# How do people get so fat?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-so-fat/513763
**Category:** Great Debates
**Created:** [October 14, 2009, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-so-fat/513763 "2009-10-14T08:22:14Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 14
### Author:  [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2009, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-so-fat/513763/261 "2009-10-19T04:52:59Z")
> [@Dripping](#):
>
> Umm, in case you hadn’t noticed, this thread is about “How do people get so fat?”. Cooking and eating “big pots” full of beans simmered in pig fat is…one of the answers to that question.
I think I’m going to skip answering people who choose not to _ **read** _ and _ **comprehend** _ the words that are written. It’s disrespectful of my time and energy.
See ya.
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### Author:  [@Dripping](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dripping)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2009, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-so-fat/513763/262 "2009-10-19T05:14:53Z")
> [@Stoid](#):
>
> I think I’m going to skip answering people who choose not to _ **read** _ and _ **comprehend** _ the words that are written. It’s disrespectful of my time and energy.
>
> See ya.
Yeah, you keep saying that.
How many calories are in a serving of your beans cooked in pig fat?
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### Author:  [@lshaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lshaw)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2009, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-so-fat/513763/263 "2009-10-19T05:42:41Z")
For someone like me (100 lbs / 45 kg), it’s easy to say that people are the size they are because of genetics. I eat more than most grown men I know, and yet I still weigh what I weigh. My mother was about the same at my age, at around 95 lbs at 5’5", and even after having 2 kids and going through middle age, she is still 110 lbs despite having a very hearty appetite (and no sense of portion control, may I add). If I had slightly different genetics, I have no doubt that I would be obese by now. People around me can go on and on about portion sizes and whatnot, but I’ve just moved to Japan, and I can tell you that it’s incredibly easy to obtain prepared meals at inexpensive prices anywhere you go; I’ve known many people from America (dubbed the Land of Large Portion Sizes by many) gain weight here.
There’s no doubt lifestyle habits plays a large role in determining size, but I would never make assumptions.
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### Author:  [@Discipline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Discipline)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2009, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-so-fat/513763/264 "2009-10-19T05:44:51Z")
> [@pbbth](#):
>
> think about how they feel about **Rand Rover** and his posts here and think about how similar that makes them to him. If they think he is a good model of behavior then they should feel free to make with the insults and if not they should maybe think again about what they have to say.
Frankly, I liked that guy. I didn’t always agree with him, but he cut down on the bullshit like some people need to cut down on the cheeseburgers.
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### Author:  [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2009, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-so-fat/513763/265 "2009-10-19T05:59:27Z")
> [@Stoid](#):
>
> What do you believe about bulimia? Should the people who have it just stop stuffing themselves and barfing? Is it “just that simple”?
>
> And how about anorexics? Should they just start eating? Is it just that simple.
Actually, yes. I have some experience with this. Doctors and therapists can provide essential support to people getting over eating disorders (and are obviously essential for something that has began to affect physical health). But the difference between patients who will get better and those who get worse are desire to change and willpower. There is no pill, no magic word, that they have to make you get better. The primary factor is you.
First, you have to recognize that you have a problem, and decide that you want to change it. This is probably the hardest part, since it comes with piles of guilt and shame. You have to confront something you’ve been avoiding a long time. You probably have to face your friends and family, and the hurt you feel and have caused them. Eating disorders are a coping device. It’s a way of not dealing with your emotions. And after a while, it become a default. Feel bad? Don’t eat. For a while, at least, your problem feels solved. You start forgetting your other coping methods. You start becoming your disorder. And you are scared to acknowledge how far you’ve really gone and now much work it’s gonna be to get better.
And if you are THIS in need of coping devices, you probably are quite depressed. It can take a hell of a lot of courage to face the world without your depression. Because it eventually becomes you. You can’t see what life would be like without it. It’s almost comfortable. The devil you know. But you have to decide to go on without it. To face an unknown. To be ready to handle happiness and success. That takes courage.
