How disgraceful is being fat?

[greenman]

and not everyone has the same efficiency when it comes to digesting food, gut bacteria seem to play a part in it. I'd love to gain a bit of weight and i love the beer and chips every day although i don't eat much sugar at all. Maybe sugar is a big factor, anyway it's clearly not just calories in = weight

Yes I was going to mention that, one of my aunts has had digestive problems all her life around gut bacteria and stays ultra thin no matter what she eats, that's dispite having sisters who are prone to putting on some weight.

[Hey, Punk!]

I am currently quite overweight, currently about 17 stone I reckon. I'm 6'1 and used to be 23 stone, but can't quite shift anymore weight, I should probably stop the booze as that usually causes me to binge eat on bread and cheese. When you sit down and knock back a few cans though, there is nothing quite like the softness of bread and the sharp kick of cheese.

Likely going to start counting calories, seems the most likely way to keep the weight off, might be tedious but at least I won't be sat here with my belly wondering how it is still there.

[greenman]

I'm certainly feeling the effects of age at 40, not really anything dramatic and I'd guess I'm probably a stone and a half over what would be recommended as ideal by a doctor at 13.5(at 5' 11 and stocky) but it feels like a slow creep that I can't really do much about beyond vastly changing my diet (always been pretty active)which honestly I'm not greatly inclined to do although I spose that's from a position of limited responsibility in terms of being single with no children.

I spose the health positive is I tend to put on fat like a seal rather than getting a big belly, a fat arse being less of a health risk supposedly.

[bgmnts]

I'd be ecstatic with 13.5 stone and i'm 5'9".

[Small Man Big Horse]

I am currently quite overweight, currently about 17 stone I reckon. I'm 6'1 and used to be 23 stone, but can't quite shift anymore weight, I should probably stop the booze as that usually causes me to binge eat on bread and cheese. When you sit down and knock back a few cans though, there is nothing quite like the softness of bread and the sharp kick of cheese.

Likely going to start counting calories, seems the most likely way to keep the weight off, might be tedious but at least I won't be sat here with my belly wondering how it is still there.

I've been using the MyFitnessPal website and it's been really helpful, along with calories it tells you how much carbs, sugar, salt and various other things you've had each day, and gives you a real sense of what you can and cannot eat.

[tookish]

I use MFP too. Even when I'm eating healthily I seem to eat too much sugar - fruit and so on - so it's good to know. It's more than just calories, sadly - the way you spend your calories has an impact too. I'm trying to eat lots of dark green veg and legumes at the moment so it's Fart Central in my house.

Mind you I did have pizza for dinner last night.

[Buelligan]

Maybe if a person loves eating (I don't), that's a real pleasure for them in life, maybe, rather than feeling like they're doing something wrong, they should try accepting it but balancing the eating with exercise. 

I'm 180cm/52kg vegetarian (woman), very rarely eat desserts or sweets, never take sugar, no crisps or stuff like that - they're just not my thing, don't drink but I do eat what I want, when I want.  I walk long distances every day and am always active.

Maybe exercise is the key, maybe you can love eating and love sitting around but you can't love both if you hate being weighty.

[tookish]

Maybe if a person loves eating (I don't), that's a real pleasure for them in life, maybe, rather than feeling like they're doing something wrong, they should try accepting it but balancing the eating with exercise. 

This is very sage, although unfortunately of course heavy exercise isn't an option for people with some disabilities.

I love cooking, and to a lesser extent, eating, but I also love walking. Unfortunately my recent weight gain has come primarily from stroke medication - a necessary evil as I want to survive and have functioning facial muscles and a brain that works to the best of its ability.

I do hate the weight gain largely because it's oriented almost entirely on the stomach and has shattered my self-confidence. I am lucky to have people around me who are kind about it, but the rest of the world is not so kind and I'm very conscious of how I look now.

[Icehaven]

I was very overweight for most of my childhood and teens and yo-yoed between that and a healthy weight for the last 20 years or so, currently a bit above healthy, however I stopped going to the gym about 7 months ago and have just started again so hopefully will be back down to healthy again soon. I don't particularly enjoy it but I like the results, and it really does seem to be the only thing that works for me unfortunately. I struggled to get to a healthy weight for years through watching my diet and other exercise but as soon as I started going to the gym a couple of times a week the last stone and a half that I could never shift finally shifted. I have to eat healthily too though, particularly as I like a drink a bit too much.

