to wonder about obesity

[crashingwaves]

Please, please, PLEASE don't think that this is a fat-bashing thread, I hate it when people do that and I'd never ever do it myself.

The thing is, I love food, I do like nice food and I do overeat on occasions. My BMI is 'overweight' - I could do with shifting a stone - I'm most definitely not a size 8 smuggie person.

What I'm wondering about isn't even people a fair bit bigger than me. But really, really large people (I'm thinking around the 20 stone + region) Isn't it quite, well, difficult in a way to maintain and gain weight at that size, as you really would have to be eating an awful lot (unless a medical reason, I realise things like PCOS can contribute.)

I suppose I was wondering as my friend has a friend who is only 21 and weighs 18 and a half stone - to be honest I think she is in denial a little bit as she says things like "Oh I know I don't look this big" when to be honest she does - I understand that - but given that at that size it is fairly easy to make small changes and still lose weight, I guess I just wonder why people don't. That did sound quite bitchy and judgemental and I'm honestly trying hard to avoid that.

I can totally see how people get big, I've "been there" myself but I guess what I mean was when the scales hit 13 stone I thought "f*ck!" and went on a diet - surely if the scales hit 20 stone you would ...?

I probably deserve a flaming - can I just say mega apologies if I DO offend you as I honestly don't want to do that!

If there is no medical reason, it is easy to become obese, simply by eating shite, and taking no exercise.

i weigh 22stone.

what is it precise;y you want to know?
what did i eat today? a chicken salad sarnie at lunch.
A cornette ice cream.
Steak with salad

lots of juice and some dr pepper zero.

is that over eating? its is pretty standard for a days food.

Do i spend my evening stuffing my face full of chocolate and biscuits? no.

I weigh around 20 stone, I'm a size 22.

I don't eat a considerable amount, but 90% of what I eat is junk and I don't exercise. It isn't difficult to stay this size.

Food is my friend, my comforter, my crutch, my boredom breaker and my emotional bandage. Until I break them, they will remain and I will, most likely struggle to lose weight. It takes time and a truck load of effort to break them.

You simply don't get on the scales, when you reach a certain size. The last time I weighed myself was at Slimming World recently; the time before that was at LEAST 4 years ago....

Sand... head... bury. That's how.

I'm guessing that people do try and diet but it's not as easy as you think. Changing eating habits is really very difficult.

I can hand on heart say I don't know anyone who is obese that doesn't eat far too much (especially in terms of portion size) and exercise far too little.

I do however, know plenty of obese people who have come to think their huge portion sizes are fairly small...perhaps because they compare themselves to other over eaters?

It's also not unusual to see obese couples and whole families...this would indicate to me that the portion sizes are far too large.

I think the more you eat, the more you need to eat to feel full up.

or rather, you ignore the full feeling and just keep picking / eating

Lewis, I'm pleased you're not offended - I can understand and to an extent relate to what you have put, I myself am very all or nothing in relation to food, if I have a 'bad morning' it will turn into a bad day that can turn into a bad week.

Mamaz, I suppose that IS what I wanted to know: it's easy (very easy!) to get overweight, even obese, but when it gets to being really big, I always assumed wrongly I guess that it'd be quite hard work - you'd have to eat quite a lot.

Have you seen a doctor? that doesn't seem like much at all x

I have a colleague who's morbidly obese. She has a number of health issues which her doctors has said is relating to her weight however knowing this has not encouraged her to lose weight. We are all really worried about her and would help her but she doesn't want to help herself so that's that.

Being large doesn't automatically mean you're unhealthy which is what many people appear to believe.

You need to exercise. End off.

i guess not everybody has one eye out to catch that moment when they need to go on a diet, so that their weight can be normal. I know that if I just ate what I wanted to all the time I'd be a stone heavier which at my height would make a huge difference. If i missed that moment and put on a few stone, what motivation would there be to watch what I ate? The challenge might seem too big. AND not to mention, food is nice, eating nice food is nice!!

Maisy, being a smoker doesn't automatically mean you're unhealthy either but the very real chances are, you will be one day. I think it's the same with obesity.

Being large isnt necessarily unhealthy, but being very obese is. Carrying so much extra weight is a strain on all the important organs.

there's sod al wrong with me but lazyness and poor will power.

I eat what i want when i want. I dont eat breakfast and i love carbs.

so whilst all those skinny girls, or the constantly obsessed with their weight types ponder for hours over what to eat for lunch, i just pick the sandwich that looks the most appealing.

I have always said that whilst it would be nice to take a pill that made me a size 10, it has never bothered me enough to go on a diet.
It has started to bother me more recently and i have looked into starting a healthier eating plan. I dont want a diet as they dont work. but something that will change the way i eat forever more.

to put on weight is easy. to lose weight is not. putting on yet more weigth follwing a failed diet is common. viscious cycle ends up with fatty ex dieter.

worra I agree but some larger people seem to eat really healthy diets but still retain weight. Genetic maybe.

It is easy to diet, I was always a 10/12 last year I shot up to a size 16, even my back was fat, my son said I was fat all over, I couldnt even wipe my ass properly when I went to the toilet because I was so fat.

I got fat because frankly I ate too much, 6 iced dounts in a sitting, 3 packets of club biscuits.

I have just lost over 2 stone by removing all the shit and eating less, I still don't exercise, but now I can walk without my back hurting me, and I can wipe my own arse.

When you get fat you lose something of yourself, no sooner do you have a bath you sweat buckets and are never clean.

I would have got bigger had my son not told me I had a fat back, I hid beneath bigger clothes.

Now Im a size 12 again and can wear fitted stuff, still a way to go to get to a size 10 and its twice as hard to lose he last stone, but needs must.

There is no excuse for being fat other than over eating.

I was in size 20 clothes 6 months ago. Weight crept on incrementally over preceeding few years (I seemed to have lost control after my dc came along). For me food was a comfort and a solace - if i felt down I ate, if I felt 'up' I ate, if I wanted to treat myself I ate. I tried countless times to diet but never stuck at it. It was a very difficult addictive habit to break. I've cracked it now - have lost over 3 stone and am in size 14's and still shrinking. It is taking a lot of discipline and monitoring - and this will be life long.

It isn't simple and easy. You have to eat 3,500 calories more than your body needs to gain 1lb in weight. Something as small as eating a normal maintenance 2000 calories a day plus a chocolate bar could see you gain a 1lb over 10 days. The difference between fat and not fat is actually quite marginal

I don't really exercise apart from dog walking, I find I can control my weight with diet fairly easily. But this is the thing, someone weighing 20 stone would burn more calories on a half hour walk than someone at 10 stone?

I don't know really. I know people who just eat a lot of food: three big meals often with a pudding, and snacks, and others who are more secret bingers, I can relate to this in particular.

I am larger than I should be and think deuce is probably right. Like Mamaz0n I don't eat huge amounts of unhealthy food and wonder if it's the activity side of the balance that trips most obese people up.

I also suspect that many of us have totally fucked up our metabolism and relationship with food through years of yoyo dieting.

fabbychic - you dont half talk a load of bollox

I think a contributing factor is that when you are very large moving is a lot more effort so it is harder to burn off the calories too. I think that exercise is a big factor and possibly more important than food in balancing calorie in / calorie out.

dunno. I was always around 11 stone - 5ft6in - until I got pregnant with DS1. I then piled on weight and was 14.11 after I had had him. I sort of thought that was me, and that I would keep on gaining weight, but I didn't and have lost nearly 3 stone since then. So I don't know what makes you keep on putting on weight. I did do WW, which I still do and that keeps me a bit focused, but I really don't know what makes a person truly obese.