I almost posted this in the thread titled "Questions you were afraid to ask" but that seems more like a humor thread and this is a serious question. 

Why is it so difficult for the gravitationally enhanced to slim down?   I see so many people who have a serious, life-threatening problem, and the solution is simple, but it must be very difficult, or there wouldn't be so many people in this condition.  What's the deal? 

This is not meant to be critical of anyone. Obviously, this is a very very difficult problem to solve. So I am asking a genuine question. Why is it so difficult?

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IMO, part of the problem is convenience. How easy is it to just drive down the street and buy your dinner through a window (which usually takes less than a few minutes). The portion sizes are also part of that problem.. Most wanna "go large" on those fries.. I think we have just become so busy in life that everything we purchase has to be immediate and shipped to us. There's a McDonalds on damn near every corner now and they even have independent contracting courier companies who deliver these fast food meals to our door step.. These fast food companies even have their Brand Colors down to a science to trigger our brains to make us think that we're hungry.. That's why most fast food companies use a lot of Reds and Yellows..Anything to get us through those doors.. Even if we have to suck in our guts and enter sideways..

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It is the food we eat and the lifestyle we have. When I mention food I am talking about the Golden Arches. The foods we buy from the grocery store are nothing like they were even 20 years ago. They are so full of residual chemicals they are causing us harm. There is an entire industry dedicated to boosting our probiotics. For thousands of years we produced the proper microbes in the food we eat. Now suddenly our bodies can't do it on their own? Here is another one, gluten. Since time began man has been eating grains and now the world has a problem with gluten? Nope we are being poisoned by the very foods we eat.


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Original Season Ticket Holder - Retired  1995 - 2020


At some point you just have to let go of what you thought should happen and live in what is happening.
 

Combined with the fact that any criticism of overweight conditions is immediately condemned as "fat shaming". While I understand there are health circumstances which cause obesity, most cases are not. It's now generational. Fat parents raise fat kids and no criticism is warranted under today's standards. I think back to a 5th grade field trip I chaperoned to a Suns game. One of my son's classmates was a girl who was morbidly obese. She could barely manage the steps to her seat. The poor girl had fat rolls on her back - in the 5th grade! My son told me her entire family, who gorged on fast food nearly everyday, was the same. In my opinion, that is a situation which warrants intervention. How is condemning that child to a lifetime of health problems any different than her parents allowing her to smoke cigarettes?

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Its also a simple solution to stop smoking, stop drinking or stop doing crystal meth. Except that it isn't simple, is it? Addiction is addiction. You can be addicted to food just as much as you can to any of those other things, but think about it for a minute. You can stop smoking, drinking and doing drugs and never have to touch any of them again. You can live without them. But what about being addicted to food? You can't stop eating, you'll die.

It's easy for those of us that don't have an issue with weight and food to think it's a simple fix to just stop eating, but I think it's way harder than that for them, or there would be a lot more people successfull at losing weight and keeping it off.

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What in the Wide Wide World of Sports is agoin' on here???

It is the food we eat and the lifestyle we have.  When I mention food I am talking about the Golden Arches.  The foods we buy from the grocery store are nothing like they were even 20 years ago. They are so full of residual chemicals they are causing us harm. There is an entire industry dedicated to boosting our probiotics. For thousands of years we produced the proper microbes in the food we eat.  Now suddenly our bodies can't do it on their own?  Here is another one, gluten. Since time began man has been eating grains and now the world has a problem with gluten?  Nope we are being poisoned by the very foods we eat.


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And it's not just the U.S. When I was stationed in the Philippines 30 years ago fat people were few and far between. Now when my wife watches Filipino programming on TV, there are fat people all over the place. Given the Philippines is still largely a third world country, it is odd indeed.

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I agree that a busy lifestyle and convenience of a fast food contribute to it. But I think Bunny hit it on the head with the severe ones. Addiction is addiction plain and simple. The morbidly obese have food addiction. Hell, I love food too and tend to over indulge. However I do have a physical job and work it off. I don't think I've ever been over 190.

