Why are YOU Fat?

BJean · 03-09-2008, 03:41 PM

kat: You can't imagine all the types of mental diversion or aversion therapies I have tried. Did you ever read Dr. Phil's book on losing weight? Geez, you're so busy doing all the stuff he commands you to do that there's no way that you'd have time for a meal plus the way he presents it, you'd be a total nincompoop if you kept binge eating. Unfortunately I am not that easily insulted or intimidated and I am very hard to retrain.

As many have pointed out about drugs/alcohol vs. food addictions, it is somewhat easier to avoid drugs and alcohol than food. You have to plan for and eat food and it seems that our social lives are centered around food, even at church functions.

Angel: I sure don't discount genetics when it comes to overeating. I am definitely not convinced whether true obesity is caused from learned behavior (handed down through family lifestyle) or actual genetic predisposition. When you consider the studies done with twins who were separated at a very early age, they've found that identical twins often have become adults with very similar weights and proclivities for certain foods. That would indicate that genetics may play a larger role than just environment.

There may be recent updates about these types of studies, but I haven't kept up with them. Have you?

MacMadame · 03-09-2008, 06:19 PM

In addition to the twin studies, they have done some recent brain studies and found that overweight people have less brain activity in the left posterior amygdala, which plays a role in appetite. Specifically, many overweight people's "full sensor" isn't as sensitive. That means when they are full, the brian isn't getting the message.

I can really related to that one because once I started going through puberty, I never felt full and that's when I stopped being a teeny tiny thing and started being "fluffy".

Angelyco · 03-10-2008, 09:22 AM

I don't discount genetics as a factor, it's just that I hold myself accountable for my bad eating habits, which I think will help when I finally get my band.

BJean · 03-10-2008, 11:15 AM

Best of luck to you Angel, on your journey to "band land"

chell1957 · 03-10-2008, 01:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MacMadame

In addition to the twin studies, they have done some recent brain studies and found that overweight people have less brain activity in the left posterior amygdala, which plays a role in appetite. Specifically, many overweight people's "full sensor" isn't as sensitive. That means when they are full, the brian isn't getting the message.

I can really related to that one because once I started going through puberty, I never felt full and that's when I stopped being a teeny tiny thing and started being "fluffy".

Me too! I think it's a combination of things...learned behaviour (family stuff) and genetics...just my opinion...but I have noticed that I don't feel full like some folks do...I remember when I took the Merridia in the late 1990's thinking to myself "So this is how it feels to be full"...I was never a skinny kid, I was always told it was the Italian in me...Chell ....so where did the Irish side do?..wink...LOL

MacMadame · 03-10-2008, 11:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chell1957

so where did the Irish side do?..wink...LOL

I'm half Irish and it didn't stop me from gaining... must be all those potatoes! (I lurve potatoes.)

chell1957 · 03-12-2008, 12:02 PM

U R not alone on that my friend.

MsHansy · 03-14-2008, 03:08 PM

I could blame genetics because most of my family is obese, but really it's my fault. If I didn't eat junk for everyday I would be this way. It is really an addiction. An alcoholic or smoker can give up alcohol and cigerettes but we cannot just give up food. Though I guess I could give up the junk food. But I am getting the band next Wed. and I am hoping for a big change!

triser72 · 03-15-2008, 10:35 PM

I think this is an interesting thread topic, so here's my story....

Every person in my family was fat and we had to eat everything on our plate. Our family did not eat healthy - Dad cooked breakfast EVERY morning: fried eggs, bacon or sausage, a can of biscuits. And for supper: a meat and 2 starches, no bread or dessert. We never had sodas in the house, but we went through at least one gallon of tea per day and sweetened it with 2 Sweet N Low per glass. We never had snack food, cookies, etc.

I began to gain significant weight in 4th-5th grade and started my period in 5th grade. I think that was very beginning. In junior high, both parents worked. I would come home afterschool and my two main activities were watching TV and eating. I have peanut butter sandwiches that were HEAPING with peanut butter (mixed with honey) and jelly OR hot dog sandwiches. I wouldn't do my homework till late - I would sit, watch TV and eat.

Every female in the immediate and extended family would make snide remarks about each other's weight, but we were ALL FAT. It was confusing and emotional.

With each year came more fat and I became comfortable with it. I don't know myself any other way. As the years have progressed, I have realized my emotional eating habits - not cool at all. I moved to Houston right out of college and was single for 8 years with an busy career and no accountability for my eating habits. When I met my DH, I discovered a man who would love me for who I am. Being fat hasn't been that big of a deal. Until, the health/lifestyle issues started to creep into my life - sleep apnea, the fear of diabetes, not being able to fit comfortably in a movie seat, asking for an extension belt on the airplane (ugly cry moment), depression, muscle aches, ankle/feet problems (are they really made to carry this much weight), etc., etc., etc..

