>> ^snoozedoctor:

By the way, I work on the morbidly obese every day. The place I work is designated a "Center of Excellence" for Bariatric surgery. Yes, doing bariatric surgery helps prevent a lot of complications down the road, like diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, etc. With the US struggling to provide even basic health care needs to the poor, do I get a little miffed with all the health care dollars consumed because of self-induced diseases, like smoking and over-eating? I freely admit I do.


And so you should, you have reason to feel like that. I cringe when I think how much obese people are costing the NHS and how if I'm not careful I will become one of those people whose weight will cause me health problems. I have on and off dieted most of my adult life, I am very much not content with my weight for a variety of reasons. And I am fully aware exactly what I have to do and what will work. The problem is and I imagine it's the same for most fat people, it's harder to give up on something you can't completely avoid. There is literally no way to take away the temptation when food is required to live.

And of course you work with it and you hear day after day, excuses as to why they can't lose weight, and you think there is NO such thing as can't. Well that's true, but it's like telling someone who has a smoking habit they can't quit, "well you shouldn't have started in the first place." It's too friggin late, the damage is done! And like we were saying, getting obese often isn't something you have had any control over, it started off in childhood. And then, you are stuck with the life long struggle of trying to beat an addiction. It's not like drugs, where if you stay away from it long enough and get it out of your system, you only have a mental addiction to contend with. You've got to eat. Willpower isn't something you can just switch on, if ONLY it was.

And then there's the exercise thing. Such a simple thing to do, burn off more calories than you're consuming. No one can argue that is the ONLY automatic guarantee you will lose weight. But consider that for someone fat and the bigger they are the worse it is, exercise is probably twice if not more times as difficult to do. It hurts, there's pressure on your joints, you're out of breath within a couple of minutes, you ache for hours afterwards because you aren't necessarily flexible enough to stretch out properly. Really we should all go swimming, it's the best thing, has always worked for me, but at certain weights I imagine getting into a swimming cossie is the last thing they want to do, people stare and pull faces. So yeah, it's very easy to give up when every solution is miles harder than for the people telling you what you should be doing. None of this is excuses, I hope you have garnered from what I've said that I entirely understand where thin people or health professionals are coming from. But without actually having had a weight problem themselves, that completely dismissive attitude and oversimplification is thoughtless at best and fucking arrogant at worst.

To a large extent, no pun intended, obese people want to find out why they are a "victim" of obesity. The explosion of obesity, especially in the USA, is rather easily explained if you use some common sense. What has evolution designed us for, in terms of our metabolism? Humans have had to work for what they eat, and that food has always been relatively unprocessed and calorie deficient. Now we are sedentary, programmed to eat a certain amount until we feel "full" and that food is VERY calorie dense. Presto, an epidemic of obesity. I mean really, is it that hard to understand? Yes, some people are more prone to become obese. We all know people with a "hollow leg" that seem to eat incredible amounts of food, and yet they don't get obese. So, your body type does influence it.
I'm all for science that makes it easier to lose weight. We know people have a hard time fighting their compulsions, whether it be tobacco, alcohol, drugs, or food. But, all those things are choices. A cheeseburger doesn't just jump down your throat. There is no "I can't lose weight." Yes you can, if your willpower is greater than your compulsion, and if you go back to the habits that evolution designed you for. One reason obesity rates are greater in the US is the average person's caloric expenditure is less here. Americans walk about 1/3 as much distance per year as compared to Europeans. American cities are sprawling and walking is not an efficient means of getting stuff done. Plus, there are now scooters in every Walmart now, so the obese can walk even less.
I do strenuous exercise several times a week and I try to eat reasonably. Frankly, I don't like exercise that much. I don't get any "high" from it. But I know it's good for me, actually, THE MOST important thing I can do to benefit my health. It's a choice. Everyone has choice, except I guess the kids that grow up in homes where parents ply them with calorie dense foods. The parents don't have to, but they do. Every time they go to the grocery, they have choice. The pop tarts don't jump off the shelve and into their carts.
I just get tired of the "victim" mentality, that's more prominent in the US than anywhere I know.

>> ^conan:

incredibly stupid tabloid science. i'm amazed that there're still people who can differentiate between cause and correlation. fat parents are having fat kids, is it genetics? no, it's because whatever the reason for your bad eating habits, you pass them down to your kids. what to you expect from your kids when you only eat junk? they'll eat it too. either because they mimic you or because you're the one who feeds them! congratulations, now you have perfect excuses: what once were "heavy bones" now are "hunger hormones" and genetics. this "documentation" didn't provide any hard facts, just hormones with names in quotation marks and similar snake oil stuff.
Step 1: stop doing sports, eat more junk and surprise! you'll become overweight. Step 2: catch up on exercising and change your diet and surprise again! your weight will drop. it's common sense. and this comes from someone who's still perfecting step 1... ;-)


I think you're misunderstanding the point of it. Everything you say is correct to a degree. I didn't hear them say that the sole cause of obesity is hormonal, not once. I'd be surprised if you watched it all the way through. The way you feed your children and the habits you give them is absolutely the root cause, at least I would say so. Then society/culture, marketing, advertising fast food. The cheapest foods are junk, that also plays a part.