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I think that one of the biggest problems is portion sizes combined with our society.

I remember a while back a subject that I saw on reddit that was about how people from other countries viewed ours after visiting us.  By far the most popular subject brought up was portion sizes at restaurants.  We're not talking just fast-food here, it's everywhere.  I'm by no means a "big eater", never have been and don't have the desire to be.  One of the reasons that I don't go out to eat more often is because more times than not I'm served far more than I can eat.

Our society is all about "super sizing" and "the big gulp".

Combine that with the fact that many people spend far too much time on their phones, computers, etc. and far less time doing active things.  I personally am guilty in that I am not near as active as I was in my younger days, but take a look around...  I work on one of the Navy bases here, and I see far too many sailors sitting/standing around looking at their phones rather than interacting with others.  Sure military members have to maintain some level of fitness, but they don't seem to be nearly as active/interactive as it used to be when I served.

We are lazy.  The building that I work in is perhaps a quarter mile away from the McDonald's on base, yet I've seen many people actually get in their car to go get something to eat from the drive-thru rather than just walk the less-than 5 minute walk to mickey D's.

Another example is something as trivial as doing chores around the house.  Take for example mowing the lawn.  We have "self propelled" mowers and riding mowers galore.  I see some of my neighbors mowing their lawns riding on a lawn tractor, even though their lawns are probably 1/8th of an acre at best.

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There are 10 kinds of people in this world.  Those who understand binary and those who don't.

Combined with the fact that any criticism of overweight conditions is immediately condemned as "fat shaming". While I understand there are health circumstances which cause obesity, most cases are not. It's now generational. Fat parents raise fat kids and no criticism is warranted under today's standards. I think back to a 5th grade field trip I chaperoned to a Suns game. One of my son's classmates was a girl who was morbidly obese. She could barely manage the steps to her seat. The poor girl had fat rolls on her back - in the 5th grade! My son told me her entire family, who gorged on fast food nearly everyday, was the same. In my opinion, that is a situation which warrants intervention. How is condemning that child to a lifetime of health problems any different than her parents allowing her to smoke cigarettes?

This right here is the reason. God forbid you call someone unhealthy for being overweight. That chick who started that "Big Fat Fabulous Life" or whatever is one of the worst of them.

Sure, you can be happy being overweight. I'm not arguing that. But don't you dare try to tell me I'm wrong when I say that being obese is bad for your health. Being happy and being healthy are not mutually exclusive.

On the flip side, I like to stay in shape, I just finished a "bulking' period where my body fat percentage went from around 10% to around 19/20%. To me, I've gotten fat. Yet when people hear I'm currently dieting I get the "why? You're skinny. 20% BF isn't a lot" nonsense. You have these new mom's getting blasted for posting pictures being proud that they lost any pregnancy weight and are in good shape. It's almost to the point where, unless you're muscular to the size of The Rock or Terry Crews, you're stigmatized for being thinner more than you are for being heavier.

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IT WAS ALWAYS THE JAGS

I almost posted this in the thread titled "Questions you were afraid to ask" but that seems more like a humor thread and this is a serious question. 

Why is it so difficult for the gravitationally enhanced to slim down?   I see so many people who have a serious, life-threatening problem, and the solution is simple, but it must be very difficult, or there wouldn't be so many people in this condition.  What's the deal? 

This is not meant to be critical of anyone.   Obviously, this is a very very difficult problem to solve.   So I am asking a genuine question.   Why is it so difficult?

Full disclosure: I am heavy and slightly round, but not morbidly obese by any stretch of the imagination. For me, it's really more a combination of the hours I work, the extremely sedentary nature of my job, my diet and the reality that when I do get home, I'm mentally exhausted and have no real interest in doing anything but collapsing onto the couch and letting my dog hop up on my lap.

I think there might even be a little arrogance on my part, too. For me, losing weight is easy. Really easy. Like, if I were to give up Taco Bell, cut out soda and exercise three days a week, I'd drop 15 lbs. in a month. Knowing that I possess that ability and have used it many times before isn't exactly a motivator for me to stay healthy and in shape at all times.

