If fat and happy why slender (with loose skin) and miserable ? Of course it can be done. See: National Weight Loss Registry. These are people who report having lost a minimum thirty pounds and kept it off for a minimum two years. These people survey themselves and report that: (A) they diet fastidiously (B) exercise obsessively (C) and never not think about food. In my world these are people who proudly brandish their eating disorders.
I think there's an issue of degree here. If someone is deemed overweight but is happy, healthy, and able to do things they want to do, more power to them. BMI doesn't seem very useful, and there's no reason to demand that we all have the same body type. Also, a lot of people who mock and shame fat people seem to do so for aesthetic reasons or their own insecurities rather than out of compassion or medical concerns. Of course, there are more extreme situations though where peoples' weight begins to interfere with their daily activities, making it difficult to move around, to fit in an airplane seat, etc. That becomes a quality of life issue and also affects others (e.g., the people sitting next to them). I don't think most people are genuinely happy when it gets to that point, but even in those cases, the people who are struggling deserve respect and not ridicule.
Good thread. Seems like most of the issues have been discussed. In - Out = Change in Storage seems like an easy rule. But biology has a way to complicate it. In you cut out In, your body has a tendency to cut down Out. If you force the equation by exercising and dieting, you can certainly lose weight. But then your body thinks you are starving, and when you take your eye off the ball, boom.... you shoot right back up. Then we have had some bad science telling us that fat was bad, and carbs were good. Now we are leaning back the other way. Folks still push whole grains... but they are still carbs. Then there is "diet food" and artificial sweeteners. Read the amount of calories in one of those "energy bars" ... they are not diet food! Artificial sweeteners push our sugar addiction buttons just like the real thing, and make you even hungrier. I've yoyo'ed a lot over the years, and plan to try it one more time after the holidays as my weight has pushed its way up to my "maximum tolerable" level again. My plan is to increase exercise (mainly for heart health), but to try to switch to a keto diet tied to some calorie counting. Wish me luck!
I have interviewed and declined work for American white women who who reported emotional pain and misery. One went 5-2 112 and professed to being miserable because her weight was “triple digits.” I turned down another who went 5-0 94 and wanted to lose ten pounds because her thighs were flabby. Preoccupation with weight is cultural and primarily American. Yes, there are the statistical outliers like the 300 to 400+ pounders. I know two who had their stomachs amputated. At last check both were ever so slowly returning to their previous corpulent shapes.
I see you putting your finger on why sustained weight loss is so damned difficult. Of possible interest: I’ve seen studies that suggest that people who gain weight, through adulthood, live longer than those who lose weight over adulthood. See: Obesity Paradox* *why call it a paradox if it’s a good thing ?
Based on the evidence, the body knows it’s optimal weight-range better than we do … BODY ENERGY HOMEOSTASIS It’s almost like there’s an ‘appestat” and an “exerstat.”
Yeah, those examples are certainly on the other end of the spectrum. Serious question if I'm reading your posts correctly. How do you view your role and how do you define success as a weight loss consultant if you don't believe that long term weight loss is achievable? Like what is a typical client and what are you telling them to do?
Fair question. I got out of the weight-loss industry as I didn’t want to ‘feed’ into the problem. Plus, how do you persuade people, who think they’re too fat, to pay you for telling them they’re not ?
Seems like two issues here to me. One would be in your efforts to filter out potential clients and work with only those who are on the more extreme end of the spectrum (perhaps 300 lbs and above) as opposed to healthy people who are obsessed about losing small amounts of weight to conform to beauty standards. I totally get that part and think that's not healthy. As to the second issue, it seems to me that even helping the people in the more extreme cases would be an exercise in futility if you don't believe there is any way for people in that group to achieve lasting results. Said another way, I'm wondering whether you would have gotten out of the industry anyway even assuming you had a long line of people weighing 350 or more wanting you to work with them.
I did advise a man remotely who weighed over 400 and lost fully half his body weight. I bailed and never had any interest in checking back with people as to their efforts to maintain weight loss. But as I mentioned, even the severely obese people I’ve known who resort to extreme and medically supervised strategies regain weight. I also worked with two severely obese diabetics. I had to first secure permission from their doctors who were of course onboard with the idea of weight loss. Both individuals attested that they did not experience precipitous weight gain until AFTER they were diagnosed. My experience and research buttresses my conviction that fat is a “thinking organ” that expands/contracts in response to stresses ranging from diet to developing diseases. I have come to believe that body shape is a deeper subject than we ever realized.
Continuing, neither have I witnessed the laziness that is typically imputed to obese people. I had a severely obese diabetic wear a pedometer for a week to get a baseline on her incidental activity. She worked at a day care center and on workdays registered between 7,000 and 11,000 steps a day. In the ten years I lived in Orlando the lady who jogged through my neighborhood, several times a week, served as a sort of metaphor for persistent adult weight gain. She got visibly heavier over the years.
I guess "fat and happy" was somewhat of an expression. I don't think one's happiness needs to be tied to their obesity or lack thereof. I think my main motivation is along the lines of mobility and longevity. Go GATORS! ,WESGATORS
I do understand the rationale. But I don’t see a correlation between body shape and mobility and longevity, except at the extreme end of the bell curve. I stopped doing mobility screening, for my obese clients, on finding that most of the women could bend over and touch their palms to the floor. Like rag dolls.
Americans harbor an almost snarling hatred of people who are fat Because fat people are gross. I think they are disgusting to look at as do a lot of people who watch their weight.
I'm considering buying a fitness/smart watch. Thought this was as good of a place to ask for thoughts as any. I would probably disable texts and emails anyway since I don't want yet another device to bother me with work stuff, so those things are not a priority to me. Friend of mine really likes his Sense 2. He thinks it's pretty accurate in terms of blood pressure, steps, and sleep data, but I'm a little skeptical about how accurate those might be? How many of these watches sync with apps such as Spotify, iPhone podcasts, or Audible so I could walk or go to the gym without needing to have my iPhone right there? Looks like the Sense 2, for example, does not support non Fitbit apps from what I have read. The Apple Watch Ultra 2 has solid reviews, and I generally really like Apple products. But I don't see myself paying anywhere near $800. Any watch people in here have thoughts?
I have an Apple Watch. Can’t think of what number now but it’s about 5 years old. I have the fitness app that links up with my phone. I imagine all do though now. Heck my scale links up with my phone and watch. I like the health app.
Absolutely love the watch for health purposes. I’m pretty adamant about closing all 3 rings every day. Keeps me from being lazy.
It’s an Apple Watch version 5. It still gets updates but is out of warranty. It was hard to find this info out. I only really use the health tracker app and apple wallet. Not having to carry a thick wallet of cards is a life changer.