Right now, at 300 lbs., I am NOT comfortable - everything is an effort and I feel like my legs are going to burst half the time. I am predisposed for Diabetes with my mother and her mother having been diagnosed with it. I am 35 years old, but my body feels like it 65. Fat is no longer comfortable.

insubordination · 03-16-2008, 04:29 AM

I can relate to 'being 35 and feeling 65'. I feel so much older than I really am. Maybe because my heart has to work twice as hard or carrying around all this bulk is just plain tiring.

linksmom · 03-22-2008, 09:37 PM

Why am I fat? I have thought about this recently and here's what I came up with. 1) I was adopted by great parents who gave me anything I could ever ask for. Clothes,cars, vacations etc. I'm one of those people that doesn't wish to every find my birth parents. My parents live about 3 miles away they are the ones that were my true parents. About the time I was in 4 th grade my parents got on the health kick of eating right and cutting down on sweets and fats. And my great lunches of pb&j's and chips and a couple of cookies turned into sandwich with lean thin meats, grapes and carrot sticks, NO desserts. So like so many other people said, I would buy tons of candy and sneak it into my room and hide it. It was kinda a naughty feeling knowing that I was eating candy when my parents banned it from the house. My parents would go out to eat with relatives or friends and at the end of the meal offer if anybody wants dessert, I would say I do, and then my mom would look at me and say,"Susan, not you, you don't need anything." Needless to say i was like, "oh yeah, well I am going to eat dessert later by god."
2) How come you never realize who someone is until after you marry them?! At 20 years old I married my high school boyfriend, who I dated mostly on rather than off for 4 years. After 6 years of marriage one day the blinders came off and I realized I was living with an mentally and verbally abusive jerk.

I was browbeated for so long that my self esteem went out the window. He never called me by my name, it was always some obscentity , $88thead or something similar. He wouldn't let me go anywhere without him unless it was to work, needless to say, by the time I got divorced I didn't have but 1 real girlfriend. All my high school friends were pushed away before we even got married. It never got physical by his hands so to speak,but there would always be all these accidents. We would shoot pool for fun and once the cue ball came flying off the table and slammed into the wall right by my head and he thought it was the funniest thing he's ever scene. He also always told me that if he ever hit me, I would be either dead or in the hospital. So with all that Food became my comfort and my friend. I spent alot of time alone at home. It was clear that althougth I wasn't allowed to go anywhere without him, his life he could. He participated in alot of bowling leagues and softball game. Also I'm the type of person that showed outwardly that every thing was great. No problems here, while inside I was a shell of the person that I once was. HHHMMM, maybe I'm still alittle bitter after all these years. Sorry to drag on. SO back to the subject. I believe alot of it had to do with a bad marriage and turning to food for comfort. And of course, I watched alot of TV. I could get lost in the people on TV's lifes and problems and not focus on mine.. Thanks for listening

mstrina27 · 03-23-2008, 08:00 AM

I feel the reason i am fat because i eat too much. I ate when i wasent hungry when i was younger because i was bored and could not go off of my block because i was a girl, and my mom didn't want anything to happen to me. My cousins were all pretty thin, but i was always the cute one.

so in 1987 some of my cousins started getting really rude with their comments and actually I wasent that big. They were skin and bones like really size 0 to 4 or 5 and i was a 8 and i was considered fat. Now when i look back hell if i could get back there i would be a-ok... I turned to food to be my friend because i figured no one wanted to be around me or talk to me so i shut everyone out. and the cup cakes, chips, and pop the junk food became my best buddy....

MacMadame · 03-23-2008, 04:34 PM

I believe that I am fat because I am hungry all the time and my metabolism is not what it should be. Plus, I tend to prefer sedentary activities. I am not sure why I am hungry all the time, but it seems to be related to entering puberty. My metabolism is not what it should be, because I fell into the trap of yo-yo dieting. As for being sedentary, my body has always fought to be at rest. My mom would make me go outside to play and I would sneak out a book and find a place to sit and read.

I wish I could go back in time and never start that first diet when I was 13. Maybe the rest of it never would have happened, if I had loved my body when it was beautiful and accepted myself as I was. I tell myself that I’d be about 150 and healthy as a horse -- overweight, but not morbidly obese.

But who knows? Maybe my hunger never would have fixed itself. I do know that dieting has made everything worse. But I don’t know what it would have been if I hadn’t dieted ever.

That's the short answer. :biggrin2:

lifechange82 · 03-23-2008, 10:10 PM

Ahh, why am I fat... 2 reasons in my opinion. 1. I am an emotional eater 2. It takes alot of food to get me full

All my life, my family has revolved around food, and that's how I was rewarded by my mom, and my aunts, and my grandma. And so when I ventured into adult life, and I was stressed, or lonely, or whatever, I would turn to food because it brought me back to a comfotable, safe place when I was with my family. Food has become an addiction... but of all addictions I COULD HAVE picked up- I'm glad it was food. My dad died from alcohol abuse, and 90% of the men in my family, on both sides, are alcoholics.

I AM READY TO TAKE BACK MY LIFE!!! CAN I HEAR AN AMEN?!?!?

Needol · 03-24-2008, 07:05 PM

Linksmom: Your story sounds all too familiar, I believe this is exactly what my sister is going through. And anytime I try talking to her about it she gets very defensive and doesn't want to talk about it. My whole family is worried for her but she wont listen to us. I hope one day she is strong as you and leaves that jerk. Grats on starting a new life and more healthy life.