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Comment by rabuse | Hacker News Reader

I find it unbelievable that people find it difficult to watch one's weight, and adjust accordingly. I was always very slender in my life, and wore the same size clothes for years. I began working out a few years back, and in just a few months, I started growing out of my old clothes. How can the majority of people in the U.S. not notice their weight gain, and not care at all?

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Your comment is likely to get downvoted to minimum because it's out of touch, but it does raise an interesting point. Some people have way more of a compulsion than others. Other people's compulsions don't make any sense to someone who doesn't have them (ever seen someone with OCD do their things?), which explains your experience of bewilderment.

The better question is, what's behind the difference in behavior?

That's what I'm trying to understand, and how it's the majority of people.

Humans are designed to limit energy expenditure. Its hard wired in us from our hunter-gatherer days. That's not the root cause but it is a trait we all share. Add to that a poor diet, one that makes you feel sluggish and makes you crave more food and drink. Throw in economies of scale to make the food super cheap and accessible. Pack people inside, throw a TV in front of them or any sort of thing that will give them an environment of relaxation and you've got yourself the makings of an obesity problem.

The truth is, humans are lazy and will, by in large, only do work that they have to do.

Yeah, that I can understand, but we also are so based on aesthetics and genetic potential, that I would think more would care about maximizing their potential for reproduction. With most people being overweight/obese (near future), is that going to change what humans are attracted to?

Here you are, on a website basically dedicated to an entire industry of people looking to exploit human fallibility and engender dependency.

How do you think it happens?

Very ignorant comment. Of course people are aware of their weight. The issue is very complex. A person may not prefer their weight, but not want to change their lifestyle. They may be depressed, causing them to make poor decisions, find comfort in binging, etc. The weight could cause sleep problems which compound the problems.

Your comment basically amounts to: "I've never dealt with this medical issue and don't understand anything about it. I also believe that it's easy to fix if everyone acted like me."

I seriously hope you review your thinking on this and learn more on the subject.

>I was always very slender in my life

Have you ever considered that some people are genetically predisposed to being overweight, just like you are probably genetically predisposed to being slim? I'm not saying that's the only reason--obviously exercise and diet play a huge role--but not everyone is starting from the same baseline here.

I would guess probably the biggest reason for people being overweight in the US is the abundance of cheap and delicious food and alcohol. It's simply really easy to become overweight living in the US.

People are different. I was overweight by the time I became aware of my existence.

I understand people are different, but I don't understand how it's the majority.

The majority of people eat modern food and have modern levels of inactivity. Sure, we evolved in a scenario where our adapted characteristics kept us fit and slim, but the scenario has changed now.

I don't mean to be sarcastic. Thanks for sharing your personal experience, but can I ask if you understand that perhaps you are not like the majority of people with regards to your weight?

Biological Evolution? No props from natural selection if you’re absolutely ripped and then die from a virus the week after.

Then why are women so attracted to muscular men?

Everyone was probably comparatively lean looking in the circumstances in which humanity evolved; we’re talking about small differences in fat storage and metabolism that are magnified by the environment that we’ve created.

Edited to add: obviously that’s before we consider the interplay between natural selection and sexual selection.

Did you ask them? Many women find hypertrophied muscles off-putting.

That would suggest that you perhaps don't completely understand that people are different. :)

I personally find it unbelievable that people don't understand how complex of a topic this is.

For example, you cannot explain why people are overweight people by saying they are:

- generically stupid

- ignorant

- lazy

- self-deprecating

- biologically inferior

- weak willed

Clearly there are other more fundamental issues involved. What psychological needs and stress are involved? What environmental factors are present (or missing)? I think that to a degree you can generalize this to things like drug consumption and addiction.

I believe people have their agency and I greatly admire those who start and sustain significant health improvements of any kind. There is a reason there are so many self-help charlatans: the real key to unlocking success is complex.

Well said. I'm overweight not obese and it takes a very great deal of effort to keep it that way. I don't have problems with lazyness, stupidity or being weak willed in any other aspects of my life, but once I start eating I simply cannot stop.

Fasting has taken me from obese to overweight, not eating is the only thing that works, but when I start up again, I eat for two!

