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Being fat is a trap

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Re: Being fat is a trap

#161

Post by oarfish »

knighthack wrote: post #96
timcobb wrote: 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…

[flagged]

Not really. genetics play a huge role in satiety signaling, and you can't just willpower your way out of it the way someone who simply lacka discipline can.

Re: Being fat is a trap

#162

Post by Trasmatta »

mytailorisrich wrote: post #49
bravesoul2 wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This plus abundance of bad food. It's easier to stay thin if your diet is what we evolved to eat. That norm would take most people incredible will power to stick to with all the high carb food. Harder than not drinking.

Make a shopping list, stick to that, ignore and don't buy from the "bad aisles". If you have nothing "bad" at home and in your fridge you can't eat badly, and personally I have found that it is much easier not to buy than not to eat what you already have.

The problem, again, though is if the food you were eating was fulfilling an emotional need that you don't try to address after you start to make changes like this. That's why it's hard to sustain for a lot of people. You buy better food for a few weeks, and then suddenly you find that you're eating takeout every day again.

Re: Being fat is a trap

#163

Post by timcobb »

vorpalhex wrote: post #160
timcobb wrote: post #137

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…

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…

> Just do it. No excuses.

This just sounds like you got brainwashed by Nike ("advertising signs that con / you into thinking..."). I'm not a person who makes excuses, and I'm not making excuses here. I'm not even obese.

I'm just observing phenomena. And the question I want to know is how is it that so many humans, who came this far evolutionarily, are all of a sudden so messed up? I mean, literally every single person alive today stands on the shoulders of giants. We are progeny of the winners, the tenacious, the survivors, the killers. What happened??

Re: Being fat is a trap

#164

Post by AstroBen »

I don't think you need to do the things the author says. Based on their definition I'm in both a physical and mental fat trap.. but I've maintained ~12% body fat and a healthy BMI my entire life. I also:

- can gain weight, and fat, easily. I've intentionally done it when weight training

- have gone through periods of years where I exercised very little. Certainly not daily exercise or even their prescribed 7500 steps. No weight gain

- can't really trust myself with food. Put a bunch of snacks in my house and they'll be gone very quickly

I think the things that are really making a difference is simple, and more strategic: I know how many calories the foods I eat have (was very into weight training in the past), I cook 90% of my own meals (usually 4-5 days worth at a time so I'm not tempted to order - I can just reheat) and I don't keep junk food in my house

That last point is huge. They sent me a free pizza with my grocery delivery the other week - I threw it out. I've thrown out countless bottles of coke/pepsi I'm sent for free. If I keep it around I'll eat it

Re: Being fat is a trap

#165

Post by EduardoBautista »

mrgoldenbrown wrote: post #89
EduardoBautista wrote: post #38

I am going to be blunt here. Why is everyone using time as an excuse? In fact, it should be easier to lose weight if you are truly busy, because the only thing that will make you lose weight is eating less. This whole idea about exercising to lose weight is unhelpful when the truth is that no amount of exercise is going to compensate for eating more calories than you have to. And yes, you will go to bed slightly hung…

Eating healthy takes more time than eating junk. The busier I am the less time I have for food shopping and the more likely I am to be away from home and need food, which means eating out.

No it doesn’t. Just eat half of what you order while eating out. Save the rest for later. Now you have two meals instead of one.

A huge part of eating healthy is eating less.

Re: Being fat is a trap

#166

Post by piva00 »

knighthack wrote: post #96
timcobb wrote: 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…

[flagged]

> For those who are obese, in 99% of cases, they are the problem, not genetics. A lack of discipline is attributable to the individual, rarely external factors alone.

If the environment doesn't nudge the individual to be more disciplined, whose fault is it? If it's the individual, how exactly do you think this can be solved? Any solution that starts with "if everyone just did X then Y would be solved" is a non-solution, people respond to nudges, and incentives.

There needs to be something systemic happening for so many individuals across many different cultures to be lacking the will power to change something that the majority of the sufferers are not happy with, just brushing this into the "personal responsibility" bucket is a cop out, it's a non-solution, and not even wrong.