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I almost posted this in the thread titled "Questions you were afraid to ask" but that seems more like a humor thread and this is a serious question. 

Why is it so difficult for the gravitationally enhanced to slim down?   I see so many people who have a serious, life-threatening problem, and the solution is simple, but it must be very difficult, or there wouldn't be so many people in this condition.  What's the deal? 

This is not meant to be critical of anyone.   Obviously, this is a very very difficult problem to solve.   So I am asking a genuine question.   Why is it so difficult?

Full disclosure: I am heavy and slightly round, but not morbidly obese by any stretch of the imagination. For me, it's really more a combination of the hours I work, the extremely sedentary nature of my job, my diet and the reality that when I do get home, I'm mentally exhausted and have no real interest in doing anything but collapsing onto the couch and letting my dog hop up on my lap.

I think there might even be a little arrogance on my part, too. For me, losing weight is easy. Really easy. Like, if I were to give up Taco Bell, cut out soda and exercise three days a week, I'd drop 15 lbs. in a month. Knowing that I possess that ability and have used it many times before isn't exactly a motivator for me to stay healthy and in shape at all times.

Pretty much me too. I just don't do enough after work to make up for sitting around all day.

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“An empty vessel makes the loudest sound, so they that have the least wit are the greatest babblers.”. - Plato

I see many things is various posts that are indeed causes of weight gain and there are many more...People consume so much salt in junk foods they retain water is one reason I haven't seen posted...1/2 of my high blood pressure pill is a water pill to try and expel excess water...Also some medications make you gain weight, some make you lose weight, some have no effect...Kids arent the same as when I was growing up...Our parents would not allow us to sit in front of the tv all day or play video games, or just do nothing...We were made to go outside and actually play out there in a physical manner or heaven forbid do chores like mow the lawn, rake leaves, shovel the walk, wash the car etc,...Today it's hard to get kids to do anything that involves moving anything more than their fingers on their phone...It's a whole different world today...Foods we eat are no longer natural, they are genetically altered, kids disappear if left outside, its cheaper to buy a greasy fat and grease soaked cheeseburger with fake cheese and fake meat than it is to buy something healthy...There is no single reason...Losing weight is not easy..I need to lose some but the older you get the harder it is to lose

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And it's not just the U.S. When I was stationed in the Philippines 30 years ago fat people were few and far between. Now when my wife watches Filipino programming on TV, there are fat people all over the place. Given the Philippines is still largely a third world country, it is odd indeed.

Thanks for reminding me, I need to get some Jollibee take out on my way home

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Yes, it's our diet, and yes, it is our lack of exercise, but the existence of the words "fat shaming" and the existence of the billion dollar weight loss industry tells me people don't want to be fat.  The answers are quite simple- eat less and exercise more, but actually doing that must be quite difficult, because there are so many very fat people out there, and I have to assume they don't want to be that way.   And yet I see these people eating a bag of potato chips, or chocolate cake at 9 o'clock at night.  There must be something about being overweight that destroys the willpower to resist.  

I also agree that we are being taught not to embarrass these people, but that doesn't make sense to me.   They are killing themselves; they want to lose weight; we are in the room when they pick up the bag of chips, and yet, we can't say anything.   If a person is killing themselves with drugs or alcohol, someone is supposed to intervene.  Why can't we intervene when someone is killing themselves with food?  I think one thing we have to do as a society is get over this idea that we can't talk openly about this.  It's killing our friends, it's bankrupting Medicare and Medicaid, it's filling up the hospitals.   It's more than a private issue.

But- back to the original question.   I wish someone could tell me, if you want to lose weight, but you are confronted with chocolate cake or candy or potato chips, what goes through your mind?   If you want to lose weight, when you go to the grocery store, why do you buy potato chips?   I can understand why, if someone offered you chocolate cake, it would be hard to resist it, but it seems like the first line of defense would be in your own grocery cart.    

