Should All Obese People Lose Weight?

[BigNick]

It's OK to give up -- perhaps you can't lose weight at this point. But deciding that it is healthy is denial.

+1. I was particularly surprised by this comment:

Should All Obese People Lose Weight? No. Obesity can be caused by hormonal problems for example (hypothyroidism). Nothing to do with lifestyle choices.

Obesity is caused by calorie intake exceeding calorie consumption. That can, in turn, be caused, in some cases, by diagnosable medical conditions. But then you might wonder, walking [-]down the street[/-] into McDonald's, why people in Houston seem to be about five times as susceptible as people in Portland to hypothyroidism. The vast majority of obese people eat too much, especially empty carbs, and take too little exercise. There's only a very small amount of room in the "hormone disorder" section.

So "should" all obese people lose weight? Only if they want to. But neither should they be encouraged to make out like they're universally the victim of something beyond their control.

 

[haha]

I believe that our opinions very frequently outrun our knowledge. It's like driving fast at night, not realizing that something out in the blackness may be going to cause a crash, but we have no idea because our driving has insufficient information from out headlights.

Whole Health Source: Food Palatability and Body Fatness: Clues from Alliesthesia

Ha

 

[Ronstar]

The answer to the OP's question should be "yes". The fit should say "yes" to help keep their own health care costs in check. The obese should say "yes" to avoid the coming "fat tax".

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/30/magazine/30letters-t-001.html?ref=magazine

 

[Purron]

I like big men. My DH is a big guy - 6'2" and a big frame. Not obese, but bigger than the charts say he should be. Part of it is muscle mass and part is "padding". His health is good and he's lost about 15 pounds since he retired. Gradual - mainly due to more physical activity and better food. I mainly want him to be healthy and happy. I wouldn't find him more attractive if he was thin. Health is the most important thing and I like him fine just as he is.

 

[Ronnieboy]

I don't like highly salted food -- just can't stand the taste. I'd like the convenience of frozen dinners, if they were palatable. Even low sodium versions are too salty for me. I think they must use other additives in those to satisfy the prevailing taste for extremely salty foods.

I love salt.

I put salt on my salt.

I have Pepsi and salt running through my veins

 

[braumeister]

In a truly progressive society, the government would provide the appropriate incentives for the overweight to share their pounds with the underweight. Redistribution of avoirdupois.

Can you imagine the bureaucrats, swaggering into your home and unholstering their tape measures?

And the loopholes: "Well, your extra five pounds are OK for now, because I can see this is a legitimate 'Dear John' letter, but we'll be back next month."

And the special treatment inserted into Congressional bills: "CEOs of corporations in Missouri that have contributed over $1M to the Republicrat Senatorial Support Committee are exempt from mandatory weigh-ins until the next election season."

Nothing more elaborate than our current income tax regulations, so it ought to be easy enough to implement, don't you think?

 

[Moemg]

I would venture that if women preferred overweight men, a great many of us would be overweight.

.

Ha

I am another woman who likes big men .If they are chubby or even bigger and have an English accent I'm head over heels .

 

[travelover]

I am another woman who likes big men .If they are chubby or even bigger and have an English accent I'm head over heels .

Each to their own. After my divorce, I was delighted to find out that some women like bald men.

 

[W2R]

Each to their own. After my divorce, I was delighted to find out that some women like bald men.

So true, so true.....

 

[floridanurse]

everyone that is fat is like that because they consume nutritionally deficient chemical filled processed crap.

eat a carrot. consume REAL food. actually real living food. fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds. there is no species of living being on this earth that 'cooks' its food. and we are no exception.

its the reason we have such horrible disease including obesity.

Watch the movie Forks Over Knives, Food Inc, King Corn, Ingredients, etc. The truth is coming out. watch the documentaries.

now, should fat being lose weight? no, I want to have a job until I RE in 2024. so keep eating your fast food and drinking those chemicals you call soda. The only liquid a human should consume is water. period. If it is created in a laboratory it is bad for you.

the evidence is out there. cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, etc. It is going to bankrupt our country. period.

