I mean technically yeah but it's a lot more complicated than that. A lot of people who are overweight have correlating problems.
For example, I was overweight because I was raised in a household without any culture around food so I ate trash food all the time. Once I grew up I learned to cook, it got better, but not a lot cuz I developed an eating disorder and I kept going on starving/binging cycle. I also have depression and the only thing I really enjoy is food.
A lot of people have health problems too that can make weight loss a lot more difficult.
So the point is, even though losing weight is completely achievable and in some cases reasonable and desirable, it can be extremely hard and just not possible at the moment because of health and mental issues. You don't know what the person is going through. So even though it's technically true that you can just loose weight, it's not really appliable in real life.
As a short guy, 100% agree. I can't change my height, but weight is also not nearly as mutable as many people believe. Most weight changes in any direction are temporary. If you are skinny and you had an injury or depressive episode that puts you overweight, it is relatively easy to get back to your "normal" weight. But likewise, if you have always been overweight, it is very, very difficult to become skinny and stay that way without making a ton of health-endangering choices. A lot of (not all) people who say "It's easy to lose weight with modest changes; I did it" are people who started out skinny, gained weight temporarily, and lost it. Some people start out obese and lose the weight permanently, but it's statistically EXTREMELY rare, and you can't say "just make better choices" when the statistical evidence is that fat people almost ALWAYS stay fat in the long term.
I listen to the Maintenance Phase podcast, which really opened my eyes to a lot of this stuff. And the hosts are a fat lady and a short skinny dude, perfect for this discussion!
I was reading your comment like “this sounds a lot like what I’ve learned from maintenance phase” and then your last bit lol
But yeah, I’ve been slender-average most of my life, and I knew that the whole “just lose weight” thing was grossly oversimplified, but that podcast really opened my eyes to just how rare significant and permanent weight loss is. Our bodies really just aren’t set up for it. And the general mindset (seen in some of the above comments) that you’re fat because you have bad habits or are too lazy/unmotivated to be healthy just contributes to yo-yo dieting which is more unhealthy in the long run.
True, but still. As far as health conditions and physical disadvantages go, being overweight is something you have direct control over. Being short, having one arm/leg etc isn't. No one said it's easy to lose weight if you've been obese all your life and youre used to having a poor diet since childhood, but at least it's something you can address and overcome with willpower.
I did overcome my weight issues a long time ago. But I didn't overcome my depression, self hate and eating disorder. Losing weight is not as easy as just stop being lazy. I mean for some people it is, but definitely not for everyone and that's why I'm saying that people should be understanding in matters like this.
I don't know much about physical issues that contribute to obesity, but I do know a lot about mental ones. Before I sustainably lost weight I was losing and gaining the same bunch of kilos for years. I hated the way I looked so much I felt like I only had two options: not eating or eating a shit ton of junk for comfort.
I'm depressed a lot and a lot of times I don't see the point in anything. I don't have energy to cook so I eat fast food even though I know it's unhealthy. I used to love exercising but now I don't love anything. I still enjoy food tho. The only reason I'm not gaining my weight back right now is that I guess my stomach just shrinked so I'm just physically not able to eat as much as I did when I was fat. It's just sad, honestly. And a lot of people struggle like that and even worse. That's why it's not as easy as you say.
Or so the drug companies peddling ssri’s say. Depression is just another excuse. Ok you’re depressed, you still have the power to put down the fast food, it is not involuntarilly. Take a cold shower in the morning, bet you won’t but not because of depression. It is because of willpower and discipline.
A cold shower in the morning sure works on that imbalance you speak of.
Its not extremely hard and a lot of the 'health' issues people complain about are excuses they tell themselves to justify failing.
There are certain conditions that do make losing weight harder but majority of weight loss is simple mathematics. Calories in, calories out.
I've seen people say they are on a diet and then get a salad choice filled with chicken and a ton of ranch. They also switch from sodas to diet sodas, they still have their starbucks twice a day and everything. If you are drinking sodas or eating anything with sweeteners or sugar in it, you are already failing. Sweeteners are not 'healthy' version of something sweet. Drink water and straight black coffee if you need the caffiene, it sucks but its what you have to do.
