Obesity Post Mortem

But Bags you said you 'reward eat' only eat when you're hungry.
That's not reward eating. Reward eating is when you eat when you're not hungry, for emotional reasons.

I don't see why it's judgmental or puritanical to consider that people eat for emotional reasons.

What do you think are the underlying causes of disorders such as anorexia and bulimia?

I have put on weight in the last few years because my mobility is impaired, but I still have a normal BMI. It has been suggested that I should try going swimming regularly, but TBH all that does is make me hugely hungry!

I actually think that at my age I would look really haggard if I was my previously normal weight.

What do you think are the underlying causes of disorders such as anorexia and bulimia?

I don't know. Does anyone? Seemed to have something to do with control when it occurred in my extended family. Whatever the underlying causes are, they are very complicated, as is overeating.

I don't think it's a puritanical judgment to say people eat for emotional reasons. That's not what I said. I think it's a puritanical judgment to think that people can should be able to control their unnatural eating urges. I'm defining 'unnatural' there as eating more tban one needs on a regular basis even when one isn't actually hungry because something has gone wrong with the 'natural' balance to just eat as much as one needs.

I am now going to reward myself with a nap. Eating when one's hungry feels rewarding because one is less uncomfortable after it than one was before. Hunger is not a nice feeling; it's fundamental; it has to be satisfied if at all possible. If, for unknown reasons, one's fundamentals get fucked up it's not going to end well. I'm arguing that overeating is caused by fucked up fundamentals. It's the fucking up bit we don't understand yet.

Age may have something to do with it, but it's not the only thing obviously or kids wouldn't be getting fat.

The main thing that triggers eating when not hungry with me is tiredness. I did see that programme when it was a on a while back; mentioned it to the nurse who did my well person check and they appeared to not ever watch stuff like that. Also mentioned to a hand physio about the hand dissection I'd seen on tv and the reply was that they didn't have time to watch stuff like that. Surprises me. But I guess when you do that sort of work leisure time needs to be away from it. But I would have thought they'd be interested in it .

tiggypro it was BBC1 on Monday quite late.

When I was working as a nurse I watched all the factual medical programmes but not the fiction like Holby City Tegan all the nurses I worked with seemed to do the same.

bags we are obviously not going to agree on the definition of reward eating.
I do agree (if I've understood you correctly) that eating more calories than you need to maintain what is considered a 'normal' weight is associated with a derangement of internal control mechanisms.
Sometimes it can be physical for example hypothyroidism. It is thought that there is a genetic link to grehlins, the hormones that make you feel hungry.
All I'm saying is that sometimes emotions feed into and affect the complicated endocrine system which governs metabolism.

thatbags I think there is more research happening now as to why some people, even on a 'good' diets gain weight /do not lose weight on a diet that most other people would.

The work on metabolism and how it differes in people is also looking to see if some obesity is triggered by chemical changes & that obesity may not always be to do with taking in more calories that are used!

I will see if I can find the articles and post them for you.

Sorry JaneA crossed posts!

Pen some Interesting research in rats showing that activating brown fat can increase BMR.

Why do some people feel they want to eat a lot, and others have hardly any interest in eating?Why can some people eat a lot but they stay slim, others look at a cream cake and put on a pound.It really is very complicated.I know friends who eat to comfort themselves, whereas if I am upset, I cannot eat at all.

Roses I have two dogs of the same breed. One is fat portly the other is whippet thin. They eat exactly the same food and go on the same walks.

One though likes to sleep the rest of the day away while the other is very restless.

It's the one who keeps moving who is skinny.

Just throwing this into the mix.

Right, I shall keep moving!

Thanks Teetime - I shall try and find it on catch-up

roses I am the same as you. I can't eat if I'm stressed or upset. I can honestly say I have never eaten for comfort, but I do know that many do.

Anothr factor is the satiety of different foodstuffs.

If you have porridge for breakfast, you're likely to feel fuller for longer and less likely to want a mid-morning snack than if you have a couple of pieces of white toast with jam.
The porridge probably has fewer calories but because it is digested slowly you don't feel hungry again so quickly.

It's the same with horses. Some are naturally high spirted and others need to be 'encouraged' to break into a trot.

They can't help their nature.

Should humans who have a naturally 'restful' nature be encouraged into trot too, or is that cruel?

I eat when I am bored, if it's there I will eat it, so I have had to stop buying things in case anyone pops in, they don't and so I would scoff it. I cannot shift the extra stone I have, I would have to go to a boot camp. Very rarely ever consume 2000 calories, try to keep it around 1500 hundred a day, I should be slim.

I watch what i eat ALL the time, very often going to bed feeling hungry and waking during the night feeling sick due to hunger. If i didn't do this i dread to think how big i would be. I worry all the time about weight related illness which is why i try to maintain mine.I exercise with aerobics three times a week,play bowls two or three times a week and walk to town when ever i can. It really annoys me when other people can stuff their faces with cakes, biscuits, and all manor of goodies where as i only have to look at them and i have put on a pound. Life is not fair sometimes!!!!

I find it very irritating when those of larger size than me seem to think I am lucky to be slim.
Luck doesn't come into it!

Earlier on in this thread I talked about portion size and a programme I had seen. I said that I was going to try calorie counting for a while to monitor my intake and decided to use the NHS Choices 12 week plan of 1400 calories a day. Well I'm on the third week and have lost 5 pounds (the same amount took me six weeks on SW) so clearly I was overdoing the amount and the portion size. I use My Fitness Pal to count the calories which just takes a few minutes a day and its a revelation.

Great news *Teetime! I agree we eat too much of most things and restricting calories works for some. Me included!

Interesting that no one has commented on the availability and amount of sugar now consumed as a normal part of our diet. It is in so many ready made foods, not just the cakes and biscuits but the savoury things like beans and pasta sauces. Often it is described as something other than sugar, corn syrup, glucose etc. It confuses our sense of taste and is mildly addictive. A book in 1972 warned about this- Pure White and Deadly by John Yudkin. The latest edition carries this comment
Worldwide around 180 million tonnes of refined sugar is produced each year and the UK market alone is worth nearly £1billion. Little wonder that no one listened to eminent nutritionist Professor John Yudkin when he called sugar "pure, white and deadly"back in 1972 and quite rightly warned of the links between excessive consumption and heart disease. Catherine Collins, Principal Dietician, St George's Hospital

the number of people who seem to eat all day,is astounding,on buses,in the street always food in hand ,I think when we stopped all getting together for our meals that started the obesity problem now its a rare thing for many families to sit down to a meal ,the same as everyone else is eating ,except on special occasions .I'm guily myself of making three different meals as we all get in at different times and my son has been known to eat at midnight as he often works until then. The men in the house are underweight rather than overweight and I've only put weight on since the menopause However we dont eat processed food and that is another problem ,the chemicals in ready meals could cause a type of food addiction.According to a friend of mine who is a trained nutritionist thats why kids crave McDonalds annd Kentucky fried chickken etc

trisher - I agree about the amount of sugar in foods. Another one is breakfast cereals. I tried to find a sugar-free muesli the other day, no luck.