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“Healthy obesity” doesn’t exist. It is unequivocally bad for you

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Re: “Healthy obesity” doesn’t exist. It is unequivocally bad for you

#231
post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One extra rich tea biscuit a day (100kcal) is 10lbs in a year. You don't know what you are talking about.

That’s assuming perfect conversion of energy to body fat. That’s never the case due to losses, and everybody is _vastly_ different: > In response to 84 days of 1000 kcal/day of overfeeding, 12 pairs of monozygotic twins gained on average 8.1 kg, but the range was from 4.3 to 13.3 kg. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2897177/

Your arithmetic does not support the use of the word vastly. It only diverges by mine on the line above by 25%.

Re: “Healthy obesity” doesn’t exist. It is unequivocally bad for you

#232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Our bodies are not adjusted to eating food with high calory density. Junk food messes up the system the way you feel hungry despite eating enough calories, and that leads to eating too much and becoming obese. You're right that eating the right number of calories in junk food won't make you obese, but it is extremely hard to eat the right number of calories when eating mostly junk food. Eat healthy food, and eat only…

I’m not sure that is true, it seems like the preference was always for small highly calorically dense meals. The 3-4 meals + the constant availability of food is definitely new.

Yeah, humans are evolved to go long periods without food and then to have massive feasts and gorge on food when a prey is caught, say.

The human brain's ability to use ketones(byproducts of fat metabolism) for energy is actually unique to humans, suggesting a selective pressure towards surviving starvation in our evolutionary past.

Re: “Healthy obesity” doesn’t exist. It is unequivocally bad for you

#233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s because American society doesn’t let being unhealthy be an affirmative choice. You either need to demonstrate some kind of shame for your unhealthiness or some kind rationale that explains how its actually healthy. The honest facts that “I like to eat tasty good” and “I don’t really enjoy too much physical activity” are only permissible if you also say “and I can’t help myself” or “and it’s actually not unhealth…

Sure it does. I don't know what part of America you live in, but one of my obese coworkers jokes he eats all the processed food "so the preservatives will keep him alive". Confident self-awareness goes a long way, although self-destructive behavior in general isn't respected, nor should it be IMO.

Hey, I used to make that joke all the time (even when I was normal weight)!

Re: “Healthy obesity” doesn’t exist. It is unequivocally bad for you

#234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I get to eat what I want and sit around all day? Hell yeah! I am naturally thin. That statement ("i get to eat what i want and sit around all day") is true of my body. Is it such a strange idea that there are as many people who are naturally thin as there are that are naturally fat? Those people aren't making a choice to be fat any more than i am making a choice to be thin. Why should they feel bad about their body…

You might be genetically blessed, others might be genetically cursed. Some are genetically predisposed to becoming fat. Its still a fact that they are fat. And being fat comes with associated health risks.

The genetic cause doesn't explain why ratio of obesity went from 10% to 60% in one generation. Fat people didn't have that much more kids.

Re: “Healthy obesity” doesn’t exist. It is unequivocally bad for you

#235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is bizarre that you would read an article which says, “using body-mass index (BMI) to measure obesity is likely the most problematic factor,” and then immediately prescribe a fixed BMI for everyone without qualification.

Indeed, especially the 22 BMI target. For me (5'10") that would mean 155lbs, I'd have to shed (going by my scale which estimates body fat percentage) around 28 lbs of fat (I'm at 15% fat right now, so 28 lbs would get me to 0% which is unhealthy) and 7lbs of other weight to hit that target. Could I lose some weight? Sure. But I won't. Back on the exercise habit after a few months off and I'm getting slimmer but my we…

I'm 185 cm (6'1") and 73 kg (161 lbs), for a BMI of 21.3. I still have more than 0% fat, but I'm certainly slim. I don't have to fight at all to keep my weight as it is, and I'm healthy.

You say 30 BMI, but in my experience unless you are lifting a lot of weights 25 is the upper limit. Ten years ago I hit 25 BMI, and despite feeling "normal" there were already the first signs of being fat: thights always red, sweaty all day and way less resistance than today.

I lost 15 kg (33 lbs) not by doing crazy exercise, but by cutting 100% of shitty food and eating beyond necesity.

Re: “Healthy obesity” doesn’t exist. It is unequivocally bad for you

#236

What interests me is how anybody could ever come to believe otherwise. The contrary belief flies in the face of all common sense, popular experience and medical science. It seems to come entirely from propaganda on social media telling fat people what they want to believe.

There are other inversion vectors in our society people seem to believe. They are numerous but for just one example, calling black people “white supremacists” is but one example.

These constructs are usually the opposite of what they claim, like “healthy” in this example.

Re: “Healthy obesity” doesn’t exist. It is unequivocally bad for you

#237

I wonder what's going to happen long term to the recent trend of celebrating obesity in advertising. E.g. go to any Target and you will see overweight or obese models wearing the clothes they sell. On one hand you have to represent your current population, and with the majority of Americans overweight or obese, that's who your customers are. On the other, can this be seen as normalizing a disease?

Fat people exist, and they need clothes to wear.

I think the parent is asking: Why do we seem to be celebrating obese people?

Re: “Healthy obesity” doesn’t exist. It is unequivocally bad for you

#238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The challenge is what is the closest hack to get around it, as most people, admittedly myself included, are not willing to exercise? Semaglutide seems to be the best bet right now.

My #1 hack is not having low-quality, high-sugar snacks in my house. Instead of sugared soda I have flavored soda water (Fresca, specifically) and sugar-free cola. When I do indulge in snacks I don't buy bulk, I buy the small packages, even though they're more expensive per ounce. In fact, that they're more expensive is a plus. If I have to go way out of the way to binge on junk I'm probably not going to do it.

That's a good hack but what's wrong with drinking plain water?

Re: “Healthy obesity” doesn’t exist. It is unequivocally bad for you

#239
As someone in the "kinda fat kinda fit" category, I'm a bit disappointed by the amount of people so quick to brush off the semi-bullshitness of BMI.

I believe it's a good measure for statistics over population, since it's easy to measure and tend to work for a large number of people.

On the individual level tough, you really don't need to be a world-class athlete for BMI to become less relevant for you, contrary to what some commenters seems to imply.

For the last 10 years I've been to the gym around 2/3 times a week, walked a lot more, cut down the junk food, and yet I'm 10/15 kilos heavier than at my 'fattest'. I'm far from being a powerlifter or a professional rugbyman, yet when I see people around me, I'm usually the beefiest guy in the room.

I do believe that some people went overboard with "body positivity". In the same time, as a french guy living in Paris where the expected look varies from 'slim' to 'extra-slim', I'm glad to see more things for people with an even moderately wide frame.

Re: “Healthy obesity” doesn’t exist. It is unequivocally bad for you

#240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Healthy food can be fattening and unhealthy food can be not fattening. It has very little to do with the type of food and everything to do with the density of calories in the food, and the amount of that food eaten. No one ever got fat eating only vegetables. But you can't eat only vegetables and get all the necessary nutrients(at least not easily).

Our bodies are not adjusted to eating food with high calory density. Junk food messes up the system the way you feel hungry despite eating enough calories, and that leads to eating too much and becoming obese. You're right that eating the right number of calories in junk food won't make you obese, but it is extremely hard to eat the right number of calories when eating mostly junk food. Eat healthy food, and eat only…

My reply was already really long so I made another one.

It's important to point out that for a lot obese people, hunger hormones are going to be out of whack. So while following hunger might certainly be good for avoiding obesity, it's not necessarily as helpful in losing weight.

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