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The Weight I Carry

theatlantic.com

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Re: The Weight I Carry

#51

Post by adrianN »

cflewis wrote: post #18
neaden wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I agree exercise isn't very effective to treat obesity, it is still healthy for you to exercise, even if it's not going to help you lose weight. There are a lot of people who are overweight who have healthier hearts and lungs then normal weight people due to exercise.

I can not give you more +1s. If your goal is to be healthy, and not necessarily be pretty, exercise is integral. You can be skinny and be unhealthy. You can be overweight and be heart-healthy, if you exercise. I am obese according to the BMI, but I run 3 times a week and my resting heart rate grazes into the "athlete" territory. My doctor is very happy. But I don't look it, that's for sure. I do not like running. I s…

Are you concerned about your joints? Running is pretty hard on the knees even for skinny people.

Re: The Weight I Carry

#52

Post by kazinator »

Carlton87 wrote: post #40
amriksohata wrote: post #3

Watch the Fed up documentary, explains it so well that no matter how much we try, exercising and eating less wont work. Our environment is saturated with products now which almost all have added sugar, only way is to look at ingredients and change your environment, dont bring these things home and instead bring better stuff home thats not got added sugar.

Exercising and eating less is the only thing that works for losing weight. For the most part an individual is personally responsible for calories in and calories out. Being morbidly obese is a choice and it will kill you.

I would say that this is true in cases when neglecting to exercise and eat appropriately is the cause of excess weight in a normally functioning body.

In severe cases of obesity, something else may be going on. In a nutshell, the bodies of some of these sufferers could be on some sort of fat storage rampage. The fat cells extract an "energy tax" and store it; the body then has to do with what is left.

If there is a broken, runaway fat storage mechanism at play, such that a percentage of your intake is stored as fat, and not easily released again, it will be difficult to overcome the accumulation of fat with diet and exercise.

But, yeah, diet and exercise work for many people. And in many cases when they are reported as not working, they weren't given the proper effort.

Excercise that works is probably 2-3X more voluminous and intense than exercise people think ought to work, damn it! And sane eating plans have to be adhered to forever, not just for a couple of weeks.

If you stick with exercise and become a long-term dedicated athlete, it will change how the body works. You have to change your self-image into one that includes you as an athlete. A durable, self-image that persists even if you take a break from sport which gives you confidence to get back into the game.

Re: The Weight I Carry

#53

Post by _jal »

bko wrote: post #31
jemfinch wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't know why I haven't seen more studies where extremely obese individuals just stop eating. Primarily because it's not considered medically safe, and a study along those lines would be too dangerous to the patients to be permitted. In this particular case, the 27yo male patient informed the doctors of his plan and said, "This is what I'm doing, you can monitor me or not." They didn't propose the study themselv…

It may be dangerous. But I imagine being 400+ pounds is even more dangerous, especially at an advanced age. Experimental treatments that may be more risky should be encouraged. Otherwise being that size is a death sentence.

One can imagine what one likes, of course. I personally prefer to base medical decisions on, well, medical advice than on mental meanderings. And the medical advice leans the other direction[1].

> Otherwise being that size is a death sentence.

Being any size is a death sentence. Balancing tradeoffs more or less well determines the appeals process length.

[1] People quibble with for all sorts of reasons, some of them even somewhat reasonable. But

> Experimental treatments that may be more risky should be encouraged.

Eh? Do whatever you like with your body, and more power to you. But this is the same flavor of ignorant social pressure game the anti-vaxxers get up to, and is deeply irresponsible.

Re: The Weight I Carry

#54

Post by SketchySeaBeast »

Carlton87 wrote: post #40
amriksohata wrote: post #3

Watch the Fed up documentary, explains it so well that no matter how much we try, exercising and eating less wont work. Our environment is saturated with products now which almost all have added sugar, only way is to look at ingredients and change your environment, dont bring these things home and instead bring better stuff home thats not got added sugar.

Exercising and eating less is the only thing that works for losing weight. For the most part an individual is personally responsible for calories in and calories out. Being morbidly obese is a choice and it will kill you.

I absolutely agree that it's simple math (I did that math myself to lose 60 lbs), but we're people, and the only time math is the hardest part of being human is 3rd grade. Just like any self destructive behaviour we take part in, just because it's a choice doesn't mean that it's an easy one.

Re: The Weight I Carry

#55

Post by tengbretson »

I really hope that we start putting some social pressure on parents of very young obese children. It's obvious to me that getting your child obese and getting them set in the habits that will keep them that way is miles worse than things we have already weeded out with social pressure, like smoking in the car with children in it.

