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I admit I'll sometimes watch an episode of "My 600-pound Life"...
And I always wonder why, when one partner is morbidly obese, yet eats the exact same diet as the average-size or even skinny partner, the question of metabolism or hormones doesn't come up. The implication is that the subject ate cookies or pizza so, yeah, of course she's going to weigh 500 pounds. She should be eating tuna, eggs, avacados, and that's it. Everyone should. But then there's a painfully thin person sitting there next to him or her eating all the same chips, take-out Chinese and boxes of doughnuts and NOT gaining weight. It's obvious to me that genetics, metabolism, such things as PCOS, and even menopause contributes to weight gain. If you're prone to it, yes, you have to restrict calories, but clearly there are plenty of people who could eat junk food all day long and not gain an ounce. I know that once I hit 50, I started gaining without my "eating habit," as Dr. Now calls it, changing at all.
Shouldn't everyone in the home eating the same food weight 500 pounds? Clearly, it's not just that.
It's a good point. My husband and I were eating the same foods and the same portions for years. During that time, his weight remained steady at 180 and mine went over 400 lbs. I tried to lose weight with no success at all...ate 1200 calories a day for months without losing a pound. I went to the doctor and was diagnosed with diabetes. I started limiting my carbs and taking meds for the diabetes and I lost 180 lbs in a year. Then I started eating carbs again while still limiting calories and gained 60 lbs back in the next year. So for me the answer to that big question is carbs...my body is not processing them the right way.
Which is a shame because that's what I really want to eat.
I admit I'll sometimes watch an episode of "My 600-pound Life"...
And I always wonder why, when one partner is morbidly obese, yet eats the exact same diet as the average-size or even skinny partner, the question of metabolism or hormones doesn't come up. The implication is that the subject ate cookies or pizza so, yeah, of course she's going to weigh 500 pounds. She should be eating tuna, eggs, avacados, and that's it. Everyone should. But then there's a painfully thin person sitting there next to him or her eating all the same chips, take-out Chinese and boxes of doughnuts and NOT gaining weight. It's obvious to me that genetics, metabolism, such things as PCOS, and even menopause contributes to weight gain. If you're prone to it, yes, you have to restrict calories, but clearly there are plenty of people who could eat junk food all day long and not gain an ounce. I know that once I hit 50, I started gaining without my "eating habit," as Dr. Now calls it, changing at all.
Shouldn't everyone in the home eating the same food weight 500 pounds? Clearly, it's not just that.
I somewhat agree with you, but I also say that the person they live with is probably eating same things, just less. They're not a binger like the 600 lb. person is.
What bugs me is when the show is focusing on the one person but their spouse, kid, partner, whoever is practically as big as them too. They should get help too!
I don't know about that; they all seem to just eat all day long. In most cases, no one in the family is gainfully employed outside the home. Often, the partner is the subject's caregiver, and their days seem to revolve around eating. Two recent episodes showed an emaciated husband eating -- and pushing -- the high-fat, high-calorie food and another had two young girls in the home who were just bones, yet munching on fried chicken, French fries, chips, etc. So I still maintain that it's got to be something other than the food consumed or even the amount. Personally, I ate junk food, and plenty of it, all my life, but the weight gain only began at menopause. I'm not at all obese, but I now have to watch it.
I admit I'll sometimes watch an episode of "My 600-pound Life"...
And I always wonder why, when one partner is morbidly obese, yet eats the exact same diet as the average-size or even skinny partner, the question of metabolism or hormones doesn't come up.
Shouldn't everyone in the home eating the same food weight 500 pounds? Clearly, it's not just that.
No. I've watched most episodes of that TV show and its always the same:
1. Person eats waaaaaaaay more than they should be eating.
2. There is an enabler who feeds them all of that food. (i.e., "I just want her happy so I get the food she wants")
3. Obese person blames everything else for their obesity except for their problems. (i.e., "I was molested as a kid so I eat...." or "I was picked on as a kid because I eat...", etc.).
Genes play a role up to a point, like if a person is 50 lbs or 75 lbs overweight, but if you are 200 - 300 lbs overweight its no longer the genes as it is now poor life/eating decisions. This is why Dr. N NEVER mentions anything about genes, hormones, etc. because at 400 - 600 pounds it is 100% CHOICES OF THE PERSON AND NOT GENES.
As far as your "Shouldn't everyone in the home eating the same food weigh 500 pounds?" question, the answer is again a NO. A 600lb person will continue to eat and eat and eat and eat and eat, while the normal person will eat just enough, then go on about their way. You see it in EVERY episode. Obese person just eats and eats and eats and has a hidden stash of additional food that they eat and eat and eat. So it is NOT about metabolism, genes, hormones, etc. with the people on this show.
Often the subject complains to Dr. Now that there are no healthy foods in the home. And it's true! They come home from the hospital, and the driver of the car stops at McDs for a Big Mac, or the whole family sits down to knosh on Pillsbury biscuits with maple syrup on top. In general, no one in the household is a health food nut. But I'll concede that the thinner person moves around more simply because he/she can; also because he/she is the caregiver. It's just striking to me that ANYONE could actually be too thin while eating fattening foods, yet we see the pattern over and over (especially with the "chubby chaser" boyfriend/husband).
I haven't watched that show, so again, all I have to share is my personal experience. But in my case, my husband and I ate exactly the same foods and the same portions, because he was obsessed with getting his fair share of everything. He would measure it out...put food for the kids on their plates and then measure what was left so he could split it exactly in half so he got his fair share.. I didn't have extra food that I was eating in secret...we had barely enough money for groceries, and there wasn't enough for "secret food". I also don't drive, so there wouldn't have been a way to get food that he didn't know about, and he's definitely not an enabler. I broke my leg and spent a while in a wheelchair and had a lot of trouble walking after that, so there was maybe a year when I wasn't very active, but other than that, I walked a lot with my kids, and once I got a bicycle, I rode my bike a lot. I lost 20 pounds when I first started riding the bike twice a day, but didn't lose any more after that until a few years later when my diabetes was diagnosed.
I do think genes or health problems play a part in it. Some people will eat and eat and never get enormous...I'm amazed at the amount of food my husband can put away. Me, I can gain weight on 1200 calories a day, if I'm eating more than about 110g carbs in the day.
I've watched this show and I'm always amazed at how much their family members enable them. They say all the right things, "I don't want him/her to die", "I wish they wouldn't eat so much", etc, but yet they continue to buy them all the sausage and burritos and pizza and fast food they can eat!
I think the "thin" people eating the same things and not being obese is a combination of them having a higher metabolism, not eating as much, moving around more, and genetics. But I wouldn't guess they are much healthier. They might weigh less, but they most likely have high cholesterol, (pre) diabetes, and all the other associated problems that come with eating crap day in and day out.
I wish they made the family go to counseling as part of the show/condition to get surgery. I think they all could use someone to see the part they play in the drama. And, I truly don't think they see how much they enable the obese person.
Perhaps on some level they don't believe it's the food, either, since in so many cases they eat the same thing and remain thin! I personally know many people who I swear eat enough for three people, yet are just stick people, even into old age.
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