overweight people who complain they can't lose weight

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family background isn't a good indication of genetic factors that affect a person's weight since diet and other aspects of a person's lifestyle are highly affected by their upbringing. someone's family being obese is not a valid explanation since they could just be lazy and eat too much and then they teach their children the same habits. genetics aren't the only reason children of obese parents are much more likely to become obese (children of two obese parents have an 80% chance of becoming obese themselves)

My great-grandmother, who was born in the 1860s was obese, my grandfather, her son was obese, and my uncles and aunts were obese and all of them weighed over 300 lbs. It descended to my sister, too. Everyone in the family is not highly overweight, but as my mother has said of my sister, from infancy, she was always hungry. It's like the mechanism that should tell her she is full doesn't work.

Obesity, for some, is the result of having a genetic predisposition to not being able to control their eating. And unlike an alcoholic, who can stop drinking if there is no alcohol around, you can't stop eating and live. If you don't eat you will die. So those who are addicted to food have a much harder time of overcoming their addiction.

Z

Oh, sure: I'll agree with you there.
Anyone who has enough time and physical health to aerobically exercise three or more hours every day can be thin.

For the person who has children, a full time job, and classes to attend, though (thankfully, that's not me), it's not so easy. For the person who is physically limited due to illness or injury, again it is not reasonable to expect more than three hours of exercise a day. It's not always readily apparent from an external once-over what problems or family history a person has. I work in a hospital; I see these people all the time.
One of my co-workers probably weighs about 300 pounds - a huge victory for her, because she lost about 150lbs with bariatric surgery to get there. She is a good person, a hard worker, and is active in the community outside of work.

Like I said before, there are plenty of people out there who simply have bad habits that they can change easily - and some of them, sure, are whiners. But you shouldn't jump to conclusions about every fat person you meet, or even about most fat people you meet. Don't judge people if you don't know them.

http://www.worldometers.info/weight-loss/

Now, seeing as how it's a beautiful day, I'm going to go outside and get some exercise with my dog.

LKL, considering you are very angry at the moment I will try to sugarcoat everything I type as means of not pissing you off, although, I foresee it is unavoidable.

I am speaking for those of who I do know and know about. Again, thank you for the assumption. I really appreciate your attitude.

You say there is a feeling of superiority, yet I see none. How does this not make sense when the person who makes the post says it himself stating he doesn't look at it that way? Figure it out...

For an ectomorph losing fat is very easy, so no it is not very unhealthy at all. Especially if you stay hydrated while consuming proper vitamins, minerals, protein, carbs, and fat. I only went 150-200 below maintenance and on some days I would eat more, just in case. A doctor once told me I'm consuming too much protein, when I was consuming not enough. Must we argue doctors into this? They have opinions and facts that may not be accurate. See it as you may, but I am definitely healthy, and the thousands if not millions doing this properly are as well.

Excuses are excuses what do you want me to say? My wording may have not been right, but it holds no reason to take offense. Your claims are based on some basis whereas you believe I am making these claims simply out of the blue without any knowledgeable evidence of the person/s condition. I find the problem is people do not either know where to find valuable information, or they are not willing to look deep enough for it, study it, and then implement into their lifestyle. There are other reasons, sure, but does that justify it anymore? No it does not. Not if they are fine aside from being overweight.

my point was that with enough effort anyone can become thin. i didn't comment on the feasibility of it but some people obviously don't have the time or the resources to overcome their difficulties. i was just trying to say that i agree to some degree that lots of people who are overweight or obese are that way as a result of their lifestyle and could do some basic research to find out what to do about it but they don't, while acknowledging that there are also people who simply cannot realistically maintain what society considers thin.

*snort*



Let me quote your op:



Those are generalized statements about overweight people as a group - or, at least, "most overweight people" or "a lot of them." Those are generalized statements towards the generalized "you," meaning anyone reading the post. If you were talking about specific people whom you do personally know, you should have done so in the OP rather than generalizing. An 'assumption' is a leap to conclusions without basis, and that is not what I have done. 'Attitude' is, again, generally assumed (there's that word again) to be disproportionate to the disrespect received - and that is not what I have shown. I have simply taken your assumptions and your attitude and blown them back at you. Turn-about is fair play.



*snort*
Suit yourself.
Me, I'm going to go by the advice of the person with eight years of physiological study under his or her belt (plus internship) and peer-reviewed data.



Say what you want, but don't act so surprised when other people are offended by your uninformed insults.



Again, you speak from ignorance. Have you ever actually gone up to any of these people and asked them what they've gone through attempting to lose weight?
Maybe the group I see is self-selected to be the ones who are actively seeking solutions to their weight problems, but they look like any other fat people one sees at the supermarket or at the park. To assume that they're too stupid to know where to look and/or too weak-willed to know what to do is simply a way of patting yourself on the back for being smarter and stronger-willed than they are, when that is often not the case.



In other words, 'even if ignorance and stupidity aren't their problems, but rather physiological and time constraints that are not the individual's fault, it still doesn't justify the fact that they are fat and I have to look at them.'

