Cannt make this shit up - Obesity Caused by virus

[ViperPilot 0]

I understand depression is a real problem and it's not something you can just snap out of. However, using it as a scapegoat for why someone is overweight is not viable. As bad of a situation and as real as depression may be, it still is just an excuse if people blame their overweightness on it.

[ViperPilot 0]

Quote

How many of us were taught as children to clean our plates whether we were full or not?

Tons of people. How many of them are overweight? I'm sure many are, I'm also sure many are not. We cannot blame our parents for us being fat. This is just another way of blaming someone else for something you did to yourself.

Quote

How many fast food commercials do you see during prime time in comparison to commercials advertising organic vegetables?

I see them all the time; that sure doesn't make me spring to McDonalds. Again, it comes down to personal choice. So, we can't just blame the media for somethign we do to ourselves.

I also understand that some people have slower metabolisms. That's fine, but someone w/ a crap metabolism can still remain in shape and not be "overweight." I have a good friend who has a slow metabolism...sure he's not sporting 6 pack abs, but he eats decently and runs 20 mi a week. He is definitely not overweight, even though he may not have a "perfect" body.

[tso-d_chris 0]

Quote

We cannot blame our parents for us being fat

Your right. They had nothing to do with our nature or our nurture. How foolish of me.

Quote

I see them all the time; that sure doesn't make me spring to McDonalds. Again, it comes down to personal choice. So, we can't just blame the media for somethign we do to ourselves.

Do you really believe companies would spend billions annually on advertising if they didn't know that it worked?

No one is assigning blame, but one would have to be a fool not to see the family and cultural influences that can work strongly to help develop and nurture poor lifestyle choices.

There is a lot of junk science out there concerning weight loss. Many overweight people are working very hard at the wrong things. They're not all lazy. why are you so quick to judge?

[artistcalledian 0]

fat people disgust me

Yes, there may be other reasons why a few fatties are fat, but for the majority, its down to eating too much and not exercising

how many old, fat people do you see? correct...... at least they don't hang around offfending me for very long

________________________________________
drive it like you stole it and f*ck the police

[RhondaLea 4]

Quote

I understand depression is a real problem and it's not something you can just snap out of. However, using it as a scapegoat for why someone is overweight is not viable. As bad of a situation and as real as depression may be, it still is just an excuse if people blame their overweightness on it.

I have suffered from clinical depression several times in the past years as a direct result of my thyroid problem.

Someone who is clinically depressed is not in control of much of anything, eating included.

Some people eat to deal with depression, others (like me), simply give up food, and live on coffee (in my case, tea) and cigarettes.

Look, when I see a grossly obese person driving one of those motorized carts around WalMart picking up every possible item trans fat-containing item on the shelves, I do wonder what that person is thinking. And I can't quite imagine how uncomfortable it must be to have all that fat on ones body and not be able to get away from it.

I once knew an extremely short, fat female attorney. She wasn't some kind of sloth. She was extremely good at what she did, and her appearance was always impeccable. She just could not lose the weight, and by the time I knew her, she'd given up. She had learned to live with her body as it was, and she just put her energy (quite a lot, and certainly more than I have) into other things.

Obesity is not a one-size-fits-all diagnosis, and we don't really know all the reasons that people get fat and stay fat.

For some people it may be a choice, but for others, it's a disability just like any other disability.

Besides, having an "excuse" for being fat doesn't make someone any less fat, y'know.

rl

If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

[Shotgun 1]

Quote

We cannot blame our parents for us being fat.

Overfeeding an infant can cause an increased number of _permanent_ fat cells, so in some cases parents may be to blame.

[ViperPilot 0]

Quote

No one is assigning blame, but one would have to be a fool not to see the family and cultural influences that can work strongly to help develop and nurture poor lifestyle choices.

Of course they're influences. Of course there's a lot of influence to do drugs, murder, steal, lie, cheat...all influences. Good thing I make a personal choice to not submit to those influences and let them dictate how I live.

Quote

Many overweight people are working very hard at the wrong things.

If they're working hard at having a proper diet and exercise plan, they're sticking with it, and it's not doing anything....then yeah, those people aren't lazy and at least they're trying...but they're also about .00005% of the population. Because a proper diet and exercise program WILL help people lose weight; some more than others, but it WILL do something. The people who are working hard at the "wrong things," such as Slim Fast and that's it...no they're just to lazy/stuck in their routine to work at a good diet/exercise plan.

[ViperPilot 0]

Interesting, I didn't know that. But how many "permanent" fat cells can be produced? I'd be willing to be it's not possible to produce "permanent" fat cells in this manner that would 100% make it impossible for someone to be less than 20 lbs overweight.

