
The Truth Hurts
What Are Causes & Solutions to Someone being Obese? The only way beat obesity is to accept some painful truths, then take action. Here are the uncomfortable facts and the Truth Hurts. Once that hurt goes away though, the Truth Helps.
Objective truths have been prohibited even if they could help people get better. Its called political correctness as everyone has heard of this. Health practitioners can’t be blunt and tell patients that being obese can reduce their lifespan and raise their chances of developing Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular problems, and even depression.
Telling people these things, even though it’s based on sound science and facts, is not acceptable anymore because it is hurtful to hear makes people feel bad, I get it. But you know what? Maybe they should feel bad. In many cases feeling bad is the best driving force behind change. If you told me that I’m at risk of dying young, I’d feel bad too. And that would be a necessary step towards taking action and better health.
You Can’t “Catch” Obesity
Its not politically correct to tell people they’re obese simply because they ate too much food. No, we needed to tell them it’s not their fault, that obesity is not a self-imposed condition that occurred because of the choices they made every day for years, but rather, an illness.
Let Me Be Blunt
Being obese or overweight has more in common with being addicted to cigarettes than it does with the common cold. You “catch” or develop an illness mostly due to factors beyond your control. You gain a severe weight surplus as a result of the decisions you make, or have made on a regular basis: food choices, food quantities, and physical activity. Just like how you decided to put that cigarette in your mouth. And yes, both cigarettes/vaping and foods are addictive because the ingredients may be extremely damaging and unhealthy but individuals need to overcome those issues by eating less of those processed foods or eliminating them completely.
As far as social norms go, there’s a huge difference between our treatment of obesity and smoking. Since obesity affects the way you look, it’s considered discriminatory or hateful to point out the problems associated with it. You can point out the problems with smoking all day long and nobody will bat an eye. But talk about obesity out loud and you’ll instantly be labeled a bigot and shaming someone or a group. Obesity is actually associated with a higher mortality rate. That’s factual. You can find dozens of studies establishing a very strong connection between obesity and cancer, cardiovascular diseases and diabetes as well as shorter lifespan. Pointing that out is not hate or shaming.
Are You Obese Or Overweight?
If you are, I’ve got bad news: Its 100% Your Fault. However, the good news is You can fix the problem! To solve a weight problem, the first thing to do is take personal responsibility for getting to that point. Except for some rare exceptions, people are overweight simply because they ate more than they needed for a prolonged period of time. This has been demonstrated scientifically. We can look at both history and modern medicine to understand this better.
During World War II (and I’m not taking away from the awfulness of this) but out of the millions of prisoners in the concentration camps, none were obese, none were even a little overweight. In fact, all of them were rail thin. Out of those millions of people, many likely had the genetic factors that could increase their risk of obesity, yet all were skinny. Of course, that’s an extreme, terrible example, but it illustrates that having a very low caloric intake and a high level of physical activity will lead to drastic weight loss in everybody. It’s just a matter of finding the level of both that’ll be sufficient to lead to the fat loss.
The Bottom Line On Being Obese & Overweight:
Your decisions are the main reason for gaining fat, and your decisions can also be the solution. If I have caught your eye or ear and are ready to learn how I can help you lose weight contact me on my website! Click the following link : https://lakecountrytraining.com
Overfed, Under-Full, & Inaccurate Record Keeping
There are overweight people who swear that they don’t eat a lot. I’ve worked with many who have said this. Many people think they eat “normally” or that they don’t eat more than their leaner friends and family members.
Are They Lying?
Not necessarily. They may be eating a normal volume of food while consuming a greater amount of calories. This is easy to do. Things like salad dressing calories matter. There are different calorie amounts in breads that look identical. The list could be almost endless. The idea of eating a “normal” amount – or eating a little, a lot, more, or less – is just too vague. These terms aren’t adequate when it comes to quantifying nutritional intake.
Wait – Why?
Because having a low-calorie soup might make you feel like you’ve eaten a whole lot. While having some high-calorie cookies might make you feel as though you’ve eaten very little. Food can be deceiving – its very easy to eat a small amount of something that has a ton of calories and no nutritional value and not “feel” like you’ve eaten very much. And, as far as volume of food goes you may not have, but as far as calories goes, you did, and they are going to be stored as fat. And, most likely in an hour or so that person is going to be hungry again.
