'Living with obesity: The people hard-wired to store fat'

[TheVampiresWife]

I've just read this article on the BBC. I know it sounds daft, but when I finished reading I had a little cry.

I'm 49 and I've been everything from a size 8 to a size 30 and all sorts of permutations in between, many times over. I've spent all my adult life trying to lose weight and have been treated for anorexia and binge eating. I cannot maintain a healthy weight, however hard I try. The longest I've been a healthy weight for was about a year in my 30s, which led to anorexia, following which I shot up to 18st. I'm currently about 15st (I don't own scales) and a size 20. At my heaviest, in my 20s, I was 21st. At my lightest, 7st 5lbs.

Everyone in my family is or was obese. My mother and aunties were on diets constantly but were always obese. They all died in their 60s due to health issues connected to their obesity.

I so, so desperately want to break this cycle. This article made me feel incredibly sad, because for the first time my weight struggles (and those of my family) made sense but also seemed hopeless. It also comforted me a bit, because for decades I've blamed and hated myself for the state I'm in. I'm currently eating no more than 1600 calories a day but the weight isn't shifting - in fact I seem to be putting it on. I'm disabled (rheumatoid arthritis) so can't exercise.

The narrative that obesity is about laziness and greed is incredibly hurtful and ignorant. This article appears to prove that for some people, it really is an illness that we have little control over. As I say, depressing and comforting in equal measure.

Ive only read about the article (too scared to read it) and I'm just so saddened that this might be it. Im in my 40s and v overweight so am I just doomed to early death/loss of mobility etc.

And if as you say we just cant fix it shouldn't there be more compassion and support.

You need to read Why We Eat (Too Much) by Dr Andrew Jenkinson. It goes into the subject matter of the article in much greater detail and makes it very clear that there are a great many factors that contribute to obesity, and it's absolutely not greed/laziness.

It also gives you a safe, sane way of eating to reduce your weight for good.

In the mean time, try to be kind to yourself. There is more to you of importance than your body.

@GiantToadstool exactly this. Saddened that this might be it. And so angry and upset at all the years I've spent trying to make it right, the result of which has been long term health issues and absolutely no success.

@GreeboIsMySpiritAnimal thank you for the kind words and for recommendation - I'll get on Amazon and have a look.

I carry the fat gene and you've got to basically eat very little to maintain a healthy weight. I put weight on ridiculously easily and I constantly crave sweet stuff. I've been a size 14 most of my life until menopause and quitting smoking, now I'm an 18. I find low carbing helps.

@mybrainhertz

I carry the fat gene and you've got to basically eat very little to maintain a healthy weight. I put weight on ridiculously easily and I constantly crave sweet stuff. I've been a size 14 most of my life until menopause and quitting smoking, now I'm an 18. I find low carbing helps.

How do you find out if you are carrying the fat gene.?

23 and Me

I came on here to say what Greebol said - please do read Why We Eat, it is absolutely illuminating and lifechanging (from someone who is was a size 22).

I've no desire to eat processed foods, sweet things, fizzy drinks - diet or otherwise - and snack on cheese or yogurt. Losing weight steadily but just so marvellously freeing to not obsess or think about food all the time, and to feel there might be a way out of fatness.

Hi there, totally agree that the negative assumptions that people make about obese people are unwarranted and unreasonable. It is, indeed, a disease and not a character flaw.

Have you read The Obesity Code by Jason Fung? Worth a look if you're not aware of this stuff, his theory and practice is about healing metabolic syndrome and insulin resistance which is the key to long term permanent weight loss. It is absolutely NOT an Eat Less Move More approach, which as you know isn't the solution. What's needed is a way to heal the insulin resistance, so you can actually use all that stored energy.

www.amazon.co.uk/Obesity-Code-Unlocking-Secrets-Weight/dp/B076QM9CCF?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

Third-ing recommend for Why We eat too Much.. its totally illuminating..

I read it too but don't think it's all doom and gloom. Focus on keeping your weight stable, eating healthy foods, getting lots of exercise and just being nicer to yourself. I started doing this about two years ago and very slowly the weight came off, some weeks nothing, then just half a pound but it came off. I'm in the overweight category now, which I can live with.