 

[Nemo2]

everyone that is fat is like that because they consume nutritionally deficient chemical filled processed crap.

eat a carrot. consume REAL food. actually real living food. fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds. there is no species of living being on this earth that 'cooks' its food. and we are no exception.

its the reason we have such horrible disease including obesity.

Watch the movie Forks Over Knives, Food Inc, King Corn, Ingredients, etc. The truth is coming out. watch the documentaries.

now, should fat being lose weight? no, I want to have a job until I RE in 2024. so keep eating your fast food and drinking those chemicals you call soda. The only liquid a human should consume is water. period. If it is created in a laboratory it is bad for you.

the evidence is out there. cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, etc. It is going to bankrupt our country. period.

+1

 

[flyfishnevada]

I like big men. My DH is a big guy - 6'2" and a big frame. Not obese, but bigger than the charts say he should be. Part of it is muscle mass and part is "padding". His health is good and he's lost about 15 pounds since he retired. Gradual - mainly due to more physical activity and better food. I mainly want him to be healthy and happy. I wouldn't find him more attractive if he was thin. Health is the most important thing and I like him fine just as he is.

My DW would agree with most of that. Besides, I'm not fat, I'm cute and cuddly.

everyone that is fat is like that because they consume nutritionally deficient chemical filled processed crap.

eat a carrot. consume REAL food. actually real living food. fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds. there is no species of living being on this earth that 'cooks' its food. and we are no exception.

its the reason we have such horrible disease including obesity.

Watch the movie Forks Over Knives, Food Inc, King Corn, Ingredients, etc. The truth is coming out. watch the documentaries.

now, should fat being lose weight? no, I want to have a job until I RE in 2024. so keep eating your fast food and drinking those chemicals you call soda. The only liquid a human should consume is water. period. If it is created in a laboratory it is bad for you.

the evidence is out there. cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, etc. It is going to bankrupt our country. period.

I think you confuse the fact that many obese people have terrible eating and exercise habits and therefore suffer from the above mentioned diseases with the idea that simply being overweight causes them. I will not defend being overweight, but you paint with too broad a brush. EVERYONE is not fat because they eat processed food. Some eat way too much unprocessed foods, but not all. You can't put everyone in the same basket and call it good. That's kind of the point of the whole article.

if that were so, all smokers would die of lung cancer, all drinkers, liver disease, and so on. But they do not, just like all overweight people do not die of heart attacks or strokes.

As for the societal cost, it is only because as a nation we have decided to try and nationalize healthcare over the last 80 years or so that we have the problem of paying for everyone's risky behavior. Like in braumeister's tongue in check post, then the government needs to curb our behavior, in effect take away our freedom to live how we see fit. Right, wrong or indifferent, that is a cost of this kind of nationalized medicine.

 

[Purron]

everyone that is fat is like that because they consume nutritionally deficient chemical filled processed crap.

OK.....so you have figured out how everyone who is fat got that way.

now, should fat being lose weight? no, I want to have a job until I RE in 2024. so keep eating your fast food and drinking those chemicals you call soda.

And you don't think "now, should fat being lose weight?". After all, if they die, your future job prospects will be that much brighter. Just an unexpected comment from someone with the handle of "floridanurse".

 

[GregLee]

Right, wrong or indifferent, that is a cost of this kind of nationalized medicine.

Obesity in the US has been caused by nationalized medicine?

 

[M Paquette]

Obesity in the US has been caused by nationalized medicine?

I believe it was Abe Simpson that said: "I remember the day so clearly. I was wearing a yellow onion on my belt as that was the style of the day. We didn't have white onions because of the war. The Kaiser had stolen all of our insurance salesmen, and had forced us to use nationalized medicine. It was a sad day for our country, as the troops had all ballooned up and we were reduced to drafting fourteen year old boys. Now, I was taking the ferry to Shelbyville, which cost three bees, which was what we were calling nickels then on account of the war."

 

[flyfishnevada]

Obesity in the US has been caused by nationalized medicine?