But what they're saying here, is that the reason some people end up getting wildy overweight and not just a bit chunky is because there isn't the same hormone to tell them they're full. The amount some fat people eat would make a regular sized person sick, in just one meal.

I don't believe obesity is genetic either, I am one of those people who inherited my mothers shitty eating habits, was overweight as a child and now have to suffer the consequences of that. However my sister was fed the same way, offered the same things, but was always skinny because she ate like a bird (one years she would only eat bread rolls, haha). My children are two very different types, too. My daughter can eat more than the average adult, you know that old saying, hollow legs? But she puts weight on if I let her eat the wrong things or every time she feels hungry, so over the years I've had to very much restrict her. Now she tends to make the right choices so hopefully that will go through to adult life with her and I've not passed down the same bad habits, however she would eat every half hour if she listened to her belly. My son is just the opposite. If he's not hungry I could offer him his favourite anything and he'd turn it down. Lucky bugger!

Then there's the thing where my sister all of a sudden in her late teens became overweight. That didn't make much sense. But her eating habits had very much changed. The bit in this doc where they were testing identical twins where one was overweight and one wasn't was fascinating and tied things up much neater.


>> ^snoozedoctor:

Getting fat is like filling a bathtub with water. If you run the spigot faster than the drain, it fills up. Now THAT is heavy science. Burn more calories than you eat = weight loss.


You're talking about how to lose weight, a science we all understand This is talking about the reasons some of us gain. It's always pissed me off when bigger people rather than just admit they stuff their faces, try and pass it off as big bones (eh?) or genetics. I'm even rather cynical of people who say they love their weight and being big is beautiful and they want to be like that. I think rather they know how bloody difficult dieting is, not just the losing weight but keeping it off, also I think those people, and bless them for it, accept that they don't want to go through the endless bullshit of dieting and gaining and embrace it. Or they've got some chubby chasers paying them top dollar to watch them eat and balloon to 400 lbs. Food is very very addictive once you've learnt the pleasures of it, just like a drug. It's very hard for anyone who doesn't have a weight issue to understand it, especially since you've been listening to people make endless excuses for it over the years. I think that's what is putting the blinkers on you now when you watch anything with alternative reasons for obesity, you just see it as an excuse.

This is exciting, because what they're saying is if they can recreate these hormones they will be able to find a way of replacing them, which will make the whole dieting process much much easier.

Weight Lost Plans - Lost Mass Confusion with Planned Weight 1.Weight loss confusion about what is best for yourself and your body. http://youtu.be/URd2PqpJZuc follow link to continue reading.

The most successful program is best developed by someone who has been through the experience of continual struggle, this way you feel you can succeed too. Expert fitness instructors and nutritional specialist are excellent, but the problem is that we have to be at a certain level to keep up with them, where's the baby steps? for people like me...and you who have a fair chunk to carry around and never seem to be able to develop drive and motivation.

Programs today are definitely planning to take steps back.....to read more follow this link http://weightlostplans.net/364/planning_for_weight_lost-using_fatburning_furnace

Thank you and good luck with you making plans to lose weight.

http://youtu.be/eS3ltRSmoaw weight lost plans,how to,weight loss,exercise

>> ^G-bar:

ok wtf happened to drew carey. He's half the size of his old self and with weird hair. When this transition happened exactly?!


Controversial statement incoming: some people shouldn't lose weight. Drew Carey, Peter Jackson and Brian Blessed all look weird skinny.

http://www.rense.com/general11/fk.htm

fluoride doesn't make you happy. it makes you slow and forgetful.

for example

Symptoms of Hypothyroidism

Fatigue
Weakness
Weight gain or increased difficulty losing weight
Coarse, dry hair
Dry, rough pale skin
Hair loss
Cold intolerance (you can't tolerate cold temperatures like those around you)
Muscle cramps and frequent muscle aches
Constipation
Depression
Irritability
Memory loss
Abnormal menstrual cycles
Decreased libido

So, my unexpected result this year.
I've been trying to lose weight for 15 years. 5'8" 205 lbs. I've tried dieting and always struggled, like most people, with that feeling of starvation and all the temptation that makes you fail.

In March I started walking at lunch 5 days a week and cut my calories down to about 1100 per day. At first I had no workout gear and after a mile and a quarter walk I was winded and sweating. Kept on going with the brisk walking and pushing myself harder and further. After a month and a half walking wasn't enough to wind me so I started alternating some jogging. Bought walking shoes and shorts/shirts to work out in. I kept pushing myself and counting my nutrition using a smart phone app so I wouldn't be deprived of vitamins and stuff on the lower calorie diet.

