Maggie's Farm

If we were all the same then the answer would be the same for everyone. We are not allthe same. A large minority of humans are genetically predisposed to store fat far beyond any need in todays world. It may have been a good trait for hunter gatherers for tens of thousands of years but it isn't a good trait in a world of plenty.

Another large minority of humans simply don't have a wieght problem, they don't store excessive fat and probably if they had been born 3000 years ago they would have died in the first bad winter. But for these people the answer to the first groups problem seems easy; eat less food!! Makes perfect sense because it works for them so why shouldn't it work for everyone? But again we are not all the same.

The largest minority (or maybe even the majority) are neither obese or thin. They typically enjoy normal weight and normal energy levels until middle age or earlier. Then a combination of good food, sedentary life styles and work & family pushes their weight up slowly until they finally decide to go join a gym and have a fit and muscular 23 year old tell them what to do to look as good as they do. Of course that same 23 year old will too succumb to that inevitable creeping weight gain.

Thank you. You have essentially proved my point that those who do not have an obesity problem simply do not know what it is. Their simple conclusion is "gee, you must just be a gluton". It is indeed genetic. It isn't something they can control. I have to confess I too once thought that yself since I am blessed with a genetic predisposition to be thin. I eat four meal a day and a lot of junk food and my wieght is good and never changes. But Once I got to better understand friends and famiy who happen to be obese I realized that this wasn't gluttony or simply lack of caring what they looked like, it was a condition beyond their control just as much as any genetic illness.

If you are obese (350-400 lbs or more) you have a genetic problem. No one is obese simply because they sit at home eating bon bons all day.

Being overweight is a totally different issue. Anyone can be overweight and lose and gain back the weight with relative ease. Well almost anyone, there is indeed a minority of people who are thin and do not and cannot gain weight from simply eating or lack of excercise.

Being overweight is not really a significant issue except to our self esteem. For most people who are overweight simply dieting/excercising will allow them to lose weight. Keeping it off is not so easy. If you are overweight it is likely your body wants to be overweight and without lifelong dieting you will gain back the lost weight. But do not conflate being overweight with being obese, they are very different things.

Mr Shands story is not complete. Check back in five years. Obesity is genetic. If you are not obese it is unlikey that you could become obese if you tried. If you are obese it is difficult to reach a "normal" wieght and almost impossible to maintain that normal weight for life.

You are conflating being overweight with obesity. If you are overweight it is simply your body storing fat and maintaining itself at the high end of it's possible weight range. when you diet you simply reduce your weight to the lower end of your weight range. It does not work that way for a person who is genetically obese. They cannot effectively lose all their weight and become a "normal" weight for life.

You could take 100 adults over 30 who were "normal" weight and promise them a million dollars if they could gain 300 lbs and keep it on for five years. I doubt a single one could do it. Obesity is NOT simply eating too much it is a genetic abnormality. If you don't have it you cannot become obese and if you do have it you cannot (easily) prevent yourself from becomeing obese.