How do people reach the point where they weigh 800 pounds?

Question

How can they let themselves get that far?

Answer 1

Having been a very obese person myself, this is what I think is going on. You know how some people become alcoholic or drug addicts, but some other people don't? To a somewhat lesser extent, this happens with food, too. Now in countries where there isn't a lot of food around, it's not a problem...you dont' see people that fat. But in America we have a ton of food. I would say sugar and fat are the most addictive substances.

If you haven't had a weight problem, or an addiction of any kind, it's probably hard to understand. But just like alcoholics and drug addicts get those overwhelming cravings, so do people who end up weighing 800 lbs. Yes, they care that they look like crap, but not enough to stop 'taking the drug', so to speak. Just like junkies and alcoholics eventually start looking like crap.

Another factor for someone who weighs 800 lbs is that often when they get so big they can't move, is that there is often a family member (s) who buy and prepare the food for them. So they are sort of enablers once people get so big they can't move around much.

Answer 2

Because, beyond a certain point it is not what you put in your mouth, but how your body processes it.

I have been hypoglycemic my entire life, until 2002, when I switched to diabetes. My weight gain was due to how my body handles glucose (blood sugar). Had I known when I was in high school (when I went on Weight Watchers for the first time), that the insulin in my body was putting glucose in my cells as fat, despite my need for that glucose to think, move, grow, I might have had an entirely different life.

Answer 3

i think once they get beyond a certain point and cant get around anymore they just lay around and eat. what i wonder is .. Why are the people that are taking care of them continuing to give them so much food? They are obviuosly not getting up and getting it themselves. If they are still hungry after a meal, let them get up and get it themselves..

Answer 4

Damn man, I have no clue. I see these stories of people that weigh 1200 lbs and wonder. They are so fat that they cannot get out of bed. Someone must be feeding these beached whales or they would not weigh 1200 lbs.

Answer 5

Fat cells don't burn any energy, muscle cells require and burn energy. Once you lose enough muscle and replace it with fat, your metabolism becomes non-existent. You don't burn any calories because you are unable to move, and it takes very little to maintain current weight, so if the eating habits that got them to this point continue, every calorie they consume will become additional body weight.

Answer 6

its sad to see someone that size. i know a guy that is close to 500 pounds and all he does is sit on the computer and play games and eat. he doesnt want to loose weight. he has no intention to. people just loose the love they have for themselves and just let their bodies go.

Answer 7

I never heard of that, I only heard people weighing 600 lbs. but Im sure some one will die sooner before reaching that amount.

Answer 8

A low self esteem combined with eating to feel better - food doesn't pick on you and is always there for you.

Answer 9

By then you couldn't fit out of the door to get help. Those are the ones that get air lifted out after they cut out the door frames.

Answer 10

Well, it's all about getting caught in a vicious circle... you eat because of whatever, you get fat and depressed, you eat more and you can't really exercice anymore, etc...