For those of you who became extremely obese - how did you get there? (hormones, diabetic)
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Good point about looking at old photos, i look at my parents old photo albums from the 30s-60s and theres no fat people in the pictures. Now its the opposite and its the rare person who isnt overweight. Something has definitely changed in the American diet over the last 40-50 years to produce so many fat people...
A lot of things have changed in the past 40-50 years.
1. No more pay phones. No, you no longer have to go somewhere to find a phone. You need only reach around in your pocket.
2. No more live meetings with people congregating together. You don't even have to leave your home. Just turn on your tablet/laptop and teleconference in.
3. People working more hours for less pay, which often equates to more than one job, which means less time available to exercise.
4. More hours also means less time for freshly made wholesome food, which means more fast food and other unhealthy fattening ingestibles. See also: Lunchables, and the -dozens- of brands of frozen meals, as opposed to the initial Stouffer and Hungry Man frozen dinners.
5. Triple-caramel-crunchy-mocha-latte-skinny-jellybean-vanilla chai-mushychino, with skim milk but extra crap. Plus a slice of banana bread.
6. More varieties of bread than there are varieties of grain in the world.
7. More possible things you can put on the bread than ever before. Including peanutbutter and banana, which also happened within the last 40-50 years (thanks to Elvis).
8. More people sitting at their computers, since there was no such thing as a PC 40-50 years ago, and now almost everyone has one; with families typically having a few of them. That means less exercise. Less moving, being physically active outside. People think they actually have to measure their fitness level with technology, that's how out of touch with their own bodies and their place in the world they are.
In summary: People are eating more, moving less, because technology has made it easier for them to do things without having to do the physical work for it anymore. And there's a more of a variety of food, which means more things for people to enjoy eating.
I am not obese but I am overweight and weight is slowly creeping up. I once use to wonder like you, how can people get so fat. I understood how people can be overweight but not obese. Then my weight slowly started moving up and I realize how it can happen.
Before even as overweight I use to workout 3 days a week which lead me to eat healthy. Then my gym closed down and I couldn't find another gym I enjoyed being at for 3+ times a week so didn't bother getting a membership believing I will not gain weight. Next thing I know, I gained 10lb. Now I am super mad at myself & promise to sign up for gym but after 3 fail attempts I realize gym is not my place but promised myself I will work really hard to lose the 10lb. Then I get married & move in with my husband & lifestyle changes that aren't noticeable yet it causes me to gain another 10lb.
This is when I realize weight slowly adds up & we often don't notice. I was shocked at my first 10lb gain because I was already over weight & didn't think I could get fatter. But at my 10lb gain I realize we get used to the weight slowly and it just adds on
Wow, it looks like I'm the only person who shared a story about becoming obese. Everyone else is just guessing or sharing anecdotes about people they know.
Yes hun, after some of the judgmental comments I've read on here I give you big points for being brave enough to share your story. How many people looked at this thread and decided not to share b/c of that? "Personal responsibility, you're just lazy, yadda yadda." I'd like to know how it is they know you so well? I am not including the OP in this--you asked the question very respectfully I thought and I think it is useful to open a conversation on this but only if people feel comfortable to share. Otherwise it's just a judge fest.
I can share my story a little bit though I'm not obese--I am 5'3" and 140 lbs, but for years after my second was born I weighed about 185. I don't really think I ate a huge quantity but I didn't exercise as much as I could've, though I was no couch potato either and I cooked real food rather than serving junk. One thing that I had a hard time controlling was my sweet tooth though. Then I went thru a period of high stress and anxiety b/c of family problems and it seems like in about 3 mo I put on 15 lbs--I got within spittin' distance of 200 and that freaked me out so I decided to stop eating any added sugar and none of the 3 C's--cake, cookies, candy. My mother had set a precedent for this years earlier or I'm not sure I would've thought it could even be possible. So I stopped sugar and dropped down to 155 very quickly and maintained that for awhile. From that experience I realized that once you start a ball rolling, you have to do something very drastic to turn it around. Ate some sugar again a few years later and was instantly an addict again and it wasn't till I had a serious health crisis that I stopped again and did low carb to get more weight off.
My friend however--she is married and a housewife and a fantastic cook and grandma and her weight has shot up to almost 300 recently. She hurt her foot awhile ago and couldn't walk on it and has no health insurance so she had to stay off it to heal. So now, no exercise because if she does, she makes her foot worse, which causes her to gain weight and makes it harder for her foot to heal when she does walk on it. I'm guessing this happens to a lot of people. Also, once your blood sugar starts to whack it causes a snowball effect and makes it easier to gain weight on less and less food. I know--I have tracked my calories over a period of time and I am maintaining my current 20 lbs of overweight on about 1000 cals/day.
Another thing to keep in mind is that new studies are coming out every day about gut flora and the effect it has on your weight. Some people really can eat more b/c they digest it better and can use the vitamins and minerals more efficiently. I have a theory that for many malnourished but obese people, their body is struggling to get the nourishment it needs and so the body makes you keep eating in an effort to meet its needs. This goes for protein as well--your body will keep eating till it gets protein needs met so if you get that upfront, perhaps you'll be less hungry at the next meal. So eat up on those bacon and eggs lol.
As for the whole accusation about folks being lazy--perhaps there is a reason. I'm guessing that as the obesity starts to snowball, they lose energy and I read that digestion takes up a lot of energy. Im guessing it takes even more if your digestion is impaired. I certainly had much less energy when I was gaining weight back when I was shooting up towards 200. Some folks would give me points and say I used my power of choice, but I'll say that whatever it was that was stressing me out at the time wasn't that big of a deal but sometimes people really get caught up in a terrible tangle and take meds or get depressed or. . . you name it and it's not so easy as saying you should have stopped eating so much at that point, when in fact it was the lowest on their priority list at that time and then when things are better, they have a new and not so improved body and metabolism.
