The Cause of Obesity

I was pretty overweight too when I was younger, but it was actually due to a medical condition that doesn't have much to do with metabolism - I was just sick and bedridden most of my adolescence. Fortunately I didn't end up a scrawny 5'2" kid ... still mystifies doctors, lol.
 
I was having a discussion to with a friend the other day;

One of the big reasons for the obesity in America can be attributed to... wait for it, cause it will be weird... High School.

You see, in other countries, there is no such thing as "High School sports". Really. Gym class is once a week maybe and it consists of a huge joke. Everything is done outside school. So if you're playing soccer with your buddies, you're doing it on your own time. So you actually get used to it. High School sports, in a vast majority, require the actual High School and it isn't always an entertainment form rather than a way to either be popular or fill extra-curricular activities. So what ends up happening is, when you're in High School you're forced to exercise, which means you can slack a bit on your eating and still not gain weight.

Problem arises when you are out of high school, and go to college or the real world; the dietary habits don't usually change, but the caloric expenditure does, which in turns makes you gain a crap load of lbs because you can no longer get away with it. In other countries, the caloric expenditure remains, since you're doing it on your leisure time anyways and your diet habits have been the same as they were before, not to mention you are not often moving away to live in a different city and away from your parents, your diet doesn't all of a sudden become your own worries, you're still in a lot of cases under your parents roof, eating what they set you up for.

Lastly, lets not forget weather; US is cold in a good portion, not to mention most of it is inland country. No beaches, sometimes no lakes either. No public beach for people to go to where they have to not wear many clothes. In tropical places where you are most likely to be seen without a shirt, people have extra motivation to not look awful when they take their shirts off. In the US, where 60% of the country has winter 6 - 8 months of the year, you can get away with extra lbs by wearing clothes, which can obviously escalate.

Anyways, this was just a topic paper I once wrote and I figured I would share some of its main ideas. Feel free to chime in.
 
People IMO are obese for only to reasons.

1) igrorance
2) laziness

People ignoar the fact that today's foods are not what we are ment to be eating. Microwave dinners filled with sodium n fat, diet sodas filled with toxins, dinner plates filled with an 10 oz stake fries n little to no greens. People either choose to ignore or really just don't kno what an healthy diet is. These foods make people lazy, which doesn't help the already depressed mind set.

You can try to blame it on genetics n whole bunch other things but that's not the cause of obesity. What's the cause of obesity .. your diet plain b simple.
 
hugry4more said:
People IMO are obese for only to reasons.

1) igrorance
2) laziness

People ignoar the fact that today's foods are not what we are ment to be eating. Microwave dinners filled with sodium n fat, diet sodas filled with toxins, dinner plates filled with an 10 oz stake fries n little to no greens. People either choose to ignore or really just don't kno what an healthy diet is. These foods make people lazy, which doesn't help the already depressed mind set.

You can try to blame it on genetics n whole bunch other things but that's not the cause of obesity. What's the cause of obesity .. your diet plain b simple.
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That can also be brought up back to my original point;

A kid who leaves High School and moves to college; he probably never cooked for himself a day in his life, always ate what his parents made. He moves away to college and is now offered with a slew of junk cafeteria food during his first year. Second year, if he still doesn't know how to cook, he has to resort to the frozen food; healthy frozen food is not cheap, college kids are on a budget, you get fatter. Once you go down the path, you are screwed because the willpower to go back to your good shape starts becoming darker and darker.

It is a matter of genetics too, yes, you will see those who can eat whatever the hell they want and still be ok, but those that make the transition and are now on their own but don't have the good genetics are the ones who suffer. I've seen SO MANY extremely attractive girls or extremely fit guys who just turn into sh!t during college it's not even funny; it's a new reality, one to which they are not used to, and it's hard to change those habits.
 
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that people are obese because they eat more calories than they burn.

I know some of you may disagree with this far-fetched idea, but bear with me. Genetics might affect your BMR. Medication may affect your BMR. Your activity level may affect the amount of calories you're burning per day, so can any number of factors. None of these things change the fact that if one knows his or her BMR, accurately tracks calories, and eats at a slight deficit, he or she will lose weight.

Nobel prize please?
 
