people choose to be fat

[madi]

i had a bit of a fight with a girl last night when i said that people choose their size by deciding what they eat and never moving enough to burn off any excess

she said that was a horrible thing to say

what do you think?

[Apothos]

Some people may have gotten fat and afterwards realised they didnt want to be fat, but by that time they were too fat to do anything about it. Like the fat woman who was killed by a couch in a previous thread.

Maybe. Just guessing.

[Apothos]

Anyway, being fat is a disease, didnt you hear?

[Embroglio]

so when did you choose to be a complete idiot?

[Apothos]

A couple of minutes after birth.

[Superpig #1]

You can also be fat because your parents were fat. It comes down in the genes.

[IncubusGod]

I don't think people choose to be fat exactly. It seems to just happen to them. They may eat out of emotional problems, compulsive behavior etc.There are medical reasons in many cases. Then it's quite hard to change long term habits. It's very difficult to lose the weight, they try, they fail. They get depressed and they eat again.

To be honest if you have any sence of human compassion you can't harshly criticise these people all the time. Alot of the problems they have are out of control and they need help in solving them. It's no use wagging the finger, calling them fat and telling them to cop themselves on.
You can do that so long as help is provided to them.

Now I'm not one to condone over-eating and lazyness. I think that someone who sits on their arse, eats crap, never excersises and then bitches about being fat is an idiot.
I don't think we should lump everyone into that boat though.

[flapjack]

most fat people are people who are as stupid as to eat lots and not move enough.
There are however also people that simply can't help being fat, some because of medication, others because of various other actaul diseases.
Those that have such a disease should be given as much help as possible, but those who are fat because they simply eat/ate to much, well, they where the ones who choose to eat to much and move to little, so its their own stupid fault

[JC]

Originally Posted by Superpig #1

You can also be fat because your parents were fat. It comes down in the genes.

People normally just use that as an excuse.

[Superpig #1]

Well its a scientific fact.

But their parents only got fat by eating too much....

[JC]

Originally Posted by Superpig #1

Well its a scientific fact.

But their parents only got fat by eating too much....

Now that isnt scientific fact.

The parents choose to eat food, got fat, and then that changes their genes so their kids cant help being fat?

[Rumad]

I am not sure what context it was used it, but chosing isn't the correct terminology either.

I am a biggish guy and have been big for most of my life. Some of what you say is correct but also some is incorrect.

Some people like me are quite happy with who they are and where they are at, others (most probably like the girl you talked to) have hidden problems which have led to eating incorrect things (like chocolate) or comfort eating.

To a certain extent most peple probably make subconcious decisions about who they want to be and strive to be that person. Whether that makes you conscious of your weight or not or whatever you are who you are.

In general I think I am agreeing wih you... on a certain level, but also such wide sweeping remarks are generally incorrect.

[Sarina_Joy]

I didn't 'choose' to be fat by deciding to eat too much fatty food or to not take any exercise. I have been overweight for as long as I can remember. At some point I decided, or came to the conclusion that the emphasis people place on weight (as part of physical appearance in general) is totally ****ing ridiculous. I stopped worrying about it. I don't care that I'm overweight because it has no effect on the person I am, and if people choose to treat me differently based on the fact that I'm overweight then I don't want any part of them. (People can rattle on about the fact that I am giving myself heart disease or whatever else. OK then. People can tell me that in later years I'll put a strain on the NHS. I probably visit the doctor the least out of everyone I know, I have never been in hospital for anything apart from visiting time. I reckon I'm pretty damn healthy all in all. If in later years I visit hospital then so be it. I'm not going to be made to feel guilty about it by a bunch of people who probably waste their doctors time week in week out because they have a ****ing cold.)

So to answer your question madi... I don't think it's a 'horrible' thing to say. I do think in general people can be quite arrogant in assuming that people are overweight because they binge eat or are lazy or both. Neither of those apply to me. I'm overweight because I don't see it as particularly important. I don't feel unhealthy, I don't feel that it has a detrimental effect on my life, and until I do I won't actively do anything about it.

