Last year I went up to college for the first time, opting to cook for myself and not indulge in the concept of a meal plan. After 19 years of eating what happened to be around, I realized that most of the foods I was offered back home weren’t really what I actually wanted or needed when I was hungry. Chula is right about the cost of foods; when I went grocery shopping every 3-4 weeks, I spent no more than $25 at each trip, and most of the time I was buying stuff that would actually sustain a healthy diet. Granted, a good portion of what I was eating was pasta and rice infused with vegetables and the occasional meat source, and a snack was often peanut butter, but I was eating a balanced diet for once in my life. I lost about 20+ lbs. while away, and a good portion of me losing that much had to do with the fact that I was walking to all my classes and a great many of the placees I had to go instead of using the on-campus bus system or getting rides from friends unless it wasn’t within walking distance.
I spent this summer at home, and have gained back about 5 lbs. due to less physical activity (it’s difficult to get in all the activity that I did with my work schedule and the complete lack of interesting places to wander off to within walking distance of my mother’s house) and my mother’s obsession with carbohydrate food. I realized some things while away; my mother and I have tastes in food that differ so much on a daily basis that I might as well just cook two different meals most of the time. She loves potatoes and bread, whereas I went months without them without feeling deprived while up at school.
It’s all a matter of finding out what your body craves when it’s hungry and fueling that specific hunger. It took me a long time to learn it, and I had been overweight despite more intense exercise in high school (I was a starter on the varsity volleyball team and played year round for a couple of seasons but still was rather chunky). It’s not easy to start, but becomes easier once you get into the swing of it. I don’t blame most overweight problems on just lack of willpower because I know what it’s like to be miserable about being overweight and exercising as much as I can fit it into my schedule and eating properly but still not losing weight.
[Note: in my senior year of high school, I was 5’10" and 205 lbs, wearing a 16 or an 18. By the end of my freshman year of college, I weighed 180 lbs. and wore 13/14 most of the time, but occasionally wore 11/12 in clothes. At the moment, I’m just wearing 14. The weight will come right back off once I get more active again.]
Coldfire, just a nitpick but the Imperial gallon is approx 4.4 (nearer 4.5) litres.
I’m modestly fat - I’m 6’4" and 16 stone - and I could do with losing a stone or converting a stone of fat into muscle. My waist measurement is 38" and my belly is 44". I eat plainly - mainly at the canteen at work - with little fat intake, and drink moderately, but I have a very high-stress job. I simply don’t take enough exercise. Next year, I will be walking to work which will help immensely. I expect my weight to remain static but lose my belly.
I’m a tad overweight myself, and recently lost 20 pounds on Atkins(Still doing it.) which is entirely unrelated, but just wanted to let you know where I’m coming from.
I have a good friend who is overweight, and as she regularly complained about being overweight(In a good natured, friendly conversation, sort of way, but it did bug her a lot.) I would often try to help her out with ideas and suggestions.
The big problem was a knee injury she’d had that effectively prevented a lot of exercise options, and she really didn’t eat much that would cause the issue outright, tended to have a good diet and such. So, we hit a stalemate and her best option was to simply be as happy as she could be(And keep an eye out for a more effective solution.)
Seconding with what Copa just said. I gained a lot of weight when I was forced to be sedentary for a long time after an injury to my knees and spine. After that a vicous cyle sets in – when you hurt, you can’t move much, so you gain weight, which makes it still harder to move around.
A number of you who are extolling the benefits of sensible diet and exercise seem to be college-age or not too far beyond it. After you pass the grand old age of 35 or 40, your metabolism does change. The same amount of food and exercise (if you are capable of it) equates to weight gain. Add to that a physical problem such as injury, arthritis, sciatica, bursitis, or any of a host of similar problems, and the person often can’t exercise easily.
Myself, I’m tying really, really hard to get into better shape. I eat a reasonably moderate diet – no weird fad diets that I won’t be able to continue with. I put in between 3 - 5 hours of intense cardio and weight exercise every week, under the supervision of a trainer at a gym. The first 3 months I gained 4 pounds. Another 3 months and I got back almost to the weight I was before I started working out.
This is very, very difficult to continue, and becomes demoralizing to work so much doing something so tedious, boring and time-consuming, and getting so little in return. After a while you start to think seriously of all the enjoyable things you could have done, and what other things you could have accomplished in that 3 - 6 hours.
How can a baby develop low self-esteem or be unable to accept personal responsiblity, or be depressed? I look at my baby pictures, pictures at 3 or 4, and in elementary school, and I was always fatter than anyone else. My parents and siblings are normal weight. I 've been on one diet or another ever since I can remember, first with my mother in charge because I was too young, and then on my own. My whole life is worrying about what I eat. I’m not depressed and I willingly accept that I’m responsible for what I eat. I had a great career in a high-paying job and never felt low-self-esteem. I do weights and swim 45 laps a week. It seems that my body wants to be fat. Fortunately all my markers are fine, normal blood pressure, chol, etc. I just hate dragging around all this exta weight. I’ve been hungry most of my life.
This is false. If your friend loses weight, he might have more energy and a better life. He might stave off death for a few more years. There’s no guarantee. My obese grandmother is still alive and doing as well as anyone at her age (early 80s). My thin-as-a-rail grandfather has been dead for years.
I am like SenorBeef, in that I have lost quite a bit of weight due to diet and exercise, but my life did not improve. In fact, I was disappointed in the results. I have learned to accept my body. If my friends can’t deal with it, they are not my friends.
maybe a better question is why do fat people have to put up with questions like this
your tone implies the same kind of disgust if you were asking why is someone a pedophile?
for fucks sake, leave obese people alone…thats the way they are…deal with it…you dont like it dont look…
