Morbidly Obese How/Why?

Question

I've noticed around my area that there are a lot of very, very heavy people. Also, the local radio station was talking about obesity and some caller claimed it was due to a thyroid problem.

I'm of the opinion the thyroid is just an excuse for people to not do anything.

Don't get me wrong... I have weight to lose too, but come on!

Do you know anyone that is really obese?
How did they get that way?
Are they doing anything to lose weight?

I guess I'm trying to understand the mindset or medical condition.
Serious answers please!

Thanks

A couple defensive responses...

I'm not try to judge... I'm trying to understand.

Of course it's not normal... the weight effects your body.

As I stated, I have weight to lose and the doctors attribute my high blood pressure, cholesterol and bloor sugars to being heavy... and that's from being 50 lbs overweight.

Of course... people don't set out to be 100+, 200+ pounds overweight, but people are...

As I've said, I'm not judging.
Let's just discuss.

Answer 1

I think that in those people who do have thyroid issues, it's a combination of both medical and behavioral issues. I was a pool lifeguard from age 16 to 23, so I was pretty active year round (not on a professional athlete level, but I swam quite a bit). However, without changing my exercise level or eating habits very much, I gained a lot of weight in a short time span. Now that I've been diagnosed with hypothyroidism and am taking medication for it, I've upped the exercise, cut more foods (soda, for example), lowered stress levels (by quitting my job mostly), and it's very slow going losing the weight. (By the way, I wasn't diagnosed until I got medical insurance. No clinic doctor along the way thought to check for hypothyroidism even though I talked to them about my weight gain.)

The disease is hereditary, my sister and mom both have it. My mom looks kind of big but she doesn't have a lot of fat- she's from an era when people actually worked, she's very strong, and she's cooked 99% of all her own meals for decades. My sister was bigger than me but she's less physically active. She also skips dosages of her thyroid medicine sometimes.

Anyhow, yes it's a contributing factor. However, if you follow the same diet and exercise routines that others do, and take the right amount of medicine as directed, it's hard but not impossible to maintain your weight. Losing weight if you're already overweight when you get your thyroid under control is harder than maintaining weight, but it can be done.

Answer 2

Do you think anyone wants to be 400, 500 or 600lbs + ???
These people must have a health problem.
I don't believe that i could weight that much if I tried.
Thyroid probs make it almost impossible to lose weight since it sets the register for your metabolism.It is a true disease and a cause of medical probs.You are lucky to have your health.
Very obese people are often poor people with no health insurance to pay for a doctors visit.Or for medication.
Why don't doctors test for health probs and only offer surgery ? Obesity is a multi zillion dollar a year industry. Weight loss diets, drink, pills and products that take your money but only offer broken promises.
Let's all be kind and not judge.

Answer 3

Well that's a little unfair. The parents can't help that their kids are obese the parents must be obese too. Maybe the kids should try to change their eating habits and the parents should help. It shouldn't be fined because underweight kids aren't fed. Also most underweight teens or kids [like me] have a fast metabolism which isn't bad at all.

Answer 4

It probably has a lot more to do with the culture and the food in your area. My grandmother had a thyroid problem and they are pretty rare. She also had heart failure due to the cancer, which caused her to store huge amounts of fluid in her body (right before she died she lost about 140 lbs in water weight) Unless there are huge amounts of nuclear fallout or radiation a whole town can't have thyroid disease.

A lot of time people find safety in numbers. Most likely you just live in a town where triathlons aren't really part of the culture, but fried foods are.

Answer 5

I have a friend named Sarah. She was always the "chubby" girl at 140 in high school when the rest of us were 105-120. Three years ago I moved from NY to Kansas. When I moved she was still around 140-160 - normal looking. She came out to visit me 2 years ago - only 1 year since I had left and she looked horrific. She was somewhere around 220-250. She looked like two of those "chubby girls" merged together. She is only 25 by the way so high school was not that long ago. She tells me that her doctor told her that she has a thyroid problem. I think she got that way because right before I left she moved in with her boyfriend (out of our mutual apartment) who himself was VERY large. I think that because he ate so much, she started eating alot. When we lived together we were always busy or working or out in some way, so we barely ate. But since he works, then comes home and eats, sleeps, and goes to work again, that is how she started to live her life as well.

So, what it boils down to, is that she gained her weight from eating too much and sitting on her a&$. I don't care if the doctors say it is a thyroid problem or not...people don't just gain almost 100 pounds in one year.

Answer 6

The mindset is typical.. "I'm FAT and its not my fault !"
People in the USA are just generally pigs and eat too much.. whats to understand? Go just about anywhere else and you will immediatly notice that morbid obesity isnt a problem.

99.9 % of the time fat asses have nothing to do with any medical conditions except some weird addiction to food (hint people.. ya quit stuffing yer face.. you aint gonna get fat.. but no one wants to hear that that obese.. that would make it thier problem)

Answer 7

People who plan their weekly meals tend to be successful at losing weight than those that don’t. Plan your dishes to incorporate healthy carbs such as sweet potato and wholegrain pasta, vegetables and lean proteins, buy each of the ingredients in advance and don’t be tempted to consume out or order in.

Answer 8

Suck the item in. Consciously hold in and contract your ab muscles while you’re walking, sitting for your desk or making the an evening meal. This will help to strengthen your ab muscles and your core, and provide you with one step closer to the flatter stomach.

Answer 9

Eat goats cheese instead of regular cheese. It contains 40 percent fewer calories than the cheese made from cow’s milk.

Answer 10

Eat goats cheese rather then regular cheese. It contains 40 % fewer calories than the cheese made out of cow’s milk.