was 2070. Body temperature remained the same. All this while hypothyroid.
Cherry picked post-modernist bovine squeeze. If you want to waste time and view the studies sourced in this you find the same drivel. Caloric intake self reported. No peer review. Analysis based upon reported as opposed to collected data. Subjective nonsense aligned to push a narrative of re-branding failure.
So typical HuffPo garbage... good to know, I won't even bother reading it.4 -
I didn't read it because I am tired of hyperbolic "Everything You Know About <X> Is Wrong" statements.6
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Hmm, interesting comments. I haven't read the article but the comments about body temp caught my eye. My thyroid is damaged (ultra sound showed this years ago) and my regular body temp varies from 94.5 (early am) to 97.5. Usually in the 96.5 range. I've tried more than one thermometer and it's always the same. I've lost over 100 lbs and maintained for a year. I'm also 62 years old which is likely also a factor.
Losing weight did not make it impossible to maintain my loss nor do I think it had a big effect on my body temp. It was always chronically low. My thyroid is monitored by my doc who says I am in the normal range with my current meds.
My point, yes there is one, is that you need to learn to eat in a way that you can maintain and no body is the same. So as usual I think a spark of truth often drives these claims. Just as adaptive thermogenesis has a small affect on people but usually so minor it is not why people are fat nor does it cause a body to go into starvation mode requiring them to eat more. But the headlines sell so they write em.1 -
Ok so curiosity got the better of me and I read the article. What I took away as the author's point was that people should accept those who have weight problems (no problem there) and that it's not possible for them to change it (big problem there!).
When I was obese I definately was treated differently and I agree that's not ok but telling someone that their obesity isn't their fault, that they should embrace it and not change is kind of like telling an alcoholic the same thing in my mind. I am definately healthier and frankly happier now that I am a normal weight. Do I look down on those who haven't done the same? Absolutely not but I know they can if they want to and telling them it's not possible is cruel and untrue!21 -
They lost me at establishing "fat" as an identity to be protected. So if you lose weight you lose your identity, or are betraying "your people"?17
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There's a very similar issue with deaf people who get cochlear implants. Does the existence of this technology mean that "deaf" should no longer be considered an identity meriting protection?amusedmonkey wrote: »They lost me at establishing "fat" as an identity to be protected. So if you lose weight you lose your identity, or are betraying "your people"?
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Lest anyone think I dropped out of my own thread, I’m still here! Reading everything. Just busy today!
Thanks for the thoughts. They all about align with my own take, but I’ve never (yet!) struggled with obesity and don’t want to presume I know what it’s like.
I was pretty sure the unsustainably low metabolism and the body temp had to be unsubstantiated, as as several mentioned, there were no citations.3
This discussion has been closed.
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