Weight.

[shenfrey]

Hey guys so iv been wondering, and I cant't really answer this my self as I have never experienced what it's like to be fat, I'm 22 years old and thankfully with a super fast motabalsim, however I am very green and dont't fast food, I'll probably have your typical fish and chips once every 2-3 weeks and I absolutely despise places such as KFC and Mcdonalds (their food that is).

But what's boggled me lately is, fat people, I see slot of large women and alot of very large women (men to of course) and I can't help but think, is it their fault? Now as bad as it sounds I want to avoid talking about the comfort eaters here because obviously it is their fault they get fat unfortunately but what about the ones who don't seem to eat a lot or don't appear to eat a lot wqhen your with them but are still large?

I have a few large friends and when I'm with them they eat fine, intact I eat WAY more than they do for instance but they are still fat so my question is, is it their fault? Must they eat secretly a lot behind closed doors? Or is it that their just naturally fat? I'm just confused with it all because yeah iv seen the super fat people in fast food chains and I can't help but think, are you stupid? But then iv seen people who are healthy and eat less than me but are still quite big and I just can't undetan.

So please guys, help me understand if you can : ) Thanks.


Sorry for spelling typed this on an IPad late at night .

 

[iJohnHenry]

Metabolism is not fair.

 

[flopticalcube]

I don't think science has definitively answered the question yet. People do have varied metabolisms but in the end if calories consumed > calories burned, you will gain weight. It's also a bit of a vicious cycle as the more weight you put on, the more depressed you get. The more depressed you get, the more you eat for comfort.

 

[Apple OC]

You do know you are posting in an Apple Computer Forum?

how do you even consider this "community discussion"?

 

[iLucas]

People have different metabolisms and those with lower metabolism and absolutely no exercise will gain weight. Your friends probably eat fast food whereas you say you do not. Fast food is terrible for us, as most of us know(1 taco bell burrito = ~500 calories). If they have a sedentary lifestyle then that fast food adds up fast. Also some people eat just out of boredom while at home and they gain weight like that.

 

[dukebound85]

You do know you are posting in an Apple Computer Forum?

how do you even consider this "community discussion"?

Let's see...

I have seen topics ranging from work out routines, to pet peeves, to masturbation, to movies,, to tattoos, to pretty much anything on these very forums

How do you not consider this "community discussion"?

 

[appleguy123]

Is it part of the metabolism to never be hungry even if you haven't ate in a long time? I weigh 107lbs and am 5'7", I have to force food down myself once a day. Eating a single slice of pizza will fill me up to gagging point. How do I fix this? Do I even need to? I'm only 17, so maybe it will get better with age.

 

[Apple OC]

Let's see...

I have seen topics ranging from work out routines, to pet peeves, to masturbation, to movies,, to tattoos, to pretty much anything on these very forums

How do you not consider this "community discussion"?

Good point ... however it seems like it belongs on the "Fetish Forums" or the "insulting to people with a weight problem forum"

 

[-aggie-]

You do know you are posting in an Apple Computer Forum?

how do you even consider this "community discussion"?

You obviously don't understand what this forum is for to be asking this.

 

[KnightWRX]

the "insulting to people with a weight problem forum"

No. Discussing weight should not be taboo. Fat people don't need to be cuddled and told it's not their fault. It absolutely is. The faster they realise this, the faster they can get empowered to fix the problem rather than blame everything around them. Fat people are fat because of lack of proper nutrition education. They over eat or they eat calorie dense foods even when not having proper exercise regiments. Being fat is a simple equation. Calories in > Calories out = You'e fat (or going to be if you keep it up).

OP, yes, I do believe fat people are fat through their own fault (let's not go and bring up the damn thyroid gland problem or other metabolic disorders. Those are very rare problems, compared to fat people which are a very common occurrence these days). No one has any excuse for lack of education and that is all that is needed to get the weight under control.

 

[appleguy123]

No one has any excuse for lack of education and that is all that is needed to get the weight under control.

What about the poor for whom high nutrition value and low calorie foods are not in reach of their budget?