I'm a 33 year-old male. I've a;ways been overweight. While genetics probably play a role, that is no excuse. I know people who eat more than me and are less active and can't gain weight. Who cares? My choices are simple. 1)Eat what I want to, when I want to, & exercise whyen I want to or not at all. 2) Accept that if I want to be healthy and weigh less it requires a strict regimen of diet and exercise. Pretty damn simple. At 6'2, I had been over 300lbs for at least 5 years. I got tired of it, tired of not being able to play with my daughter without getting winded, tired of constant back & knee pain, tired of having trouble finding clothes that fit. So I got off my dead ass & took some action. On Oct 1, 2011 I weighed 325lbs and was probably 35 or 40% bf. Today, March 8,2012, I weigh 240lbs and Im about 25% bf. My advice, if anyone cares, is QUIT BITCHIN & WHININ about things you can't control(i.e genetics, metabolism, upbringing, environment) & DO SOMETHING about to things you can (diet, exercise)
 
owlicks said:
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that people are obese because they eat more calories than they burn.

I know some of you may disagree with this far-fetched idea, but bear with me. Genetics might affect your BMR. Medication may affect your BMR. Your activity level may affect the amount of calories you're burning per day, so can any number of factors. None of these things change the fact that if one knows his or her BMR, accurately tracks calories, and eats at a slight deficit, he or she will lose weight.

Nobel prize please?
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I'm logging on my computer now to give u reps bro. Your 100 percent correct. If u know your BMR and eat at a calorie deficit u will lose weight no matter what. I know my BMR and as a result I can do whatever I want with my weight.
 
zebediah23 said:
I'm a 33 year-old male. I've a;ways been overweight. While genetics probably play a role, that is no excuse. I know people who eat more than me and are less active and can't gain weight. Who cares? My choices are simple. 1)Eat what I want to, when I want to, & exercise whyen I want to or not at all. 2) Accept that if I want to be healthy and weigh less it requires a strict regimen of diet and exercise. Pretty damn simple. At 6'2, I had been over 300lbs for at least 5 years. I got tired of it, tired of not being able to play with my daughter without getting winded, tired of constant back & knee pain, tired of having trouble finding clothes that fit. So I got off my dead ass & took some action. On Oct 1, 2011 I weighed 325lbs and was probably 35 or 40% bf. Today, March 8,2012, I weigh 240lbs and Im about 25% bf. My advice, if anyone cares, is QUIT BITCHIN & WHININ about things you can't control(i.e genetics, metabolism, upbringing, environment) & DO SOMETHING about to things you can (diet, exercise)
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Yessir. Your getting mad reps too bro.
 
bla55 said:
That can also be brought up back to my original point;

A kid who leaves High School and moves to college; he probably never cooked for himself a day in his life, always ate what his parents made. He moves away to college and is now offered with a slew of junk cafeteria food during his first year. Second year, if he still doesn't know how to cook, he has to resort to the frozen food; healthy frozen food is not cheap, college kids are on a budget, you get fatter. Once you go down the path, you are screwed because the willpower to go back to your good shape starts becoming darker and darker.

It is a matter of genetics too, yes, you will see those who can eat whatever the hell they want and still be ok, but those that make the transition and are now on their own but don't have the good genetics are the ones who suffer. I've seen SO MANY extremely attractive girls or extremely fit guys who just turn into sh!t during college it's not even funny; it's a new reality, one to which they are not used to, and it's hard to change those habits.
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Reps for u.
 
bla55 said:
That can also be brought up back to my original point;

A kid who leaves High School and moves to college; he probably never cooked for himself a day in his life, always ate what his parents made. He moves away to college and is now offered with a slew of junk cafeteria food during his first year. Second year, if he still doesn't know how to cook, he has to resort to the frozen food; healthy frozen food is not cheap, college kids are on a budget, you get fatter. Once you go down the path, you are screwed because the willpower to go back to your good shape starts becoming darker and darker.

It is a matter of genetics too, yes, you will see those who can eat whatever the hell they want and still be ok, but those that make the transition and are now on their own but don't have the good genetics are the ones who suffer. I've seen SO MANY extremely attractive girls or extremely fit guys who just turn into sh!t during college it's not even funny; it's a new reality, one to which they are not used to, and it's hard to change those habits.
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Reps for u.
 
I agree with everyone who says its all factors of life style from every muscle you move during the day, to every thing you put in your mouth, your thoughts, your motivation, your sleep paterns, your stress levels, the things that effect your life and i would put last on the list genetics even for people that are genticly challenged. You look at the guys doing wheel chair bodybuilding if they can acomplish that people can get past their genticis!
 