It's really frustrating, because I see friends and relatives destroying their own quality of life, and sending themselves to an early grave, and I can't do anything about it.

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Yes, it's our diet, and yes, it is our lack of exercise, but the existence of the words "fat shaming" and the existence of the billion dollar weight loss industry tells me people don't want to be fat.  The answers are quite simple- eat less and exercise more, but actually doing that must be quite difficult, because there are so many very fat people out there, and I have to assume they don't want to be that way.   And yet I see these people eating a bag of potato chips, or chocolate cake at 9 o'clock at night.  There must be something about being overweight that destroys the willpower to resist.  

I also agree that we are being taught not to embarrass these people, but that doesn't make sense to me.   They are killing themselves; they want to lose weight; we are in the room when they pick up the bag of chips, and yet, we can't say anything.   If a person is killing themselves with drugs or alcohol, someone is supposed to intervene.  Why can't we intervene when someone is killing themselves with food?  I think one thing we have to do as a society is get over this idea that we can't talk openly about this.  It's killing our friends, it's bankrupting Medicare and Medicaid, it's filling up the hospitals.   It's more than a private issue.

But- back to the original question.   I wish someone could tell me, if you want to lose weight, but you are confronted with chocolate cake or candy or potato chips, what goes through your mind?   If you want to lose weight, when you go to the grocery store, why do you buy potato chips?   I can understand why, if someone offered you chocolate cake, it would be hard to resist it, but it seems like the first line of defense would be in your own grocery cart.    

It's really frustrating, because I see friends and relatives destroying their own quality of life, and sending themselves to an early grave, and I can't do anything about it.

You can't teach anyone anything who doesn't want to learn, you can't help anyone who won't help themselves, and you can't make people want to be healthy... I keep seeing people who think it's simple to lose weight...It's really not easy...I eat a low carb high protein diet and do exercises from my Drs
and lose very little if any at all...I am diabetic and I take my medicine and my glucose level is generally within the parameters set by my DR. and find it very hard to lose weight

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Eating less is not going to cut it. It's all about what you eat. If you eat a bunch of processed foods and foods with high calories and carbs but low nutritional value, it doesn't matter how little of it you eat, it's still bad for you and your body is going to respond likewise. Junk is junk. Feed your body with healthy foods and feel how much better it works. 

I found out by accident that I cannot eat even a moderate carb diet at all. I feel sluggish and my brain feels like it's in a fog. I've always eaten pretty healthy but I guess age has decided I can't do much in the way of carbs. When I cut the majority of them out I lost 10-15lbs and felt so much better. I also cut out sugar. The only thing I add sugar to is my coffee. I try to buy stuff that has no sugar added and absolutely refuse to buy or consume anything with high fructose corn syrup in it.

We eat mainly whole foods. The most processed our food is would be the blue chips and salsa and granola I eat. Oh, and my turkey or chicken bacon. My husband does eat cereal for breakfast. Other than that we don't eat anything that comes out of a box or a bag. We eat low carb, moderate protein and moderate to high healthy fats. I can't tell you the last time I ate at a fast food restaurant. Actually we don't really eat out at all anymore. Bad service and mediocre food with high prices? No thanks. 

My in-laws are all overweight. My mother-in-law is borderline diabetic. They eat like most country folks in their 60's eat. They think my healthy diet is weird because who doesn't want to eat a plate full of carbs for supper and even more for dessert? When we go to their house for a meal I usually end up only eating half of what she fixes. And for birthdays she finally stopped making me a cake after asking her for the last four year not to make me one. My MIL and her sister have been on Weight Watchers forever and can't understand why they don't lose weight and ask me how I stay slim. I look at their plates and look at mine and tell them that's how. That and they know how we eat but they don't want to give up certain foods.  

There are a few families in my church whose kids..... I just cringe at how they look because it's all about their diet. They're mostly country kids and do play outside all day, but the food choices are horrific and should be considered child abuse. Tons of sugar, tons of bad carbs, tons of unhealthy food. They are so overweight it's sad and scary.