 

[KnightWRX]

What about the poor for whom high nutrition value and low calorie foods are not in reach of their budget?

Low calorie foods are the cheapest around. Just go look at the fruit/vegetable isle in your super market. It's the high-caloric pre-packaged stuff that is expensive.

Cook your own meals.

This is exactly what I mean by lack of education.

 

[appleguy123]

Low calorie foods are the cheapest around. Just go look at the fruit/vegetable isle in your super market. It's the high-caloric pre-packaged stuff that is expensive.

Cook your own meals.

This is exactly what I mean by lack of education.

Fruit and vegetables make nice sides, but they won't fill anyone up. Also, cooking meals is hard for people working full time jobs for low pay. Fast food often becomes a last resort.

 

[KnightWRX]

Fruit and vegetables make nice sides, but they won't fill anyone up. Also, cooking meals is hard for people working full time jobs for low pay. Fast food often becomes a last resort.

Excuses, excuses, excuses. There are a lot of low-caloric protein based foods (chicken, fish) which are usually cheaper than the high-caloric proteins (pork, red meats). Cooking meals can be done in batches on the weekend and reheated as needed during the week when you have less time, etc...

Again, education. You're not convincing me. I was the one making up those excuses 2 years ago, I don't anymore. Consequently, I don't weight as much as I used to.

You do know you can also just eat less. Yes, I know, what a concept. "Feeling full" and having ate just enough is very different. If you're feeling "full" after a meal, you over ate.

 

[QuarterSwede]

Fruit and vegetables make nice sides, but they won't fill anyone up. Also, cooking meals is hard for people working full time jobs for low pay. Fast food often becomes a last resort.

Actually fruits and veggies fill you up more and for longer than most other foods (especially processed junk food).

 

[flopticalcube]

For many overweight people there are deep psychological reasons. Depression, low self-esteem, mental illness. These are not things which a person can normally hand on their own without outside help. Many have built up addictions to certain foods which release feel-good hormones when consumed and breaking the habit can be difficult. Having said that, education probably is priority number one.

 

[KnightWRX]

Actually fruits and veggies fill you up more and for longer than most other foods (especially processed junk food).

Yep, since "filling up" in the sense most people take it (not in the real body's "fill up" sense) is usually just to get your stomach full to the point you "feel" it. Packing it with low calorie fruits/veggies will get you there faster while making you absorb less calories.

If you go by the real sense, hunger, then it's just a matter of stopping your food intake when your hypothalamus tells you to stop (it knows by the amount of nutrients in your bloodstream, which is why it's important to eat slowly).

 

[anjinha]

Fruit and vegetables make nice sides, but they won't fill anyone up. Also, cooking meals is hard for people working full time jobs for low pay. Fast food often becomes a last resort.

It depends on what fruits and vegetables. Also you can eat fish, chicken... You can even eat "bad foods" if you limit your portions. And no, cooking doesn't have to take a long time. There are a lot of delicious meals you can make in 20-30 minutes and you can make several meals at once for the rest of the week.

 

[jim4spam]

I'm mostly in agreement with KnightWRX. I think some people fail to get the signals that the body sends about being "nicely full up" and the person gets absorbed into the immediate gratification of taste sensation.

I also think boredom plays a big factor here - people often eat when bored. And there are a lot of boring things: car driving, adverts, sport on TV (even when you're trying to be interested).

So learn to listen to your body (i.e. don't eat when you're not hungry), don't eat when you're bored, and be active and mentally interested in other things. All of these are hard to do for some people.

 

[dime21]

But what's boggled me lately is, fat people, I see slot of large women and alot of very large women (men to of course) and I can't help but think, is it their fault?

In a word, YES. Now before all the fatties on here attack me, please allow me to explain. I'm basing my answer on the obese people that I know, and also on the obese women that I've dated (more on that in a moment) - this is real world examples, not speculation or conjecture.