I gained 60 pounds on chemo and a further 30-40 pounds in the years after ending treatment. At my highest, I was probably over 300 but I didn't weigh myself. After dieting for 2 months at the beginning of the year, I was down to 280 (which I count as my "start" weight) at the end of February and am now down to the 230s.
I was already overweight when I started the gain due to years of being misdiagnosed. I had no energy and was given steroids at least twice a year to deal with rashes that turned out to be a manifestation of my cancer - but every time I had the steroids, I gained weight and only lost half of it before the next round of steroids. Rather than gaining a freshman 15 in college, I gained the freshman 50 despite tracking calories.
When I was diagnosed, I was walking 4 or 5 miles a day, didn't have a car (so had to walk to work, grocery store, etc), cooked all my meals from scratch, and had lost some weight. I was 23, living on my own, 4 months into my first job, and on top of the world. Within a month of my cancer treatment, I couldn't even walk around the block. I moved the same week I was diagnosed much further away from work, and quickly was not able to walk to the train to commute not to mention was told by my doctors to avoid public transit. Buying a car was a nail in the coffin for my weight.
In 6 months of chemo, I gained 10 pounds a month. I was on a TON of steroids and my taste buds changed - I had mouth sores so a lot of foods were off limits and greens in particular were so bitter that I couldn't eat them. Because I had no caregiver, I found myself eating a lot of takeout, frozen meals, ramen, or protein shakes because I didn't have the energy to cook, especially after a long day at work.
The steroids continued for a few months after treatment ended. In 6 months, I lost almost all of my muscle mass. I couldn't even lift a bag of trash to take it out, had to empty out my purse, and scooted on my tush up and down the stairs of my 3rd floor walkup and 3rd floor office (neither had elevators). It has taken years to be physically where I was before I got sick, and I have lung and heart damage to boot so I have to be really careful.
To top it all off, chemo totally destroyed my metabolism. Even 4 years later, I can eat no more than 1400 calories a day - and that's ONLY if I'm working out at least half an hour a day. I shoot for closer to 1200 calories. If I'm not working out, I would need to eat under 1000 calories to lose weight.
Wow. I know this sounds ignorant, but I thought cancer made you lose weight. Everyone I know with cancer is/was rail thin.
I thought that before I got sick as well! Right after diagnosis, I cracked jokes to my coworkers about how I wanted to lose weight but not that bad. Some cancers/treatments do make you lose weight due to nausea, pain, etc. That's especially true of in-patient chemo. Others' side effects can be more controlled. For instance, I had 3 nausea meds so I never threw up and I used marijuana which kept my appetite up but unfortunately, my diet was poor due to mouth sores (when I had to drink protein shakes or milkshakes) and being poor, young, and with very little assistance. In the days after chemo, I was so weak that even microwaving something could be tough. My chemo in particular is known for causing weight gain - even my oncologist and onconutritionist told me to expect to gain weight and expect that it would be harder to come off than I was used to. It's a very common complaint on lymphoma support groups.
Many cancer patients are given steroids, myself included, and they can really make you gain weight. Steroids also give you HORRIBLE cravings and make you really aggressive - it's an entirely unheard thing in the cancer world to go on a steroids induced binge at 3AM but have no memory of it the next day.
*Most* days through treatment, I only ate around 1500 calories but they weren't good quality calories. My chemo weekends (two weekends a month) were where I really struggled and would sometimes just drink milkshakes or protein shakes all weekend because that was all I could stomach.
Most people are overweight because they eat more calories than they burn off. It's very simple. Sometimes there are mitigating factors such as illness or medications, but the vast majority of cases, it's all about calories in, calories out. I am mildly overweight and have been roughly the same weight my whole life, except for a brief period when I was on a weight gain medication and my weight ballooned 30 pounds. (I am 5'2" woman). My doctors say I'm fine, blood pressure good, and I exercise regularly. I always have to take medicine that tends to make me gain weight, so I have to watch my diet and exercise regularly. Also, I'm petite and almost 40, so I don't have any wiggle room when it comes to my weight. I have a certain squeal point weight and if I hit it, it's chicken and brocolli for me for a few days. I refuse to buy larger size clothes.
Wow. I know this sounds ignorant, but I thought cancer made you lose weight. Everyone I know with cancer is/was rail thin.
Hop on over to any cancer forum and you will see that that is just a myth. True for many but not all and it doesn't help that at chemo clinics they give away candy and snack foods "to keep your strength up." It can be true for those in stage 4 though b/c the tumor starts to take away all the body's energy but even at the end when mom was losing weight like crazy she wasn't exactly rail thin--and she was eating practically nothing at all.
I'm guessing too that a lot of the drugs they give cancer patients change markers for obesity for the worse, such as hormone balance, gut flora, and cortisol levels--and that's not to mention that probably the last thing you feel like doing after a chemo session is exercise.
I read somewhere that they interviewed some very obese people and the people said they would be willing to sacrifice a limb if they could just be thin and some even wanted to die. There are those who would say that they just need to eat less then, but I'm guessing that's been tried and it either didn't work, or was way too stressful. Or both, because once you have those obesity "markers" set in good and firm, your body doesn't want to give up the weight. It can still be done, but it's extremely difficult at first and some deep sacrifices need to be made. Also, even at 140 lbs, my hormones are unbalanced and my body keeps trying to put the weight back on.
Deep sacrifices - ain't that the truth! I totally need to start making them! 5'0 and 47, losing weight is an uphill battle. 1350 calories? Now what am I having for lunch and dinner! lol! Uggggh!!!
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