D2footballjrc said:
What about us that started out lean, drank too much beer, got lazy, and was on a heavy medical steroid like prednisone for a long time? There is way too many factors, I think they all have some part to play though.

Genetics
Life Style
Motivation
Food Choices
Stress
Medical
...etc..etc.

Don't think you can pin it on any one thing.
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Definitely agree with this..
 
Interesting, just saw on the news about genetics and weight. A study just came out from I think it was Harvard that just 1 hour of exercise a week negates over 30% of your genetics when it comes to your weight. That is being a big cause of obesity because they said on average we are much less active now then we used to be.
 
D2footballjrc said:
Interesting, just saw on the news about genetics and weight. A study just came out from I think it was Harvard that just 1 hour of exercise a week negates over 30% of your genetics when it comes to your weight. That is being a big cause of obesity because they said on average we are much less active now then we used to be.
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Yeah that's good sh*t bro.
 
A good example of the cause of obesity is our school systems. Gym classes/ teachers dont really teach the kids the importance of health. They preach on eating healthy and being active and they turn around and feed the kids pizza, hamburgers and jello as the fruit group. They also shed light on smoking by showing graphic.pictures of black lungs and cancer. They dont have anything like that to my knowlege about the risk obesity has.
 
I think in most (not all) cases, that the genetics card is a cop out. It's not about "can't", and more about "won't" when it comes to losing weight. People in general are fully ignorant when it comes to nutrition, and typically choose the convenient route when it comes to eating.

I'm 100% endomorph, and my genetic predisposition is to retain fat. I know this, so that means I have to work a little bit harder in the gym and be a little more careful when making nutritional choices. The upside is that I can add muscle mass very easily, so it's not a negative thing in my opinion.

Learn how to live and more often than not you won't be fat.
 
pyrobatt said:
A good example of the cause of obesity is our school systems. Gym classes/ teachers dont really teach the kids the importance of health. They preach on eating healthy and being active and they turn around and feed the kids pizza, hamburgers and jello as the fruit group. They also shed light on smoking by showing graphic.pictures of black lungs and cancer. They dont have anything like that to my knowlege about the risk obesity has.
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We keep blaming schools for everything. It is becoming as if parents are off the hook and they expect the schools to takeover the responsibility of raising the children. Schools are there to educate the kids, not to take over parents jobs.

It is the parents fault and no one else. Chances are the parents are overweight as well, at least in majority of the cases. Parents can give kids healthy breakfast instead of cereals and sugar loaded fake juices, send them to school with healthy snacks for lunch, give them healthy meals at home for dinner. It is not like the kids coming in shape from the summer break and racking on the pounds during school time.

Parents could enlist their children in sports on weekends, summers, or after school. They could encourage them to play basketball for example instead of playing video games.
 
pyrobatt said:
A good example of the cause of obesity is our school systems. Gym classes/ teachers dont really teach the kids the importance of health. They preach on eating healthy and being active and they turn around and feed the kids pizza, hamburgers and jello as the fruit group. They also shed light on smoking by showing graphic.pictures of black lungs and cancer. They dont have anything like that to my knowlege about the risk obesity has.
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My brother was telling me they just cut out gym class in his high school. Its now an elective. School did it so they could have like 5 min longer classes to bring up average GPA. This way they hey more money. Ya.. not really :/
 
hugry4more said:
My brother was telling me they just cut out gym class in his high school. Its now an elective. School did it so they could have like 5 min longer classes to bring up average GPA. This way they hey more money. Ya.. not really :/
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Wow that's just sad.
 
anoopbal said:
Are obese people fat because they are lazy or because of their life style or their genes?

[/URL][/B]Discuss.[/SIZE]
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No my friend people do not got fatness due to their lazyness or their life style because the working atmosphere and field and work is also too much responsible for this because they do no get proper time for their self most of the time the are busy in their work. They do not get proper time for their exercise and walk. These elements are also a reason of their fatness and obese.
 
robinthomson said:
No my friend people do not got fatness due to their lazyness or their life style because the working atmosphere and field and work is also too much responsible for this because they do no get proper time for their self most of the time the are busy in their work. They do not get proper time for their exercise and walk. These elements are also a reason of their fatness and obese.
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R u saying all this prevents them from eating healthy?
 