I carry the fat gene (two copies of AA on the FTO gene which makes me 70 percent more likely to be obese than other people). I weigh 11 stone and am 5'4" which isn't as slim as I'd like to be but I'm happy with it given it's overweight rather than obese. I maintain this weight by following the Forks Over Knives eating plan which took a little while to get used to but which I now enjoy. That's a vegan diet without oil and without processed junk foods, basically. It's a very healthy way yo eat and has a lot of benefits beyond weight also.

How do you find out your gene?

As some reassurance, OP, I'm 52 and currently losing weight.
I've been everything from a size 14 to a 22, 10.5 stone at my lightest (though strong and not podgy), 20 stone at my worst.

I didn't think I would ever lose weight. I referred myself for bariatric surgery as I felt that was the only thing left. I had to do a diet group first as part of the referral pathway. Bizarrely, for the first time ever it worked.

I put it down to being basically menopausal so not at the mercy of my cycle most of the time, and having a much quieter less stressful life- children are adults, lockdown, I can concentrate on me and what I need.

Losing weight has helped me, not because I feel great but because I don't weirdly! i have a chronic illness and blamed myself for being lazy and unfit and greedy and the cause of all my own problems. In fact, 4 stone lighter, I have the same pain, tiredness and so on as I always did. Moving is easier- I don't feel so 'stuck' and awkward in tight spaces- but I'm not suddenly bursting with energy and ready to run marathons! My chronic condition wasn't caused by my weight, it was the other way around!

There are a couple of dodgy stats in that. The annual odds of a morbidly obese person achieving a normal weight being 700:1 - it will take a morbidly obese person over a year to achieve a normal weight because they will have 5 stone or more to lose.

The man who hasn't met anyone in his 30 year career who's lost weight by diet alone- he's a bariatric surgeon. By definition he will meet people who've had surgery!

I had a genetic screening and found I have a ‘fat’ gene (and a genetic high risk of anorexia nervous too), it’s interesting what is in our genes although I don’t think it’s hopeless

The only thing that helps me is a wholefoods vegan diet. No alcohol or bread either.

When I'm on it I eat loads but lose weight.

But it's hard to stick to in the society we live in! I have managed long stretches but will fall off the wagon when I get stressed.

Beyond genetics, there's also the metabolic slowing that can occur when you lose significant weight. That is one of the main reasons big losers find it more difficult to keep the weight off.

Two people, A and B.
Person A wants to put on weight and increases intake in order to reach 10 stone.
Person B is obese and diets in order to reach 10 stone.
Despite being the same weight, their basic metabolic rates will be different with B's being damaged by the weight loss. To maintain at ten stone, A may have to eat 2500 calories a day whereas B can only have 1250 to 1500. They could literally eat the same food and exercise the same and person B will gain weight.

In the past I haven't had any problem losing weight - maintaining it once I have has been the issue. I've always needed to eat very few calories to lose, however (at one point I was eating two jars of baby food and a pot of ten calorie jelly a day but still only lost 1lb a week - this was before my RA diagnosis and I was also walking between four and ten miles a day). Four years ago I went from a size 22 to a 14 using My Fitness Pal but this time, it's barely shifting. My age, perhaps? I really don't want to live on less than 1000cal a day. Apart from anything else, that level of calorie counting is dangerous with a history of EDs. At the moment my usual is about 1300 with a bit extra at weekends.

I eat a mainly vegan diet with no processed food and no more than 10 units of alcohol a week.

I absolutely agree that my metabolism is completely fucked thanks to years of yo-yoing.

I was vegan even before I started the Forks Over Knives plan but still gained weight. What works for me is the whole foods plant based approach that Annehedonia mentions. My version allows some bread but no oil or sugar and I don't drink alcohol. But I eat until I feel full and don't go hungry.

I found out about my genetics via 23andme. Ot helps me a lot to know that I can't expect to be thin or a normal weight doing what other people do. I can either follow a special diet that works for my genetics or I can be obese.

