Why do obese people let themselves get THAT overweight?

Question

I mean once they notice they are 20 pounds overweight, why dont they change their lifestyle then instead of when they are 100 pounds overweight then complain about how hard it is to lose that much weight?

"mother" I MIGHT ask all those questions, but I am asking this one for now.

I am not saying those things you mentioned are not a problem, I was just concerned with this one question for now.

HCL - Why do you have to mention OTHER disorders to answer this question?

So far no one has answered my question, my question is WHY do they wait until they are WAY overweight before they do something about it?

Notice my question didnt mention any other disorders.

Answer 1

because they r lazy and do not care about themselves.

Answer 2

Why do ignorant people let themselves get THAT ignorant? Why don't they just educate themselves with a year or two's worth of education in a few days instead of posting ridiculous questions on Yahoo Answers? ;)

Obesity is much more than some fat guy being greedy and eating another bag of potato chips. There's so many emotional and psychological problems that tie in with this disease. It's just like having anorexia, or being a sex addict, or an alcoholic, or even having a social disorder. These people can't just turn their lives around within a few weeks or months. These things can take quite a long time to recover from.

Answer 3

Are you serious? If it were that simple, there'd be no obese people, no smokers, no alcoholics, no drug addicts......

Eating is associated with food in nearly every culture, so one way we try to fill that emptiness inside is with food.

You might as well ask, "why do people let themselves become alcoholics?" or "Why do people let themselves get addicted to tobacco?" Because there are emotional factors operating along with the logical ones.

I think you have a lot of compassion to learn, no one is perfect and you are judging people very harshly rather than seeing their pain.

Criticism and judgment never changed someone's behavior. Acceptance and encouragement do.

Edit: These questions are mentioned because you are acting as if they aren't connected, but they are.
And your question HAS been answered. Emotional factors influence a person's choices. The gratification or other perceived benefit from eating overrides the priority of one's appearance. Thinness is perceived as unobtainable, or less valuable than the value of the food. The answer has been given by several posters, though you don't seem able to hear it through your prejudice.

Answer 4

It's a snowball effect. They'll eat bags of chips and watch T.V, see some fit person on the T.V and say to themselves "I'm going to be fit, just as soon as I finish this bag of chips." Well one bag turns into another. It's a procrastination thing, they still tell themselves "I'll get fit, just as soon as I finish this buffet." After a while they finally realize "Wow, I've hit rock bottom." 20 lbs overweight seems managable, so they let it slide. 100 lbs is gruesome, they begin some effort. At being 20 lbs overweight, they still feel somewhat hopeless, and extremely uncomfortable with their bodies. They become so distraught by how they appear, the only time they are comforted is when they are eating. They develop a connection between food and comfort. Thus, if they've had a bad day because they felt fat the whole time, they'll still eat because it's the only thing to look forward to in the day.

Answer 5

you are going to be able to or could not be an beautiful female, yet babes, you're one grotesque person. i'm hoping some day you get a project which reasons you to earnings weight, then you certainly can see that is not in basic terms a case of eating too plenty and not exercising sufficient. additionally, the time era obese is used too some distance out of context those day, being only 3 stone over your suitable weight is assessed as clinically obese (pronounced on action picture star fit club). 3 stone could appear like plenty, yet once you observed somebody this length, you may call them fat, you certainly does not call them obese,yet that is technically what they are. people who have faith obese human beings only consume too plenty are very ignorant, very naive, very uneducated or only ordinary stupid. Which one are you? To be straightforward, confident, that's the case for fairly some human beings, i'm going to hold my hand up and say that is me, although that is not all human beings and you may desire to not generalise.

Answer 6

Because they have an addiction to food. Simple. That's like saying why does an alcoholic keep drinking if they feel sick the next day. Obese people are just medicating themselves with food the way an alcoholic does with alcohol.
And the fatter they get the more they need to medicate. It's a cycle that's hard to break.

Answer 7

I just answered another post similar to this one. And I must say that these kinds of posts really upset me.

Like I said in the other post...

Alot of people medicate themselves with food. They eat for comfort just as drug addicts go to drugs and shoppers spend way to much money... all in search of filling some sort of void. Lots of times overweight people do not realize how big they've become until all of a suden one day they're not just 20 lbs overweight anymore. Lots of times when they do start to try to lose the weight they become discouraged. They still have emotional issues and have not targeted the mental problems involved.

Some are victim to rape and sexual abuse causing them to use weight gain as a defense against men and sexual violence. I have a friend who this happened to.

So with all that being said.... lots of people dont realize how they've become until the problem is so big that they feel to overwhelmed with it all.

Answer 8

there are various reasons as to why overweight people are obese. either there are environmental factors or either heredity and physical or mental wellness. sometimes one is not even able to notice that they are gaining so much weight. i mean unless you are really small and then get big.... you are not able to tell much of a difference in your shape. if u are big allready... well getting a little bigger than that doesn't seem that out of place for one mentally. so by the time they are 100 pounds overweight... its hard to change yourself

Answer 9

I was fat and lost it all. For me, I got depressed and gained a bunch of weight after the death of my mom. It's a fair question. I would never have thought I was capable of getting that overweight. I'm a lot more humble now. You never no what life will bring you.

Answer 10

some people strangley link being obese, but other people cant help it, or may have alot of trouble losing weight. Here i am, im 13 and i am almost obese unfortunately, im not even quite sure how i got this way, but i am trying to lose some weight, and its harder than it sounds. Maybe you should have some sympathy?

Answer 11

because 1st its 20, then you still wear the same sized clothes. you are still unconscious of what you eat, and not exercising. then its 30., you move one size bigger. you still eat and exercise; it wont get that bad. then 40, you tell yourself you need to do something about it. then you are too lazy. and eating is just good. so you continue. til its 50..60..70..100. and truth is, yeah. its hard to lose all that weight. people who complain dont really do much. but there are some who are successful enough losing it.