Re: The Weight I Carry

#56

Post by johnkpaul »

zachruss92 wrote: post #21

I feel for the author. I have also struggled with my weight my entire life. At my heaviest, I was 265lbs. I definitely struggled, and continue to struggle with body issues. I was definitely addicted to food and was an emotional eater. I literally had a term called "stress cheeseburgers" as when I was stressed that's what I'd do. I finally decided to make a significant change last year. It started with me doing meal p…

I have been keto for a little over 2 years in case that is anecdata for length of sustainability.

Re: The Weight I Carry

#57

Post by Jtsummers »

addicted wrote: post #39
Jtsummers wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious what the problem with the "Let's Move" effort was. I was only aware of it (I wasn't part of it, and never set out to read about it, just caught reports on news or random articles), but it seemed to emphasize two things: eating healthy (which got a lot of flak from conservative commentators for some reason) and exercise (the "move" in the name). If it only focused on the latter, I'd agree with you. But nea…

I am not sure if the person heard a caricature of the program, but it focused on exercise, healthy diets, reduction of empty calories like soda, and public policy efforts such as introducing healthy meals to school. As an example, here is a PDF with 5 ideas for kids: https://letsmove.obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/letsmove... 1) Exercise 2) Try new fruits and veggies 3) Deink plenty of water 4) Break up TV time w…

One of the things I hadn't thought of until now was that I heard of the program as an adult. So everything in it "made sense" to me, but I didn't have any stake in it and, well, I was an adult.

Children don't have the same "big picture" view. They're not going to perceive it the same way. And facilitators have to take that into consideration. All those benefits of exercising are correct. But if the facilitator emphasizes the weight part, then that's what the kids will hold onto as well. If the facilitator doesn't emphasize the diet part (or only emphasizes eating healthy with fruits, vegetables and things, but not portion control), then kids will get only part of the message.

Re: The Weight I Carry

#58

Post by johnkpaul »

guitarbill wrote: post #46
zachruss92 wrote: post #21

I feel for the author. I have also struggled with my weight my entire life. At my heaviest, I was 265lbs. I definitely struggled, and continue to struggle with body issues. I was definitely addicted to food and was an emotional eater. I literally had a term called "stress cheeseburgers" as when I was stressed that's what I'd do. I finally decided to make a significant change last year. It started with me doing meal p…

For me, with keto, I have much less of a hunger feeling, making things more manageable (As I've said in another thread). Agree with the mental clarity also. How did you stick with it though? I can do the diet, but find it hard to do with social stuff. For me, doing keto was quite a lonely thing.

What social stuff? I have vodka sodas if I need to drink. Almost every restaurant will give plain foods with butter on the side (usually for free).

Re: The Weight I Carry

#59

Post by misiti3780 »

guitarbill wrote: post #46
zachruss92 wrote: post #21

I feel for the author. I have also struggled with my weight my entire life. At my heaviest, I was 265lbs. I definitely struggled, and continue to struggle with body issues. I was definitely addicted to food and was an emotional eater. I literally had a term called "stress cheeseburgers" as when I was stressed that's what I'd do. I finally decided to make a significant change last year. It started with me doing meal p…

For me, with keto, I have much less of a hunger feeling, making things more manageable (As I've said in another thread). Agree with the mental clarity also. How did you stick with it though? I can do the diet, but find it hard to do with social stuff. For me, doing keto was quite a lonely thing.

how long did it take you to go into ketosis - im on day 10 and still havnt not gone in (im not really overweight)

Re: The Weight I Carry

#60

Post by johnkpaul »

guitarbill wrote: post #35
johnkpaul wrote: post #2

I've been 400 pounds most of my life. I empathize with every single sentence in this article and cannot imagine making myself write something like this. The vulnerability is incredible. I'm really glad that exercise is being called out as useless to treat obesity more and more. I hope that trend continues and things like Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" campaigns never happen again. Carbohydrate addiction is no joke, ev…

> Carbohydrate addiction is no joke Completely believe it, although I think it depends on an individual's metabolism, which is why it's so tricky. I stop having an insatiatable hunger after dropping carbs; my hunger feeling is more muted and in turn more managable. I have often wondered if "normal" people simply always feel that way, and so portion control is easier for them. I'd do keto more, but it isn't great for…

Yes I have the same thought with respect to "normal" people. I've had what feels like years worth of sadness around people not being able to understand what the feeling of insatiable hunger after eating a pizza is like. :)
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