Comment by chiefalchemist | Hacker News Reader

Comment by chiefalchemist | Hacker News Reader

Parent Full thread

"How difficult it is for people to change lifestyle habits to fix their hormonal unbalance when it comes to obesity."

Sadly, evidently, very.

Annecdotally, most ppl don't seem to connect what they consume with their health. There's no sense of garbage in...feel like garbage.

I'm not sure what they're tbinking but when I look at their bodies and then at their shopping cart (at the super market) disconnect wins 9 of 10 times.

Furthermore, abnormal has been normalized. Humans are naturally wired to assume the norm. They see what's around them and naturally presume it's okay. Obesity is the new black. Soda, cookies, etc. (and the advertisement there of) is ubiquitous. Honesty is now called "fat shaming."

I understand there are people who have health issue the cause them to be obese. The rest a simply negligent. Sadly, it's not PC to say such truths.

p.s. Editorial: How is it, in the face of the obesity crisis (which directly contributes to increased healthcare costs), that the adults who lead the Girl Scouts are still pushing cookies. The hypocrisy and absurdity boggles my mind.

> Honesty is now called "fat shaming."

Yeah, that's more about the fact that if you're telling someone who's fat that they're fat, guess what - they already know, and they're probably already very conscious about it.

"shaming" people for it will either make it worse for them or inspire change; but if they're in that situation it trends towards worse.

It's no help at all, and a bit of a dick move at best.

I never said it was the thing to do. I also never said it was helpful. That said, there is direct correlation between the PC'ing of such language and the __increase__ in the crisis.

If people choose to let themselves go, I'm not so sure another pat on the back is the answer.

Obligatory reminder that correlation is not causation - even if you provide data demonstrating a correlation, which you haven't.

To me it looks like the rise in obesity could roughly map to the rise in depression and anxiety, though I have no data on that and I make no assertions on the causality, should they turn out to be correlated.

I comment every time I see the obesity/calories topic come up because it's something I've been deeply researching and experimenting with for years and I can't let misconceptions and falsehoods go without a response.

To avoid letting this get into a lengthy back-and-forth, I'll just state what I understand and move on.

Yes, food/calorie intake and expenditure is partly a choice, but it is a choice that is profoundly complicated by many factors, including but not limited to: diagnosed or undiagnosed illness, pre-exisiting nutritional levels, genetics/epigenetic expression, emotions/hormones/neurological issues, social influence, culture, financial constraints, time constraints and more.

Obviously, letting one's self go is not something that most people freely choose to do or enjoy doing.

Some work harder than others to avoid it. Some succeed, and some fail even if they work hard at it.

Usually when I get into a back-and-forth discussion about this topic, the co-debater will resort to something like "I don't have all the answers but everyone can try harder to cut calories".

We'd all be better off if people simply stuck to the shorter, humbler version: "I don't have the answers."

Anyone who does have answers could contact their nearest metabolic research institution.

TL;DR I know what I should be doing, do mostly the right things, but still am obese.

—

Speaking as an obese person that knows the dangers and generally does the right thing re: diet and excercise- it’s crazy hard.

I entered freshman year of HS 6’2” 275lb, graduated Senior year 6’3” 290lb. I’m 36 now and my weight has pretty much been in that same window my entire life.

I played very high level high school athletics (4 sport varsity, all star teams, etc.), still play competitive “A” league rec sports all year every year, and still do cardio and weight lifting 3-5 days a week. I hike at least 6 miles a week rain or shine with my bow and hunting pack in the woods outside my house for practice. I’m very strong and shockingly flexible- but I still have the physique of a beer league bowler (of which I also am).

I don’t drink soda or eat fast food for the most part, and my diet throughout the week is mostly veggies and proteins. My diet is definitely not perfect and I must be consistently eating more than I output, but...

The weight will melt away until I get to 275 and then my body turns into an always hungry eating machine. Or If I have pizza (or something carby) for lunch I’ll be craving carb food the rest of the day.

My will power is strong, but there is no such thing as just one bite. It’s zero bites or all the bites and it’s a crazy pull. It’s also infuriating because this is the one part in my life where I’ve never been able to just will it so. Sports, work, kids, outdoor adventuring: I have never faced a situation that I couldn’t just grit my teeth and make it through.

Not the weight though. There are too many little unconscious failures that stack up through a day or week that will hinder progress. The conscious ones take a toll even more because now you get to think about “I shouldn’t have...” the rest of the day.

It’s a weird deal, luckily it doesn’t take an emotional toll on me like I’ve heard it takes others. It’s a thing, it’s my thing I try and work on (that and being generally nicer), I just keep plugging and monitor the hell out of my health. BP, glucose, A1C, cholesterols, etc. all paint a picture of a man healthier than I look on a BMI chart.

I was in a similar situation. What I found is very slow diets work well. Eat more or less the same thing every day for a while to so you get a feel for what a matence level is then cut just enough calories so your losing ~2 pound a month.

I still got stuck at my old normal, but it’s now easy to maintain. Maintain that for a year or so and you can start cutting things again without awakening that ravenous hunger.

So what if you only lose 40 lb in 4 years that’s still real and sustainable progress. At 38 it’s the end of January and even with plenty of indulgence I weigh what I did before thanksgiving, that’s huge IMO.

PS: I am still heavy, but dropping your BMI by 5+ and keeping it off while also bulking up just feels so much better. Remember, a net gain or loss of even 1 pound per year adds up.

>My will power is strong, but there is no such thing as just one bite. It’s zero bites or all the bites and it’s a crazy pull. It’s also infuriating because this is the one part in my life where I’ve never been able to just will it so.

somewhat familiar. Finding oneself deep at night in the kitchen eating donuts/cake/pastries/cookies/pizza/waffles/etc. and not able to stop... I'm 6' and topped at 230 soon after coming to the US (that supermarket quick-rise white bread is easily half of US medical problems). By starting to exercise regularly i took it under some control and had been keeping it between 180-200 since then. A year ago a GE using breath test diagnosed me with pretty severe SIBO. Once i was able to take SIBO under control (separate story as typical antibiotic treatment didn't work (happens in 30-70% cases according to various sources)) those sugary&fat cravings got much easier - that is inline with the growing body of research about chemical signaling, including neurochemicals, these gut bacteria do (and they love sugars and high blood glucose level). Resisting such a direct injection of neurochemicals is a pretty uphill battle, and it is no surprise that a lot, if not majority, of people aren't able to.

> "Speaking as an obese person that knows the dangers and generally does the right thing re: diet and excercise- it’s crazy hard."

Personal will-power aide, it's hard because so much of the things that are designed to work against you have been normalized. Sadly, no one wants to hear - because of the way humans are wired - that their personal decisions have (literally) bigger and broader social implications.

Big might be beautiful. Thanks Oprah! But it's also unhealthy. Funny how that's never mentioned. It's madness how a parent can get arrested for leaving their child home alone (or similar) but it's perfectly fine to raise a 10 y/o to be obese, bordering on T2D.

p.s. Kudos to you for making the effort. I know it's not easy, as mentioned. What kills me is the denial of how normalized abnormal has become. And saying so in any form is not PC.

It’s normal because most people’s lives and normal obligations are difficult enough relative to their abilities that they have issue proactively managing these things. It’s actually a matter of life and death what you eat in many cases and should be prioritized, but this is frankly not a viewpoint that people are going to respond well to you taking in most cultural milieus

Which health issues cause people to be obese?

Reply on news.ycombinator.com