Interesting Perspective And "Claim" About Obesity

Thoughts?

https://highline.huffingtonpost.com/articles/en/everything-you-know-about-obesity-is-wrong/

I did read the article and not sure I totally agree with all of it. There has been so much research done on not eating enough that makes your metabolism slow down, that reading some are barely eating enough to sustain life, you’re body is going to fight to live.

If the article could decrease fat shaming, that would be good, however I’m not sure it will.

I have been heavier, I have lost and regained. However, my regains have been of my very own doing. If you read, not sure if they were part of the article, the stories that followed it showed some of the behavior that could lead to someone being fat.

Eating in secret, eating a half gallon of ice cream and replacing so no one knew. In fact eating 5 of them. I’m sorry, if anyone eats that many extra calories they are not going to lose or maintain, I don’t care if it was that many calories in carrots, lettuce or celery. That isn’t fat shaming etc, it’s pure mathmatics.

While I don’t ascribe to the whole CI/CO science as a whole and I think it’s done many people an injustice, at some point it does come into play.

Just my 2 cents

Narrowminded.....my thoughts are pretty much inline with yours. I also do NOT think that people become obese just because of their genes or luck. There is caloric math at play there in some way. Sure, we're all different and some of us are going to be naturally thinner than others and some of us will put on fat in different areas than others but morbid obesity doesn't just "happen".

On the other hand, if you are okay being obese then, to each their own. But to be blameless in it is not okay.

My SIL is a perfect example of this. She is obese. She's 5 foot 10 inches tall and a bigger boned person but she's still pushing 300 pounds. And, she's always going on some diet kick or starting an extreme work out. But if you look in her pantry it's the SAD gone terribly wrong! Fruit snacks, cookies, crackers, dishes of candy sitting about, soda, etc. And she drinks gallons of milk. Even when she's on her healthy kicks she's drinking 20 ounces of milk in a day, not including what's in her tea. She's still filling up with too many calories. She doesn't see it but it's there.

I have a lot of thoughts on this. Much of it is my n=1 and I'll try and post this to my blog, as I think it will be better there than here. Suffice it to say that I am currently and always have been a "wide body", "stocky", "husky","chunky","height impaired",and yes, "fat-ass" type of person who can't easily buy off the rack clothes in the non Big and Tall stores. I long ago gave up on suits in favor of slacks and sports jackets because my suit pants always wore out where my thighs rubbed threadbare holes in them near the crotch. Maintaining a healthy weight has always been a challenge.

Much of the article relates to "fat shaming" and the problems it brings, and I try to avoid doing this to others and have occasionally been subjected to it, it is not pleasant.  

In short, I found the following quotes from the article to be particularly interesting:

1: But it’s not how much we’re eating—Americans actually consume fewer calories now than we did in 2003. It’s what we’re eating.

All of our biological systems for regulating energy, hunger and satiety get thrown off by eating foods that are high in sugar, low in fiber and injected with additives. And which now, shockingly, make up 60 percent of the calories we eat.
...
2: In 2017, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, the expert panel that decides which treatments should be offered for free under Obamacare, found that the decisive factor in obesity care was not the diet patients went on, but how much attention and support they received while they were on it. Participants who got more than 12 sessions with a dietician saw significant reductions in their rates of prediabetes and cardiovascular risk. Those who got less personalized care showed almost no improvement at all.
...
3 They beg her to return them to their high school or wedding or first triathlon weight, the one that will bring back their former life.
And then Lenham must explain that these dreams are a trap.

Point 1:  I  feel like this is the main reason I went to Primal.
Point 2:  Once past the total rejection of "free care" and the message it implies, I would agree that having good (emphasis on good) input from a dietician and positive support (medical and personal network) would be key in helping someone achieve their best weight.
Point 3: I think this is a big point, the pre-conceived "ideal weight" is in my mind a huge mistake for almost everyone. I believe that each person has a best weight, and it may or may not line up with what the medical BMI charts indicate or what their perception of where they want to be is. I know from my personal journeys through weight gain/loss that the weight where I feel the best, am most active, and least subject to various funky injuries and illnesses is a good bit higher than my perception of where I'd like to be, and a lot higher than where the medical industry would put me, and also more than my mirror would like to see.

I know from personal experience that some people have conditions that lead to them being severely fat. But I also know that being very heavy presents a big problem for being able to lead any kind of active life, and being sedentary and fat is a self perpetuating thing and it is hard to break the loop.

We are all dealt a genetic hand at birth. We also all take that initial hand and then make decisions that affect how our lives turn out, including how our health plays out over our lifetimes. Making the right decisions to optimize your n=1 health is not easy, but is rewarding.

I think this is a big point, the pre-conceived "ideal weight" is in my mind a huge mistake for almost everyone. I believe that each person has a best weight, and it may or may not line up with what the medical BMI charts indicate or what their perception of where they want to be is. I know from my personal journeys through weight gain/loss that the weight where I feel the best, am most active, and least subject to various funky injuries and illnesses is a good bit higher than my perception of where I'd like to be, and a lot higher than where the medical industry would put me, and also more than my mirror would like to see.

Agreed! I am also healthier and feel better at about 20 pounds heavier than my medical BMI weight. I'm also of heartier stock and have more muscle than many women (without working out).

I also don't think that everyone fits into the ideal weight box.

I too agree on the “ideal” weight misconception that is perpetuated by the BMI charts and Hollywood.

I also agree we are not all meant to be thin and 5’6” if your a woman or 6’ if you are a man. But I also believe that you’re not meant to be morbidly obese either

And as Rig mentioned, overnight leads to being sedentary, and is a very bad circle to get stuck in.