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Sometimes it has to do with disease. Thyroid diseases can cause people with the best of efforts to become obese. I think of myself and my illness also. When I weighed in at the ER almost 3 years ago, I was right at 260 pounds. After being diagnosed with cancer and starting treatment, I dropped down to 170 within a year. I am now right around 200 pounds, which is about right for a 6'1" guy.

There are a lot of things that can sway one's weight dramatically one way or the other.

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What lies behind us, and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.







 

Eating less is not going to cut it. It's all about what you eat. If you eat a bunch of processed foods and foods with high calories and carbs but low nutritional value, it doesn't matter how little of it you eat, it's still bad for you and your body is going to respond likewise. Junk is junk. Feed your body with healthy foods and feel how much better it works. 

I found out by accident that I cannot eat even a moderate carb diet at all. I feel sluggish and my brain feels like it's in a fog. I've always eaten pretty healthy but I guess age has decided I can't do much in the way of carbs. When I cut the majority of them out I lost 10-15lbs and felt so much better. I also cut out sugar. The only thing I add sugar to is my coffee. I try to buy stuff that has no sugar added and absolutely refuse to buy or consume anything with high fructose corn syrup in it.

We eat mainly whole foods. The most processed our food is would be the blue chips and salsa and granola I eat. Oh, and my turkey or chicken bacon. My husband does eat cereal for breakfast. Other than that we don't eat anything that comes out of a box or a bag. We eat low carb, moderate protein and moderate to high healthy fats. I can't tell you the last time I ate at a fast food restaurant. Actually we don't really eat out at all anymore. Bad service and mediocre food with high prices? No thanks. 

My in-laws are all overweight. My mother-in-law is borderline diabetic. They eat like most country folks in their 60's eat. They think my healthy diet is weird because who doesn't want to eat a plate full of carbs for supper and even more for dessert? When we go to their house for a meal I usually end up only eating half of what she fixes. And for birthdays she finally stopped making me a cake after asking her for the last four year not to make me one. My MIL and her sister have been on Weight Watchers forever and can't understand why they don't lose weight and ask me how I stay slim. I look at their plates and look at mine and tell them that's how. That and they know how we eat but they don't want to give up certain foods.  

There are a few families in my church whose kids..... I just cringe at how they look because it's all about their diet. They're mostly country kids and do play outside all day, but the food choices are horrific and should be considered child abuse. Tons of sugar, tons of bad carbs, tons of unhealthy food. They are so overweight it's sad and scary.

This indeed is a major factor and probably the biggest factor of them all...Once the weight is put on, it's not easy to take off...People who never had to lose weight think it's just so easy to lose weight, just exercise and eat healthy...That's great but it's not a cure all...Thats the best advice to give people, however it's not a fool proof method...Some people can eat a balanced healthy meal system planned by nutritionists and follow a strict exercise  program and still lose very little weight...It's always the people who never have had to lose weight who say it's a simple thing

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I have cut my drinking over the last 2 years to maybe 3 beers/week and have dropped 23 lbs. to 6-2, 203. I almost never drink at bars/restaurants anymore and it has made a big $$ difference too. I eliminated fried foods and fast food restaurants years ago but still enjoy an Outback steak with a loaded potato so I'm no saint.

I got back from a cruise last week and watching people overeat unhealthy food was almost nauseating. Americus hit it on the head with her comment about child abuse too.

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Season Ticket holder since 2004.

 

        

As a Type 2 diabetic who learned to control my blood sugar level by unlearning my devotion to sugar and carbohydrates, one of the happiest days of my life was discovering straight alcohol added no sugar or carbs to my diet. Of course there are quite a few calories in an ounce of distilled liquor, so all things in moderation, but knowing my dry vodka martini, bourbon (neat) and shots of tequila aren't affecting my sugar or carb intake makes me happy.

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If something can corrupt you, you're corrupted already.
- Bob Marley