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A Life Apart: The Toll of Obesity

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Re: A Life Apart: The Toll of Obesity

#71

Post by jimmaswell »

tomjen3 wrote: post #69
jimmaswell wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I counted calories for over a month with some intense exercise and nothing happened. Maybe because I had an extra burger one of those days and that ruined the whole thing, or I was absorbing calories through photosynthesis. If it takes even more than what I tried then I hardly believe it's even worth it. I'd rather live happily for one less year than never get to eat fulfillingly and live on a bootcamp exercise regim…

Please try again. Almost certainly you counted incorrectly because you didn't use a food scale or you didn't include things like oil, etc. You also don't have to live a bootcamp experience, since essentially all your weightloss will come from not eating too much. Calories are flexible though, if you note which foods you get most saity/calorie then it is better to go with those foods than others that may be "healthier…

Unless the calorie values printed on my food were wrong, I didn't miscount. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9316457

The water/muscle sound like reasonable explanations.

My overweight relatives had reasonable mobility etc into their 80s while still being overweight, so maybe my genetics are fine for it, but being healthier might be a net positive as you say anyway. I'll consider it.

Re: A Life Apart: The Toll of Obesity

#72

Post by BSousa »

jimmaswell wrote: post #70
BSousa wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hi Jim One of the main problems people have with counting calories is accurately being able to do so. While I don't think counting calories is for everyone, if you do try again, try to weight everything you eat. Don't forget the teaspoon of olive oil in the salad and those kinds of small things that add up. Research has shown that comparing food logs of people that say they have a slow metabolism and that they count…

I mostly only ate things with the calories printed on a label somewhere most days. Stayed around 1500 to leave a lot of margin for error. Could've been muscle and water, yeah. It was actually half a college semester, where I had an exhausting Spinning class I picked as a credit requirement filler, along with badminton. Apparently my BMI is 'obese' but I don't feel or look 'obese', by whatever value of obese seems to…

Not to pick, but usually calorie counting only really works if you are precise with it (this includes accounting for every beer or the milk you add to your coffee everyday). Another thing to consider, if you are on the obese side of the BMI scale, unless you are 5'2", 1500 kcal is too little specially if you are doing spinning + badminton.

BMI is not really accurate on the individual level. Most athletes will score on the 'overweight' range for example while athletes that play in weight division sports will be in the 'underweight' category a lot of the time (I was for example, but I doubt anyone would consider me underweight at the time).

Re: A Life Apart: The Toll of Obesity

#73

Post by sten »

yasth wrote: post #20
Thriptic wrote: post #11

Personally, I feel like the media frequently tries to over complicate the issue of obesity and make excuses for people who can't lose weight. The individual depicted here clearly has underlying psychological and substance abuse problems, but in no way is he reflective of the general population of obese individuals. Baring psychological issues, it's really not hard at all to pick a diet and adhere to it. It literally…

You will gain it all back in 5 years with 80% probability. (and likely worse odds because of the size of the weight loss and the fact you are male) http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/82/1/222S.long It isn't that hard to lose weight. It is very hard to keep it off.

It's easy if it's a lifestyle change and not just a diet until you're thin. If you give up cake so that you can lose weight so that you can eat cake again... well, you're gonna have a bad time.

Re: A Life Apart: The Toll of Obesity

#75

Post by yummyfajitas »

mkr-hn wrote: post #65
yummyfajitas wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you believe that personal choices cannot be correlated with the county one lives in? For example, people in Portland tend (according to stereotypes, at least) to eat a lot of Granola and Kale. Does choice play no role, and the city government merely forces hipsters in these locales to eat these things?

Which part of my post indicated that I think personal choice can't be a factor?

"...clear trends and still think it's 100% personal choice."

I interpreted this as suggesting that somehow county-based correlations contradict personal choice.

Re: A Life Apart: The Toll of Obesity

#76

Post by mkr-hn »

yummyfajitas wrote: post #75
mkr-hn wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which part of my post indicated that I think personal choice can't be a factor?

"...clear trends and still think it's 100% personal choice." I interpreted this as suggesting that somehow county-based correlations contradict personal choice.

One can choose to do something, but social, economic, and environmental factors can affect the viability and difficulty level of possible actions. There may be a reason obesity seems to clump together in certain places, and personal choice could be an insufficient explanation. They may choose it, but that choice doesn't exist in a vacuum.

Re: A Life Apart: The Toll of Obesity

#77

Post by pixl97 »

jimmaswell wrote: post #70
BSousa wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hi Jim One of the main problems people have with counting calories is accurately being able to do so. While I don't think counting calories is for everyone, if you do try again, try to weight everything you eat. Don't forget the teaspoon of olive oil in the salad and those kinds of small things that add up. Research has shown that comparing food logs of people that say they have a slow metabolism and that they count…

I mostly only ate things with the calories printed on a label somewhere most days. Stayed around 1500 to leave a lot of margin for error. Could've been muscle and water, yeah. It was actually half a college semester, where I had an exhausting Spinning class I picked as a credit requirement filler, along with badminton. Apparently my BMI is 'obese' but I don't feel or look 'obese', by whatever value of obese seems to…

Calorie counting only works if someone else is counting for you. There have been multiple subjective finding, and full blown scientific studies that the vast majority of individuals cannot accuratly count calories. People will do things like put two tablespoons of something in their food and count it, but will not count the tablespoon they put in their mouth, they may not even fully realize they ate the tablespoon of food they did. When under recording dieters consistently underreported there caloric intake, mostly because of habitual dietary habits they are unaware of.
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