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Being fat is a trap

federicopereiro.com

151–160 of 373 posts

Re: Being fat is a trap

#151

I have extremely lucky genes and have managed to stay just within the green BMI range despite eating all the carbs and fats you can imagine and at times consuming 200-300g of milk chocolate a day. Some of my friends are obese despite exercising heavily every day. Finding ways you enjoy to keep an active lifestyle is a great idea, probably the highest impact thing you can do for your long term well being (for people i…

> I have extremely lucky genes and have managed to stay just within the green BMI range despite eating all the carbs and fats you can imagine and at times consuming 200-300g of milk chocolate a day. You’d be surprised just how little you eat. I’m also like that, thinking that I eat shitton and don’t get fat at all while my friends can’t lose 5 kilo. When I’ve started counting, even with all the junk food, I’ve been b…

Yeah this is correct. I eat whatever I want, snack a lot, etc. Never been fat because I just don't eat that much in aggregate.

Re: Being fat is a trap

#152
post #105
post #44

> but you have the choice to step out of the fat trap. People should also talk about the volition trap. I'm 40 and it feels like I've had more than a life's worth of people talking about how "you can do it if you just try!" > ... advertising signs that con / you into thinking you can do what's never been done / meantime life goes on all around you The sheer scope of the obesity pandemic should make it clear that we a…

> The sheer scope of the obesity pandemic should make it clear that we are not the problem The "obesity pandemic" is a very distinct trait of USA. The rest of the world does not have this problem at this magnitude.

Most of the rest of the world is where the US was 20-30 years ago when the US certainly had an “obesity pandemic”.

There are 127 countries with an obesity rate higher than 20% (roughly what the US was at 30 years ago).

In nearly every country in the world, your ancestors from 30 years ago would call you fat.

The US is just ahead of the curve for some reason.

Re: Being fat is a trap

#153
post #44

> but you have the choice to step out of the fat trap. People should also talk about the volition trap. I'm 40 and it feels like I've had more than a life's worth of people talking about how "you can do it if you just try!" > ... advertising signs that con / you into thinking you can do what's never been done / meantime life goes on all around you The sheer scope of the obesity pandemic should make it clear that we a…

A lot of people mentioning willpower but not as much attention is given to the fact that everything in our millions of years evolutionary design is biased toward heavy reward for caloric foods, and within the past 100 years we are suddenly in an environment where those cravings can be fulfilled in abundance.

Re: Being fat is a trap

#154
> There is a range of body fat percentage that is healthy. If you are outside (probably above) this percentage, you are damaging your health. The science is unequivocal on this.

Yes and no. I think it is more individual. Robert Lustig has an interesting assertion that about around 20% of slightly overweight people are metabolically healthy and they simply have a higher "normal for them" body fat percentage.

Re: Being fat is a trap

#155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> You lack accountability. Accountability for what? To who? And for what purpose? > in 99% of cases, they are the problem, not genetics Where'd you get that number? What are you basing it on? > Your claim that "trying harder" is "akin to insanity" is such an overreaction that it's misleading exaggeration, not worthy of further not worthy of further dissection. What does this even mean? How is my claim an overreaction…

Accountability for putting food in your mouth. And then claiming it's not your fault. It 100% is.

Of course it's your "fault", obviously. But why do you think so many people are so messed up then?

Re: Being fat is a trap

#156
post #127

Gained 45 pounds in a year due to light-depression from the economy. Just got on Ozempic/Semaglutide last week so hopefully should be back to my goal weight in 3-6 months.

Don't forget to add some form of exercise so you minimize muscle mass loss, to increase your chances of keeping the fat off.

Re: Being fat is a trap

#157
post #91
post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's quite a leap. Some people enjoy gyms. Some people run at 3am. Some people have bigger houses. And yet, our area has much higher obesity rates than average. It also doesn't address the larger point that _it doesn't have to be this hard_.

Rome wasn’t built in a day and all that. Maybe set 1 goal a week, or a month even, and then add to them. For example, only drink water. It’s all the body needs for hydration anyways. No soda, diet soda, alcohol, slurpees, etc. Black coffee if you enjoy a cuppa in the morning, no sugar. (Good black coffee is such a joy) Then set a rule about only eating 3 meals a day, however you define meal. No snacks in between. Los…

All good advice, and I follow much of it. I should note that due to addiction issues in my family, I tend not to be an absolutist about these things, nor to stigmatize things (I don't have a 'cheat day' or 'sneak' a treat, for example; sometimes I just want a snack, and that's ok). But there's actually an interesting challenge I've dealt with at points in my career: you say _only_ eating 3 meals per day, but I have seen people struggle mightily with obesity because they were only eating 2 or 1 meal per day regularly, which threw their entire metabolism out of whack. "Don't do that" was simply not a viable response for them because at times they simply couldn't afford more food. (To be clear, that's not my experience, so I can't speak to it directly, but it's an interesting challenge to "eat 3 square and you'll be good".)

Coming from a family of alcoholics, I'm also very familiar with the moral judgment issue with addiction. It _must_ be a lack of control that makes that man drink, etc. There's been quite a lot of success destigmatizing alcohol addiction in the last half century, so it's even more stark to see exactly the same thing play out with so many conversations about food and weight. It _must_ be that fat man's lack of control that makes him fat. Often it is. But there are so, so many other factors. I actually think that's part of OP's larger point.

Re: Being fat is a trap

#158

I think is just simply to diet and culture take this quick video as example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rg3Y3tCmBWo the different portion size is ridiculous and now you compare it to serving size from asian country, you would find it very hard to get fat at this places and I mean it, even if you get fat its nowhere near american fat

Except portion size in a lot of Asian countries is LARGER. It is WHAT they're portions of, and how satiating it is that matters. For example a popular Asian Fast-Food dish might be a huge bowl of udon noodles, with assorted veggies (e.g. bok choy, carrots, mushrooms), a little meat/tofu, in a salty broth. 500~ calories total. Then add on a Green Tea/Thai/Jasmine/Oolong Tea at an additional 100~ calories or less. A Mc…

Yeah but American size is not only pack a heavy calories but also packs a lot of "food"

its insane you can order 1 litre coke for your drink

Re: Being fat is a trap

#159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Accountability for putting food in your mouth. And then claiming it's not your fault. It 100% is.

Of course it's your "fault", obviously. But why do you think so many people are so messed up then?

Like let's say all of a sudden wolves started getting super obese. What happened to wolves that they evolved for millions of years just fine, and then whoop all of a sudden they were all diabetic and obese?

Re: Being fat is a trap

#160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

> You lack accountability. Accountability for what? To who? And for what purpose? > in 99% of cases, they are the problem, not genetics Where'd you get that number? What are you basing it on? > Your claim that "trying harder" is "akin to insanity" is such an overreaction that it's misleading exaggeration, not worthy of further not worthy of further dissection. What does this even mean? How is my claim an overreaction…

You lack accountability to yourself. Read this comment you wrote:

> People should also talk about the volition trap. I'm 40 and it feels like I've had more than a life's worth of people talking about how "you can do it if you just try!"

"People should" instead of "I'm going to". "It feels like" instead of making a direct statement.

Nobody here knows your situation or why you formed the way you did. But also, it doesn't actually matter. We always want some deep explanation but understanding is often just a way of dealing with impotence.

Just do it. No excuses.

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