In response to that last two comments. There are two factors that drive people and everyone is a combination of the two... internal and external locus of control. People who take control of their lives and dont let societal norms dictate what they eat or do with their time means that person has a high internal locus of control... saying that society is to blame and there is no time because you would rather be doing other stuff that is fun and enjoyable like watching a movie is external locus of control.. obv everyone is different. But if you want to succeed in this society you have to be able to go against the grain and saying that society makes you fat is pretty annoying.. I have a good friend who has been trying to lose weight for years..always fails.. then he tries to argue with me that society makes it this way with his schedule and fast food everywhere. I have less free time than him yet I am in the gym for many hours a week and I make my food at home and don't eat junk..same atmosphere.. he just needs to understand that he has to take care of his life and not let society dictate his choices.
 
bigdavid said:
In response to that last two comments. There are two factors that drive people and everyone is a combination of the two... internal and external locus of control. People who take control of their lives and dont let societal norms dictate what they eat or do with their time means that person has a high internal locus of control... saying that society is to blame and there is no time because you would rather be doing other stuff that is fun and enjoyable like watching a movie is external locus of control.. obv everyone is different. But if you want to succeed in this society you have to be able to go against the grain and saying that society makes you fat is pretty annoying.. I have a good friend who has been trying to lose weight for years..always fails.. then he tries to argue with me that society makes it this way with his schedule and fast food everywhere. I have less free time than him yet I am in the gym for many hours a week and I make my food at home and don't eat junk..same atmosphere.. he just needs to understand that he has to take care of his life and not let society dictate his choices.
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Bro thank u so much for saying this. The poster b4 irritated me with his statement which was complete bullsh*t to me. No matter how busy I am, I always find the time to prepare my meals and exercise. The vast majority of ppl have time to sit down and watch some tv, so they should have time to exercise too, there's no excuse. If they really want to, they'll get away from the damn tv and hit the gym.
 
Dr.Stri8ed said:
Bro thank u so much for saying this. The poster b4 irritated me with his statement which was complete bullsh*t to me. No matter how busy I am, I always find the time to prepare my meals and exercise. The vast majority of ppl have time to sit down and watch some tv, so they should have time to exercise too, there's no excuse. If they really want to, they'll get away from the damn tv and hit the gym.
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Exactly. My friend spends so much time watching tv and sports and going out to eat. He has plenty of time to work out and eat healthy he just chooses not to. His choice. I have tried to help him for years but he lacks the internal motivation that he needs to succeed.
 
Dr.Stri8ed said:
Bro thank u so much for saying this. The poster b4 irritated me with his statement which was complete bullsh*t to me. No matter how busy I am, I always find the time to prepare my meals and exercise. The vast majority of ppl have time to sit down and watch some tv, so they should have time to exercise too, there's no excuse. If they really want to, they'll get away from the damn tv and hit the gym.
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Yup. Its not sacrifice if it helps you live life.
 
mattrag said:
Yup. Its not sacrifice if it helps you live life.
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Exactly. Idk anyone who works literally all day long and has no down time for anything else in their life besides work. Most ppl only work Mon-Fri, 9-5 which still allows a lot of time to take care of things u need to, including working out and food preparation.
 
Dr.Stri8ed said:
Exactly. Idk anyone who works literally all day long and has no down time for anything else in their life besides work. Most ppl only work Mon-Fri, 9-5 which still allows a lot of time to take care of things u need to, including working out and food preparation.
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Eh. A lot of my friends, myself included, work 8-6, sometimes worse hours. And at least where I work is a 15-20 minute shuttle ride away. Some people work 45-60 minute commute from where they live, so in total they're leaving home at 7 and getting back at 6-7. That can be pretty brutal. I got a taste of lifting and training my last year of college, though, and so I need to lift to just get through the week and so forth. So I always hit the gym regardless. But that may not be in someone's system, and they may just feel worn down by the work day and not be there at all to make commitments to hit the gym. I mean I can certainly empathize, and I think bigdave and one other poster made interesting points about how domineering work reality actually is for many.
 
Torobestia said:
Eh. A lot of my friends, myself included, work 8-6, sometimes worse hours. And at least where I work is a 15-20 minute shuttle ride away. Some people work 45-60 minute commute from where they live, so in total they're leaving home at 7 and getting back at 6-7. That can be pretty brutal. I got a taste of lifting and training my last year of college, though, and so I need to lift to just get through the week and so forth. So I always hit the gym regardless. But that may not be in someone's system, and they may just feel worn down by the work day and not be there at all to make commitments to hit the gym. I mean I can certainly empathize, and I think bigdave and one other poster made interesting points about how domineering work reality actually is for many.
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That's true. It comes down to what's really important to u.
 