No, the fact that you have to pay for other people's health problem, as asserted by floridanurse, has been. Or that was my assertion, if in fact you are all responsible for the cost of other peoples illnesses.

Medical insurance is one of the few insurance products that does not take risk into account. I don't have to get a physical, take a test, or anything. If I am healthy, for instance, I pay the same rate in most plans as the guy next to me that smokes 2 packs a day, has high cholesterol and blood pressure and drinks bourbon by the gallon. I pay an averaged amount to cover his poor choices. that doesn't happen in auto, homeowners or life insurance. My risk determines my rate.

None of this changes the fact that I am fat but healthy and will likely remain that way to one extent or another and that fact may or may not affect my long term health in some manner, depending on who you listen too. Since getting a grant to study just about anything is apparently incredibly easy I suspect that many more will be done on this subject and I will likely ignore the ones I don't like and and make posts on forums about the ones I do so people can have stimulating discussions about things they know very little about but have still formed very strong opinions. Isn't this the 21st century version of sitting on your porch and complaining all day about the government?

 

[GregLee]

Isn't this the 21st century version of sitting on your porch and complaining all day about the government?

I believe it is.

 

[kyounge1956]

They choose their build with their actions, even if it is not an intentional choice.

I don't agree. My parents eat the same, exercise the same and in general live the same. One of them is overweight and the other isn't. How did the heavier parent "choose" anything the slimmer one didn't?

 

[haha]

I am another woman who likes big men .If they are chubby or even bigger and have an English accent I'm head over heels .

Moe, you are tempting me, but I think I'll try to resist.

All that extra food would likely nauseate me.

Ha

 

[Lancelot]

I am another woman who likes big men .If they are chubby or even bigger and have an English accent I'm head over heels .

Hey Moemg, there is no shortage of Well Nourished British lads here in Thailand. FYI

 

[pimpmyretirement]

I don't agree. My parents eat the same, exercise the same and in general live the same. One of them is overweight and the other isn't. How did the heavier parent "choose" anything the slimmer one didn't?

It's impossible to say with so little information. A few possible scenarios:

They match portions and activity levels, but the wife has a smaller frame

The wife does the majority of the housework, getting daily activity the husband doesn't

The husband golfs, meanwhile the wife knits

The husband needs a soda with every meal, the wife drinks tea
​

500 calories a day is the difference between being a normal weight and 30-40lbs over weight. It doesn't take much of a lifestyle difference to create that.

 

[BigNick]

It's impossible to say with so little information. A few possible scenarios:

They match portions and activity levels, but the wife has a smaller frame

The wife does the majority of the housework, getting daily activity the husband doesn't

The husband golfs, meanwhile the wife knits

The husband needs a soda with every meal, the wife drinks tea
​

500 calories a day is the difference between being a normal weight and 30-40lbs over weight. It doesn't take much of a lifestyle difference to create that.

I saw a UK TV show where they tracked a family who were all *huge* but claimed (approximately) to eat only lean chicken breast, green beans, and organic brown rice. They were secretly filmed as they went about their day. Every chance DW got (she was a mail carrier; I don't remember what DH did, but he was up to the same sort of thing), she was running into a store for a candy bar or bag of potato chips. She ate three or four 200-calories snacks per day. Total and utter denial.

 

[Nemo2]

she was running into a store for a candy bar or bag of potato chips. She ate three or four 200-calories snacks per day. Total and utter denial.

On our compound in Riyadh there was one particular woman who was large......naah, she was huge........and who kept repeating that she ate very little.

On one occasion my late wife and a bunch of other women were over at her place, preparing for some function or other, and my wife, looking for something in the kitchen, opened up a cupboard......which was stuffed with boxes of Snickers bars....boxes of them.

I don't think the woman was deliberately lying.....rather she actually believed that she hardly ate.

 

[pimpmyretirement]

Another way of looking at this, is being 40 pounds overweight allows for a safe consumption rate of 2 candy bars a day. That's over 700 candy bars a year. What a return on investment!

 

[rescueme]

"Should All Obese People Lose Weight?"

Only the fat ones ...

I can say that; been there, done that ...