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.

Your pancreas is great, but now your liver is shot to hell.

---

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

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

I know it's not easy to eat less when you're fat.   I've read some articles that say your fat cells will constantly tell you they are starving.   That's why eating less is very difficult once you become overweight.   Fat cells are extremely demanding.  

Most articles I read about how hard it is to lose weight are really about how hard it is to eat less.  

But if you can eat less, I can't understand why it would be hard to lose weight.  Isn't it pure math?  -calories in vs calories burned?  Fat is just stored calories, after all. 

I personally know quite a few fat people, but I've never known one that ate healthy and was still overweight.

But really, and this is a sincere question, for all the horizontally enhanced people out there. What goes through your mind when someone offers you a piece of chocolate cake? I know the mind is a very tricky thing. Is it like drug addiction? Do you think, I should not eat this, but then, do you find a way to rationalize it?

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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

I know it's not easy to eat less when you're fat.   I've read some articles that say your fat cells will constantly tell you they are starving.   That's why eating less is very difficult once you become overweight.   Fat cells are extremely demanding.  

Most articles I read about how hard it is to lose weight are really about how hard it is to eat less.  

But if you can eat less, I can't understand why it would be hard to lose weight.  Isn't it pure math?  -calories in vs calories burned?  Fat is just stored calories, after all. 

I personally know quite a few fat people, but I've never known one that ate healthy and was still overweight.

But really, and this is a sincere question, for all the horizontally enhanced people out there.   What goes through your mind when someone offers you a piece of chocolate cake?  I know the mind is a very tricky thing.   Is it like drug addiction?   Do you think, I should not eat this, but then, do you find a way to rationalize it?

Ok lets say a person does not eat too much to being with, but simply eats the right portions of bad for you foods such as fast food, or foods high in saturated fats or whatever...after 20 years the person is now 5 feet 8 inches tall and 260 pounds at the age of 50 and decides to start eating healthy meals...eating less isnt the answer as he has been eating the proper portions, just wrong foods, so he begins a high protein low carb low sugar diet which if the most common diet for obese people...

after a month or so of being vigilant on the diet and exercising he has lost only a pound or 2... Same thing next month...While he is doing what he is supposed to the weight is very slow to come off, which is what makes people depressed and wonder why they can't lose weight and give up after a month or so...

What I'm getting at is once the fat is there its very hard to get off...Losing 20 or 30 pounds is a monumental task 10 is difficult if it's already there and is a [BLEEP] too...If someone is already fairly lean with just a few pounds to lose it's not too hard to lose, but once you become fat, losing it is incredibly hard

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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?

I think because its a combination of things that is best summed up as Epigenics in my opinion. Your grandpa is fat, your parents are fat, you will be prone to getting fat. Everyone may have the 'fat gene' etc, but some of us come with it on right out of the box, while others do something to get it on. Epigenics is this idea that its not just genetics but its environmental also. You don't just get super obese because you eat more, you also have to be predisposed (although you can, of course get fat from just eating more, but I don't think you hit 500 lbs etc unless theres something else going on).

Take me for instance, my parents are obese, my grandparents are obese, and since I was about 12 I have had a yo-yo weight problem. I gain weight if: a. I am stressed, b. if I have the slightest deviation from a very healthy diet, c. if I don't have a lot of exercise (think multiple miles a day). I have been skinny before, so it is possible, but the amount of maintenance it takes for me to get there is just monumental.

Compared to my wife, who is Korean, she doesn't gain weight. No one in her family has ever been obese (unlike my family where only my one grandmother is skinny and literally everyone else has hit morbidly obese, BMI over 40, at some point). Now I will admit that the foods her culture taught her to like really help in this regard. Koreans don't eat a lot of dairy and their food is fairly simple. But even when we are on the same diet, there are lots of things that if I eat them I will gain weight like crazy, and she won't (think alcohol, meat).

All that said, I know plenty of people who restrict nothing from their diet, eat less healthy than me, and weight less. I am certain that if every person had to be vegetarian, not drink, and run 3 miles a day to stay in the normal weight range, then we would have a lot less skinny people. That being said you can lose weight, the problem is that the people who need to do it the most usually have the hardest road to go: between what they like, and what their body is predisposed to do, i.e. become fat, its tough. I do think that people who are morbidly obese have stopped trying, but you can certainly get to regular obese (BMI of 30) even if you are trying.

---

I know it's not easy to eat less when you're fat.   I've read some articles that say your fat cells will constantly tell you they are starving.   That's why eating less is very difficult once you become overweight.   Fat cells are extremely demanding.  

Most articles I read about how hard it is to lose weight are really about how hard it is to eat less.  

But if you can eat less, I can't understand why it would be hard to lose weight.  Isn't it pure math?  -calories in vs calories burned?  Fat is just stored calories, after all. 

I personally know quite a few fat people, but I've never known one that ate healthy and was still overweight.

But really, and this is a sincere question, for all the horizontally enhanced people out there.   What goes through your mind when someone offers you a piece of chocolate cake?  I know the mind is a very tricky thing.   Is it like drug addiction?   Do you think, I should not eat this, but then, do you find a way to rationalize it?