I have a completely unscientific theory that's been tested on a focus group of one (me) that with the three elements of keeping weight down; food, drink and exercise, as long as you keep two in check you can play a bit fast and loose with the other. Seems to work for me (well it does when I do it anyway) but I'm sure there's plenty of evidence that it's bollocks.

   

[Icehaven]

Categoric nonsense, sorry. A body cannot break the laws of physics. You put out more calories than you consume, 'I eat crap' is hardly a falsifiable statement is it? You could eat 1 large pizza and a packet of crisps a day and not exceed 2000 calories. Come back when you've monitored your calories for 6 months.

I know I'm being a bit over the top here, but I hear this bullshit all the time. Thin people eat a little, fat people eat a lot, that is just how it works. The differences in metabolisms are the difference of a fraction of a percentage.

There was a TV programme (so again not exactly hard science) where they tested this theory, charting the eating habits of several thin people who supposedly ate whatever they wanted whenever. Unsurprisingly they just didn't have very big appetites, they'd occasionally 'pig out' and eat a whole packet of Jaffa cakes or something, but otherwise they regularly missed meals without even thinking about it, often left meals half eaten, only ordered small items in takeaways etc. I remember an old colleague of mine complaining about how his girlfriend (who was very slim) was always wanting to either go to Nando's or order in takeaways but it was a total waste of money as she'd routinely eat less than half of it before declaring herself full and either he'd end up eating it (then wishing he hadn't) or it went in the bin. Mr. H is a bit like that too, if we're going to Mc D's for example he'd be perfectly happy with a single small cheeseburger, whereas I feel cheated if I haven't had a Big Mac and fries and anything else they can fit in the damn bag. 

[im barry bethel]

Categoric nonsense, sorry. A body cannot break the laws of physics. You put out more calories than you consume, 'I eat crap' is hardly a falsifiable statement is it? You could eat 1 large pizza and a packet of crisps a day and not exceed 2000 calories. Come back when you've monitored your calories for 6 months.

I know I'm being a bit over the top here, but I hear this bullshit all the time. Thin people eat a little, fat people eat a lot, that is just how it works. The differences in metabolisms are the difference of a fraction of a percentage.

Or an overactive thyroid

[Cloud]

Sure glad this thread move on after page 1...

There's no disgrace in it and fat shaming helps pretty much no one

However it's also well documented as unhealthy - I've had someone angrily telling me it's actually healthy, yeah no.  Don't lie to yourself.  It's just that it's your life, and TBH I even prefer more "rounded" figures in the attraction department so don't worry too much about that side of it.

I was obese for a fair amount of my young adult life, lost 5.5 stone, one of the few who's kept it off but it's an absolute bitch to keep up. Have to weigh every week or it can easily run away, and where friends can get away with 4 or 5 massive button busting curries a week (they're obsessed with the local Indian/Bangladeshi place) chased down with 6 or 7 pints and still stay trim, I'm quite jealous that joining them one time requires 1-2 weeks of heavy calorie deficit to reverse the damage.  But it is how it is.  It's great though not having to worry about diabetes setting in or getting out of breath tying my shoelaces.

Basically it's beneficial to not be fat, but do it for you, not for anyone else, and if it's not your priority don't worry about it.  No judgement from here

[thenoise]

I've got two partners.

Greedy fucker.

I agree that weight won't be an issue in a relationship, but shedding a bit/a lot will help you in the dating game. Once you've made a commitment with someone they're unlikely to ditch you if you put on a few pounds - not unless there are other things they are unhappy about too.

[New Jack]

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/nov/13/obese-depression-weight-psychology-judgment-fat-shaming

Good article linking obesity with depression

Research led by the University of Exeter and the University of South Australia examined data from more than 48,000 people, and the results are in: "The psychological impact of being obese is likely to cause depression." The suggestion from Dr Jess Tyrrell and her colleagues is that the health issues related to being fat don't cause depression – in other words, eating 12 doughnuts doesn't cause depression. Fat and clinical sadness don't feed off each other in self-destructive slivers. It's the mental impact of being overweight that's the problem.

[biggytitbo]

I went over 10 stone because I'm very badly backed up. I have a plumber on emergency dial.

[Shit Good Nose]

I went over 10 stone because I'm very badly backed up. I have a plumber on emergency dial.

