Thsi may be deemed the wrong place for this kind of question as it is generally insulting for you to tell skinny anorexic people that they are fat but let me make it clear that this is not what I am questioning. I am talking here about REALLY FAT poeple.
Over-eating is a disorder as much as under-eating and this is about disorders.
I know this will also sound insulting coming from someone who has too have all her clothes taken in because she's too thin, but I really don't understand how people get that fat. I just don't get it.
How do they get so fat that they can't fit through doors and have to have their clothes specially made and have cranes come in and lift them off their couches.
Is anyone here or does anyone know anyone who is actually considered to be medically obese? Why didn't they start dieting back when they were a size twelve or fourteen? Why wait until your a size 20 to start worrying about your weight? Do fat people like being fat? Is there really a weight you cabn't get too that you just can't get your weight down again? How much does surgery help? (How much does it cost?) I have so many questions!
I know I am going to get flamed for this post, but please believe me that this post has been made with the intent of better understanding, NOT to poke fun at fat people or anything. It bugs me wo much I want to stop people at the shops and ask them, but I'd probably get slapped, so I am asking from the safety of behind my computer screen.
I really genuinely don't understand how people get that fat.
Some people still desire food once they're "Full". I have a friend who's reached 230, and he's 5'8. I don't think he's anywhere near "obese", but he told me that he can't remember the last time he actually felt hungry. He literally can't distinguish between having a general psychological desire for food, and the physical sensation of not having enough of it.
Personally, I am on the opposite side of the spectrum. I have an issue with not eating enough. But I've also got a very fast metabolism.
Kind of backwards to me. You'd think people with a faster metabolism would feel hungry more often? Maybe I just lose my appitite so fast that the window of opportunity to eat closes as quickly as it opens, where "fat" people have that window open almost all the time.
It's easy for most people to look at an overweight or obese person and assume that because of everything we know about the link between eating too many fatty foods and weight gain, they must be responsible for their own obesity.
There have been many studies on genetic factors that play into a person's size. For instance, several studies and experiments have overseen the feeding of two people consisting of the exact same diet of high fat foods for over a span of a year. Both people started the experiment at the exact same weight as the other. Never deviating from the high fat food experiment, both people ended up at different weights after the experiment was concluded. One was severely overweight, and the other still thin. That led scientists to further investigate genetic factors.
With all of the evidence linking obesity to the human and animal genome, the way I see it, accusing obese people of causing their own problem, is no different than accusing someone of causing their own cancer, or other diseases that are less obvious from a physical standpoint.
I know that genetics plays a part in weight gain and people's size in general, I have a cousin who is "big boned" and he can eat and eat and eat and while he's young that was fine because he's still excercised somewhat. But now that he's getting older he's not excercising so much, he's starting to get fat.
He would always be a big guy because of his genes (my aunt is quite fat) but to stop himself from becoming obese, he will need to take action and limit his food and start excercising, etc.
He KNOWS he has to do this and is fine with it, he says he will keep fit. But it's people who seem oblivious to this fact and keep eating and eating that I don't understand. If you know you have bad genes and you know you're going to be fat if you don't watch what you eat and excercise some, then why do people turn a blind eye and eat whatever they want, not excercise and then blame it all on your genes.
It's not like you woke up when you were forty and realised you had a fat gene in your family, it's been there all along, why didn't you do something about it when you were thirty or twenty?
I can't answer why some overweight people don't have an "off" switch. I guess it would be the same as asking a smoker why they continue to smoke knowing what the dangers are and that they are potentially killing themselves. Only a smoker can answer that question, and I suspect that only an overeater can answer why they can't quit eating. Is food an addiction for some people? If someone thinks the answer is 'no." then I ask the same question Schmiggens asked: Why can't they stop eating even after knowing that they are killing themselves with food?
I have dealt with many overweight people at the gym, as well as friends and certain family members. They all know that what they do is bad for their health, but getting on the right track really is a struggle for them. Most people don't even think twice about a piece of tempting food when it is in front of them, but if you observe an overweight person trying to resist that temptation, it is similar to watching an addict trying to resist a drink or a cigarette. I will do some searching on the internet and see if I can find any information on food and addiction.
I was in a 12 step program once....it included all kinds of addictions.
And I know a girl who exercised like crazy and had bulimia too, but she was still overweight.