On the other side of the coin, if you eat a large salad with a strong portion of protein and light dressing you might feel stuffed. And as far as volume goes, yeah. You ate a big bowl of lower calorie food, and very few of those calories will be stored as fat. And to top it off, you are stuffed full and not going to be hungry for a long time.
It’s no wonder a lot of people report that they don’t eat more than others. They may be using the way they FEEL as a barometer for how much they’ve eaten.
A Big Often Overlooked Problem
The problem of inaccurate record keeping. Or, just flat out underestimating (or in some cases overestimating) how many calories you are consuming. And it’s been studied… a lot. Many people, even professionals in the health and fitness or weight loss world are not accurate when tracking their calories.
Research shows that overweight individuals underreport caloric intake more than leaner ones. Feel free to look online for the studies, there are lots of examples to choose from, literally hundreds if not thousands. However, the question isn’t are people fat because they overeat? Because the answer (for the vast majority) is a resounding yes.
A better question is: What is it that causes obese people to perceive their food intake differently? Is it because they’ve never accurately weighed, measured, and tracked what they’ve consumed? Or is it because what they’re choosing to eat never really satisfies? The answer is likely a combination of both and it will be different for different individuals.
Overeating Is Not (Necessarily) Binging
People confuse overeating with binging. Binge eating is an extreme form of overeating, it’s not the only way to overeat, nor is it the most prevalent way to overeat. Overeating simply means taking in more than your body needs to maintain your current body composition. If you maintain your body fat level at 2,500 calories per day, then eating 3,000 calories per day is overeating. Unless your activity level rises to match it, that consumption can lead to fat gain. Even though it may be very gradual and hardly noticeable.
Now let’s say that you divided those 500 extra calories fairly evenly over the course of the day. You eat four meals. That’s only a surplus of 125 calories per meal. That might not seem like much – especially if the food is low volume and has a low nutrient density. Obese individuals aren’t lying about their food intake. Sometimes they just don’t realize the true quantity of what they’re eating and the difference in calories between different types of foods, even healthy ones. And, I would argue that this the case especially when eating healthy foods. Many times if the food is perceived to be healthy people generally feel like they can eat more of it causing an elevated amount of calories – often overlooked.
Calories That Count But Don’t Get Counted
Sometimes clients after being on a “diet” for weeks don’t see a big drop in their weight. This is obviously frustrating to them, and me, their coach/trainer. This happens even to some who seem so disciplined. One day with one particular client we went to breakfast together and he drank two large glasses of orange juice. I asked him if he drank juice most days and he said yes he did, and milk too. Now, those 2 to 3 glasses of beverages added up to about 400-500 calories per day for most days! Those calories went uncounted and the confusion was cleared up! No wonder he wasn’t losing weight the way he should have. One big rule with clients for me is: Don’t Drink Your Calories! And, that example is the perfect example of why.
People who can’t seem to lose weight are often unaware that their habitual consumption of certain things comes with a caloric impact. This is really what differentiates a “healthy” diet from a diet that allows you to lose fat. Remember, to lose weight you have to be in a caloric deficit. So an extra few hundred calories a day from healthy or unhealthy foods will add up fast!
Here Are Some Of The Biggest Offenders:
- Oils that you add to salads and cooked meals
- Handfuls of nuts
- Fatty cuts of meat
- Oversized portions of cheese
- Dates
- Honey and other high-calorie ingredients that can be added to recipes.
Wrapping It All Up
This was difficult to write. It was even difficult for me to read. The truth does hurt sometimes. The truth will also set you free. If you are struggling with being overweight, obese, or even just a little heavier than you want to be. Take a step back and be brutally honest with yourself. Chances are you have the answers. You just might not like what those answers are. Keep in mind that as you eat each day to lose weight calories count! Even if you’re not splurging, you could very well be overeating. And if you consume even a small surplus every day for years, it will eventually accumulate into a significant amount of weight gain and additional fat on your body. Fortunately, you have the power to do the opposite and reverse the process!
If you have any questions please feel free to reach out to us on our website – https://lakecountrytraining.com/contact-us/
Thanks for reading!