There are two obese people that I work with. Both men. Both of them must eat 5000 calories or more each day. We all work in your typical office building, so I have the opportunity to see the eating habits of these two day in and day out. Breakfast and Lunch at least, I have not seen how they eat for dinner, but based on the first two meals of the day, one can extrapolate. Typical breakfast includes a Venti Latte from Starbucks (290 cal), a bagel with cream cheese (400 cal) and a large yoghurt+granola+fruit cup (500 cal). Lunch is a Big Mac meal from McDonalds, or the comparable meal from Wendy's. (1000 cal). Throughout the day also adds numerous cans of soda and bags of snack chips (500 cal). So we're already up to 2690 calories and it's only 4 pm now. Furthermore, neither one of them engage in any kind of exercise whatsoever. No walking, not gym, no outdoor activities at all. You see where I'm going with this.

Now for the women. Yes, I have dated two women who were obese. "Were" being the operative word here, because to both of their credit, they have changed their lifestyle and eating habits and have lost the weight. I'll describe obese girl #2, but both their stories are similar. So #2 was 5'9" and 250 lbs. This was before I met her, but she has photos and the 250 lb claim looks accurate. Today she is 150 lbs. She dropped 100 lbs in 3 years. Bravo for her! How did she do it? No miracle pills or weird stuff, just plain old diet and exercise. She started eating healthy foods, AND started eating in moderation instead of pigging out all the time. She also joined a gym with a personal trainer and went to the gym for 45 minutes after work every day Mon-Fri. I asked her why she didn't do this sooner in life, and how is it she got so huge to begin with? You know whst she replied? She said "I ate my feelings. And I had a LOT of feelings!". Sounds funny, but it was true. She was unhappy with her life and self image and just ate pizza, ice cream, candy, snaks all the time.

Anyhow, I'm rambling now, but the point is that in both of these real world examples, these obese people got that way due to their own choices in life. They did this to themselves. This is behavioral. It isn't genetic or luck or any other intangible "out of my control" kind of a thing. It's what they ate every day of the week, and how much of it they ate.

 

[appleguy123]

I'm mostly in agreement with KnightWRX. I think some people fail to get the signals that the body sends about being "nicely full up" and the person gets absorbed into the immediate gratification of taste sensation.

I also think boredom plays a big factor here - people often eat when bored. And there are a lot of boring things: car driving, adverts, sport on TV (even when you're trying to be interested).

So learn to listen to your body (i.e. don't eat when you're not hungry), don't eat when you're bored, and be active and mentally interested in other things. All of these are hard to do for some people.

Do people normally eat when they're not hungry? When I'm bored, I usually just grab a book or something.

 

[ender land]

Metabolism is not fair.

Yeah, this plays a role.

My roommates are all very thin (in spite of nearly the same eating habits as me) yet I definitely less "in shape" than them. I could do to lose some weight but all of them are quite in shape. Well at least weight wise.

 

[foidulus]

It's different for every fat person....

While overconsumption of calories and lack of exercise are common threads, it's important to note that the source of such habits is quite varied.

For instance, in my case I simply refused to listen to my body's changing metabolism, and in a couple of years I went from being borderline underweight(BMI < 20) to being borderline obese(BMI about 29.8 or so) The reason for this massive weight gain is quite simple, I stopped growing taller so my body started growing wider. When I was growing up, all the way through about 10th grade or so, I simply could not get fat, I ate massive amounts of garbage, never exercised, drank pop like it was going out of style, and never gained an ounce of fat since my body put every single calorie consumed into growing taller. However as we all know you cannot grow taller forever and as my body reached it's full height, my metabolism experienced a pretty dramatic shift but unfortunately my bad habits didn't change along with it. I kept on eating like crap and started gaining massive amounts of weight. Here I am 30 years old with a BMI of 28 that I am desperately trying to get under control, but the bad habits formed during my teen years continue to haunt me.....

Thats just my story though, every single fat person I know has a different story. Some of us try to control it, some just don't care. It's certainly a fascinating bit of psychology nonetheless.

 

[puma1552]

It is their fault.

Two years ago I was 162 lbs, standing 5'5" tall. Like the guy above, I had no semblance of healthy eating habits in high school, and I was 120-125 lbs throughout, and couldn't gain weight if I tried.