Surprisingly, no hunger. I started to find it hard to over eat because I wasn't hungry. I fealt nasty when I ate high calorie food. The app helped me make smart decisions when it mattered.
Over time I had to jog more and walk less to get a workout. After 4 months I was varying my workouts daily but averaging 4 miles per day during my lunch break. After 3 months I'd reached my goal of getting under 190. After 6 months I'd lost more than 30 pounds.

I have more stamina, look good, feel awesome and grew a beard for winter. ;-) Just had a physical and my cholesterol and blood pressure are perfect for the first time in 10 years. Every result on my physical was perfectly in range.

The only thing I did different from all my other attempts in 15 years was walk.

If you try to imagine walking/jogging 45-60 minutes a day, 5 days a week...you will fail before you start. Just go the first day and walk fast for as long as you can. Then make the decision to go the next day and push yourself again. Every day, decide to do it. Before you know it you'll be doing distances and times you never imagined and digging in the back of your closet for old clothes that fit.

Walking works.

In my particular specialty, I have no choice but to be my brother's keeper, which is as it should be. I treat with the same diligence the drug dealer shot by the police or the 5 year old child bitten by the family pet. Every physician I work with does the same. No medical decisions are based on anything other than what is in the best medical interest of the patient. My comments on personal responsibility are made from the perspective of my being a tax-paying citizen of a country that struggles under the weight of a medical system that is a bloated bureaucracy servicing a population of consumers with unrealistic expectations.
I totally agree with your comments on addiction. It's poorly understood and hard to treat. If we had a therapy that was effective, I'd be all for paying for it. But we don't. Psychological counseling is of little benefit. A person doesn't stop smoking, or lose weight, until they are ready. Too often it's because they have a debilitating disease caused by same. I have a few friends that smoke. I've tried to get them to quit. I've described the slow death of emphysema, the air hunger, feeling like you're running a race that never ends, although it does when you die. There's not many worse ways to go. But their response is the same, "I'm not ready to quit." Too bad.
One of the great misconceptions US citizens have, is the criticism that physicians are "controlled" or "puppets" of the system, that they receive kickbacks for referrals, etc. These people have never had experience trying to manage physicians, that's for sure. There's not a more fiercely independent group in any work force. They HATE being told what to do and they are the most ethical group of professionals I've ever encountered.

Mostly anecdotal babble. Health outcomes are heavily influenced by cultural habits of eating, drinking (alcohol), drug abuse, physical activity, and genetics. The great majority of US citizens with private health insurance are "safe", to use her term, although certain policies may have lifetime caps on certain types of care, like mental health, which is BS in my opinion. The US leads the world in outcomes in many of the most complex diseases, such as hematologic malignancies.
She is right about a few things. The major reason health-care expenditures have greatly outpaced inflation is the rapid advancement of technology. The true health benefit of all this technology is questionable. The life expectancy in Mexico is just short of the US, despite spending about 10% of what the US spends per capita.
National Health care systems control expenditures by making budgets. Budgets = rationing. Ultimately, US citizens will have to come to grips with the fact that health care spending cannot be an open-ended account. Judging by my interactions with patients, that's not going to be anytime soon. Several things that could be done right away that would make a great difference in overall health-care spending are; eliminate coverage for any medical therapy lacking outcome data to support its efficacy, tort law reform, and PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR ONE'S OWN HEALTH. Quit smoking, lose weight, and exercise. Bariatric surgery should not have to be a substitute for will power. But, such is the American way.

my liver problems appeared when i was losing weight, but this is normal for liver problems.

looking back, I would have avoided this by eating normal portions of low-glycemic food

>> ^westy:

Lol this is pritty funny ,
I do however think its strange how culturally its ok to laff and beliitel fat people but it would be socially unacceptable to mock sum one that is anorexic.
Im pritty sure most people would rather not be fat/obise ( to the exstent that its crippling) and its due to phisoligy , depresoin , lack of education or other factors largely outside of the individuals control as to why they end up super fat.


I'm not referring to slightly overweight people here, disclaimer;

I'm sorry but i don't believe that. I'm fairly sure only a very small amount can blame physiology. Depression perhaps, but i'd say from my experience only a small fraction of depressed people turn to COPIOUS (and let's face it, that's what it would require) eating to help them out.

Lack of education i don't believe whatsoever - no one is gonna turn round and go "Hang on, what? Eating 3 buckets of KFC a day makes you fat? WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME! I'VE WASTED MY LIFE!" Haven't humans known about food (too much = fat, too little = starvation) almost as a basic instinct but certainly as a learned property of that thing we crave from birth? Could a human REALLY go for a day without reading, hearing or otherwise gleaning some knowledge of calories or weight gain in the current world?

