Seven...

Well, let's just face it. Reasoned, intelligent discussion obviously isn't as "fun" as making a remark like....


I usually find after a poster makes a remark like that, especially when it's obvious they didn't really bother to read the post to which they are supposedly responding, it is best to just put that poster in my own personal mental ignore filter. Little good comes from reading any further.

Having said that......I don't want anyone to think I'm saying every obese person is suffering from hypothyroidism. They are NOT. Many who CLAIM to be suffering from some genetic or congential condition haven't even been diagnosed as such. And they use it as an excuse for their obesity because they don't have the commitment to "eating right (not necessarily less) and getting more exercise". I know that exists.

My son went to college weighing 247lbs in August. On December, he was 217. He'd lost 40 pounds by exercising. He wasn't even eating right (can't stay away from fast food). But the exercising experienced in the marching band and participating in ROTC PT (physical training) alone kicked 40 lbs off of him. NOW if we can encourage him to "eat right" the other 10lbs will come off.

However....while in MANY cases..."eat right and exercise more" is all it takes......in many others....it will take more than that and require medical intervention or guidance. Just wanted to clarify.

Instead of exercising we now look for fat free ice cream in the grocery stores or drink diet coke and that doesn't help our bodies because we were made to run and gather food.

The comment was DEFINITELY uncalled for, so don't let it get you down. It sounds like you're taking the right steps and receiving the correct guidance for dealing with your weight. I pray that you continue to be committed to whatever lifestyle change and regimine is required. You're on you way to a healthier and happier life! Stay Strong!!!!!

*nutrion expert and cancer prevention specialist

This is GREAT info. Thanks for sharing. You'll notice that he interjected, " [color:"blue"] to a large extent [/color] ". Why? Because it's not ALWAYS the case. So.....and AGAIN......while MANY of today's obese citizens are so as a result of over-eating and a sedentary lifestyle.....there ARE those who have metabolic conditions, such as hypothyroidism who require more than "eating less and exercising more". While the latter group is outweighed by the former....they ARE on the map. They should not be scorn for being lazy cheesecake eaters!

My sheltie was UNDERfed and OVERexercised (worn OUT when we were done because he was underfed), and was STILL overweight until being put on thyroxine.

I understand, but how many shelties in the sheltie community are overweight in the first place?

I don't know what you're trying to say here. But, earlier you stated that at the rate we were going, 100% of people in this country would be obese. What a ridiculous claim. May I suggest familiarizing yourself with the way that numbers and statistics can actually help to illuminate a fact, rather than to overstate and mislead. You see, when you make an outrageous claim that reeks of falsehood, you discredit EVERYTHING else you say.

Please learn how to listen and make a worthwhile and ACCURATE contribution.

thank you............and good luck.

Right, seven - and notice that I was NOT claiming any sort of metabolic disorder at all. I never have. I did not realize what a problem I had been causing myself until I went to the Johns Hopkins Weight Management Center, and this is information they have backed up my medical studies they and others have done.

What it comes down to is that consistently taking in less than a certain amount of calories - they say 800 is the "starvation level" where this occurs - causes the body to go into starvation mode, where it thinks it is in a famine situation, and it cranks down the metabolism. At that point, your body starts trying to conserve every calorie that comes in and save as much of it as it possibly can as fat. You end up being a lot more tired, it's harder to exercise, because your body doesn't want to give up those calories to give energy to burn. And it becomes thrifty. Your body, as much as it is able, converts from being a gas-guzzling Hummer to a Prius or something. <img src="/ubbt/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Of course, how well it does that depends on the body...see, I should be proud. My body is VERY energy efficient. If I were a car or a furnace, it would be great. As a human, not so good.

So, a big part of this has been learning what kind of diet keeps my body's metabolism going the best, while keeping me feeling full on the least amount of calories. And learning that I have to eat ENOUGH calories so my body doesn't go getting all efficient on me again! But it has to be calories of the right kinds of foods. And I can't argue with it - at 5 months and over 70 pounds, this is both the longest and largest amount of weight loss I've ever sustained. Plus, it feels different this time. This time, I have more energy, I feel better... this way of eating just agrees well with my body. I WANT to exercise now... I want to walk and get out and move...that's a big change too.

The point here is - there doesn't have to be a metabolic disorder for the metabolism to be affected at times. This is why I went with a medically supervised plan. I needed to find out what was really going on with me. Obviously, going it alone just wasn't working, and I needed help.

pieta may have been rough with the cheesecake comment, but it does hold true when you look at America's weight problem at large.

Sure some people may have more to do than simply "eat less and exercise more" but that doesn't explain why Americans in general are so fat now does it?

All this talk has me hungry now.

If that is a real question...many are overweight, because they are small dogs (18 -22 lbs), and their owners over-feed. But it's not the NORM. It floats both ways.

re: cheesecake

I have a friend with a lifetime weight problem. I've seen here eat stuff over the years that blows me away. Once a 16 ounce bag of M and M's. Another time it was 1/2 a whole cheese cake. This is a cake that if you divided it by portion size of 400 calories, it would serve an entire Italian Bridal Shower and there would still be enough left over for the old ladies to plate up and take home.

Ocasionally over the 30 years I've known her she has gone to Weight Watcher's Meetings or some other program. She always says the same thing: "I can't eat all the food they tell me I have to eat."

The reason is she is so used to eating rich foods that a normal whole, healthy diet does not agree with her palate. She eventually loses interest in the food and goes back to her cheesecake and M and Ms.

