I'm more surprised when I come across very rich people (e.g. VCs, CEOs, etc.) who are obese. You have all the money in the world and somehow made it to the top without the self-control and determination to take care of your body (and in turn mind)?
The human condition and success encompasses more factors than simple self-control and determination (so does financial success as well - it's not purely a function of determination and self-control... for example, what if you're a great schmoozer? You're taking clients out to dinner all the time & drinking with them? What if they're also overweight? What if this is one of the root causes of your success? (in your mind))...
Thinking + feeling = judging. So, you think why are they fat? (a thought) and then you feel something (surprise). So now you're judging - and this can very well get in the way of truly understanding others. I hope this helps :-)
Part of what I was trying to get at is if I cared to make myself an ultra productive work machine, then eating healthy and exercising (especially if I have an unlimited budget to do so) would be a key component to making that happen.
As brief background, I've lost about 80kg, but I've put 20kg of that back on.
My main problem is what my body "wants" is about 1000-1500 calories a day too many. When I'm eating "properly", I'm hungry ALL THE TIME. And the world is full of tasty food, in basically every street one walks down.
I'm guessing that most people aren't hungry all the time, every day. Could you, in the middle of the afternoon, eat and enjoy an extra 1500 calories and then still feel hungry for dinner?
You've lost more weight than I ever weighed at my highest (while trying to gain weight during weightlifting).
2 things come to mind:
1. Being hungry all the time sucks. I hated working out when hungry, nor am I a good contributor while hungry. It makes one very irritable at small things that normally would not bother me.
> Could you, in the middle of the afternoon, eat and enjoy an extra 1500 calories and then still feel hungry for dinner?
2. Maybe my stomach is just small, but I find it incredibly hard to eat more than 1000 calories in a single meal. It would result in extreme fatigue and a 'food coma' for at least an hour. I guess it's technically possible if you only eat the highest possible density foods like meat and fat and protein powder, but that doesn't seem like a healthy diet.
humans vary wildly on almost any metric you choose to examine. I have a hard time just maintaining my weight. I almost never feel actual hunger; I just get something to eat when I notice that I can't focus on work anymore. if I'm not working, I might forget altogether.
There are many other reasons. The most obvious one is self-medicating, either stress or some undiagnosed condition. People are good at unconsciously developing coping mechanisms.
Whatever thing (or set of things) is driving the change in obesity rates, it is not a biological force that is outside of out control.
High power people are certainly stressed.
They may drive/be driven around everywhere.
They may neglect exercise due to the two factors above.
But they could be executing well at a job, possibly at the expense of these other things.
It is refreshing to see CEOs like Musk and Bezos work on their health as they became more successful.