Maybe i'm wrong, i find it as hard as anyone to lose weight but i just make a plan and stick to that plan. And the people who sit there (other than medical problems) i just think - not enough willpower. Just get up and do it.

@MaxWilder - i've had to lose weight in the past (due to depression, no less, but only because the tablets caused me to retain weight), and it's simple maths - if you burn more calories than you take in, you use up some of the energy that your body has stored (energy has to come from somewhere). Willpower is all you need, and exercise/diet becomes easier the longer you keep it up, it becomes habit. As for eating healthily - surely not? I can get food which would last me for 3 or 4 days of decent eating for the same price that it would cost me to get a KFC meal. And if we're talking a KFC meal suitable for someone weighing 350 pounds then i could feed myself for over a week i think. I don't think it's that hard unless you are one of the very few people who have something medically wrong with them.

Or am i wrong and "lack of willpower" is now seen as something that you can't help? Because i've always seen lack of willpower as lazyness. I feel almost like it's getting too easy to blame a label. I would get up and exercise but i've got <x>. Maybe you have willpower but it's not my fault, i have <y>. Am i a bastard for thinking that, no, i feel the same way, i don't want to move - humans like electrons want to be in their lowest energy state. But i just god damn do it anyway.

Thats an interesting point about caloric restriction, as someone who tends not to be able to eat or sleep I also have massive mood swings, related?

I also feel bad about this video, the angle of fat people even being afraid to go out for fear of ridicule made me think...

>> ^bmacs27:

There is also mounting evidence that dieting in general won't make some people lose weight (half-assed citation). Really, the best way is to get into the habit of regular exercise. Caloric restriction will do little but make you depressed.

>> ^NordlichReiter:

The reason you didn't lose weight when training for a marathon is because you were training for a marathon, not to lose weight. What I mean to say is that, most likely, you're body was storing up energy for the marathon.
In short three things: Diet, (Not going on a diet, but how and what you eat), Muscle Exercise, and Cardio.


I figure the long distance training made it impossible (and unwise) for me to maintain the calorie deficit in my diet. Now I'm looking for 5k events. While still motivating, I don't feel the pressure to replenish my reserves after a training run.

These days I'm doing well with a balanced diet (calorie restricted as much as I can stand), cardio (running and walking on alternate days), and weight training (working my way up to P90X).

The video above may be funny, but it also is motivating! If I let myself go, I would end up like them by the time I'm 50.

There is also mounting evidence that dieting in general won't make some people lose weight (half-assed citation). Really, the best way is to get into the habit of regular exercise. Caloric restriction will do little but make you depressed.

>> ^MaxWilder:

>> ^gwiz665:
Jebus christ. I mean, seriously, they should have layed off the big macs back in school. America, you need to run your ass around the block a few times.

As someone who is currently (perennially) trying to lose weight, I wish it was something as simple as running around the block a few times. I trained for a marathon two years ago and simply stopped losing weight during the process. I remained 30 lbs above my goal weight, and ran (and finished) the marathon like that. For people who are not naturally lean, it is the difficult (near impossible) combination of proper exercise with proper diet that causes them to often simply give up. It also an unhappy truth that the cheapest food is the least healthy, so poor people are much more likely to be malnourished into obesity.
As to the video, in this particular case, laughing is totally appropriate. But when it's a fat person by themselves, I am usually just saddened. And I always remember that phrase, "Are you riding a scooter because you're fat, or fat because you are riding a scooter?"


As polarizing as Nutrition Science is, (Whatever the fuck that means), there are three keys to losing weight. Diet, Weightlifting (or whatever muscle working exercise you do), and Cardio.

I'm not a PHD in whatever Nutritionists get PHDs in. But I do know that the best way to burn fat, over time, is getting you're Basal Rate Metabolism up. The best way to do that is to eat less more often.

The next best thing is to work the large muscle groups on your body. You don't have to be a body builder, but you want those muscles to work.

The last important thing on the fat burning trifecta is cardio. 20 minutes a day, or 30 minutes a day depending on what kind of cardio you do. I skip a day because of high impact running, and lifting.

The last thing you should always remember? You won't lose 20 pounds in a period of 2 weeks. You probably won't lose 5 pounds in a week. I went from about 270 to 255 in a year; with just cardio (boxing and running). I went from 255 to 243 in 3 months with diet, weight lifting, and cardio.

The trick is to cut all the excess fat. Then when it starts to get hard to lose weight you know you're actually making progress.

The reason you didn't lose weight when training for a marathon is because you were training for a marathon, not to lose weight. What I mean to say is that, most likely, you're body was storing up energy for the marathon.

In short three things: Diet, (Not going on a diet, but how and what you eat), Muscle Exercise, and Cardio.