[shropshire 0]

Thanks for your input ... B.T.W it's not a hijack... It's all relevant to the topic and helps to explain why we all react differently to the food that we eat.

Kindest Regards,

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[crozby 0]

Quote

***How many fast food commercials do you see during prime time in comparison to commercials advertising organic vegetables?

I see them all the time; that sure doesn't make me spring to McDonalds. Again, it comes down to personal choice. So, we can't just blame the media for somethign we do to ourselves.


I don't think Macdonalds, KFC etc. would spend the millions they do on advertising if it didn't influence peoples eating habits, do you?

IMO the problem is caused by a whole load of factors including advertising, seriously shit food in schools, cheap high carb, high fat junk food, huge portion sizes, and a general lack of responsibility by people to look after themselves and their kids.

[Wopelao 0]

Just as they advertise gun control

[Shotgun 1]

Quote

But how many "permanent" fat cells can be produced?

I don't know, but I would imagine that it depends on how much an infant is overfed. And I would imagine that having an excess number of permanent fat cells would make it a lot harder to keep weight off as an adult.

[wmw999 2,485]

Some of the whole attitude boils down to the "that which I don't know a whole lot about is probably easy" and "that which I think is hard is really really hard."

People who have good habits, and good metabolisms, and health that allows them to exploit both, don't understand why someone who doesn't have all the same equipment doesn't have as easy a time. It's kind of like Michael Jordan saying that anyone can be a great basketball player because he can manage it.

On the other hand, it's not always as hard as some folks who are inactive make it out to be. You can't have everything, like junk food, and TV, and a thin body (unless you're one of those metabolic freaks of nature that I hate ).

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[ViperPilot 0]

Quote

general lack of responsibility by people to look after themselves and their kids.

There's NUMBER ONE! Sure the other things you listed definitely do have an affect, but the one above is by far the most potent one of them all. I blame this one far more than I do the others.

Wmw makes a good point. I understand that some people just can't keep weight off as easier as others. However, there is just no excuse for someone who is say 70+ lbs overweight. Anyone with proper restraint and adherance to diet/exercise program can be much less than that, no matter how hard it is for you to keep off weight.

[RhondaLea 4]

Quote

However, there is just no excuse for someone who is say 70+ lbs overweight. Anyone with proper restraint and adherance to diet/exercise program can be much less than that, no matter how hard it is for you to keep off weight.

You keep saying this, as if people who are morbidly obese want to be fat.

Think about it.

The first time I gained weight inexplicably, I went from 125 pounds to 205 pounds in three months. I am 5'7" and I was young, so it wasn't as horrible as it could've been, but it was devastating to me.

I lost 30 pounds less than six months later, but that left me at 175, and I stayed at that weight for several years, when the loss of an additional 35 pounds occurred inexplicably. Fortunately, the most I've ever weighed since then is 175 (only once and not for long, because I was undermedicated), but the extra weight sucks, and I hate it.

As I said, right now I need to lose ten, and I'd be happier with 15, and I have no choice but to exercise because the last bout seems to have done bad things to my muscle tone.

But if I can gain 80 pounds in a three month period without changing my activity or diet, how can you say that there's no excuse for someone who is 70 pounds overweight?

rl

If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

[billvon 3,031]

>as if people who are morbidly obese want to be fat.

That's not the same thing. I doubt that people who drink themselves to death want to die, or that people who hook turn themselves into the ground want a broken pelvis. It is that some people are incapable of seeing the results of their actions, or are not able to change their actions to get desired results.

The great majority of people who are fat got that way by eating more calories than they burn off. That simple equation comes as a suprise to an amazing number of people. When Amy started doing 4-way she wanted to lose about 10 pounds, so she started eating less and working out more. She lost 10 pounds. When people asked her how she did it, she told them "I ate less and exercised more." Several people said "Oh, come on, what's your secret, really?" After all, she's a doctor, so she must have access to those secret diet drugs.

Now, some people have a very hard time eating less than they burn, for a variety of reasons. Some reasons are physical, some psychological. But it is always doable. You could lose as much weight as you wanted, as could I. It might not be healthy, easy or painless, but it's certainly possible. The key is doing it in a way that keeps you healthy and happy, which is why nutritionists and trainers make a good living.

[RhondaLea 4]

Quote

>as if people who are morbidly obese want to be fat.

That's not the same thing. I doubt that people who drink themselves to death want to die, or that people who hook turn themselves into the ground want a broken pelvis. It is that some people are incapable of seeing the results of their actions, or are not able to change their actions to get desired results.

