I think the power of binging is seriously underestimated.
If I eat 500 calories less each day than I need, in one week I drop a pound. That is the difference between 2000 and 1500 or 1500 and 1000 calories and I can definitely tell the difference. In a month, I will lose 4 pounds.
But let's say I suddenly go nuts for 5 days and binge ---- maybe eating 4000 calories a day and let's say that 2000 calories more than I need. In 5 days, I have consumed 10,000 calories more than I needed and gained 3 pounds. In 5 days like that, you can blow a WHOLE MONTH'S worth of OP eating!
After reading what Lori wrote, I recognize myself there too. Yeah, I was only having 2 slices of toast, but I put at least a tablespoon of butter on each slice.
Yeah, I was eating just a bowl of popcorn, but it was drenched in butter.
When someone says "That person eats A LOT", my first instinct is that they mean a huge VOLUME of food, or high FREQUENCY of food. They don't typically mean A LOT of CALORIES, although sometimes that naturally goes hand in hand.
But you don't have to be a binger to get fat. Some people get fat very quickly, in months or a year. But what about people that get fat slowly, like someone who gradually went from normal weight to 100 lbs overweight during the course of 10 years, then ceteris paribus, that only required an extra 95-100 calories a day. That's like, ranch salad dressing too much. Or 1/3 of a bagel too much. Or a sugar-free iced latte too much. It's not a lot. And gradually more and more little things that aren't noticeable at all on the volume scale.
Another insidious path to weight gain, is that (whether you're putting it on quickly or slowly) as you gain weight, physical activity becomes more difficulty. It begins with little things that can go unnoticed, like taking one less trip up a flight of stairs. Gradually you lose more and more ability, and lose more and more interest, and get less pleasure out of physical activities.
It's just another way that the "calories out," can be affected by obesity. You need fewer calories per pound to maintain a large body weight because of the decline in physical activity.
I love this conversation. I find this really interesting. I currently work from home, but I used to go into the office everyday. I would eat out for breakfast and lunch. I ate more(calories) in those two meals than I do in a whole day now. But, I didn't gain any weight. I thought that when I started working from home and eating at home, that the weight would just drop. It didn't at all. If I eat when I'm hungry and stop when I'm full, I don't gain. Even if I splurge often, I don't gain. I have only gained weight in my adult life during my 3 pregnancies. I eat the same as I did before pregnancy, but the weight still hangs on. It's weird.
When I start counting calories, I get really hungry after about a week. I'm now experimenting with calorie cycling to see if having days that are higher will keep me from feeling ravenous. I'm also watching my carbs, eating less at night, and exercising. It still comes off really slow for me.