After that first step, comes the discipline. First you have to replace those harmful daily habits with good ones. Start eating a reasonable diet. But more importantly, you have to replace those bad coping habits with good ones. When something bad happens, you are going to want to turn to your old familiar friend. The thing that got you through so much. But you have to have the will to say “No, I will not do that.” and use a positive coping strategy instead. And you have to do this for the rest of your life. It will get easier in time as good impulses replace the bad. But you must always remain vigilant.
Doctors and pills can help make a space where this change can happen, but can’t do it for you.
Anyway, it’s actually quite similar to people facing other kinds of food problems.
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### Author:  [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2009, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-so-fat/513763/266 "2009-10-19T06:22:01Z")
> [@Claude\_Remains](#):
>
> You will never see a miltary recruiting station inside a Wallmart.
They hardly ever recruit middle-aged housewives.
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### Author:  [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2009, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-so-fat/513763/267 "2009-10-19T06:26:49Z")
> [@Dripping](#):
>
> Yeah, you keep saying that.
>
> How many calories are in a serving of your beans cooked in pig fat?
Well, you’re reading slightly more carefully, but still making things up.
I won’t answer the question you made up in hopes of looking clever and being rude, but I will answer the question of how many calories there are in the serving of pinto beans prepared as I described: about 300-400: the beans alone are 245, the fat in the water from the hocks might ad another 50-150 per cup of beans, depending. (There’s hardly any meat to speak of on a ham hock. A couple of bites at most.) And the big pot of beans is a whole lot of beans, so that’s a very generous estimate on the added fat per cup out of a couple of hocks.
There’s also 15 grams of fiber - All Bran cereal with EXTRA fiber still only contains 13 grams. Legumes are freakin’ awesome in the fiber department, nothing comes close.
If you’ve decided to open your mind to some actual information, instead of simply scanning for opportunities to try and score points, you will find that beans are not merely **not** a bad thing to eat, they are actually an **outstanding** food source, excellent for anyone’s diet:
> [@](#):
>
> They may well be the original super food as they are low in fat and high in protein, fiber and a large variety of vitamins and minerals. The benefits of beans include lowering cholesterol, stabilizing blood sugar, reducing the risk of some cancers and preventing heart disease especially in diabetics.
>
> One of the largest health benefits of beans is the amount of soluble fiber they offer to trap cholesterol in the digestive tract and eliminate it quickly. Another benefit of including beans in your diet is that they are extremely filling so you will eat less iof the other foods that may not be so healthy and in turn you may lose weight, a definite added benefit especially for diabetics.
>
> Beans are high in complex carbohydrates which means they are digested more slowly than simple carbohydrates. Thus, the glucose will enter the bloodstream more slowly, keeping blood sugar levels steadier. The key to controlling diabetes and preventing long term effects of the disease like heart disease is to maintain the blood sugar levels as steady as possible.
> Beans actually contain a wider variety of healthy nutrients than most foods. These include calcium, potassium, vitamin B6, magnesium, folate, and alpha-linolenic acid. These nutrients work together on several key areas of the body promoting total health. Beans also happen to be good sources of complete proteins, which is rare in plants. Plants, while having many different nutrients, often lack complete proteins of any kind. This is unfortunate, as protein is a vital ingredient to the healthy and normal functioning of the human body, and the most readily available sources of protein have negative effects on the heart. Beans, however, are plentiful in protein
So no, I don’t feel the slightest bit chagrined about my choice of beans, even with a little fatty pork thrown in to flavor them, I eat them specifically _ **because** _ they are very nutritious and healthful and I find them very tasty, yet satisfying in small quantities.
I also love raw cauliflower, but sometimes I think I could eat it nonstop all day long and never, ever feel satisfied.
I saw a show about an experiment: the volunteers had to get all their calories from raw, unprocessed fruits and vegetables, the same way gorillas do. It took an average of eleven pounds (!) of food per day, and it took hours to eat. The volunteers said their jaws ached from all the chewing. It was actually that show that first gave me the idea about “Must” eating.