[Superpig #1]

Originally Posted by JC

Now that isnt scientific fact.

The parents choose to eat food, got fat, and then that changes their genes so their kids cant help being fat?

Yes, it is.

If your parents had fat sex for example and then had you...
It would be highly likely that they passed their fatness down to you because they were fat themselves.

Its like when children have their parents looks or whatever.

[Rumad]

Originally Posted by Superpig #1

Yes, it is.

If your parents had fat sex for example and then had you...
It would be highly likely that they passed their fatness down to you because they were fat themselves.

Its like when children have their parents looks or whatever.

How do you explain a fat person from thin parents then?

[Apothos]

Recessive gene?

[Superpig #1]

Originally Posted by Rumad

How do you explain a fat person from thin parents then?

It could be 1 of 2 things.

1. That person eats too much
2. That person is a freak of nature and it just happened like that.

[JC]

Originally Posted by Superpig #1

Yes, it is.

If your parents had fat sex for example and then had you...
It would be highly likely that they passed their fatness down to you because they were fat themselves.

Its like when children have their parents looks or whatever.

I cant tell if you are being serious or trolling .

[madi]

weight isnt hereditory

while your parents are making your food choices for you it is fair to blame them for your size
after that, its your own decision

[queball]

Maybe it's nasty and correct? Well, people are unlikely to choose to be ugly, maybe you mean you think fat people lack self-regard, willpower, moral character, or something like that, which is a problem you might say they need to get over.

[deerbarn]

Even things like mothers having extreme morning sickness and so kind of starving the children can lead to the kids growning up always being hungry. Insincts a bitch

[MeridianStar]

Originally Posted by madi

weight isnt hereditory

while your parents are making your food choices for you it is fair to blame them for your size
after that, its your own decision

Correct, weight itself is not hereditary. However, a persons genes can often predispose various factors such as metabolism which makes it more likely for a person with overweight parents to become overweight themselves. See such basic texts as Gleitman's Psychology and you'll see that children with overweight parents are far more likely to be overweight (60%) than children with 'average' sized parents (7%).

So, you're wrong.

[madi]

metabolism is mainly determined by how much exercise you do and how fit you are
and the heavier you are the higher your metabolism is as your body has to work harder when you move

[JC]

Originally Posted by MeridianStar

Correct, weight itself is not hereditary. However, a persons genes can often predispose various factors such as metabolism which makes it more likely for a person with overweight parents to become overweight themselves. See such basic texts as Gleitman's Psychology and you'll see that children with overweight parents are far more likely to be overweight (60%) than children with 'average' sized parents (7%).

So, you're wrong.

You are looking at it far too simply. For starters fat parents are more likely to over-feed their kids, and might not encourage them to be as active as fitter parents would do. Maybe a bit of a generalistaion but i dont think you can discount it completely.

Secondly, the way Superpig said it he made it sound as though think people, who eat lots and become fat will magically get 'fat genes' and hand these onto their kids, which is bollocks. Genes can predispose you to eat more, or have a lower metabolism or whatever else might cause obesity but a lot of the time people use it as an excuse when there isnt anything wrong with them.

[Dace]

People can be more or less predisposed to putting on weight.

This does not matter.

It does not matter because the person still makes the choice whether to get (/stay) fat or not.

The only difference is perhaps the amount of effort the need to put in.

IF A PERSON IS FAT IT'S THERE OWN FAULT!


[/of story]

[MeridianStar]

Originally Posted by madi

metabolism is mainly determined by how much exercise you do and how fit you are
and the heavier you are the higher your metabolism is as your body has to work harder when you move

It's only partly determined by how much exercise you do. The heavier you are the lower your metabolism is. People with a lower percentage of body fat have a much higher metabolism. If you're not sure what metabolism is, it's basically the amount of energy you use for your body to function.

[MeridianStar]

Originally Posted by JC

You are looking at it far too simply. For starters fat parents are more likely to over-feed their kids, and might not encourage them to be as active as fitter parents would do. Maybe a bit of a generalistaion but i dont think you can discount it completely.

