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What about folks like myself who were fat babies, fat kids, fat teens, and fat adults?
I'm so sick of people saying that all I have to do is eat less and exercise more and Wa-La ... I'm a skinny person.
Yeap - I've seen and heard this all before. It's annoying because, since I'm a "skinny person" overweight people belittle and dismiss my opinion on the topic. Those who have known me my entire life know I wasn't always thin though. There's so much research available on this topic it is quite amazing. Quite amazing that obese people in spite of all the facts, and of course barring a diagnosed fundamental hormonal or biochemical issue, always want to blame others.
Chair exercises are not enough to increase your metabolism enough to lose body fat. Please don't fool yourself into thinking they are despite whatever limitations you have. I'm not being cold, I'm being real. Additionally you've analyzed your own diet to death which I find remarkably similar to what I've seen others do... Unfortunately the others I know who do this, 100% break from their diet rather regularly and yet conveniently forget when they declare how their gaining weight or not losing weight is a mystery. Then they point fingers at those around them and say things like "it's genetic" and then resign themselves to being overweight. I have no problem with that resignation, I have a problem with trying to pass that off as wisdom and an excuse to others to live unhealthily.... especially children.
The truth is so darned basic, I lose faith in humankind's rationality when I see people trying to cover it up or ignore it.
If you want to lose body fat, all you need to do (barring the exceptions previously noted) is increase your metabolism, stop eating refined flour products (breads and pastas), and stop eating anything laced with high-fructose corn syrup or sugar (including all sodas, juices, ice cream, and chocolate treats).
How do you increase your metabolism? It's easy... either increase your muscle mass (weight lifting) or do cardio-work to make your heart more efficient (or best yet, do both). Will this help you to lose weight? NO NO NO... you aren't focused on losing weight, you're instead focused on losing body fat and getting healthy!!! With that you will eventually lose weight but that is or should be a secondary goal for the first month or so. Will this work for everyone... a resounding yes is the answer.
What are the real reasons you and your family members are overweight? You don't need to guess, hypothesize, or postulate... none of those things because more definitive research has been done on this than you could imagine.
The truth is that Obese people tend to cause those around them to become obese, family and friends alike. It's probably habitual more than conscious. It's also commonly learned behavior as humans might be hardwired to do it. You start becoming more sedentary and start overeating when you spend significant time with people that already do those things regularly. Of course children of obese parents hardly have a chance simply because they are fed the wrong foods and model their lifestyles and expectations after those of their parents.
If it wasn't true that obesity is caused by overeating then gastric bypass surgery wouldn't be so successful. If it wasn't true that weight-lifting and cardio reduced body fat, then you'd see a lot more athletes with a large amount of fat. None of this is rocket-science folks.
If you're obese and reading this, I challenge you... seriously... cut bread and pasta, high fructose corn syrup, and refined sugar-rich foods such as chocolate and ice-cream from your diet completely for 1 month... see what happens. Aside from potentially going completely insane because your diet will be so different than what you're used to, you'll lose body fat. Now at the same time use an elliptical machine for just 15 minutes a day 7 days a week... and you'll see a marked difference even faster. Now start using gym free-weights and weightlift 20-30 minutes a day and you'll just be astonished. You'll change in just 4 weeks (you'll lose body fat, get stronger, and feel better). I'm serious... it really can happen. Just don't cheat yourself in any of those things (that's the tough part).
Research states it takes about 27 or 28 days (let's say a month for simplicity) to change a habit. If you can set yourself a mini-goal to change your life for just 1 month I propose that you can change your life for good. So if you're currently obese, what do you have to lose by trying any of my suggestions or one of the other posters? I don't think you have anything to lose. If anything I suspect you'll feel more mentally sharp and you'll get sick less, and in general you'll just start feeling better. Isn't that worth 40-45 minutes a day? I've personally lived the change, I'm not just blowing smoke. Teebopop I hope you read this reply to your post, I really do. If I can affect just one person my time posting this will be well worth the effort.
Some people just refuse to see their own prejudices.
I'm amazed at how uniformed, self-educated weight loss prophets really are in this world.
And seriously, Carrot Juice ... I would be embarrassed to make such a generality. It's obvious to me that you really don't have a clue. I urge you to educate yourself on this subject before you blatantly toss around statements that show your lack of knowledge on this subject.
It's never been that simple. Honestly. And really? It's not so much about calories in the scientific sense, it's how the body converts food intake.
People do have valid medical, scientifically proven health issues that prevent their bodies from properly digesting food input no matter how little it is or what it is.
Are you telling me that you have some proven scientific research to contradict those in the field who have the education and background to put you to shame?
I doubt it. You need to open your mind before you open your mouth.
I'm sorry that you feel it necessary to chastise me. You are making generalizations about someone you don't even know. And because you've decided that the reason we disagree is because I'm fat and you're not, once again shows that not only are you capable of making judgments on me (fat people in general) but anyone else who is not like you.
You assume I don't eat healthy. I do. Otherwise I would not have my diabetes under total control without insulin. My A1C is 5.5. If you know anything about that (and I doubt it), you would know that it is as normal as someone who doesn't have diabetes.
Cardio? Did you miss the part where I said I was disabled? I can not walk without canes. And no, it's not because I'm fat. It's because I have a neuromuscular disorder that prevents me from walking more than a few feet without support.
I do chair exercises because my doctor has deemed it safe for me to do. I'm sorry I don't have the added advantage of having a normal body that would allow me to run, jump, walk, and so on. I'm not sorry for your sake but for my kids. I missed being able to do all of that with them because I am handicapped.
If I was to ignore my obesity, why would I even read this thread?