Then I got to college. Hard degree program, working, being a T/A, losing my mom in the middle of it all, lots of terrible factors combined, along with the metabolism taking a dive. Horrible eating habits (BK at 3 AM after a 20 hour day and then going home to sleep for 3-2 hours before getting up and doing it again), and horrible sleeping habits. Looking back, I have no idea how I got through everything I got through, I had a fuller plate than anyone I knew. I truly didn't have time to exercise, I didn't have time to relax, eat right (you know your degree sucks when you are pulling all nighters on Friday and Saturday nights for something not due until the following Thursday), or sleep. So the end result was a porky 162 lbs. when I graduated.

You don't notice it, you wake up one day, look in the mirror, and go "Jesus Christ, what happened?"

So once life stabilized, and my main activity for the day was doing an 8 hour workday and that was pretty much it, with nights and weekends free, I got myself a scale and to this day I weigh myself every morning. Then I started cooking, eating better, eating less, drinking water, not eating 4 hours before bedtime, eating smaller portions, and running. I didn't cut anything out, I didn't diet hard, if I wanted a Coke, I drank a Coke. If I wanted a grilled cheese, I ate a grilled cheese. One difference was, I had one Coke that day, not five or 6. The other difference was, I realized I'd pay for it the next morning, and would have to work harder, by running an extra kilometer or two. I never dieted hard, I just made a general lifestyle change. I still eat sweets (just ate a pack of panut M&Ms), I still drink pop, but I do it much more in moderation, and in the back of my mind I count calories, ballpark. Not always, but usually; if I have four or five good days in the week, having a bad day or two isn't the end of the world. A small setback, but nothing more than that--I'm in control, and I know to just work a little harder the next couple days.

Over a couple years, I got down to 132-135 lbs depending on the day, where I am now. Last week I ran 12k M/T/W/F. I'll run 12k tomorrow, that's my normal run, on a completely empty stomach (some say empty is better, some say eating something small first is better, I guess I'm a masochist). When I started running, I started with 5k. Now 12k is pretty easy/normal. I've run two half marathons this year already.

I'd like to get down to 125, as that would be my idea weight, but unfortunately, despite being only 132 lbs, and running as much as I do, my metabolism is still that of a sloth. At this point, because of that and since I'm so close to my ideal weight, the only way I can lose is when I take in 1200 calories of pure protein/fruit/veggies AND go for a 12k run. Simply eating 1200 calories of healthy food won't do it, but that's the way it is. When you get to the point where you are close to your ideal weight, it gets extremely difficult to drop those last few. But--it's extremely easy to maintain as well. I can have a 2500 calorie junk day or go out drinking once in a while, and my body will flush it out and regulate its weight within a couple days again.

So, one thing fat people need to realize--the fatter you are, the easier it is to lose weight. If you cut out two cans of pop and one small snack a day, and go for a lousy 2k WALK, fat people start dropping weight like mad, just shedding it off, which is great motivation.

Some people will say weighing yourself daily in the morning is obsessive and unhealthy, but I disagree. Sure my body can go up or down a 1-1.5kg overnight seemingly for no reason, but I'd rather see it go up overnight and work hard that day to keep it in line right away, rather than weigh myself every four days and realize I'm up 2-2.5 kg from the last time I weighed in, and then have that much more work to do. Weighing daily works great to keep myself in check and keep me knowing exactly where I'm at and how to handle that day's food/exercise.

It's a lifestyle change. But, even looking back, as someone who has lost weight and can point a finger at fatty and say "You're disgusting, do something with yourself", I also do realize that there are some situations where you simply, truly, really do not have time to have proper eating/sleeping/exercising habits.

 

[Abstract]

Well, if you have a fast metabolism, you probably eat alot because you need to in order to keep at a normal, healthy weight.


People who have slow metabolisms, by definition, don't need to consume as many calories, since they won't burn it off. Like someone else said, you should consume as many calories as you burn. For people with slow metabolisms, they need to realize that there isn't an amount that every person needs to eat. It depends on the individual.