Everyone has different priorities. When I was in grad school, so many people in my classes didn't train that much because they "didn't have time," which is total BS. I had a full-time job in addition to class and always made time to lift, even if it was just a 20 minute sprint session.

I've heard endless excuses from clients over the years as to why they couldn't be consistent in the gym, yet I would constantly see updates on Facebook from them playing Halo, out to eat, at the bar, etc.
 
Rodja said:
I've heard endless excuses from clients over the years as to why they couldn't be consistent in the gym, yet I would constantly see updates on Facebook from them playing Halo, out to eat, at the bar, etc.
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LOL

Yeah, it really does come down to prioritizing, and factors that help shape those priorities.
 
Rodja said:
Everyone has different priorities. When I was in grad school, so many people in my classes didn't train that much because they "didn't have time," which is total BS. I had a full-time job in addition to class and always made time to lift, even if it was just a 20 minute sprint session.

I've heard endless excuses from clients over the years as to why they couldn't be consistent in the gym, yet I would constantly see updates on Facebook from them playing Halo, out to eat, at the bar, etc.
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That is exactly how it is with my friends. "O I have no time I am so busy." Yet they go out several times a week to party or have endless amount of free time to eat out/watch movies. But I guess that is sort of how I approach being tan. I wouldn't mind being tan, but I don't really want to go out and be in the sun all day or go to a tanning booth. I guess that is how they approach lifting, they just don't care that much about it.
 
I work 8-6, am married, and have a 3 year-old daughter. My wife have has ms, my mother is disabled, my blind uncle requires lots of help, im a recovering alcoholic and attend at least 4 aa meetings a week. My wife & I are very involved in our church. How do I have time to workout you ask? I get up at 3:30am Monday through Saturday. Im at the gym by 4:15. I little heavy for an hour, then do an hour of cardio. Im home by 6:30 before my wife and daughter wake up. Also, Ive always been fat, my whole families fat and I have terrible genetics. So what? If you want to change, do the DAMN work, if not dont. Stop making excuses
 
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bigdavid said:
That is exactly how it is with my friends. "O I have no time I am so busy." Yet they go out several times a week to party or have endless amount of free time to eat out/watch movies. But I guess that is sort of how I approach being tan. I wouldn't mind being tan, but I don't really want to go out and be in the sun all day or go to a tanning booth. I guess that is how they approach lifting, they just don't care that much about it.
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Very good point.
 
zebediah23 said:
I work 8-6, am married, and have a 3 year-old daughter. My wife have has ms, my mother is disabled, my blind uncle requires lots of help, im a recovering alcoholic and attend at least 4 aa meetings a week. My wife & I are very involved in our church. How do I have time to workout you ask? I get up at 3:30am Monday through Saturday. Im at the gym by 4:15. I little heavy for an hour, then do an hour of cardio. Im home by 6:30 before my wife and daughter wake up. Also, Ive always been fat, my whole families fat and I have terrible genetics. So what? If you want to change, do the DAMN work, if not dont. Stop making excuses
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Exactly. See u do all these things and still make to workout. I doubt many ppl have all these responsibilities like u do, and they just make one excuse after the other.
 
My question to person who said they got fat due to work is: since when does getting fat has anything to do with anything else aside from "what you eat"?

Calories in - calories out = outcome. Regardless of what your goal is.
 
bla55 said:
My question to person who said they got fat due to work is: since when does getting fat has anything to do with anything else aside from "what you eat"?

Calories in - calories out = outcome. Regardless of what your goal is.
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Your damn right. Everyone has a BMR, as long as u eat your maintenance calories u will never gain weight, and idc if u sit on your ass all day at work. A calorie deficit is a calorie deficit period, u would los weight without even exercising.
 
robinthomson said:
No my friend people do not got fatness due to their lazyness or their life style because the working atmosphere and field and work is also too much responsible for this because they do no get proper time for their self most of the time the are busy in their work. They do not get proper time for their exercise and walk. These elements are also a reason of their fatness and obese.
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What a crock of SH1T. I work long hours I leave the house at 0500 and don't get home till 1900 but i still have time for the gym to keep myself in relative shape. Life is never too busy if your committed to something. Theres no excuse to be fat. Full stop.
 
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