# Are you fat and don't give a fig? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 16, 2011, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-fat-and-dont-give-a-fig/596461 "2011-09-16T01:55:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![CheeseDonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@CheeseDonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheeseDonkey)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-fat-and-dont-give-a-fig/596461/141 "2011-09-20T02:23:26Z")
I can’t stand fat people who complain about being fat while eating a double bacon cheeseburger with large fries. ---
**Author:** ![Isaacedwardleibowitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecb155/32.png) [@Isaacedwardleibowitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isaacedwardleibowitz)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-fat-and-dont-give-a-fig/596461/142 "2011-09-20T02:39:04Z")
Many posters in this thread are saying that cutting 100 calories from your diet every day will cause you to lose weight, but I remember reading an article that said that the human body has a mechanism that makes your weight stay where it is - basically, your current weight has a lot of inertia and it takes a big change to budge it. I probably read this article a few years ago and I don’t remember where, and when I tried to search for it on Google I was inundated with diet sites. Does anyone know anything about this? ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-fat-and-dont-give-a-fig/596461/143 "2011-09-20T03:20:58Z")
> [@Isaacedwardleibowitz](#): > > Many posters in this thread are saying that cutting 100 calories from your diet every day will cause you to lose weight, but I remember reading an article that said that the human body has a mechanism that makes your weight stay where it is - basically, your current weight has a lot of inertia and it takes a big change to budge it. I probably read this article a few years ago and I don’t remember where, and when I tried to search for it on Google I was inundated with diet sites. Does anyone know anything about this? I don’t think 100 calories will do it, but you can send your body into starvation mode in which it the metabolism will slow to conserve energy. This might be what you’re thinking, but I believe the cut would have to be more drastic. I think it’s much more effective to boost the metabolism with increased aerobic activity, as well as some strength training, along with a meager reduction in calories. It’s also important not to waste calories on nutritionally deficient foods like potato chips and twinkies, because they will only provide limited fuel and will not contribute to building muscle that will improve metabolic rate. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-fat-and-dont-give-a-fig/596461/144 "2011-09-20T04:10:26Z")
> [@Isaacedwardleibowitz](#): > > Many posters in this thread are saying that cutting 100 calories from your diet every day will cause you to lose weight, but I remember reading an article that said that the human body has a mechanism that makes your weight stay where it is - basically, your current weight has a lot of inertia and it takes a big change to budge it. I probably read this article a few years ago and I don’t remember where, and when I tried to search for it on Google I was inundated with diet sites. Does anyone know anything about this? Yes. Previously summarized and links given [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=12625810&postcount=105). [Another good link.](http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/123702-overview) In short the concept is that human bodies have “a settling zone”, a weight that the body defends. The body changes its metabolism trying to get back to where it believes it belongs. It is why many obesity experts have come around to less focus on achieving a normal or even a near normal BMI. From the second link: > [@](#): > > In general, body weight and body fat generally tenaciously regulated. Available data suggest that a loss of approximately 10% of body weight in subjects who are obese (BMI \<40) is associated with virtually maximal benefits regarding obesity-elated comorbidities; therefore, further attempts at weight loss beyond this level are generally spurred by cosmetic considerations that may be not only unrealistic but also potentially dangerous. This possibility is the basis of a shift in paradigms in the medical management of obesity from a goal of massive weight loss to a goal of maintaining the highest weight possible while still eliminating obesity-related comorbidities or reducing them to minimum. … The point made there deserves emphasis: losing more than 10% is both unrealistic and potentially harmful; better aim realistic and make the lasting changes that impact your health. (Better yet to prevent obesity in the first place, but that was a different thread.) ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-fat-and-dont-give-a-fig/596461/145 "2011-09-20T12:18:20Z")
Sounds like bullshit to me. There was a time, not long ago, when people were not routinely obese in the way that they are now. If it’s so natural to be obese, why did this just now happen? Sure food availability had something to do with it- but there has been a lot of history where we’ve had some extra beyond what it takes not to starve to death. ---