Secondly, the way Superpig said it he made it sound as though think people, who eat lots and become fat will magically get 'fat genes' and hand these onto their kids, which is bollocks. Genes can predispose you to eat more, or have a lower metabolism or whatever else might cause obesity but a lot of the time people use it as an excuse when there isnt anything wrong with them.

You can't discount either... it's the old nature/nurture crap again. So there's no point in discounting either opinion when they are both factors.

[madi]

Originally Posted by MeridianStar

It's only partly determined by how much exercise you do. The heavier you are the lower your metabolism is. People with a lower percentage of body fat have a much higher metabolism. If you're not sure what metabolism is, it's basically the amount of energy you use for your body to function.

this bit is incorrect (it is a common myth)
sorry
the heavier you are the higher your metabolic rate as the more you weigh the harder your body has to work when you move

[Rids]

I have a small problem with my weight, I wouldnt classify myself as a fat **** by any means. Few people here met me at i10, when I looked my worst ever. Reached 15 stone, and decided, **** no, I'm not having this anymore. So I chose to lose weight, and in a period of about 9 months managed to drop 4 stone. Now, my weight fluctuates at any given time by about a stone, but when it gos back up by a stone, I make another choice that its gone too far now and needs to come down.

Really, you do have the choice whether to make the effort to lose weight, or just continue to indulge your self without doing any excercise.

[Hells_Angel]

Interesting subject we have here. As it happens some people do choose to be fat, its a safe feeling esp for women. Some women will make themselves fat so they cant be attacked.
But also I know some people who cant help being fat, which has nothing to do with the amount of excercise they have or how much they eat.

[MeridianStar]

Originally Posted by madi

this bit is incorrect
sorry
the heavier you are the more your body has to work when you move

This bit is incorrect. People with a lower percentage of body fat/more muscle have higher metabolism because muscle takes more energy to be maintained than fat. So, you're still wrong.

[Dace]

Originally Posted by madi

this bit is incorrect (it is a comom myth)
sorry

the heavier you are the more your body has to work when you move

hmmmm not quite madi.

I know that you can speed up your matabolism by eating more often (ie you'd be better off eating your 2.4k cals in 6 meals rather than 3)*.

Also being physically more active gives you a higher matabolsim.

Fat people dont do much exercise**.

As such i'd be more inclined to think that a thin person would have a higher matabolism.























* this is because if dont eat for 4 hours your body thinks it's starving and goes into survival mode by trying to store energy (ie putting down fat)

** i dare anybody to disagree with me

[pablissimo]

Everyone can help being fat, they're just eating more than they need possibly without realising it. If they ate only the amount of calories in a day that they are burning, I'm not sure quite how they could continue to put on weight without sitting under a fat-inducing sunbed of some kind that directly nourishes the waistline with calorific rays of dairy products.

I suppose you could be genetically predisposed to having a slower metabolism, or have a psychological tendency to eat more than you require/eat when you aren't hungry/not feel full at the same level of food intake as other people, but all of those can be overcome by controlling your diet.

[Dace]

Originally Posted by MeridianStar

This bit is incorrect. People with a lower percentage of body fat/more muscle have higher metabolism because muscle takes more energy to be maintained than fat. So, you're still wrong.

sounds right

[Sarina_Joy]

Originally Posted by Hells_Angel

As it happens some people do choose to be fat, its a safe feeling esp for women. Some women will make themselves fat so they cant be attacked.
.

What?

[Dace]

Originally Posted by pablissimo

Everyone can help being fat, they're just eating more than they need possibly without realising it. If they ate only the amount of calories in a day that they are burning, I'm not sure quite how they could continue to put on weight without sitting under a fat-inducing sunbed of some kind that directly nourishes the waistline with calorific rays of dairy products.

Maybe it's just an ordinary sunbed that does that trick.

I mean look at where the people who use sunbeds the most are from:

- Glasgow

- Newcastle

- Liverpool

Alot of fatties there.