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### Author:  [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2009, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-so-fat/513763/268 "2009-10-19T07:11:05Z")
> [@Claude\_Remains](#):
>
> Yeah, And if one is good TEN of em must be better! Then ten packs of Snackwells and then a few gallons of frozen yogurt. Then sleep and dream of walking up the steps from the first floor the the second.
[Moderating]
Apparently one warning about threadshitting wasn’t sufficient. So let’s try two warnings, and see if the message penetrates.
[/Moderating]
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### Author:  [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2009, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-so-fat/513763/269 "2009-10-19T07:51:48Z")
The ham hocks I get are really meaty, with very little fat and a big bone. They’re pig ankles, not a block of lard. They’re used mostly to flavor beans. Funny how when a regular-weight person cooks a pot of beans flavored with a small amount of ham, they’re being health-minded, eco-friendly and thrifty, but when a heavy person cooks a pot of beans flavored with ham, they’re being gluttonous and indulgent.
Now I need to go pick up some ham hocks and beans.
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### Author:  [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2009, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-so-fat/513763/270 "2009-10-19T08:06:36Z")
Where do you get your ham hocks? Even the best ones around here seem to be mostly fat and bone. I toss in one hock per pound of dry beans, and also add a ham steak, which is practically fat free. After the ham and beans have cooked, I fish out the hock and remove any lean meat and put it back in the pot. I throw away the rind and fat, over my husband’s protests.
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### Author:  [@yams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yams)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2009, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-so-fat/513763/271 "2009-10-19T09:08:18Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#):
>
> Jesus, **Stoid** , calm down.
>
> As far as I know of, the only condition where it IS impossible to lose weight is [Praeder Willi Syndrome](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Praeder_Willi_Syndrome). And that is EXTREMELY rare.)
It IS NOT impossible to lose weight if one has Prader-Willi Syndrome. “Impossible to control appetite” and “impossible to lose weight” are two different things, and if in an environment where their access to food is controlled and exercise is part of the daily routine, people with Prader-Willi will lose weight, just like everyone else.
love
yams!!
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### Author:  [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2009, 11:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-so-fat/513763/272 "2009-10-19T11:05:25Z")
> [@rhubarbarin](#):
>
> So again.. if calories in, calories out, doesn’t apply in particular to me, why should is apply to everyone else (90% or 99% of all fat people, as people keep throwing out).
Calories in and out most certainly do apply to you. You clearly have been burning as many calories as your body is consuming. There’s simply no other possibility. You are not the universe’s exception to the laws of physics.
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### Author:  [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2009, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-so-fat/513763/273 "2009-10-19T11:09:48Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#):
>
> Just as an aside, has anyone here tried Lean Cuisines? I used to take them to work for my lunch, and they’re pretty good.
Yes.
Just bear in mind they’re not enormously nutritious. A Lean Cuisine (or any similar product) is just a small portion of otherwise unremarkable TV food. Go ahead and look at the “Hungry Man” dinners; the ratio of calories to portion size is generally about the same. In fact, the Hungry Man turkey dinner is pretty good for you.
You can produce much tastier meals just making them yourself and using a scale to ensure they weigh about 8 ounces, which is about the size of a Lean Cuisine.
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### Author:  [@Haunted](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haunted)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2009, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-so-fat/513763/274 "2009-10-19T11:43:56Z")
> [@Zsofia](#):
>
> Actually, **Haunted** , as a packaged food goes that isn’t half bad - almost every one of those things IS a food-sounding thing, and I can spell all of it. Not as good as what I make myself, of course, but what is?
You’re right, it’s better than some stuff. There are alternatives that contain mostly or all real food ingredients, if you want prepared foods.
