to think you don't have to be a greedy binge eater to be fat?

[entropyglitter]

A teatime thought for the day....

I am around 20 kilos over weight, which is a lot and makes me look fat.

I just calculated that, averaged over my adult life, that equates to an extra 25 calories a day. Or 1.25% of the RDA.

I imagine my poor brain just can't quite tell the difference between making me feel full and satisfied at exactly the right number of calories to be neutral and never put on weight, and 1.25% more than that and hence ending up like this.....

What's 20 kilos in pounds?

Most people dont 'look fat', they either are or they aren't

I'm the former

I'm about a stone and a half overweight, and it's down to eating too much and doing too little exercise. Maybe not bingeing but certainly being greedy - second helpings, chocolate snacks, too much TV and MNing.

...but it helps...

Oh I just meant that you could be 20 kilos over your recommended weight and not really look fat or you could be 20 kilos over and look really really fat. Yes you would still be fat in either case.

hmm thing about exercise is my brain isnt fooled. If I do more exercise I want to eat more to make up for the calorie expenditure...

lol at kitty yeah the reverse statement, that if you are a greedy binge eater you are fat is almost always true...

I'm sure you don't.
But I am a little overweight and it's because I am greedy.

Yanbu. I am not greedy, I have quite a small appetite actually. My weight has just crept up by 30ish lb over 20 years. That's 1 and a half lb per year.

20kg is more tahn three stone overweight, so yeah there clearly is going to be some overeating going on there.

I think the key thing between fatties and non-fatties is that the non-fatties know when to reign it in. Everyone overeats at some point, but the "normal" thing to do would be to cut down/eat a few salads once you spot the first stone ;going on, instead of just carrying on regardless.

I agree with peoplesprincess

I suspect that for some people its more difficult to work out if they have gained.

gaining even a few pounds (for me) is obvious and I work hard to cut down or move more.

I think what many people do is buy a size larger , and larger until they have gained a few stone.

Nipping it in the bud is the best way, but that is much easier said then done ,I realize that.

I am sure you are not "greedy" OP but you are probably not eating the right foods, or the right foods for you :)

People are overweight because they eat more calories than they burn, it is not rocket science.

I am 20lb overweight no idea what that is in kilos and I am overweiht because I ate all the quality street. I do a desk job and eat more than I burn, to lose weight you cut your calorie intake by 20% of what your body needs you lose 1lb a week and it stays off.

You original assumption is incorrect. Your daily usage of calories will be higher than the RDA because you are 3 Stone over weight. Think how much more you would need to eat if you were the correct weight but carried a 3 stone rack sack around all the time.....

If you have no health problems preventing weight loss, you need to stop making excuses. The problem in you brain is..... You looking for explanations that it is not your responsibility you are over weight.

I think anyone who is 3 stone overweight is going to look overweight

Especially considering someone's 'ideal weight' is often on the heavy side anyway.

If I were my ideal weight I would look like a beach ball...seriously!

no I don't think you have to be greedy to be fat, I think a lot of people fall for diet myths early on in life and stick with them, like less bolognaise more spagetti kinda thing, when really it should be the other way round to keep you fuller longer.. Or "healthy" cereals and cereal bars (lethal!), or lots of fruit juices, or screwing up your blood sugar with sugar free sweetners. A lot of people avoid protein and increase carbs when they're being "healthy". You see people on diets and you think "gosh can't you work out that your diets are keeping you fat in the long term?" - you see them exercising great will power in turning down exactly the kind of things that would keep them full with steady blood sugars in exchange for a "healty" option which is full of stuff that sends your blood sugars on a roller coaster.

So no I don't think people who are fat are necessarily greedy or lazy or even lacking will power, I think there's a lot of "diet"/"healthy" bollocks marketed to us every day!

Use this

scoobysworkshop.com/calorie-calculator/

My son is a weight trainer and is always yo yoing on purpose he swears by it

Reduce I agree with that but I also think 'fat' is so normalised that a lot of people can't seem to spot it anymore.

Overeating seems to be normalised too. People in general seem to eat far bigger meals than they did years ago.

So when some people are convinced that they don't eat a lot, it's simply that they're comparing themselves to other people...who also eat very big meals.

yes I agree, but I think people don't see bad fat/sugars where it IS and instead see "fatty food" in things that are actually quite healthy and filling and slower release IYKWIM

I think sugar and sweetners are more of a problem. Sweetners mess up your blood sugar because the sweet taste tricks your body into thinking there's sugar comming, so it releases insulin to deal with it, but then there's none for it to work on so you have a sugar crash.. then crave.. then binge on the wrong things.

and stuff that a lot of people think is really health is full of sugar or sweetners, both just increase the roller coaster their body is on which is making them stay fat.

I agree - and it can work vice versa.

But isn't there a difference between what people do, the diet industry and medical advice/science?

Eating more pasta is how people interpret eating less fat, when maybe less pasta, less bolognaise was the answer. Add more veg has been medical advice for decades.

advice was often to increase the rice/pasta to fill up and have less of the meat/sauce because that was were the fat was. But protein keeps you feeling full and steady for longer so it's a bit of a rubbish idea.

smaller portions of both is a good way to loose weight, but more or less cutting out protein (which a lot of people do when they diet) is counter productive

more veg yes, of course, but the first thing people reduce is often the protein before the carbs

I cut out dairy to help with my sinus problems

in doing that, I have also lost about 6 pounds (in a month)...didn't realize I was eating that much cheese!

but that's exactly where more protein can help - less cravings between meals for those gingerbread lattes and stuff like that

I gained 3 dress sizes when I went off most protein in my diet during pregnancy and kept the new habits up afterwards. Its really hard to control the inbetween snacking on a diet like that! I've forced myself to go back to my pre baby diet with more protein and its now comming off. I'm eating more of the things that some dieters would avoid but I'm satisfied and steady between meals so don't have to pop to a coffee shop to re-fuel IYKWIM

Well YANBU in that it is easy to over eat a little each day and be overweight. I am overweight and although I have a huge healthy appetite I don't eat chips, takeaways, coke or most of the typical greedy person foods. My over eating is more likely to be an extra spoonful of rice, or a slice of bread and cheese at tea time, but it is still over eating.

"I just calculated that, averaged over my adult life, that equates to an extra 25 calories a day. Or 1.25% of the RDA."

Sorry, I don't think it really works that way though - ie you've just eaten 25 calories too much each day, since you were 18. The body becomes more and less efficient depending on what you eat so maintaining a weight 20kg over what you should be requires much more significant overeating.

I have lost 22kg last year and have been maintaining it since then (and FWIW I was only 10kg "overweight" ie to get into the healthy weight BMI, so 20kg over that would have been obese.

Also from my maintainance diet I can confirm that an extra 25 calories a day doesn't seem to make much difference . Now that know about sensible portion sizes I can tell you that putting on weight requires overeating.

Cut out the extra fat and carbs you don't need and do some exercise and stop making excuses. Otherwise come back and honestly post what you are eating each day....