Very good points, Lieste. Always look for opportunity to get in a few extra steps versus convenience, weather and time permitting.

So,,,what are some possible solutions?

I've said before, unless you've experienced substantial weight loss (and some here have lost HUGE amounts of weight), you don't know the struggle. The body is permanently damaged. For example, you never get rid of the additional fat cells, you only shrink them to super-compact size, and they continue harassing the brain with hunger. I'm sure there's other changes, physically and psychologically, that are irreparable. A 170 lbs. man who has never had a weight problem and a 170 lbs. man who once weighed 400 lbs. are not equal, even if they more-or-less look the same now. One has mental demons and with a body that's physically fighting the changes. Not saying it can't be done, but statistics on maintaining weight loss are abysmal.

I'm very fortunate to have an excellent support system, mainly a wife and parents (next door) who are on the same page in wanting to keep our health and weight in check (parents have an awesome old-school doctor's scale with sliding weights). And as a man, I've made it no secret where I get 98% of my motivation to stay on course (bless her). And yet it's a daily struggle, mainly not to become discouraged when progress doesn't seem to match the effort.

So, how do we encourage society to jump on the healthy bandwagon and start reversing this trend? It's easy to blame people on bad choices, but the world works so hard against us (technology, advertisements, convenience, crime in some areas). And now we have toxic attitudes of denial and acceptance gaining momentum, why it mostly seems hopeless to me.

I am thin, and I am living proof there can be factors beyond the rather dim assumption that body weight is a "supply and demand" thing.

I can eat anything, and to the point of being sick of eating (I'm talking about long term, not just a day/week/month), and even if unemployed and getting zero exercise I will NOT exceed 150lbs.

I can drop down to 120lbs effortlessly. I've been working hard lately, eating as much as I can, the most fattening stuff I can (as well as healthy stuff) and I'm 119lbs right now - and 5' 10" tall.

I have no diseases or disorders. I just had a physical 4 months ago.

I just have an intense metabolism. Always have - for 47 years now.

I'm the opposite of obese. And there is literally nothing that can be done about that. NOTHING. Believe me I've tried for 35 years or so.

Now true there are people who are maybe 50, 100lbs heavier than they should be because they're lazy fools who eat wrong and such. But when I see somebody who's 400, 500, 600lbs - I see a medical condition, not a "lazy pig".

Assuming that we want to continue having a free society, then the best that can be done is for the relevant and accurate medical data to be freely available for people who want to lose weight and stay healthy.

That already exists, and has existed for years before the internet even existed (although the data obviously continues to become more accurate).

I repeat, this is NOT a simple minded "supply and demand equation" in terms of calories ingested and burned. That "theory" factually mathematically applies to quite a few overweight people for sure.

But that doesn't even begin to explain the morbidly obese or extremely thin people like me........

Genetics. It has almost as much influence on body weight as behavioral aspects like diet and exercise do.

Watching mine and my wife's home movies from the mid-60's to mid-70's (35mm to DVD), especially any candid scenes at the beach or hotel swimming pools, obesity was rare.


EDIT: Simply looked up on YT "home movies on beach 1970" (there are many others).

First video at top of page...



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jB3RTQITjo

No offense, but your home movies are absolutely not any empirical evidence of the human condition at that time or any time. There were PLENTY of fat people in those years. They were just far less likely to "show it off" at a beach.

Ok, anecdotal then (and I took out that "obesity was *very* rare," just rare).

Swimsuit scenes are a small percentage of total footage, though. I stand by it, unless our two families (including many blood relatives and spouses) were unique in that there were very few overweight family members (unlike today).

I've always told my kids: People come in all shapes and sizes. You'll likely fluctuate yourself during your life.
There's no simple explanation, don't assume anything. Just take care of yourself and be a kind person.

Losing weight is a lot like the effort to quit smoking IMO. MASSIVE benefits if you do it right, but it's hard and you may fail on many efforts until you take it to the hardcore, lifestyle level. The difference is that the effort is very physical and doesn't let up, unlike quitting smoking that gets easier over time. Still, it's more enjoyable despite being hard. I have a long way to go, but I'm always finding new benefits.

RK, you always word that well.

Yes, everyone deserves to be treated kindly (unless they're being an asshat) no matter who they are and what they look like. There's just no excuse to ever hurt someone's feelings, even with a subtle facial expression, it's just not right.

That said, I love that I can vent a little here, expressing opinions that I would never do in real life. For example, I don't talk diet and fitness or weight and size to anyone outside of my immediate family, unless they bring it up (very rare). When we go out with family and friends, we go with the flow to fit in, not come off as if we're trying to turn every activity into exercise or being obviously choosy with our diets. When it's just the two of us, yeah, we'll walk the extra mile, choose healthier menu items and drink water. But when we're with other people, we'll relax and enjoy some pizza, fast food, a buffet or whatever, with sodas. It's so infrequent anyway, and gives us a nice break from our usual routine.