Ok lets say a person does not eat too much to being with, but simply eats the right portions of bad for you foods such as fast food, or foods high in saturated fats or whatever...after 20 years the person is now 5 feet 8 inches tall and 260 pounds at the age of 50 and decides to start eating healthy meals...eating less isnt the answer as he has been eating the proper portions, just wrong foods, so he begins a high protein low carb low sugar diet which if the most common diet for obese people...

after a month or so of being vigilant on the diet and exercising he has lost only a pound or 2... Same thing next month...While he is doing what he is supposed to the weight is very slow to come off, which is what makes people depressed and wonder why they can't lose weight and give up after a month or so...

What I'm getting at is once the fat is there its very hard to get off...Losing 20 or 30 pounds is a monumental task 10 is difficult if it's already there and is a [BLEEP] too...If someone is already fairly lean with just a few pounds to lose it's not too hard to lose, but once you become fat, losing it is incredibly hard

Agree, it is much harder for someone with fat cells to lose weight, and when you do the fat cells only shrink, they don't die for like 7 years. And of course, if you gain weight they split. Marty is also correct that fat cells increase hunger, but not directly. They release leptin which is a hunger suppressor, but your body becomes over saturated and desensitized. Then you are over sensitive to ghrelin (the hunger hormone), and under sensitive to leptin (the suppressant).

The other issue is that say you stop taking in calories to lose weight, your body will go into starvation mode and decrease your metabolism, making weight loss very slow. Plus as soon as you try to go back to a 'normal' amount of calories your body will start trying to replenish its 'fat reserves.' This is why is hard to lose weight and keep it off if your fat. You really have to have a commitment to eating a very healthy diet for a long period of time before you could get away with occasional cheating that many normal people have no trouble with. Asking someone who is predisposed towards gaining weight to do all this, and then never ever cheat, is something that is beyond what most normal weight people could do, much less a food addicted morbidly obese person.

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Yes, it's improvement, but it's Blaine Gabbert 2012 level improvement. - Pirkster

http://youtu.be/ouGM3NWpjxk The Home Hypnotist!

http://youtu.be/XQRFkn0Ly3A Media on the Brain Link!
 

Peyton must store oxygen in that forehead of his. No way I'd still be alive after all that choking.

 

Because cookies are [BLEEP] excellent!

---

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.

Your pancreas is great, but now your liver is shot to hell.

One dry vodka martini or a couple of fingers of bourbon every night aren't going to hurt my liver.

---

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


 

Because cookies are [BLEEP] excellent!

Except for the ones with raisins...those are nasty!!

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

Because cookies are [BLEEP] excellent!

Except for the ones with raisins...those are nasty!!

Blasphemy. The raisin ones are the best..

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Except for the ones with raisins...those are nasty!!

Blasphemy. The raisin ones are the best..

You obviously lack taste.

---

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

Blasphemy. The raisin ones are the best..

You obviously lack taste.

We've been friends for years.. And you're just now finding this out?

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You obviously lack taste.

We've been friends for years.. And you're just now finding this out?

More like just pointing it out...

---

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

We've been friends for years.. And you're just now finding this out?

More like just pointing it out...

Well give me your raisins.. I'll eat em 

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Because cookies are [BLEEP] excellent!

Except for the ones with raisins...those are nasty!!

I don't like raisin cookies either 

Besides, I may move back to wine this year 

(You better not say you don't like wine)

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Except for the ones with raisins...those are nasty!!

I don't like raisin cookies either 

Besides, I may move back to wine this year 

(You better not say you don't like wine)

I like it better than raisins!

---

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

I don't like raisin cookies either 

Besides, I may move back to wine this year 

(You better not say you don't like wine)

I like it better than raisins!

Yeah we all know you're a tequila in Cabo kinda girl 

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I like it better than raisins!

Yeah we all know you're a tequila in Cabo kinda girl 

---

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

I've gotta side with the raisin peeps.

But if we're talking about being obese, those triple stuffed Oreos may be a culprit. They've come out with so many nasty flavors lately that turn out to be sooo good.

---

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

I know it's not easy to eat less when you're fat.   I've read some articles that say your fat cells will constantly tell you they are starving.   That's why eating less is very difficult once you become overweight.   Fat cells are extremely demanding.  

Most articles I read about how hard it is to lose weight are really about how hard it is to eat less.  

But if you can eat less, I can't understand why it would be hard to lose weight.  Isn't it pure math?  -calories in vs calories burned?  Fat is just stored calories, after all. 

I personally know quite a few fat people, but I've never known one that ate healthy and was still overweight.

But really, and this is a sincere question, for all the horizontally enhanced people out there.   What goes through your mind when someone offers you a piece of chocolate cake?  I know the mind is a very tricky thing.   Is it like drug addiction?   Do you think, I should not eat this, but then, do you find a way to rationalize it?

What goes through your mind is something akin to "damn that looks good, damn that was good, i wonder if they have another because Im still hungry." Then diminishing returns sets in and the 4th slice isnt nearly as good as the first one and I should have some of those Doritos instead but Im thirsty, where's my pepsi? Hey lets go get a pizza.

---

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

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

Oh, I know there are factors. Folks who have illnesses and whatnot are not going to always benefit from a healthy diet and exercise, but those things do help the body function better. I was speaking mainly of the typical American who eats way too much, eats junk, doesn't exercise, etc. I personally have never had an issue with weight but I'm in my 40's now and find that I can't eat like I used to. It's why I had to start eating fewer carbs and make sure those I eat are nutrient dense AKA, make them count.

My husband is one who seems to have the issue of not being able to lose weight no matter what. I suspect it has to do with a medication he has to take though, because not long after he began taking it his weight went up and nothing else changed diet or exercise-wise.

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I like raisin cookies too.

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