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?

With eating, yes, not without. Can someone who believes that you can put on weight not eating anything please explain what they think that weight would be made of?

Water, in the case of oedema. And yes overweight people are still eating - but the point is you can eat much less than the person next to you and still put on weight if you have certain conditions/have to take certain medications. Weird passive aggression on this thread.

I agree that most people's weight problems are to do with "overeating" but some are just overeating for them as opposed to overeating objectively - and the right level of food intake for them is tiny. That's really hard to manage and means it's a lifelong battle. My mother is one of them and no she doesn't overeat, or drink. Her calorie intake is about 1000 per day on average and she's significantly overweight. But I bet you are already looking for reasons why it's her fault.

Not in the slightest. I've had significant weight fluctations due to thyroid issues myself, I know all about it.

I'm merely on the side of physics and refuting those who are arguing that you can put on lots of weight while eating pretty much nothing. You can't, it isn't physically possible.

Is her skin green? If so she has chlorophyll and is converting sunlight. If not green, then there is no where else it can come from!

Not eating for 3 days isn't comfortable but it won't go landing you in hospital. What tosh. I've been 6 days without eating and done 3-4 days many times in the past and I've never ended up in hospital for it.

I was starving and hated every moment of it but I had no choice, I can't leave the house without a carer and was living in an area were I couldn't order online. There was no food in the house and my carer's were away, so I went without.

That's why I'm in love with Amazon Prime - I never go hungry now but sometimes I skip a day eating as I am in too much pain to make anything.

The human body can survive 3 weeks without food, 3 days isn't much at all.

User

As backing pointed out any condition that causes oedema ca

Posted too soon

Can cause weight gain without eating.

I've been 6 days without eating and done 3-4 days many times in the past and I've never ended up in hospital for it

6 days without eating ANYTHING? And perfectly fine?

I don't think so.

And oedema isn't the same thing, there is a limit and at certain point will need medical attention. People are talking about putting up fat without eating.

No. You said weight not fat. That's what we are responding too. And BTW oedema can be chronic.

Yes but you and others have said you couldnt gain weight without eating but myself and others have pointed out that it's perfectly possible.

Actually I specifically mentioned fat in my first two posts on the subject.

If you want to go on pretending that people don't eat for a week and yet still get bigger and bigger, go ahead, it no odds to me.

And type 2 diabetes is influenced by genetics, ethnicity, age and even gender. Not just lifestyle.
Funny that Diabetes UK (in the link above) do not agree with your opinion

Ta1kin

You've just made yourself look ignorant there. There are countless sources back my assertion that genetics, age, ethnicity etc... can all inflence if someone becomes diabetic. Yes including Diabetes UK!

User

No one is pretending. I and other posters referred to that specific post of yours.

It's a medical that you can put significant amounts of weight on by having medical conditions that cause oedema even without eating.

diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/content/62/5/1369

We are only at the very beginning of our understanding of all this but genetics and lifestyle are both part of the t2 story it seems.

User1474627704 I can go 3 days without any food so don't be calling me a liar because you don't know my reasons behind why I eat the way I do and no I'm not ill. I do get sick a lot because of the way I eat. But please feel free to come and live with me and then judge me 9 ways to Sunday for it until then you don't know the reasons behind it so do one.

No. You said weight not fat. That's what we are responding too. And BTW oedema can be chronic

But even though people say 'weight' they will always mean 'have more body fat' because that's what people worry about - excess fat making them unhealthy or look overweight.

It's just that most people measure their mass, which isn't always the best way of monitoring fat levels as it is also possible to increase water or muscle mass and be heavier but not fatter.

Perhaps the people who defy the laws of physics by getting fatter without eating excess calories need to put themselves forward for research into alternative methods of energy generation because they have obviously identified a source that the people looking into wind, solar, wave power etc haven't thought of yet .

I would say that in almost all cases of people putting on weight, it's because they are taking in more calories than they are expending.

However, my dad has heart failure. Last year he started getting bigger and bigger, but gradually, so it wasn't noticeable for a while. He likes his food and has always ben a bit overweight, but he lost his appetite and really wasn't eating very much. Yet he still put on weight. He then developed breathing diffifulties and was admitted to hospital where he was diagnised with odoema caused by heart failure.

He was in hospital for weeks whilst they got rid of the fluid and came out 20kgs lighter.

As I said above, weight gain is almost always about eating too much but in some cases - like my dad - it is possible to not be eating very much and put on weight because of fluid retention.

FIL has diabetes. Anything with sodium makes him swell up and retain fluids which causes other medical problems. That could easily be a problem for your DM.

But honestly, if she only ate a piece of toast, she'd end up in the hospital due to low blood sugar.

It's probably a half truth, she's not eating very much, but still ballooning up because of fluid retention.

We seem to go by the idea that fat people eat rubbish all day long and that isn't necessarily true. 100 surplus calories a day will add up to nearly a pound a month and it's shockingly easy to do even on an otherwise healthy diet. If they are never creating a calorie deficit none of the damage is undone and over a few years the person will become overweight, despite eating little more than their slim friend does. If the effects of slightly overeating showed up soon and drastically it would be easier to see where we are going wrong but it doesn't, it's a slow creep.

That's why apps like My Fitness Pal work so well. You log everything you eat and can see where the surplus calories are coming from and how best to cut them.