10 stone my arse - you're barely a paperweight.  We've seen the photos...

[Hey, Punk!]

I've been using the MyFitnessPal website and it's been really helpful, along with calories it tells you how much carbs, sugar, salt and various other things you've had each day, and gives you a real sense of what you can and cannot eat.

Cheers for this, currently on my 2nd day of tracking my calories. It's given me a 2200 calorie allowance, which seems surprisingly reasonable.

[pigamus]

Reckon they'll have eaten too many ham sandwiches, all in them. Parents wanted me fat, mother'd cook up massive trays of breaded potato shapes and if I didn't eat them then she'd feed them to the cat and the cat would be bigger than me. Petrifying. Had a big round tum, which suited my corduroy dungarees and pudding basin haircut very nicely, but it was an abusive way of exerting control over a vulnerable young man and I am glad it is over. The cat is dead.

Poetry prizes have been given out for less than this.

[checkoutgirl]

Heartburn can be a great appetite suppressant. I've had it so bad for 5 nights running  (sleeping sat upright etc) that last night I didn't overeat or drink wine to see if I could escape it. Worked a treat  No heartburn and a good nights sleep.

[Buelligan]

10 stone my arse - you're barely a paperweight.  We've seen the photos...

My brother used to say of our MP, if you gave the man an enema, you could fit the rest in a matchbox.  Don't mock, photos or no.

[Jockice]

I'm not fat and this is not an achievement. I'm lazy and eat crap. Just lucky metabolism.

i'm with you on that one. For my entire adult life (of which there's been quite a lot) I've weighed between 10 and 11 stone. I don't get enthusiastic about food but I do eat the stuff, including takeaways at least once a week and crisps and chocolate every single day. Without fail. Yet my waist has never been above 34'' and is usually between 30 and 32. I don't drink, basically because I just can't take it but even when I did, it never had much effect on my weight.

I do a little exercise in the form of swimming, but that's only a few lengths two or three times a week and there are periods during which I can't even do that. For instance my back's been so bad I've only left the house once this week. And that was to move my car off the road and into the parking lot, due to one of my neighbours' shit parking.

There is definitely something genetic in it. My mum was always very thin (and like me she couldn't take her ale) while my dad was and my sister is prone to putting on weight. And have much more tolerance to alcohol. Plus I'm mates with a family in which the older brother and the younger sister are both porkers but the brother in the middle is incredibly skinny to the point that people nicknamed him Skeletor. He did explain to me once that he had been medically checked and there is some sort of genetic thing to it. Apparently most of his family are big but occasionally someone like him appears. And I've met Jarvis Cocker's mum. She's quite a large lady but apparently his dad had the same body build as their son ended up having.

It's a strange world.

[Shit Good Nose]

My brother used to say of our MP, if you gave the man an enema, you could fit the rest in a matchbox.  Don't mock, photos or no.

If you expect me to give (apply?) biggy an enema, think again.  Lord only knows what horrors lurk in those incredibly dark and murky depths.

[Sebastian Cobb]

I'm not fat and this is not an achievement. I'm lazy and eat crap. Just lucky metabolism.

I used to be like that. I'm still built like a gypsies dog (all ribs and bollocks) but also have a gut that makes me look like I'm up the duff.

[Shit Good Nose]

I'm still built like a gypsies dog (all ribs and bollocks) but also have a gut that makes me look like I'm up the duff.

Would.

[Chollis]

I could eat whatever I wanted up to the age of about 26 and was skinny as a rake. Then I just started adding pounds like a normal person, with no change to my lifestyle or diet. Metabolism slowing down? I don't know, but it sucks being conscious that anything that tastes nice is making things worse.

[Shit Good Nose]

Part of me wishes I was like my mum - eats to live and would be quite happy taking a pill alternative like they do in the future when we're living in space.

Unfortunately I'm like my dad - stopping to look at every restaurant menu and thinking what cuisine shall I have tonight.

[checkoutgirl]

I used to be like that. I'm still built like a gypsies dog (all ribs and bollocks) but also have a gut that makes me look like I'm up the duff.

Traditionally I'm quite slender but lately I've developed a bit of a belly. I'm starting to resemble an egg on legs. 7 nights of pizza, pasta, wine and desserts hasn't helped matters. Also I was floating air biscuits for about 3 days straight. Bloated, farting, an absolute mess.