And she went to this 12 step program and when we went around and introduced ourselves...she said she was addicted to flour and sugar.
(By the way, I only made it to the 5th step and my addiction wasn't flour and sugar.)
There are diseases that cause obesity. Cushings syndrome is one. It is caused by excessive production of cortisol from the adrenal glands. These patients develop obesity. No amount of exercise is going to stop it. It is a medical condition that has to be treated. Thank goodness it is extremely rare.
No one here has mentioned that some prescription drugs cause you to gain weight. Steriods, certain other medications will cause weight gain. Don't shun people until you have walked a mile in their shoes.
Speaking of side effects, the doc wants to switch me to one that doesn't have the weight gaining effects...but it can have these effects as I just ran a search....
"Crisis in the rotation of the eyeballs and renal calculus (Whenever our kidneys have to do advanced math, it's a crisis)."
But if you get put on steroids ot other meds like that, you're told that weight gain could be a side effect and I know that if I was told that by my doctor, and I noticed some weight gain whilst on the meds, I would try and eat better and excercise to help keep the weight down.
I'm not going to ignore it and just let myself get fat just because I have the drugs as an excuse.
IMO stress can be blamed now-a-days for just about any so-called disease. Doctors are too quick to label something as stress-related without finding the REAL cause.
fuscia said this in post #9 : There are diseases that cause obesity. Cushings syndrome is one. It is caused by excessive production of cortisol from the adrenal glands. These patients develop obesity. No amount of exercise is going to stop it. It is a medical condition that has to be treated. Thank goodness it is extremely rare.
No one here has mentioned that some prescription drugs cause you to gain weight. Steriods, certain other medications will cause weight gain. Don't shun people until you have walked a mile in their shoes.
You are right, Fuscia. There are many factors. A good friend of mine had cushings disease last year. She had a tumor removed from her pituitary gland. Before she was diagnosed, her weight skyrocketed in a very short amount of time. Doctors told her to go on a diet. Finally, she found a specialist who gave her the proper diagnosis.
For anyone who thinks there are not medical reasons for a person's obesity, my friend dropped every pound of the massive amount of weight she had gained after her tumor was removed. It took her three months to take off all that weight with the same amount of effort it took her to gain it: None.
I think it's obviousely a genetic thing. No one decides to be fat. And if they do, then being fat is the least of their problems.
The part that gets me is the effect it has on the person. Some people can put SO MUCH food in their stomach. Seriousely, I know for a fact that some people eat more in one meal than I eat in a week. And they eat more in a week then I eat in two months. More in a month than I eat in a year. And NONE of those particular people are skinny, or anywhere near it.
schmiggens said this in post #12 : But if you get put on steroids ot other meds like that, you're told that weight gain could be a side effect and I know that if I was told that by my doctor, and I noticed some weight gain whilst on the meds, I would try and eat better and excercise to help keep the weight down.
I'm not going to ignore it and just let myself get fat just because I have the drugs as an excuse.
IMO stress can be blamed now-a-days for just about any so-called disease. Doctors are too quick to label something as stress-related without finding the REAL cause.
Schmiggens,
I think I am probably the most conscientious and healthy eater I know. I have had to take steroids for asthma flare-ups and bronchial infections. Regardless of my lifestyle, without fail, I will gain 5-15 pounds on steroid treatment.
I am a bit vague on pounds, but I think 5 - 15 pounds is only about 2 - 5 kilos and that's not excessive weight gain IMO.
I am thinking more about people who gain 100 pounds and blame it on steroids/ stress/ genes/ etc. I am more interested in the kind of people who are not simply overweight, but people who are clinically obese.
I am with Sayzak, I am amazed that some people can put so much food into themselves. You see shows like Biggest Loser and You Are What You Eat where they take a fat person's weekly food consumption and lay it all out on a table and they are literally eating enough to feed four or five people. And it's not like the food on their plates is a week's worth of salad and vegetables either, it's all chips and dohnuts and sweet, fatty food.
I have a medical condition that requires medication for flare ups. I will gain 4 to 6 pounds in a week when I go on it. I am very careful about what I eat when I take the meds, but no matter what I do, the weight comes on.
Fertility drugs, they really mess with your metabolism. Mine totally changed after I had my kids.