I also came on to recommend 'why we eat - too much'.

Seriously, go and read this book, it is a very clear explanation of what is going on with you and does have some suggestions for what to do about it.

I’m size 26 - only thing I’ve ever found works is checking and recording absolutely everything I eat, and religiously doing 5-10000 steps a day . Nothing else works - been fat since I was about six years old, was seven stone by age 8, 14 stone at 15, 23 stone by age 27.

I admit I don’t exercise much (funnily enough the urge rather goes when you’re heaving 21 stone of fat overhanging belly around) and I eat the wrong sort of food; it’s a cycle of anger and self disgust, shame and depression . You feel like you’re useless - I’ve had family tell me I may as well not bother trying as ‘no one would look twice at you anyway’ .

NHS are next to useless - sent me to a dietician who shrugged and suggested skipping dinner (whilst doing 12 hour shifts and walking 11 miles a day - I’d have collapsed) ...

I'm glad to find this thread. That article really struck a chord with me too. I've been all sizes and currently the biggest I've ever been at a size 20 - bigger than I was when I ate meat, so nothing to do with being vegan! I've also got poorly controlled hypothyroidism and on SSRIs, so feel like the odds are stacked against me somewhat. Does anyone know if Reading Why We Eat (Too Much) will still help me, given my health issues and dietary needs? I previously lost 5st with SW but could only maintain the loss with 90 mins of HIIT every day (not possible now with thyroid and toddler 😵)

I have to eat at about 1000 calories a day or less to lose any weight. And that weight loss is small. People don't believe me when I tell them this and tell me just to exercise more and eat more. Tried it, it doesn't work. It has gotten worse as I hit about 45 and perimenopause. I eat very healthily, no alcohol, few carbs, almost zero very processed food. I have also tried all the diets going, apart from the extreme ones.

This is just how I seem to have to eat for the rest of my life to lose tiny amounts of weight. Its depressing. I haven't been lower than a size 16 for many years despite my healthy low calorie diet. I cannot exercise tons due to ill health but even when I have been healthier and exercised a lot it hasn't really helped.

I'm tempted to have a genetic test to verify that this all isn't in my head. I was scared to read that article but it's confirmed what I suspected honestly.

@aliensprig

I'm glad to find this thread. That article really struck a chord with me too. I've been all sizes and currently the biggest I've ever been at a size 20 - bigger than I was when I ate meat, so nothing to do with being vegan! I've also got poorly controlled hypothyroidism and on SSRIs, so feel like the odds are stacked against me somewhat. Does anyone know if Reading Why We Eat (Too Much) will still help me, given my health issues and dietary needs? I previously lost 5st with SW but could only maintain the loss with 90 mins of HIIT every day (not possible now with thyroid and toddler 😵)

Agree with it being nothing to do with being vegan. I've been size 10, 12, 14 and 16 in the 30 years I've been vegan, it just depends whether I'm eating wholefoods or more processed stuff as to how well I feel.

The more stressed I am the less able I am to cook from scratch and resist processed foods.

(I know 16 doesn't sound that big but I'm quite short and small framed so it is for me. I know it's perfectly healthy for other women).

I've put on 12 kg in the past 18 months prior to that I was roughly moderating my diet but the one thing I found that helped my metabolism was EMS once a week. Since I stopped, even when I moderate and walk 10000 steps, I cannot shift the weight. I'm almost 52 and menopausal (just started hrt) so I'm hoping this will be the Kickstarter I need because my arthritis is awful and my flexibility has gone through the floor and I'm not ready to feel this old.

I wonder if I have the fat gene. My body definitely prefers the dumpling shape, left to it's own devices. I've struggled with weight gain/loss my whole life too (lightest 8stone and heaviest now at nearly 12 - but I'm 5'2 and I can't get away with it - plus my joints are agony carrying all that extra. I've just bought the book pp have recommended!

Tallpaulwho I'm sure it isn't all in your head. So much diet advice we're given is generic and takes no account of people's genetics which make a huge difference. The only thing I would say is that for people who can't lose weight and are always tired it may be worth getting a thyroid level test.