You, on the other hand, ignored everything I said. I told you I eat healthy, that I've controlled my diabetes since diagnosed 18 months ago (and without insulin). And you're giving me heath tips.
I told you that I cook fresh. I don't use anything canned or packaged. I cook from scratch. And you want to tell me how to eat?
I wasn't ignoring anything or trying to cover anything up. But I think you certainly did.
You can't save me. I don't need to be saved or educated.
I had to laugh at the end when you said "If I can affect just one person my time posting this will be well worth the effort." The only thing you did to affect me was to remind me that there are still a lot of people in the world who pontificate about things they know little about.
I will tell you the same thing I told Carrot Juice. And I'm not trying to be mean or bitter. I'm not either. Someone who does not know anything about me except what I've told them and then chooses to ignore EVERYTHING I said needs to open their mind before they open their mouth.
Oh, and by the way, I'm not a candidate for gastric bypass. In order to qualify for a gastric bypass or banding of any sort, you have to have a psychological and medical evaluation. I failed.
Want to know why? I am not a binge eater or overeater. Nutritionally speaking, I probably eat better than a optimal weight person. And that's a direct quote from my nutritionist.
And I'm even going to stick my neck out here and say I probably eat better than you do. It's just that my body doesn't convert to energy that way it does for a normal person with a normal metabolic system.
I am hoping that MY posts open up minds. I'm hoping that my posts will stop the prejudice against overweight people. It's time that folks like yourself and others STOP making generalizations about people who are overweight.
And then make statements as though, because they are thinner, they are superior. That you know more about me than I do.
And seriously, Carrot Juice ... I would be embarrassed to make such a generality. It's obvious to me that you really don't have a clue. I urge you to educate yourself on this subject before you blatantly toss around statements that show your lack of knowledge on this subject.
Okay. You're fat and it's not your fault. There's nothing you can do about. Just a combination of bad genes and bad luck. You're unlucky.
Okay, so now you're sarcastic AND uneducated. Keep going. You're proving my point without my having to say anything more.
Your responses are unbelievably hostile.
It's not your situation that others have replied to you about, but it's your deliberate or inadvertant attempt to pass off your own rather unique experiences with obesity in combination with a handicap as applicable to everyone else who suffers from obesity alone.
You wrote something to the effect that a fat baby, leads to fat child, to fat teen, to fat adult and implied there was a genetic factor primarily at fault and thin people and health fitness gurus have no idea what they're doing or talking about. It is those points which have garnered other people's attention on this thread.
Why? Because they are all untrue and misleading as generalizations. They apply to you because you have a whole host of health issues. We all have acknowledged that your handicap and other people's issues with their bio-chemical makeup or hormonal situation bring into the equation a completely different set of variables. Please, don't keep harping on that... we know it, understand it, and I think it is time for you to move on. We all have been dealt a hand which presents its own challenges. Your biochemistry is screwed up, and you and your doctors are doing the best you can to fix or help you live with it. That's fantastic. Now let us move on to the topic at hand which is more to do with obesity as an epidemic and hypothesizing about why and how to solve it. If you don't want to do that please start your own thread rather than fill this one with your own cynicism, bitterness and hostility. I'm not saying it isn't warranted, I'm just saying that sharing it wasn't the initial point of this thread and it certainly doesn't look like people are responding well to it.
Last edited by belovenow; 02-27-2008 at 07:37 AM..
[quote=teebopop;2949009]What about folks like myself who were fat babies, fat kids, fat teens, and fat adults?
Babies are not born fat. Some are bigger or smaller than others.
The only time I was able to lose weight was when I cut my calorie intake to 500 calories a day. I lost weight fast. But was in frail health, my hair was falling out, I was anemic.
Could you have taken supplements to counteract the reduction of calories and nutrients?
I have looked at my childhood pictures from birth through high school. I was overweight all those years and nothing my parents or doctors did changed it.
Exactly what did your parents/doctors attempt to do that did not work and why?
So if I'm doing everything right (I saw a nutritionist, we worked on my food plan together for 3 months) and I'm still overweight do I deserve the look of disdain I often see on other people's faces? I think not.
If you sincerely believe that you have done what you could to maintain a healthy lifestyle, then you need to work on self-esteem issues such that the "look of disdain" that people give you should no longer bother you.
For the most part, I'm relatively healthy for a disabled person. My heart is good, my diabetes is under my control, and I'm very cognitive of what goes in my mouth and when.
Good for you. YOU care, that's all that matters.
I have owned and cared for several dogs as pets. When I want one to gain wait, I feed it more. When I want one to lose weight, I feed it less. I've never had a dog that stayed fat regardless. I've also never seen a puppy that was born fat. People are the same way. More food = big people. Less food = small people.
Before this thread bashes into a dead end, I think it is worth mentioning that different people have very different relationships with food. Some people will dig into their food with both hands. Others sit and pick at it, not sure about what they will eat or what they won't. Food makes some people anxious. For others, it is as calming and relaxing as a glass of wine, or two, or three, or four.
An eating disorder is when that relationship interferes with one's health and ability to conduct day-to-day affairs. Obesity is a type of eating disorder. I recently had dinner with a friend of mine and her daughter, both battling weight problems. (They were obese.) When the food arrived, I got the feeling that they were both on a tight time schedule, because they ate their meals so quickly. When they were finished and the dishes were carried away, my friend said, "Well, I don't think they'll mind if we sit here and chat for a while." I was stunned. They had time to talk? I thought we were all in a big hurry, but no. For them, they couldn't get that food down fast enough. When that food was in front of them, nothing was more important. When the food was gone, however, then we could relax and enjoy ourselves. Different people. Different relationships.
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