The great majority of people who are fat got that way by eating more calories than they burn off. That simple equation comes as a suprise to an amazing number of people. When Amy started doing 4-way she wanted to lose about 10 pounds, so she started eating less and working out more. She lost 10 pounds. When people asked her how she did it, she told them "I ate less and exercised more." Several people said "Oh, come on, what's your secret, really?" After all, she's a doctor, so she must have access to those secret diet drugs.

Now, some people have a very hard time eating less than they burn, for a variety of reasons. Some reasons are physical, some psychological. But it is always doable. You could lose as much weight as you wanted, as could I. It might not be healthy, easy or painless, but it's certainly possible. The key is doing it in a way that keeps you healthy and happy, which is why nutritionists and trainers make a good living.

I give up.

If you don't know where you're going, you should know where you came from. Gullah Proverb

[ViperPilot 0]

Bill has it right on....there's no magic or easy way people! Exercise and diet/amount of intake can and will work if done properly and strictly adhered to.

[Shotgun 1]

Quote

When people asked her how she did it, she told them "I ate less and exercised more." Several people said "Oh, come on, what's your secret, really?"

Most people who I know are fully aware that eating less and exercising more is usually the way to lose weight; it's not rocket science, after all. And while most people can lose weight by eating less and exercising more (including myself), it doesn't work for everyone. One of my best friends died from a heart attack a few years ago. In the ten years that I knew him, I watched him struggle with his weight constantly. He never made any excuses or blamed anyone else for his weight problem. He exercised regularly and had a healthier diet than most people I know, and he was definitely not a lazy person. Yet for some reason, he could not lose much weight. And there I was, eating anything that I wanted to and never gaining a pound (though that has changed in the last couple of years)...

Just because something works for one person, or even for the majority of people, does not mean that it will work for everyone.

Quote

You could lose as much weight as you wanted, as could I. It might not be healthy,

If the only way for a certain person to lose weight would be an unhealthy way, then there wouldn't seem to be much point in losing the weight.

[billvon 3,031]

>Yet for some reason, he could not lose much weight.

Had he eaten 100 calories a day and kept exercising, he would have lost weight. That doesn't mean that it's a good idea to eat 100 calories a day; everyone has to make their own tradeoffs on weight, nutrition, exercise etc.

>If the only way for a certain person to lose weight would be an
> unhealthy way, then there wouldn't seem to be much point in losing
> the weight.

I'm not saying that everyone should be thin, or that thin = healthy. It is always possible to lose weight by changing your diet and activity levels, but it is also true that some people have other reasons (like health concerns, or lifestyle, or self-image, or psychological) that they cannot do those things.

[Shotgun 1]

Quote

Had he eaten 100 calories a day and kept exercising, he would have lost weight.

Well now that doesn't sound like a very smart thing to do.

[crozby 0]

Quote

I give up.

You're the exception, not the rule. By far the majority of overweight people eat too much of the wrong kind of food and do little or no excercise, don't you think?

[shropshire 0]

corse... the real problem is that some guy invented beer and chocolate - The bastard

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[artistcalledian 0]

you always get exceptions to any rule

RL seems to be the exception to the over eating rule. Almost all of us know somebody who eats very little and does some excercise and yet, is STILL obese. They are the exception to the rule.... The majority of people who are obese will be eating way too much (usually of the wrong things too) and doing little, or no exercise

Its like smoking, we all probably know somebody who smokes 60 a day and is 95, to then say because you know this one person, smoking is not harmful, would be crazy

At the company i work for, there is a man who is the same age as me (39) and he must easily be 450lbs. He keeps his lunch in a fridge near to where i sit, i've sneeked a look at his lunch on several occasions, and he must have (american words) 4 or 5 candy bars in there, 8 slices of bread making 4 sandwhiches, 2 or 3 cans on full fat soda, full fat yogurt, chips.... and thats every day....what is he having for breakfast and evening meal is what i want to know?

he'll be lucky if he makes it to 50 years of age

________________________________________
drive it like you stole it and f*ck the police

[billvon 3,031]

>Well now that doesn't sound like a very smart thing to do.

I didn't say it was. But allowing yourself to become grossly overweight is not very smart either. If he eats 100 calories a day he will lose weight; if he eats 4000 a day and exercises very little he will likely gain weight. Between those two extremes are a continuum of lifestyles, diets, levels of exercise and levels of health that will trade off those things against each other. Perhaps what he weighs now is a good weight; a doctor would be a better judge of that than I would.

But the statement "I can't lose weight" is pretty much always incorrect.