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Being fat is a trap

federicopereiro.com

261–270 of 373 posts

Re: Being fat is a trap

#261
post #34

Some people are going to ding him for including exercise, and it's true that the physical calorie expenditure of exercise won't achieve much for weight loss unless you make cycling a major hobby. However, I think exercise goes a long way towards loosening the mental trap. It helps you build an identity as a healthy person, it relieves the guilt about not taking care of yourself, and it takes the edge off of emotions…

Exercise is also a very strong predictor of long-term success in keeping weight off. Plus it's important for overall health anyway. Protects lean body mass, so that when you're shedding the pounds, you lose less muscle and more fat. That's one effect people are less aware of. One reason your metabolism drops as you lose weight is you can also lose lean body mass. Muscle and organs.

It also helps with stress which is a major contributor to overeating.

Re: Being fat is a trap

#262
post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

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.

No, that's not how it works. Everyone will store excess calories as fat. People don't just poop out excess calories unless they have a serious medical condition that inhibits functioning of the digestive system. Outside of rare genetic conditions that cause adipose tissue hypertrophy, genetics only play a minor role like a few percent plus or minus.

Re: Being fat is a trap

#263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd rather not fry my kidneys. Have muscle problem, just take steroids?

> Have muscle problem, just take steroids? Unironically, yes. This, or grind for decades, or both.

With absolutey no side effects, right? Just take steroids right?

Re: Being fat is a trap

#264

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…

I think people forget that mild hunger is a normal part of existence.

Re: Being fat is a trap

#265
post #239
post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a single almost 40yo overweight man I've gotta disagree. McDonald's doesn't taste better, it tastes worse, but what working adult has the time next to their day job to eat healthy? You have to be either 1. Rich enough to be able to spend a premium at restaurants for most of the week 2. Be rich enough to have a partner that doesn't have to work a 40-50h work week 3. Be rich enough to have a personal cook 4. Not wor…

People who say that they cannot cook on a 40h work week are just inefficient at cooking. It sucks to take a long time to prepare meals, but you will get faster. When you first start cooking for yourself you'll easily double the times online recipes say. As you get better at prep and more of an understanding you'll eventually reach their times. Dishes afterwards are included in this: most recipes have downtime that yo…

Buy a bag of rice, a bag of frozen veggies (corn, carrots, peas, already cut up), some chicken thighs, throw it in a rice cooker, that's a meal right there, almost no effort.

Roger Ebert wrote a whole cookbook about using the rice cooker, guy loved the thing, makes for a very easy meal.

Re: Being fat is a trap

#266
Regarding the mental element, many people report that GLP-1 drugs help calm the "food buzz" running thoughts constantly obsessing about food all day. It can help you step out of the cycle and most likely would make therapy, meditation and books more effective.

Re: Being fat is a trap

#267
post #260

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ... "within the past 100 years we are suddenly in an environment where those cravings can be fulfilled in abundance." And an environment where a massive completely out of control advertising industry that's injected into pretty much everything these days abuses every psychological trick in the book to capitalize on those evolutionary cravings.

This. If the ad industry put half as much effort into promoting healthy eating, we wouldn't train everyone to eat poorly and/or excessively at a young age. FFS, look at how long it took to get calorie counts on menu signage! And that's the lowest hanging fruit. 1. Fix fast food + the ad industry by financially penalizing pushing unhealthy food. 2. Rework the food supply chain to support healthier eating. (Less ultra-…

It's difficult to drive systematic changes in the food supply chain because there are so many different entities involved, each trying to maximize profit. But we are finally seeing limited positive steps with some states banning junk food purchases with food stamps (SNAP) and the FDA banning some synthetic food dyes.

https://www.newsweek.com/map-shows-ten-states-changing-rules...

https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/hhs-fda-...

Re: Being fat is a trap

#268

Don’t forget the millions and millions of dollars companies invest into marketing their cheap junk food. It works, makes them rich and us unhealthy. There is a constant supply of pressure and propaganda from the junk food makers that most people don’t notice and can’t fight against. It is brutal. This t should be regulated, but …

I think the chance that the food companies are going to lie down and accept regulations without complaint is close to zero.

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Re: Being fat is a trap

#269
post #250
post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a single almost 40yo overweight man I've gotta disagree. McDonald's doesn't taste better, it tastes worse, but what working adult has the time next to their day job to eat healthy? You have to be either 1. Rich enough to be able to spend a premium at restaurants for most of the week 2. Be rich enough to have a partner that doesn't have to work a 40-50h work week 3. Be rich enough to have a personal cook 4. Not wor…

Unless you’re working 16h per day, every day, you have time to cook. There are many things that are very easy to cook and don’t even take that much effort, but people just refuse to learn how to use the tools they have. All you need is an oven and some baking pans, and you can easily make a well balanced meal in less than an hour. Roasted chicken, potatoes, vegetables. Done. There’s only a little bit of prep, then it…

Unless you’re working 16h per day, every day, you have time to cook.

if you are single, sure. but as soon as you have family, those calculations go out the window. worse if you are a single parent. long commutes, a stressful job...

8 hours work, 8 hours sleep, 1 hour commute, 1 hour lunch, 1 hour in the morning, 1 hour spending time with my kids (means i do what they want), 1 hour TV to relax. 1 hour exercise/go for a walk. that leaves me with 2 hours for everything else. housework? shopping? keeping in touch with others? go out to meet friends/family?

i love cooking. i did it all the time before i got married. i rarely went out to dinner. but as soon as i got married i had to stop. i couldn't afford the time that i needed to dedicate to it to do it right. it's more than just the process, it's the planning, the shopping, etc.

it's not a question of time, but priorities. for most people 18 hours (sleep, work, commute, lunch) are spoken for, and everything else has to fit into the remaining 6 hours. yes, you can move things around. you have time to cook if you can delegate. that just never worked for me. at best i can delegate washing dishes and other housework.

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