**Author:** ![AqualungBats5th](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@AqualungBats5th](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AqualungBats5th)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-fat-and-dont-give-a-fig/596461/146 "2011-09-20T12:35:47Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Short of fasting on water and vitamin pills, you can’t lose weight if you do nothing but sit in a chair all day. This is simply not correct. The body has a baseline of calories burned every day just to maintain basic functions which varies somewhat from person to person, but if IIRC is somewhere in the ballpark of 800-1000 calories. That’s an easy amount to get to, but it’s a great deal more than “water and vitamin pills”. In any case, most people living sedentary lifestyles are burning more than that because they are in fact doing more than just being a pile of functioning organs. Eat a 1200 calorie a day diet? Lose weight from your chair. Whether this is a reasonable or healthy way to do so (no, it’s probably not) is another discussion. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-fat-and-dont-give-a-fig/596461/147 "2011-09-20T12:55:00Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > Sounds like bullshit to me. There was a time, not long ago, when people were not routinely obese in the way that they are now. If it’s so natural to be obese, why did this just now happen? Sure food availability had something to do with it- but there has been a lot of history where we’ve had some extra beyond what it takes not to starve to death. Simple: food processers started adding sugar\* to _ **everything** _. Almost everything we eat that isn’t prepared from raw ingredients has in it the equivalent of just a little cocaine or heroin; and then we wonder why we eat so much. \*sugar, high fructose corn syrup, molasses, caramel coloring, dextrose, maltose, cane juice, etc., etc., etc. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-fat-and-dont-give-a-fig/596461/148 "2011-09-20T13:18:54Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > Sounds like bullshit to me. There was a time, not long ago, when people were not routinely obese in the way that they are now. If it’s so natural to be obese, why did this just now happen? Sure food availability had something to do with it- but there has been a lot of history where we’ve had some extra beyond what it takes not to starve to death. Actually I think it does have a lot to do with availability. Some of it is food quality, of course, but I don’t think there has ever been another time in history when you could go grocery shopping and manage to eat lunch at the store because of the constant free samples or when offices stocked delicious snacks daily and brought in cake and ice cream at least once a month to celebrate birthdays as a benefit to their employees. Beyond that, when you look back at the [people in history](http://www.factropolis.com/uploaded_images/henryviii-775799.jpg) who had [money and power](http://www.ralphmag.org/DP/queen_Victoria424x576.gif) enough to [eat as much as they wanted](http://img.ezinemark.com/imagemanager2/files/30004254/2010/12/2010-12-19-15-17-38-7-pope-paul-ii-has-also-put-in-the-list-of-famous-pe.jpeg) of [whatever they wanted](http://jaffee89.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/king-louis-xvi1.jpg?w=198&h=256) they often managed [to be obese](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/73/Francis1-1.jpg/200px-Francis1-1.jpg). Not all of the rich in history were obese but it seems pretty standard for humanity that when the cost and availability of food isn’t really a factor a good portion of us will end up fat. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2011, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-fat-and-dont-give-a-fig/596461/149 "2011-09-20T18:21:31Z")
**even sven** , the answers already given, like **pbbth** ’s above, are exactly correct. No, we have never before had a time when so many have had so much food so readily available all the time, especially so much with so much sucrose and high fructose corn syrup and so little fiber. Never. The data is very clear and very conclusive. The typical Western lifestyle (diet and fairly low activity level) is highly obesiogenic. The relative resistence/sensitivity to those factors is very much a function of our genes. Once someone has reached adulthood changing from obese to normal BMI is very difficult both because of learned behavior patterns and because of physiologic factors that work to maintain the weight within “the settling zone.” Nevertheless changing to a healthier lifestyle can result in dramatically reduced health risks even with only modest weight loss. Our focus on achieving normal weights dooms many to perceived failure and then to “giving up”… if I can’t lose the weight and keep it off (and while a few do, it is only a few) I might as well just enjoy my food the way that it is easy to do. When we aim at the wrong target it is not surprising to miss. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-fat-and-dont-give-a-fig/596461.md?page=7)