It might make you feel better but it doesn't provide any path to a system-based solution.

Re: Being fat is a trap

#167

Post by flkiwi »

4gotunameagain wrote: post #52
flkiwi wrote: post #18

Ok, but there's also an environmental (and one completely reasonable mental) factor: I live in a place where it is unpleasantly hot (upper 90s and humid) most of the year and there are few public outdoor spaces generally thanks to rampant overdevelopment, I hate gyms and toxic gym culture, I have a quaint bungalow that doesn't have space for equipment, I work an intense job that keeps me focused for hours at a time,…

Is everyone around you obese ? I bet not. Sure it is more difficult for some people than others, but what would be the alternative ? Ban or regulate fast food ? I want to be able to have a guilty pleasure once in a while, I am careful with what I eat in general. Why should I be deprived of that ?

I've seen statistics that ~64% of my state's residents are obese or significantly overweight. That's a pretty stark number.

I honestly don't know how I feel about things like sugary drink bans. Objectively they're part of the problem, but I feel like emphasizing urban rather than suburban development would be a more effective tool. A bit hard to put the genie back in the bottle where I live (the next county over has 0% undeveloped land, and most of it is suburbs). I would rather destroy the market for things than ban the thing. Personal lifestyle changes play a role in that, as others in this thread have gleefully noted, but health education does too. Vice taxes are probably one solution, but only if the money is actually going to be used for effective programs, which is almost certainly not going to happen in the political environment where I live.

Re: Being fat is a trap

#168

Post by alecst »

timcobb wrote: 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…

I’m thin but I agree with you, I don’t have to think or try to be this way, I just am. I do probably have healthier habits than average. But still, it comes naturally to me. I would feel awful and exhausted if it took willpower all the time just to maintain my weight.

Re: Being fat is a trap

#169

Post by EduardoBautista »

chneu wrote: post #111
EduardoBautista wrote: post #38

I am going to be blunt here. Why is everyone using time as an excuse? In fact, it should be easier to lose weight if you are truly busy, because the only thing that will make you lose weight is eating less. This whole idea about exercising to lose weight is unhelpful when the truth is that no amount of exercise is going to compensate for eating more calories than you have to. And yes, you will go to bed slightly hung…

Somewhat on/off topic, but I'd also wager that a lot of folks who call themselves "busy" are really just bad at time management. They're not so much "busy" as they are wasting a ton of time and then using that lost time as an excuse to not have to do things. So they are busy but it's because of a lack of time management which then plays into their inability to make good dietary choices. Being "busy" is their excuse a…

This is true. I don't meal prep myself since I am fortunate enough to be able to afford a meal delivery service where I can then just microwave my meals, but meal prepping can be done for about an hour a week, two hours at most if you want to get fancy.

Re: Being fat is a trap

#170

Post by paulcole »

flkiwi wrote: post #71
paulcole wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Isn’t it just a more fun way to go through life to believe that you do have enough mental fortitude, discipline, self-honesty, commitment to change, and persistence to be healthy? I just don’t get the appeal of throwing my hands up and going, “Yep, somebody needs to care more about me than I care about me.”

I knew I'd run into this reaction. Here's the secret: an individual can be fully dedicated to a cause, but the weight of surrounding circumstances defeats them. See, e.g., food deserts. No, it is not more fun to go through live believing you have enough mental fortitude only to have context tap you on the shoulder the moment you take that first step. I don't, for the record, disagree with much OP's point, though I do…

> No, it is not more fun to go through live believing you have enough mental fortitude only to have context tap you on the shoulder the moment you take that first step.

It is also possible to have enough mental fortitude to read beyond the first item in a list that you yourself wrote about an hour ago.

Yes, you can’t mental fortitude yourself out of every situation. But you can be committed to change and figure things out.

Or you can just say “Nah, I’ll let somebody else fix things for me. I’m sure I’m high on their list of priorities.”

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