Zamzow, thanks for sharing your story. While society is embracing larger sizes (as evident by a plus-size Lands' End catalog we received in the mail), we need to remember that people can be Underweight for their BMI and still be perfectly healthy, it's the way they're designed. So BMI can be inaccurate on *both* ends of the Normal range, although you only hear about the higher end.

I bet some people don't believe you, that you can eat anything you want and as much as you want, and never gain a pound, even if you wanted to. Well, I believe you because I saw it for myself in my wife for many years, although it's not the case anymore (thankfully, the mismatch was too much). If you're like my brother, your metabolism will start to tank about now, but not completely. Tell me, do you consider yourself an ectomorph?

When I was at primary school in the 1980s there was one 'fat' child in our year - and looking back probably only 'plump' rather than proper fat.

In my daughter's school it was around 1 in 3 pupils, and some were seriously obese. This is alarming too, as as noted above once you have been overweight or obese it becomes a much harder problem to deal with than if you have never been overweight.

We are failing our children, partly through diet, partly through over consumption and portion control, and partly from increasing levels of permitted inactivity/fear of outdoor play/overuse of cars and entertainment electronics...

Same with me Lieste but in the 60s. It might have been medical as her brother was 'thin'.

When our alien overlords come to earth in a thousand years to enslave mankind after finding those plaques we're sending into outer space, let's still be recognizable...

The Pioneer Plaque: Science as a Universal Language

Might be genetics. Proof always in the pics, right? Pic below is of wife (age 15, right before we started dating in HS) with younger sister (same parents).

They grew up in the same environment and with very similar diets (often taking turns cooking as their mom worked, father deceased). Other than the occasional pork chops or chicken or something reasonably healthy, the bulk of their diet was not good at all, lots of fish sticks, mac and cheese, frozen pizzas, Pringles and a crap load of Coca-Colas! I started hanging out at their place and went nuts (I think maybe my parents were a little *too* strict with our food/drink) and started gaining weight immediately. My body couldn't deal, and it also doesn't like being obese (I eventually had several problems that men much heavier than me never had).

Anyway, the difference between sisters is genetics, one takes after mother (endomorph), the other after father (ectomorph). Like myself, my sister-in-law is fighting it now, I'm proud of her.

The irony, to me, of my own weight troubles these past ten/fifteen years is that I used to be one of those arrogant b@stards that could eat anything and not gain an ounce and I was more than willing to tell you that your own weight problems were simply a lack of will power on your part.


Wheels

Not trying to make excuses as I did it to myself (see pics below), and those aren't my worst (wish I had pics from 2007/08). Again, I know men who weighed more (with higher BMIs, accounting for height) and didn't have the problems I had, like constant pains and headaches, nose bleeds and acute gout attacks. The pic with my ex-sister-in-law (wife's brother's second wife) was in Houston at his swearing in to be a lawyer, and I was in the middle of a severe gout attack at that moment (would usually last about a week, from first sign to healed).

Wife wasn't sympathetic. We ate the same crap and she almost matched me in quantity (no kidding). Not quite, as skinny people still have smaller stomachs, but considering food/calories-to-size ratio, I bet she ate more (just as it is today). For well over a decade (our late-20's and 30's), we'd go out to dinner and splurge on large platters/plates, order Chinese or pizza delivery, drive-in fast food, then come home and watch TV or I'd go in my office and play on my PC. I put on weight and she didn't, so she only saw it as *my* problem, not *our* problem. She was also getting occasional physicals and cardiology exams (I was not) and they were coming back fine, not great but nothing concerning...yet.

Until we hit about 35 and then her weight started climbing for the first time in her life (mostly in the lower abdominal area). Then the blood work numbers started climbing (mainly cholesterol, hello Lipitor). Still within her Normal BMI, her cardiologist was becoming concerned (I have some handwritten notes in the files somewhere). True ectomorphs (I know a few others, including mothers) seldom lose weight in their lifetime, only gain it, but they're already so skinny and the gain is incredibly slow. At first it's a good thing for women, they curve out a little as they age (budding late-20's, early-30's) but then their metabolism tanks and the weight comes quickly, just not as much as a normal person (think relative vs. absolute).

Anyway, we both needed attitude adjustments as we hit 40 (came with a health scare and an ultimatum for me to see a doctor) but at least now we have the same struggle which gives us common goals. She would rather have to work for it anyway because now she has control of her size, whereas when we were younger, she didn't. Me, I was just out of control and with getting no help or sympathy from my partner, I gave up.

In retrospect, it would have been best had we never had the previous lifestyle, would have saved us a whole heap of grief.

Based on what happened to me and what has happened to many of my past high school and college friends, I'd say that metabolism usually starts dropping after about age 35 for most people.

In fact, I'd say that roughly about 80-90% of the people I knew in high school are heavier now than they were back then.

It's hitting my wife and I in our 50's.

But that's okay...aren't we supposed to get old and fat?