I think it's worth looking into (scientifically).

[Rids]

Originally Posted by Dace

** i dare anybody to disagree with me

Way too much of a generalisation.Your average porker, probably doesnt exercise much, however I know 'fat people' who play Football 5-aside 3 times a week, and 11-aside every Sunday. As well as being an electrician in a pretty active job, he just eats / drinks too much.

[Dace]

Originally Posted by Hells_Angel

As it happens some people do choose to be fat, its a safe feeling esp for women. Some women will make themselves fat so they cant be attacked.

Or alternatively when they get to be fat messes they justify it with a bullshit excuse.

[Dace]

Originally Posted by Rids

Way too much of a generalisation.Your average porker, probably doesnt exercise much, however I know 'fat people' who play Football 5-aside 3 times a week, and 11-aside every Sunday. As well as being an electrician in a pretty active job, he just eats / drinks too much.

No you dont.

I'm right.

You're wrong.

[madi]

Originally Posted by Dace

hmmmm not quite madi.

I know that you can speed up your matabolism by eating more often (ie you'd be better off eating your 2.4k cals in 6 meals rather than 3)*.

Also being physically more active gives you a higher matabolsim.

Fat people dont do much exercise**.

As such i'd be more inclined to think that a thin person would have a higher matabolism.

'it is a common myth that the heavier you are the slower your metabolism is
in fact its the other way round, 'the heavier you are, the higher your metabolic rate'
so says the head of the british nutrition foundation Ms Hannah Theobald

you are wrong, but it is a common misunderstanding

[Dace]

link me

[madi]

Originally Posted by Dace

link me

pretty sure the technology doesnt yet exist

[Sarina_Joy]

I never thought metabolism (which I understand to be how fast your body changes chemicals into energy) had any direct link to how heavy a person was. I did think that metabolism affected how easy it was for a person to lose weight.

[Dace]

Originally Posted by madi

pretty sure the technology doesnt yet exist

To the article with that quote in it silly.

[madi]

Originally Posted by Dace

To the article with that quote in it silly.

i know what you meant, but i still cant link you to the article
its printed on paper

but here is something that will help
How do I measure my RMR (resting metabolic rate)?
Males: 66+
(6.22 x weight (lbs)) +
(12.7 x height (inches)) -
(6.8 x age)

Females: 655 +
(4.36 x weight (lbs)) +
(4.32 x height (inches)) -
(4.7 x age)

the heavier you are the higher your metabolic rate

http://health.discovery.com/tools/ca...sal/basal.html = a calculator so you can see

[KaneED]

I think fat people choose to be fat.

It could be they don't want to lose their excess weight because they're happy with who they are, I like those people.

What I don't like is the fat people who are fat and unhappy with it and simply cannot be bothered to do anything about it or help themselves. If you can't help yourself, who can you help?

[Aryn]

i just cba. i definitely don't overeat though. i usually don't have breakfast, have a smallish lunch, and dinner. i walk to and from work every day ( not quite sure how far it is.. 15-20min walk at a fast pace). the important part i think is that i don't feel fat. so i'm perfectly happy with the way i am. and frankly i could care less what other people think.

[Dante Hicks]

I don't see that being fat = eating too much. For most people perhaps.

I'm too thin (as I've said before, about 20kg underweight). People always offer the simplistic "Eat more" but I eat way more than a lot of fat people and just don't put on any weight. One of my house mates eats well under the recommended daily calorie amount and is still a fat bastard.

Saying it's a choice seems to be far too simplistic, as others have noted.

[LHC]

I think there may be a genetic 'susceptibility' to fatness, but I doubt it is uncontrollable. I supsect that anyone with any amount of willpower will be able to control their diet and fitness regime enough to stop themselves being obese.

I have this mate that is fat and has a fat family, so I thought it might be genetic. But **** me, when I found out what I ate there was no suprise he's a fat bastard.

[Sunday8pm]

Well Madi dear, that's because some people prefer not using narcotics and nicotine as dietry aids.

ZING