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I still believe that for the most part, people do, at some point, have control of their choices. Habits can grow out of control and become obsessions or like so many like to call them - addictions. The idea that we are helpless in the choices we make....that we are victims or absolutely unable to correct our bad choices because it is beyond our control well I don't buy it. Human beings are amazing and we can accomplish almost anything when we really want to and are invested in figuring out solutions to problems. We as a society need to stop labeling people as weak. Sometimes people are just lazy and calling them weak just adds to their justification for being lazy.
Some don't know how to begin changing, some don't want it badly enough to do what it takes to change and some have been told that they are weak, addicted, victims, etc. so that the thought that they might be able to control themselves never enters their head or seems impossible to achieve.
But something drives some people to eat three pieces of See's candy while someone else is perfectly satisfied with one piece. The person eating one piece isn't exercising self control. He simply wants one, not two or three, just one. The fat person wants three. Why is that?
I really don't know.
I'm one who is satisfied with one piece, but I'm not consciously exercising self control (well not all the time, LOL) it's just that I don't WANT to overeat.
It doesn't feel good to me to be really full and have a bloated gut-full of food; it's really uncomfortable so I avoid it.
On the other hand I was (past tense) addicted to cigarettes for many years and even if I knew it would feel horrible to smoke yet another cigarette, and certainly horrible for me, I smoked like a chimney anyway. That's addiction. So I certainly have sympathy for people who are fat because they're addicted to food in the true meaning of addiction because, unlike smoking (or drinking or drugs) they have to learn to moderate and that is pretty much impossible in true addictions.
On the other, other hand, while I do know food addiction exists, I think that with most fat people it's probably just a matter of working at changing habits which isn't easy but a clear choice: continue being fat or change your habits. Truly, it is a choice. I made a choice, after many a false start, to quit smoking. It sucked and was insanely difficult but it was do-able.
I used to work with a woman who was probably 5'2" and weighed something like 110 pounds. She ate like a lumberjacksumed. I was always amazed at how much she could eat.
OTOH, she was a smoker . . .
The only question I have is what did she eat, typically, if there was a typical type (s) of food she consumed.
Most of my life I was 100 pounds and ate like a teenage boy. Cinnamon rolls, bacon, ice cream....
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If I just wanted to read things that said what I wanted to hear, I would still be eating crap and carrying around a big belly. Who said anything about a conspiracy? I can find opposing studies on virtually any topic ever written about. The ones I listed were from the first page of a Google search for "saturated fats healthy". I do not deny there will be plenty of detrimental studies done, that is a common premise so why link them?
Why use ancestors from just a thousand years ago? This is more akin to hunter-gatherer prior to the last ice age. I am not trying to mimic feudal peasants. I do eat meat often, but not what I would call a lot of it. Maybe 8-12 Oz a day in cooked weight. I may have given the impression that is 2-3 lbs a day, but that is not the case. I eat Bison 3-4 times a week which is lower in fat and cholesterol than chicken and beef. It is also higher in protein, has copious amounts of zinc and iron and favorable omega 3-6 ratios.
This is what gets me when people defend Paleo, "it's what our ancient ancestors ate like." No, humans evolved in Africa where the climate was warm and ate lots of fruit, potatoes, squash in addition to meat. The idea that humans were running around in the ice age with fur cloths with the wooly mammoths, always hunting animals and eating nothing but raw meat was invented by Hollywood.
This is what gets me when people defend Paleo, "it's what our ancient ancestors ate like." No, humans evolved in Africa where the climate was warm and ate lots of fruit, potatoes, squash in addition to meat. The idea that humans were running around in the ice age with fur cloths with the wooly mammoths, always hunting animals and eating nothing but raw meat was invented by Hollywood.
Well, there's a vast variance in how well this "warm-weather diet" works for people, so perhaps this is all a bit more complicated than you think.
But something drives some people to eat three pieces of See's candy while someone else is perfectly satisfied with one piece. The person eating one piece isn't exercising self control. He simply wants one, not two or three, just one. The fat person wants three. Why is that?
No. I'm not over weight, but I still want three pieces of candy sometimes. But I don't let myself have 3, I only have 1. It's called will power.
What's the difference between will power and deprivation?
If you have to ask, you're doing it wrong. It would explain a whole lot.
Deprivation: not having ANY of what you want.
Will power: being able to control how much of what you want and not giving in to gluttony.
Example, using an 8-inch round cheesecake and a big social gathering:
Deprivation: wanting cheesecake, but not having any at all.
Will power: wanting cheesecake, having half a slice (1/16) of the cake, and leaving the rest for other people at the party.
Lack of willpower: having 2 slices of cake.
Gluttony: eating 3 slices and sneaking the rest of the platter into the car to gulp down later when no one's looking.
What's the difference between will power and deprivation?
You either deprive yourself of the additional food, or you deprive yourself of being normal weight and healthy.
You choose one, or the other.
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addicted to cigarettes for many years and even if I knew it would feel horrible to smoke yet another cigarette, and certainly horrible for me, I smoked like a chimney anyway. That's addiction. So I certainly have sympathy for people who are fat because they're addicted to food in the true meaning of addiction because, unlike smoking (or drinking or drugs) they have to learn to moderate and that is pretty much impossible in true addictions.
