Overweight but doesn't eat apparently - possible?

[Mozismyhero]

So, my DM is massively overweight. She is also diabetic. She says she doesn't eat, 'I've only had one piece of toast all day. I couldn't possibly eat all that (when eating out/at our house). And yet she doesn't lose any weight. Is that possible? Surely the weight would be falling off her if she didn't eat? Or do I just not understand diabetes?

AIBU to think that she must do it for attention and that she's secretly eating packets of biscuits and crisps?

If you don't eat a lot your body goes into starvation mode which means it holds onto any fat that you eat,
utter myth

Though with Cushings the weight tends to be around the abdomen and face but thin arms and legs
but if you eat less, the gain will be less

All the women in my dad's side are diabetic and are all massive, me included
so eat less and get rid of the T2 diabetes. Many of the T1 diabetics I know are underweight because of it
T2 is caused by eating too much sugar

and do not get me started on the train wreck that is T3

I would guess it's probably a combination of illness, medication, age, slow metabolism, lack of exercise, plus eating and drinking too many calories some days. There probably are some days when she doesn't eat very much.

I know there are huge differences in the amounts people can eat. When I was younger I could eat and eat and stay really slim, now I eat half what I used to eat and I can't lose weight. I know some overweight people that don't eat much and some very slim people who eat lots. We don't all need 1500 - 2000 calories per day, some people need lots more, some a lot less.

Could she have hypothyroidism? DS had an underactive thyroid and he weighed 70 kg at 155 cm. After being treated for it, he lost 15 kg in 4 months.

A 5'2" 65 year old woman who weight 10 stone needs 1500 calories a day to stay at the same weight.
To get down to 9 stone ( a happier BMI) she would need to at 1200 calories a day for 6 months

old people need less calories
short people need less calories
sedentary people need less calories

for the dying mother of a friend we calculated her BMR (existence calories) at 700 a day
(age 85, 8 stone, in bed all day)

• so my friend stopped worrying about her just having boiled eggs on toast and fruit to eat.

old people need less calories

Well in general you need fewer as you age, but don't forget in advanced old age your muscles naturally start to waste and you find it harder and harder to retain body heat, so you need body fat and extra calories to compensate.

PS please stop peddling ignorant and offensive misinformation about type 2 diabetes. TIA.

eatsleep
Look up the current scientific information about TDEE

also look up the current knowledge of T2 and the looming threat of T3

T2 is largely preventable and avoidable
slagging me off for saying so potentially condemns more people to the risk of amputations
and an increased risk of T3

NOTHING is as scary as T3 once you have read the scientific papers

So because the women in my dad's side are overweight it's because we have type 2 diabetes? Best stop taking insulin for type 1 then. Type 2 is a precursor to type 1 and can be controlled and possibly eliminated by diet alone. I'm not here for health advice,
I have a gp for that. I was simply stating that diabetes can cause weight gain and water retention in women. I eat when I'm hungry and if (like today) im not hungry I don't stuff myself to please others.

Talk1n of you knew half as much about T2 diabetes as you claim to you'd know one of the largest risk factors is GENETICS. Everyone is aware these days of the lifestyle factors, but you'd have us all believe it's solely down to sloth and gluttony.

You'd also know that people - particularly teenagers and young people - are resisting managing their T2 diabetes correctly as they are ashamed and have been stigmatised by quacks such as yourself. This phenomenon has been covered in the mainstream media precisely to raise awareness and reduce the negative health effects for those affected. It's all over Google if you'd care to look. Which of us exactly is putting people at risk?

what are your views on t3?

I do not use google for any scientific information : I use subscription edited magazines. they are more reliable

I've out on 25 pounds in the last 18 months without 'trying'- turns out I have an underactive thyroid. I eat way morr than a piece of toast but it is possible, especially if one has been overweight aong time or a yoyo dieter that hormones are actually contributing to the issue

I am on the more mature side, I have dieted and yo-yo'd most of my adult life and have never had the most level headed view of weight/food etc due to unrealistic pressure (internal and external). I used to lose weight easily, for the last decade I have found I retain weight, although I consciously haven't changed that much in my eating habits, that I am aware of, but it's a complicated area for many.. Get to 50+ after a life time of trying to be a size 12.. Take your eye of the ball + several other factors and maybe be a little offer a little empathy and genuine support

but underactive thyroid does not make you put on weight.
It just means you need less calories to stay the same weight

its entirely possible to be lean and hypothyroid - it just involves saying "no" no snacks and extra food
same with any medication or injury or lifestyle change

the medicine does not cause weight gain
not adjusting to it is what causes the weight gain

Iijkk- medical conditions mean your body uses the calories differently- a lack of thyroid hormone means the energy doesn't get into the cells and so you are tired but also alters metabolism so what you do eat gets stored as fat.
And it's not controlled by reducing calories ( whoever said that) it's controlled with medication to improve energy conversion.

I was making the point that Google is easily accessible so there's no excuse for not knowing the harm in what you're peddling, if you are indeed so well-informed.

I don't have an opinion on T3. It's not something I'm especially interested in. However I am interested in calling out misinformation which fosters prejudice and damages or shames both loved ones and strangers.

Maybe offer a little..

Tk1- the medication makes you lose weight as it provides the body with what it's missing to convert food to energy rather than fat. Yes you could eat less and not gain weight but you'd still suffer fatigue, hairliss, brain fog and be prone to diabetes... Why? No one should have to live on lettuce and feel crap....

I don't have an opinion on T3. It's not something I'm especially interested in.
Really, honestly, you do not care about the risk of getting T3 ???????
Blimey
Few diseases really scare me but T3 is the reason I'm really strict about what I eat.

Talkin it doesn't work like that with cushings. No matter how little you eat, the cortisol eventually means you expand around the abdomen and head. Believe me, I've been eating 1000 calories per day and still getting "wider".

Sorry, I'm lucky in that I have no reason to fear diabetes any more than I might fear being hit by a bus. Again, I am extremely grateful and consider myself lucky. As a societal phenomenon I'll take your word for it that it's worrying.

If your Mum is on medication for her diabetes such as metformin then YES it can most certainly make her gain weight . She needs to go back and see her diabetic specialist nurse to discuss it .

Found this www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2769828/ it confirms that Alzheimer's is now considered to be T3 diabetes. Fascinating stuff.

The pain medications Gabapentin and Lyrica do put on weight - two dress sizes in my case and when I stopped them the weight fell off without dieting. Was the weight water or fat, I don't know but I have never otherwise had weight issues and ate the same way right through this, so some large people are big because of medication

Thyroid probe can increase weithe, but not to that extend. Just Google all the nasty ingredients in bread (hair for example), and nasty palm oil in practically everything - I have lost loads of weight by not eating those things, I just eat as much natural, organic food as poss and avoid all processed stuff, hard at first but remember the junk they put in food and have will power.

Had a family member like this who actually did have a medical condition that made them fat though

What is that condition? I'm interested because doctors I know have never heard of it. Underactive thyroid doesn't even have this effect.

If you look at genuinely starving people do you ever see a fat one?