Here’s the ingredients from Amy’s cheese lasagna:
INGREDIENTS : ORGANIC LASAGNA PASTA (ORGANIC SEMOLINA FLOUR, ORGANIC WHOLE WHEAT DURUM FLOUR, WATER), ORGANIC TOMATO PUREE, RICOTTA CHEESE, FILTERED WATER, ORGANIC ONIONS, ORGANIC LOWFAT MILK, ORGANIC MONTEREY JACK CHEESE, ORGANIC CHEDDAR CHEESE, PART SKIM MOZZARELLA CHEESE, PARMESAN CHEESE, ORGANIC EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL, SEA SALT, ORGANIC HONEY, SPICES, ORGANIC GARLIC. CONTAINS MILK AND WHEAT.
From: [http://www.amys.com/products/category\_view.php?prod\_category=4](http://www.amys.com/products/category_view.php?prod_category=4)
And from Cedarlane’s chicken lasagna:
Ingredients: Organic Lasagna Noodles (organic wheat semolina and water), Organic Tomatoes, Chicken Breast Meat (chicken breast meat, rice starch, salt, onion powder, granulated garlic), Fire Roasted Tomatoes (tomatoes, tomato juice, salt, calcium chloride and citric acid), Ricotta Cheese (pasteurized whey, cream and milk), Water, Monterey Jack Cheese (cultured pasteurized milk, salt, and enzymes), Parsley, Onions, Corn Starch, Rice Flour, Carrots, Celery, Basil, Parmesan Cheese (pasteurized milk, cheese culture, salt, enzymes), Salt, Garlic, Organic Cane Sugar, Onion Powder, Oregano, Rice Starch, Garlic Powder, Black Pepper, Bay Leaves, Olive Oil. Contains: Milk and Wheat.
From: [http://www.cedarlanefoods.com/p0306.htm](http://www.cedarlanefoods.com/p0306.htm)
Both of these contain a lot of sodium! That seems to be a huge problem with almost all prepared foods. And their nutritional value is questionable, depending on what you’re looking for. There’s very little fiber in most prepared foods, for example.
There are other lines of prepared foods that contain all or mostly real ingredients. A lot of them are strictly vegetarian. Sometimes you have to go to health food stores or organic markets to find them. Still, none of this stuff is ever going to be as nutritious or satisfying as food that is minimally processed. As I said, in my case, I can’t eat this stuff anymore. My habits have changed so much that eating something like this for a couple meals in a row would leave me begging for an apple or some scrambled eggs.
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### Author:  [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2009, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-so-fat/513763/275 "2009-10-19T13:21:37Z")
The only frozen food I ever eat is pizzas, occasionally. Once a long, long time ago I tried Weight Watchers and I got some Lean Cuisines for work lunches. I did lose weight, because I looked at them and threw them out once I took the plastic off. 🙂 But the point is, as stuff from the middle of the supermarket goes that’s a pretty innocuous ingredient list - certainly not enough of a horror show to paste it into a thread and act all shocked about it.
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### Author:  [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2009, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-so-fat/513763/276 "2009-10-19T13:33:00Z")
> [@Zsofia](#):
>
> The only frozen food I ever eat is pizzas, occasionally. Once a long, long time ago I tried Weight Watchers and I got some Lean Cuisines for work lunches. I did lose weight, because I looked at them and threw them out once I took the plastic off. 🙂 But the point is, as stuff from the middle of the supermarket goes that’s a pretty innocuous ingredient list - certainly not enough of a horror show to paste it into a thread and act all shocked about it.
Thats my take on it to. Its almost as if just the fact the list is long in itself is supposed to be shocking. But most of the ingredients in the list are food, not chemicals that sound like they belong in a paint can.
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### Author:  [@Haunted](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haunted)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2009, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-so-fat/513763/277 "2009-10-19T14:10:56Z")
> [@Zsofia](#):
>
> The only frozen food I ever eat is pizzas, occasionally. Once a long, long time ago I tried Weight Watchers and I got some Lean Cuisines for work lunches. I did lose weight, because I looked at them and threw them out once I took the plastic off. 🙂 But the point is, as stuff from the middle of the supermarket goes that’s a pretty innocuous ingredient list - certainly not enough of a horror show to paste it into a thread and act all shocked about it.
