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Somebody might want to be rail-thin though. The same as many people don’t mind or don’t care to be obese, as long as they have food to satisfy their mouths and don't have to move around, or the less moving around the better. Everybody makes his/her own choice.
Everything in nature is simple. It's just that people make things complicated and want to blame on things or other people when things don’t turn out the way they want. They never want to blame themselves. Easy peasy. There are simple methods to stay healthy and not obese. It is hard to apply self-control/discipline. One has to have strong mind or will power to accomplish it. It’s easier to argue and make excuses and let loose. No need to be angry or mad.
Last edited by AnOrdinaryCitizen; 11-13-2023 at 11:18 AM..
Obesity is a character flaw. It indicates a fundamental lack of will power and self-control.
Lack of will power and lack of self discipline are character flaws, but you are making a wild assumption that every obese person desperately wants to be thin.
The causes of obesity are multifactorial. Some of the most common reasons for obesity are: genetic, physiological, and many medications cause obesity.
I'm on Ozempic for weight loss and have no fear of acute gastrointestinal illness.
Also, I am tired of people's assumptions that it's "a quick fix" or that I'm "taking the easy way out".
If all this drug does is decrease one's appetite then the quick fix or easy way out applies to you. Sorry but that seems obvious. Not that there is anything wrong with that. People often take the easy way out. Like stomach stapling or tummy tucks. The hard way is self control and exercise. I have done it the hard way. And I there is a greater sense of accomplishment in doing that. But if it comes down to never losing weight or taking this drug. Of course it makes sense to take the drug.
If you don't want people commenting on what you are doing then don't tell anyone. Its between you and your doctor.
If all this drug does is decrease one's appetite then the quick fix or easy way out applies to you. Sorry but that seems obvious. Not that there is anything wrong with that. People often take the easy way out. Like stomach stapling or tummy tucks. The hard way is self control and exercise. I have done it the hard way. And I there is a greater sense of accomplishment in doing that. But if it comes down to never losing weight or taking this drug. Of course it makes sense to take the drug.
If you don't want people commenting on what you are doing then don't tell anyone. Its between you and your doctor.
I was referred to a dietician who put me on a plant based diet...I also have to exercise every single day. Yes, I take the drug but there's still lots of change and hard work to do on my part.
You make some good points. 400,000+ people in the United States die every year of "medical errors", and yet people still go to the hospital for surgery.
However, obesity isn't all that complex. You'll never go wrong with "eat clean, know your BMR, know your macros, and exercise". The problem with the vast majority of Americans that are obese likely lies in what they consume. Ultra-processed foods are horrible, and have contributed to lots of medical problems, but the average person often doesn't think about the cleanliness of their diet. A 2,000 calorie/day diet of pure junk will yield far different results than a 2,000 calorie/day diet of clean eating. Most doctors are poorly trained on nutrition, and even fitness, so their advice is often that of a 30,000 foot view. My own doctor does a poor job of really grasping the relationship between proteins, fats and carbs, so poor that I offered to refer him to my nutritionist. The reality is that if 90% of Americans were both nutritionally and physically fit, it would blow a trillion dollar hole in the revenue of Big Pharma/Big Medical.
It is that complex. See the article I linked earlier. That's the problem. People think it's that simple, and it's not. If it were, then we wouldn't have the obesity epidemic we have. Things like medications, plastics, etc. all have an effect on the way our bodies work. BTW, traces of those medications are found in our water supply, so even if you don't take any, you're exposed.
I agree that most of our food supply is crap. The processed foods are an issue for sure. There are additives in them that weren't around 50 years ago, many of which are banned in other countries for good reason. Even the fruits and vegetables in the US are less nutritious than they used to be. But there's more to that. It's pretty privileged to just tell people to eat less processed food. Processed food is cheap. And that's all most people can afford. They need to feed a family with limited funds, and they have to get as much food as possible to as little money as possible, and that translates into buying more processed food.
Food deserts are a very real thing. If you live 9 miles from the nearest grocery store and don't have reliable transportation, you can't just stop buy after work. So you eat what you do have access to, which is often limited to convenience or fast food. If you've never been a single parent who works long hours with no car or worked 2+ jobs, then you don't know how hard it is.
So biologically, it is complex. And there are social and environmental factors that make it even worse. Not to mention a food supply that is crap and a government that does nothing about it.
Women die every day - literally - from birth control pills. But I don't see posts about how they are unsafe.
This one death does not mean that the medications are unsafe. How many people died of conditions related to obesity each year? I'm going to guess it's more than one.
I think the problem people have with these medications being used for weight loss is that because of their effectiveness, it suggests that obesity is an actual biological issue and not a character flaw. So people who haven't struggled with it can't claim some moral superiority anymore. Antidepressants were like that when they first came out. Just cheer up! Just get out and do things! I do those things and I'm not depressed. It works for me, so that means it should work for everyone else. Sound familiar?
Obesity is much more complex than people think. Doctors are just scratching the surface on causes. And no, it's not always as simple as calories in / calories out. It's also just not as simple as eat less / move more any more than treating depression is just a matter of cheering up.
If all this drug does is decrease one's appetite then the quick fix or easy way out applies to you. Sorry but that seems obvious.
That isn't "all this drug does," as the article tells you. It also slows motility/stomach emptying; in other words, it has a direct effect on the digestive system, which is why so many (not all, but many) are developing digestive problems on it -- such as the woman in the article who died.
Obesity is a character flaw. It indicates a fundamental lack of will power and self-control.
As a person with chronic obesity, now in remission due to proper diet and exercise (calories in vs. calories out), it's not willpower so much as dealing with root cause. But it took years to figure that out, that our childhood hangups feed our adult problems. Most of us...not all...fundamentally have both will power and control. To varying degrees.
A relative is starting Ozempic. She has struggled with weight for decades. She had bariatric surgery many years ago and gained back everything she lost. It was all I could do to keep my mouth shut when I learned a few years ago that she had taken up baking (cakes, breads, etc) as a hobby. I wanted to scream NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
Sadly, I expect a poor outcome of the Ozempic experiment. I think food is her best friend.
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As a person with chronic obesity, now in remission due to proper diet and exercise (calories in vs. calories out), it's not willpower so much as dealing with root cause. But it took years to figure that out, that our childhood hangups feed our adult problems. Most of us...not all...fundamentally have both will power and control. To varying degrees.