People become suicidal over their inability to keep weight off. Do you honestly think that they're so stupid that they think sticking a knife in their chest is easier than googling 'diet and exercise'? That the less extreme ones think that major abdominal surgery is easier than googling same?

Did you know that most bariatric surgeons require their patients to lose 10-20% of their body weight as a sign of commitment before they'll cut? That patients are counseled for months beforehand, and have pints of blood drawn for various nutritional and health screens?

Part of why I had to take up working out with weights (somewhere between strength building and hypertrophy) as well as aerobics on all the days in between was to stay thin. I have a desk job, even the weight lifting doesn't build enough metabolic boost on its own to keep my weight down. Cutting out the pop is great, usually anytime we go out to lunch I'll drink iced tea or coffee (either with no sugar). I gained a fair amount of weight around Christmas and new years which in turn inspired me to get on the eliptical for about 40 minutes a day, I'm back down to just being able to pinch an inch on my front and sides, would love to even lose that by late spring or early summer and be down to 8 pack abs; at that level it'll be easy to see when I'm gaining weight and it'll be quick to remedy rather than having weeks and weeks to see the results.

I have a desk job, too, and I have lost over 37 pounds since November. I have been using Alli ( http://www.myalli.com/default.aspx?rota ... placement={placement} )and reducing my over all intake of food. It works pretty well. I eat healthy, I have found the best buys is on Saturday morning when the ground white turkey is on quick sale (for freezing) and bring it home with cans of hominy and black and kidney beans. I found some really great whole wheat tortillas at 50 calories a piece and steam up some fresh spinach or slice up some avocado and top it all with alfalfa sprouts. It works for me.

anyway, I am losing two to 4 lbs a week, slow and steady wins the race.

Merle

people don't always like to hear what improvements others make. there can be a greater sense of kinship when a person can relate to the failure of others rather than perciving being less successful than others. i think for some, this concept could become a normal part of their social strategy.

Some simply lack motivation or they think they know what they're doing when they really don't.

I loaded on the pounds because, let's face it, the guys don't hit on you if you are big and sloppy. It was the best defense I had when I was younger, as I was so gullible and naive. It wasn't that I 'couldn't' lose weight, it was that although I was miserable with the excessive weight, it was easier to deal with than being attractive to men.

Merle

I agree with beef

In life, the things worth achieving, are never easy, but if you want it bad enough, you don't stop at nothing to achieve it.
Same with loosing weight, it isn't easy, but if you want to lose it bad enough your going to. So if you have the health and ability, all you need is enough motivation to do what it takes to get there.
Unfortunately some people just don't care what there weight is and others just lack the motivation, still others try, but just cant seem to get there, and give up early. The people with enough motivation and dont give up because of that achive there goals. This applies to most things in life.

I used to be obese, but I was able to lose the weight. My obesity wasn't natural though, that is, it was caused by medication, and not by having bad habits. The meds made it difficult for the chemical of satiation to reach my brain, so I would eat the equivalent of 2-3 meals until I felt it. Also it slowed down my metabolism at the same time, which also added to the factor of weight increase. At the time, I had no idea that this medication would do this, my doctor did not inform me of this particular side effect. After I complained and asked him to take me off this medication as it was having this adverse effect on me, he complied but placed me on another medication that increased my weight yet still more. I complained again and he assented to take me off, but by then my weight was now 190, on a 5'0" height.

This was probably in the '90s, so I don't think they gave much thought at the time to how bad this could be. Weight gain is still weight gain, even if its caused by meds.

Before this weight gain, I was a normal weight, appropriate for my height.

Losing this weight took a very long time. It involved learning about my body's signals and responding to them appropriately. I had to learn to eat more healthily, and to exercise. Even now it is still a battle, but not as bad. I still have to be careful, as I can still put weight back on.

But losing weight, and keeping it off, is not easy. There are tempting foods everywhere, and many people opt to use a car instead of riding a bike or walking to save time. Also I have heard that kids tend to make parents gain weight, but for this I don't know why. I am not saying that its impossible, but that it can be very hard. Often it requires major reshaping of habits and implementation of new ones, or a big lifestyle change.

two reasons: first, having kids dramatically saps available time and energy for exercise. For example, my brother currently is in excellent shapes and competes in triathalons a couple of times a year for fun with his best friend. He spends hours every week running, biking, and swimming. However, I'll be really surprised if he can keep that schedule up once he and his wife have kids: is he really going to want to jump into the bay for a long swim after being up all night with a screaming kid? When they get older, is he going to have time to run for two hours every day on top of ballet, soccer, and pta meetings?

second, there are hormonal changes (at least in women) that go along with pregnancy and childbirth that cause weight gain, and most parents do not have the time and money to spend on a personal trainer after their kid is born (not to mention the money for a nanny while they're at the gym) like hollywood stars do.

I have a disorder that makes it extremely difficult for me to lose weight, and in addition, my family is obese so my brother claims we are genetically predisposed to be overweight.

It sucks. I work out, I eat well, and still nothing.

Even if you don't lose weight, you can have the satisfaction of knowing that working out and eating well is keeping you healthier.