Well, we all have different opinions. If you don’t have a problem with it, that’s fine. I reserve the right to express my own opinion and I’m sorry you can’t support that. I am shocked about it. Shocked that so many people have come to think of this kind of stuff as “food.” Shocked that I used to think of it as “food.” In my opinion, it’s not food. Do you think a nutritionist would advocate eating this kind of thing? And people wonder why Americans have so many issues with food? Part of the problem is that they don’t even know what the word means any more. If I were to make chicken with basil cream sauce at home, it would not have all those questionable ingredients like smoke flavor and maltodextrin in it. And I would consider it to be real food.
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### Author:  [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2009, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-so-fat/513763/278 "2009-10-19T15:10:56Z")
> [@Haunted](#):
>
> If I were to make chicken with basil cream sauce at home, it would not have **all** those questionable ingredients like smoke flavor and maltodextrin in it. And I would consider it to be real food.
I think “our”, or at least my problem, with your point is equating two or three icky ingredients with “ **all** those questionable ingredients”.
Its like giving a long list of horrible things Obama’s done and 95 percent are the same damn things every other president has done.
Yeah, Lean Queasen aint made with free range cauliflower, but calorie and portion wise its almost guaranteed to be better than the crap that most fat folks are getting fat on. I also suspect the crappiness of the content is at least a modest improvement over buffets and fast food. At the very least it is LESS of same crap.
If a real nutrionist comes along and tells me its no better than fast food, just less of it, I’ll gladly believe em. But I aint gonna freak out because it doesnt just say something like “chicken, rice, water, cheese, and all natural spices”.
And, if you think its absolute crap even still, thats certainly your perogative. Hell, I havent had it in years, so for all I know, it would make me gag now too.
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### Author:  [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2009, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-so-fat/513763/279 "2009-10-19T15:19:48Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#):
>
> Where do you get your ham hocks? Even the best ones around here seem to be mostly fat and bone. I toss in one hock per pound of dry beans, and also add a ham steak, which is practically fat free. After the ham and beans have cooked, I fish out the hock and remove any lean meat and put it back in the pot. \*\* I throw away the rind and fat\*\*, over my husband’s protests.
FYI.
In the south thats immediate grounds for divorce. In some jurisdictions, its an affirmative defense for justifiable homicide.
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### Author:  [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)
#### Post date: [October 19, 2009, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-people-get-so-fat/513763/280 "2009-10-19T15:31:42Z")
Re Lean Cuisines: I often have one for lunch. No, it’s maybe not the most nutritious thing in the world, but I have discovered (this is related to the earlier discussion about figuring out why you gained weight in the first place) that I have a lot of trouble with lunchtime, because I’m home feeding small children, and I have a lot of trouble refraining from finishing up their leftovers after they’re done. This is a bad idea even if the kids are having a reasonably healthy and nutritious lunch. So, I started having a Lean Cuisine for lunch instead. I have my set little portion of food, it fills me up, and if I’m not eating what the kids are having in the first place, I’m not tempted to “finish off” what’s on their plates. I get plenty of fiber, vitamins, protein, and other important nutrients, in the other two meals of the day. Also, the “Thai-style chicken” and “lemongrass chicken” meals are actually relatively tasty, as TV dinners go.
One thing that has aided me in my weight loss is no longer caring what other people think about my nutritional choices. Tip for those of you who are attempting to lose weight or maintain weight loss: There are always going to be people who scoff at your food choices. Either you are not on the diet that they personally believe will be the most effective at losing weight, or you are eating stuff that they in their wisdom do not consider “real food” or you are eating too many calories, or not enough calories, or blah blah blah. Ignore this crap. I just fit into a pair of skinny jeans in a size I haven’t been in since high school, so I think I’ll just keep doing what I’ve been doing, thanks.
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