Being fat is a trap

Yeah, I can see that. I recently dropped good chunk of fat. For context, I'm a 5'11 (~180 cm) male (early 50s, ugh). I'd been going to my doctor yearly and my weight had been around 195 lbs (88.45 kg) for 5 years. I didn't like it anymore, as that is considered overweight. My doc didn't mind as she said since it was consistent she wasn't worried about it. Sometimes I'd catch my reflection in my car window as I walked up to it, or my shadow and thought "Hmm, I don't like that shape... at all." I didn't like the way my belt and pants felt when I sat. So, back in December I simply cut calories. I started counting my calories and knocked them down to about 1,200 a day. I also walk at a decent pace for 30 minutes at least once a day, but it's usually an hour or more (perhaps 2 30+ minute walks a day). Since then I am now down to about 170 lbs (77.1k g). I am now in the "normal" range, but just barely. I'd like to lose another 10 lbs (4.5 kg), but that is getting more difficult, as I need to pick up the exercise pace and well... I hate exercising. Sweating profusely is not my bag. It makes me angry, and full of rage. Yeah, I know that's odd, but it makes me feel mentally horrible.

I can say that my feet, knees and legs sure appreciate the change. I definitely don't feel that weight on me like I did before. I do like the occasional "Hey, you're looking good" or "You lost weight, didn't you?" That doesn't offend me. My facial structure looks better, as I have a better chin line now. My clothes are a pain, as I have to keep a tight belt as all my pants are too big now. My stomach is much flatter and doesn't poke out. Hah. I don't have a 6 pack but I sure don't have a mini-keg starting.

Anyway, after all my rambling, my point is that I wasn't addicted to food. I just sit in front of a computer too much, and was consuming too many calories. I do miss fun food. I haven't had things like ice cream since I started this thing. I'm not a fan of always being hungry. I deal with it, but I sure feel like I can eat all the time. The key is to just not think of it. Avoid being around it. I don't go out to eat with people, as that stuff is always a killer when it comes to calories. Usually, I meet up for a drink but when they all decide to go hit a table for dinner, I'll say my goodbyes and move along to something and eat later at home as I know what I'm ingesting.

For most of us that have too much fat on us, it's simply about calorie control. It's not food addition, or a mental problem. It's simply awareness. Though, in the US, we obviously have a huge mental disorder epidemic, but I believe that is just the disorder of "rampant cognitive dissonance." It covers so much of our issues here. "This soda is fine, I only have 4 a day." "Sure it's deep fried, but it's fish and that's healthy!" "He's a billionaire; he doesn't want your money! You can trust him to fix the government..." Cough Cough

I remember two churches I attended.

In the first one, the communion was actual wine. The priest was adamant about it being real wine. But, we had a guy who was a recovering alcoholic in the congregation. Now, if you know anyone that is recovering from alcohol abuse, then you know that even one sip of booze is enough to send you on a bender. But, our priest was adamant that we all take communion in full bodied wine.

The other church I was at had communion too. But this church has the communion wine as sugar free grape juice, and all the bread served was gluten free. Covered the diabetics and the alcoholics with the 'wine' and covered the ceiliacs with the bread. No one in the congregation ever complained about the tastes; we all grew to rather like it that way, thankyouverymuch.

Which, I dare ask, was the more christ-like way of taking holy communion?

The answer, I believe, is that we are unique among all other creatures in that we are not equipped to be able to master our own actions. We all do things we would say we ought not to have done. The whole concept of fairness is built around the fact that people don’t always do what they should.

And just because everybody isn’t fat doesn’t mean they don’t struggle with porn, or substance abuse, or some other hangup they can’t seem to shake. In fact it’s the people who deny having any issues that are sometimes the least self-aware, having the most glaringly obvious issues to everyone else around them.

> it might astonish you to find out that most fat people are painfully and constantly aware that they are fat

I really don’t believe this is true. It may have been at some time in the 1900s when being skinny was the norm, but most people will look around these days and see that other people are fat just like them, and it just becomes accepted as the norm. The “fat” person is always someone fatter than them. And even if they know they are fat, most simply refuse to see it as a problem.

Most have been fat so long I do not think they are even aware how much better life could be if they were a proper weight, anymore than a skinny person thinks how much harder life would be if they were carrying an extra 45 pounds everywhere they went. I hear the little pains they feel everyday from being fat often getting attributed to age when really it’s just from being fat and inactive. If you take care of yourself you should feel just as good at 40 as you did in your 20s, and maybe even better.

But here’s the grim truth: it’s pretty much impossible for 99% of people to ever lose weight long term. Once you’ve reached a certain level of weight, you’re pretty much not going to be much lower than that for the rest of your life, no matter how hard you try. Nearly 99% of people who lose significant weight gain it back it after year. Imagine, when was the last time you were top 1% of anything? That’s the level of effort you have to go through to be one of the success stories, and I don’t think people realize this.

Your ONLY hope is stuff like Ozempic and other GLP-1s.

This seems far too harsh. Some people just poop out excess calories. Other people store excess calories as an energy reserve much more efficiently. Not everyone who is obese does that, but it's definitely a factor for many people.

For what it's worth, completely putting the environment at fault also doesn't seem right to me. But genetics absolutely plays a part, as does what is considered a "standard" meal/portion.