Most horrifying facts about obesity?

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I’m obese and looking for something to really shock me into losing the weight. I know that it’s unhealthy and it can cause stroke and diabetes, but they all feel like distant far off issues and it just feels like it’s far too much work to lose weight with my mobility issues.

Does anyone know any gruesome, horrifying facts about obesity and the effect that it has on the body? We all know that fat = bad but I don’t think it’s discussed in detail nearly enough. It’s far too easy to just bury my head in the sand and convince myself that I’ve got years and years before it happens to me.

A few examples:

My mum died at 53, she'd always been big as long as I remember, she couldn't walk far or run like other mums could when we were children. She died when I was 26, fortunately I had been to uni, was married and had a 2, nearly 3 year old by the time she died so she saw me graduate, get married and experienced becoming a grandmother. In the final 5-10 years she became incontinent, constantly infections so always on medication..she had asthma, angina, high blood pressure, diabetes, fatty liver disease, very poor health. She has heart failure in the final year or so, heart attacks and finally a cardiac arrest. My sister was with her when it happened, her body lurched, she fell off her bed, hit her head, couldn't be moved. Paramedics managed to get her heart beating, she went to ICU, but as a result of her brain being deprived of oxygen for so long she was brain dead. She needed an bigger casket and her coffin couldn't be carried, but only transferred to a stretcher due to the weight.

My childhood best friend's mum was 30 ish stone, could barely walk, without being in substantial pain, lost a lot of weight, down to 14ish stone, went into hospital to have medication changed, developed bed sores that developed into cellulitis, which led to bone infection. She wa in hospital for years 2012-2016, then to a care home, the infection to her bones, affected legs/circulation due to diabetic nerve damage and she ended up having a leg amputated....needed help going to the bathroom, cleaning ect, constant infections and looked like the other leg was going to be amputed died before 60...bed bound, and having her own children clean her/empty commode ect

The fact that any of these things are even possible makes me not want to live. I’m not obese (anymore) so I guess my odds are lower but it’s sobering to think of the really gruesome things can happen to any of us.

it just feels like it’s far too much work to lose weight with my mobility issues.

Chances are your mobility would be much improved if you managed to lose some weight.

Instead of formal 'dieting', could you try eating more healthily? Cut out UPF, sugar and refined carbs and "eat food, not too much, mostly plants", plus moderate amounts of lean protein. In other words, a Mediterranean type diet, which is both healthy and delicious.

Maybe try some gentle exercise. Lucy Wyndham Read has some great workouts for people who are unfit and most of them are less than 15 minutes on YouTube.

These are pretty sobering for us all to be honest.

As well as health issues, what about the thought of being in horrendous situations spurring you on

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3061199/amp/Woman-dubbed-Britain-s-fattest-teenager-lifted-home-crane-emergency-services-seven-hour-operation-taken-hospital.html

I can’t imagine the humiliation for seven hours.

What's with all the fat shaming threads?

Dirtiness? Since when did being overweight mean you're dirty????? Reported

I've been overweight pretty much all of my adult life. It never bothered me. Until I neared 40-years-old. I just felt a bit off. Went to the GP. Boom. Diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney failure. My heart is flopping around in my chest. Been waiting nearly 2 years so far for a cardiology appointment. Still no sign of it. So, I'd really advise you to get private medical insurance set up now while you don't need it, because when the problems do start, relying on the NHS to help you will be a big risk.

The higher your BMI gets the less chance you have of ever getting back to a healthy weight so best to do something about it sooner rather than later..

A relation is severely overweight.

She has mobility issues and cannot move around without a walking frame. Her legs are swollen, she has cellulitis in her legs and several long term pressure sores. These are dressed several times a week by the district nurse. She cannot get these bandages wet, so is unable to have a bath. A carer comes in several times a day to help her dress, wash her body and hair. She is unable to get upstairs, so has to have a commode which her son empties several times a day.

She is in constant pain. Her weight gain began with pregnancy and has continued upwards every year. She is about 5' 2" and wears size 30 clothes. Life is one constant struggle for her and she is in continual pain.

Calm down dear! What’s wrong with you?
KnobbyKnobson didn’t mean that she/he thinks obese people are dirty, but this is the look obese people get from strangers on the street. Maybe KnobbyKnobson is obese too and talking from experience?

Reported…my ass..

A work colleague was obese and died aged 32 from a heart attack, (no other cause was found, her heart just gave out under the strain). Her child was only just turned 3. He has no memory of his mother and very very few photos as she hated having her picture taken. He (now early teen) is currently being treated for severe depression and self harming.