For the record, I am not one of the people downvoting you. To address your question, this is not a U.S. problem. This is a modern dietary problem. Some countries are just late to the game and the stats have to play catch-up. People are eating a lot of sugar, processes foods, alcohol, excessive carbohydrates, basically sugar sugar and more sugar. This spikes insulin and eventually the cells in the body become resistant to the hormone. It take a while for this to reach the stages of metabolic syndrome, pre-diabetes or diabetes. Because of the time it takes, people do not associate the bad behavior with the bad outcome. Most are either unaware or in denial. [1] The report is from 2017, but this problem is only getting worse and it is not limited to the U.S. It is also not limited to people that are overweight. When people have any of the previously mentioned conditions, the liver becomes fatty. Eventually the liver starts putting fat into other parts of the body. Sometimes it is super obvious large belly but sometimes the fat is stored around the internal organs. This is actually very dangerous, not because of weight, but because of the increased risk in cancer. Working out is a great thing to do, but it will never account for more than about 15% of weight loss. The rest is related to environment and dietary intake, or lack thereof. So many are in denial or unaware that even talking about this in a public forum quickly becomes taboo and results in emotional responses.

[1] - https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2017/p0718-diabetes-repor...

I'm definitely aware it's a global issue, but I can't grasp the idea that the majority of people in the world, have no care to how they look or feel, especially with humans being so obsessed with aesthetics and genetic potential.

This basically goes back to what I was saying. It's cause and effect. People can buy things to directly affect their external appearance nearly real time. People don't associate their bad dietary and lack-of-exercise behavior that affects their external appearance. The cosmetic industry is proof of this. There are tens of thousands of cremes that contain vitamins, enzymes and other nutrients. This is not by itself a bad thing, but people are applying these components incorrectly. Applied internally these components have a vast array of long lasting affects throughout the entire body. Applying these things externally has limited short-lasting effects, albeit more real time. That is why those industries are making a killing. Visible affect, limited term efficacy. People also do not associate the bad things they eat with all of the external visible dysfunctions they are creating and compensating for on their skin.

Some foods give you a cheap high when you’re stressed, rushed or depressed. People get addicted to that. That’s about it.

Need to treat the causes not the symptom. Magic pill to kill 25% of your weight leaves the causes behind.

Poverty and terrible work culture tend to drive it primarily. I see more fit and healthy people in well balanced jobs.

Essentially everyone was much poorer in 1950 in the US, but obesity didn't start current trends until 20-30 years later.

I eat fast food almost everyday. I get the same thing overweight people get, but I just eat less of it, or span it out to eat the rest at a later sitting. I just can't come to terms with how the majority of people completely ignore their weight gain, and just continue to buy larger clothes, without caring at all.

We get it, everybody should be more like you. If only overweight people cared that they were overweight they could just stop overeating.

Yes. Everyone leaves today’s problems until tomorrow.

I did exactly that for years. Until I didn’t. Which happened because I saw what might happen to me if I didn’t stop it.

The US is a pretty big place but there are some cultural/regional reasons that explain some of the trends. For starters a lot of the country doesn't have access to nutritious food and grows up eating calorie dense but nutritiously void foods. Then you've got portion sizing/control (or a complete lack thereof). It's still pretty normal to eat meals sized for folks doing manual labor but in a lifestyle that is increasingly sedentary. But to answer your question directly; some people do notice and do care but feel powerless to halt it, other people do not notice because it's sort of a gradual slide/they are already overweight and do not spend a lot of time thinking about their body.

There are some foods I just can not stop eating. The Lindt chocolate balls are a prime example.

The only thing I can do is keep unhealthy food out of the household, which was easier when I was single. Now that I'm married, with kids, and a wife that likes to bake, it's much harder.

BUT: I get that "I find it unbelievable that people find it difficult to watch" feeling when I watch an alcoholic polish off a bottle of booze, or when I see someone with a substance abuse problem polish off a bag of an illegal substance.

Turns out that a lot of people have issues with self-control. I guess I'm lucky that my self-control problems are just food. Could be worse.

It's easy to dismiss people as gluttonous slobs, but the reality is more complicated. Metabolic rate is a big factor: we've all known people that ate with no limits and didn't work out yet were always in shape, as well as people that always watched what they're eating, tried working out and still couldn't lose the pounds.

It takes a lot more willpower and self-control to stay healthy if you're in the 2nd category (Source: I'm fat and lazy).

I'm in the same boat and I think we are lucky to have good genetics/lifestyle. American culture clearly makes the majority of it's inhabitants fat. Your lack of empathy is understandable but something you can change. I've worked on this to help, rather than criticize overweight people I care about.

Avoiding getting fat was the reason I started lifting weights. Eating is so much fun. Tasting good food is one of the greatest pleasures. The only things standing between me and +50kg are Sport and MyFitnessPal.

I can absolutely relate!

Casual flippancy and anecdotal experience does not outweigh the countless research that has unveiled the myriad of reasons why people gain unhealthy levels of weight.

Eating bad food is quite pleasurable and consequently ends up like something between a bad habit and an addiction.

"Metabolism privilege?"

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