Ok, statistics say that a great portion of Americans are overweight.
My personal point is that means a lot of posters on this site are significantly overweight. Why they are overweight is something they need to figure out. In the meantime, being disrespectful, mocking them, making jokes or anything else is simply not acceptable.
Address the core of the issue instead of pointing out the obvious fact of the problem. What exactly is anyone who is doing that hoping to accomplish? What is it? Your spouse is overweight and you want LB em by telling they are fat disgusting pigs that you cannot possibly love, or do you want to tell them that their health and appearance are important to you and you would love to be supportive to them as they address the issue.

Please. Just stop with trying to justify making fun of people who have eating disorders and are fat. I don't see anyone here pewling about how thin someone is or someone who is vomiting everytime they eat something.
To some of you, overweight people are still targets of fun and you feel ok about demeaning them on the basis of something that actually makes up a very small part of who they really are and what they have to offer.

Knock it off, quit the verbal abuse and quit trying to steal other people's dignity to make yourselves feel better.

UHHHH.....no.....but......I don't believe I was explaining why Americans in general are so fat. Maybe someone else was expounding on that question. I was explaining ONLY that "eat less and exercise more" is not ALWAYS the simple resolution. That for SOME...it's more than that. And that's factual. We can't just generalize obese people as lazy, over-eating, cheescake stuffers. That's my point. and I'm NOT making excuses. I'm 5'6", 126 lbs soaking wet! I just like to see accurate info posted here. That's all.

Great Post Crimson! GREAT POST!

So what you've done then, is to take this one set of isolated experiences and projected them onto your belief system to encompass all of America's weight problem. Please, please, please, for your own sake, learn how to think logically. Your rationale is just so specific to you and your "friend". How does that possibly begin to explain EVERYONE ELSE'S experience?

it doesn't explain EVERYBODY ELSE'S experience.
but, it might help somebody.

Ok, and because you've seen this in your friend, that justifies your comment to me.... how?

In my case, sometimes, I just don't get hungry, and I forget to eat some of my supplements. I get to the end of the day, and I still need to eat my meal plus 2 or 3 supplements, and it may not look like much food to many people, but it's a huge amount to me, because I am not eating that much these days. And really, it isn't good to do it that way either - I should be spreading it out througout the day. Some days I just sucked it up and kept eating... but there have been a number of days when I just didn't eat all I was supposed to. The weeks I didn't eat as much as I was supposed to are the weeks I lost LESS weight usually. I'm getting better about it these days - trying to be more concious about when and what I've eaten, but when I don't get hungry, it's hard.

And I know I'm not the only person with weight problems who has gotten themselves to this point - who eats so little that the metabolism drops, and then eats something high calorie and retains pretty much all of it. If anyone wants to know how to GAIN weight, I can probably help you out. I think I know all the tricks at this point. Not that I was trying... usually I found them out trying to LOSE the weight.

But I was trying to make a serious point about how people's bodies and experiences can differ, and you made that kind of disparaging remark.

If you look through, no where here have I cast blame on anyone else...the closest I've come is to say that when I was in the middle of the pain from the emotional abuse from my now-XH, there was no way I was ready to give up using food as a comfort, it just wasn't possible at that time. And that some of that weight gain was probably at least indirectly his fault... but that blame doesn't really matter, because who's to blame doesn't fix the problem.

And if you look through, what I have talked about here is ways I have worked on this. Since it does seem to be working for me now, I kind of like sharing it, with hope that maybe something in here will be helpful to someone. And whether you agree or not, the emotional part of it was key. In fact, getting myself straightened out emotionally had to come first. Without that, nothing in the world could have gotten me into the weight management plan, eating right, starting to exercise, or any of it.

And at the point I've made it to now, things other people say, such as some of the things you've said here, won't affect me. They won't deter me from my goals in the least. But I can say that a year ago, when I was just barely regaining my self esteem, reading something like that, that little voice in my head, the one we all have in there somewhere, would have been saying "see, what's the point, even when you try all you get is nasty comments from people, why even bother."

And the gym... again, I've toughened up, and don't care anymore, but there are a lot of fat people who don't exercise because the second they put on exercise clothes and go the gym, or even out for a walk, and start working up a sweat, they know they are going to hear comments like "Sheesh, look how much that pig sweats," "Look at the blubber on that one," or maybe no comments, just the stares and the friends poking each other and pointing as you go by when they think you can't see them anymore (hint: just because I'm fat doesn't mean my peripheral vision doesn't work!) Yeah, that really makes me want to run right out and do a few laps around the block.

The point is - the derogatory and sarcastic remarks won't motivate anyone. The people who aren't doing anything to change their situation have reasons behind why they aren't doing anything, and the remarks you're making won't change that. And remarks like that only serve to de-motivate those who ARE trying to make the changes in their lives.

Yes, well it may get the friend half way there. Recognition there is a problem. It turns out to be a toucgher fight than she thought it was. Let's go beyond "I didn't like the way it tasted" to why the friend is not relating to her own importance enough to take steps to take care of herself better. And THAT is the psychological part that has to be addressed before willpower/good eating habits can be fully uitilized.

In the meantime, sneering at her and shaking your head or putting her down will not help.

I mean, really, if I were some guy coming home from work, I would want 2 things : a decent meal and some quality time with my partner. So feed him a decent meal and convince him of how delightful it would be to take a walk so the two of you can spend quality time together and just enjoy each other in a shared activity.

That is, if it is really important to you.