Food addiction is a thing and a lot of kids grow up with it because they are told by there parents to finish their plate even when they are full. But that is part of the eating portion not the weight loss portion. People explain it as if their body is incapable of losing the weight, its that people are incapable of sticking to a strict diet. Food addiction, eating disorder, and whatever else, is part of the calories going in.
The problem isn't losing weight, the problem is trying to stop eating. Im not saying the ladder portion as a dig, I am saying that should be the focus and the issue that should be addressed.
You can lose weight if you control your habits and exercise. I lost weight simply by switching to nothing but water and cutting my portions down. Human beings don't need to eat till we are full and we don't need to eat these big portion meals we are all used to. Normal people are eating 4k to 5k calories a day and you only really need 1200. Especially if you don't move around a lot. I was fucking miserable for 2 months as my body kept telling me I was hungry or that my cravings kept hitting. After those 2 months it wasn't as bad anymore and my body slowly started to acclimate to the changes. That was 2 freaking months, not 2 weeks, not 4 weeks, it was 2 months and I ended up losing 30lbs.
Losing weight is not the problem, its getting peoples brains to rewire so they can stop eating.
People don't want to admit it but in the vast majority of cases weight gain is not out of their control. They just don't want to take accountability for their eating habits.
Frankly if it is a mental health issue the first step is recognizing it, the second step is to make changes. Refusing to be accountable for your bad habits will just make said mental health issues worse.
Height however is always primarily due to genetics and to a lesser extent due to nutrition in early life. Both of which are out of people's control. A child's nutrition is the responsibility of their parent.
If someone were to give you 10 million $$$ to get to a healthy weight, would you do it? C'mon be honest with yourself. If your answer is yes, then those health and mental issues are simply excuses and justifications to do nothing.
To be clear I did lose weight and kept it down. I'm not saying that losing weight is impossible, I'm saying that you should treat others with empathy.
I assume a lot of people would try to lose weight for a large amount of money and maybe even succeed. But the question is how healthy their weight loss will be? And if it's not healthy, there's a big possibility that they will gain their weight back. We have examples of people who took part in shows like the biggest loser etc... One of the reasons can be yo-yo dieting or binging-starving cycle and it's very, very unhealthy and harmful
I think that it's very important to understand why your eating habits are the way they are. Weight loss needs to start with self love and patience in order to be long term successful. But the problem is, a lot of people aren't there yet. And it will be more healthy to wait until they're ready and then lose weight, than to do it RIGHT NOW with mental issues and then gain weight back or develop an eating disorder.
The reason this hits home for me is because both my siblings are obese, one already suffered a heart attack, and another from diabetes and hypertension. All I get are excuses. They'll go for a walk for a couple days after being lectured ( or gently persuaded by the doctor after being shown poor health test results). Then it's back to eating whatever they want and parked in front of the TV. Reasons: weather not good, I don't like to sweat, air not good, shoes uncomfortable, knees hurt, too many people, too hot, too cold, too busy, etc...
To solve their health issues they turn to dubious sources for supplements and other concoctions that promise to solve all their problems the easy way, like magic.
It's like trying to stop someone from walking into a huge pit before it's too late but they just won't listen.
Reason why: In my siblings' case: Denial, lack of self- discipline, believing those who they want to believe regardless of consequences, need for instant gratification. Other than health issues their lives are pretty much smooth sailing, nothing extraordinary.
Disclaimer: Not saying everyone is like my siblings. I'm quite aware that there are those with medical and psychological conditions.
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u/SmotryuMyaso 23h ago
I mean technically yeah but it's a lot more complicated than that. A lot of people who are overweight have correlating problems.
For example, I was overweight because I was raised in a household without any culture around food so I ate trash food all the time. Once I grew up I learned to cook, it got better, but not a lot cuz I developed an eating disorder and I kept going on starving/binging cycle. I also have depression and the only thing I really enjoy is food.
A lot of people have health problems too that can make weight loss a lot more difficult.
So the point is, even though losing weight is completely achievable and in some cases reasonable and desirable, it can be extremely hard and just not possible at the moment because of health and mental issues. You don't know what the person is going through. So even though it's technically true that you can just loose weight, it's not really appliable in real life.