Question for @SusanSHelit and any other posters who have experience with patients who are unable to communicate: what happens then? Is it routine to try to find methods of communication (eg whatever the equipment is that was used by Professor Hawking)? One of my biggest fears is of ending up in this kind of state, unable to communicate or move, and therefore unable to end my own suffering. Are methods of communication sought? Are people (unofficially) allowed to indicate if they want to die? Will they be helped if that is the case? And if so, will it be made quick and humane? (A relative’s relative was put on the ‘Liverpool pathway’ and it was awful as it was slow, then minds were changed, and he lived for another six weeks after being starved and dehydrated for days)

I listened to that podcast about ultra processed food which was presented by two brothers (possibly both Drs and really unhelpfully I can't recall the name of the podcast either). Anyway there was an absolutely chilling stat on it which was once you become obese and reach a certain BMI (possibly a BMI of over 40) studies had shown the chances of you actually managing to lose the excess weight to get down to a healthy BMI were incredibly small.

The purpose of the Liverpool pathway was to allow people who were actively dying to die in reasonable comfort. If a person obtained some type of brain injury that left them unable to speak or move, but they weren't actively dying, they wouldn't have been put on the pathway. If you end up in a state of being unable to speak or move, you will not be assisted to die. Euthanasia is not performed in the UK. Assessments will be carried out to check function and determine what support will be required to keep you alive. For example, if you have no swallow, you will have a tube inserted through your abdomen so nutrition can be delivered that way.

I don't think anyone answered this, in case you haven't worked out, if you press the heart below a post it will save it. Then press on the person user menus top right and then on my lists to read it again.

Jesus, @BadNomad , that’s horrific. I understand the arguments against euthanasia, but at the same time, I wish it could be made less awful for people who do want to die. It’s terrifying to think one might be kept alive against one’s wishes, and not be able to do anything about it.

Oh I agree. With respect OP, I don't think fear and loathing is the path to a healthy weight.

Maybe, one day, start another thread that inspires you and helps you visualise your happy, healthy self

This is so so sad. I am 32 with a 4 month old. I am obese and also hate having photos taken. As awful as it is, this story m is a harrowing but necessary truth. Thank you for posting.

The scary fact for me is that I never see anyone old who is overweight.
I see some obese people who look like they are in their 60's.. But no one in their 70s. These people are usually quite active, play golf/ do gardening etc. The obese just didn't make it to this age.

I was in the obese category, weighing 14 st 9lb.

My blood tests came back as pre-diabetic. I work in Theatres, and see far too many toes and legs being amputated because of diabetes.

I have now lost weight and my blood tests are back in normal range.

Diabetic complications is 10% the NHS budget. It's so commonplace that people are complacent and think it's just about diet and losing weight. They don't understand the potential dangers- blindness, liver/kidney failure, heart issues, neuropathy, amputations etc...

I wish I'd have released when I was younger that all the ' you won't live long if you are obese' statements didn't hit home as I really didn't want to get to old age, I could have happily died young it wouldn't bother me at all. The problem with being hugely overweight( I've been 20+ stone since I was in my teens) isn't that you could die it's that you won't die but live a long unhappy life getting increasingly worse in a body you hate. It's not so much loosing weight that's the problem ( I've got down to 13 stone before) but keeping it off is incredibly difficult. I wish I'd realised how unhappy I was as a child and asked for help instead of using food as an antidepressant. I wish anyone who wants to loose weight the best of luck

They are alive just stuck inside with health conditions in care homes or hospitals.

I am studying nursing. I have also lost 65kg, so I know the struggle. I have put a bit back on (menopause, life, etc) and this is my current screensaver. When I did my Prac in Aged Care, the only people under 65 that were placed there (a significant number of them aged between 35 & 50) were all significantly obese and multiple, co-morbid health conditions.
These are some medical educational x-Ray images of obese patients. Any archaeologist will tell you that statistically speaking, a skeleton says a lot about the way a person has lived. This is because statistically speaking, most skeletons are roughly the same shape and size. (Within normal parameters.) If you can’t see what stress this puts your joints under from this, I don’t know how to scare you at all.

Our cardiovascular system is the same one we are born with. It isn’t designed to work around all the extra fat cells to be able to nourish the cells it is supposed to.
While our heart pumps blood AWAY from itself, to the lungs to be enriched with oxygen, etc, and it is the movement of the heart that enables blood to move through arteries, to get blood to move back through your VEINS to your heart you need muscular contraction. YES… if you don’t use it, you lose it. This is why exercise IS important for cardiovascular health. It’s not about getting the heart pumping, but about the fitness of your veins to continue to return blood to your heart. When you are obese it is much more difficult to enjoy even the most basic forms of exercise.

You can see from the X-rays why obesity is linked to joint degeneration and arthritis.
This is why long periods of inactivity cause blood clots and pressure injuries (pressure sores) and elderly people/diabetics find it difficult to heal from wounds, get infected ulcers on their skin, develop foot problems, etc.
Another impact of long term diabetes-related obesity is kidney failure. Being on dialysis 24 hours a day while the rest of your organs slowly fail as a result is not a nice way to live out your life while you’re waiting for a kidney transplant you will probably not be eligible for.
Cardiovascular Dementia
Diabetes T3 - Diabetes related Alzheimer’s Disease
Fatty Liver Disease
Cirrhosis
Pancreatitis
Liver Failure
Bowel Cancer
*Liver Cancer