I think it is very biased and it doesn't really talk about personal responsibility. The examples given so far are people who eat large portions of restaurant/fast food. Sure we have large portions, fattening foods, lack of exercise and once someone gains weight, it is so difficult to lose it but I think we need to have some personal responsibility for the weight gain as well as the weight loss.
I was amazed at the couple that didn't even know how to cook basic things and I'd say they are in their early 30s. At least they were trying to learn but is that typical? I don't know.
The teenager who is looking at weight loss surgery doesn't seem to have really followed any exercise or healthy eating plan. Weight loss surgery can work for some but if someone doesn't change their habits, they can the gain the weight back.
Right now, I'm watching the part where the doctor said that it is impossible for someone to lose weight if they have been overweight since a child. I was just telling DH that I weigh about the same I did when I was 12. I'm not sure if I'll ever be thin, but I won't accept that I can't lose weight.
I wish they would show stories about people who have lost weight, people who don't eat out for every meal, people who don't eat reasonable portions, people who use sensible exercise. What about their struggles?
The one thing I did like was the discussion about being active and overweight. I also like the story with the older lady who had weight loss surgery. I think it has some reason to it and shows how she did change her life through the surgery.
I had a different impression of it. I've struggled with obesity and mostly moribid obesity all of my life (at least after the age of 5) with only a short time in highschool at a "normal" weight (and only with the aid of strong amphetemine diet pills). I do not think that by discussing how difficult weight loss is, that any of the experts dismissed personal responsibility nor the possibility of weight loss, just that weight loss was much more difficult than most people, especially those without weight problems, assume.
I thought the doctor said that people who are obese from early childhood, generally need "super human strength" to combat the constant hunger. That didn't seem to me to be the same thing as saying it was impossible. I could relate, as the constant, gnawing, intense full-time hunger has certainly been my experience. The statistics are pretty dismal for chronically obese, and I think anyone saying that something with a 95 - 97% failure rate is virtually impossible, isn't being pessimistic, they're being accurate. WLS isn't a cure-all, but it's success rate is far greater than dieting has been for most patients, and even those that regain generally don't gain it all back and then some, which is typical of "dieting." If I didn't have health issues that put me at higher risks for complications, I would at least be considering it, since the traditional route has been "nearly" impossible for me.
My biggest criticism is that because WLS has been the only treatment to show promise, most doctors don't know much about what else works well for the very obese (and don't seem to be looking very hard for other options), so their advice generally doesn't apply for those not wanting or able to have surgery.
If I hadn't been treated in the after-hours clinic for bronchitis by the doctor heading the local weight management clinic, I wouldn't have had a conversation with her about lower carb dieting. She has had to push hard to present non-surgical options for the clinic, and advised that there is some research that very obese patients do much better on lower carb diets, and she and her husband each lost and are maintaining (several years and counting) on a modified Atkins diet (more carbs, less fat).
I switched to Southbeach style eating (skipping an induction phase), and the difference for me has been miraculous. Until then, I've been having a hard enough time maintaining a 40 lb loss (gaining and regaining the same 8 lbs) for the last year, with CONSTANT cravings and hunger. Now I'm not only losing again, but the hunger is MUCH relieved. I can't even begin to explain how dramatic the difference is. Now I actually believe I will eventually get to my goal weight, where I couldn't imagine how I was going to lose the next pound before.
I couldn't believe I hadn't tried this style of eating before, but previous doctors had all told me how unhealthy high protein diets were, so I was trying to follow the USDA Food Pyramid, and all of the carbs were fueling my superhuman hunger.
I'm responsible for my eating habits and weight gain before and after I've made this change, but I can't help but feel "Why didn't anyone tell me, this would help so much!" Well, I know it's because no one knew, and mostly because no one cared. If it takes doctors begining to realize how difficult it is, in order to to start studying it, I'm overjoyed.
Thank you, hikerchick, for having put in this link. I had missed seeing it on TV. I actually had it running on the computer while I was working my stationary bike! (Talk about motivation!)
If this program does anything to open any so-called "normal" person's mind to the complexity of the problem we all face, it will have been well worth it. I could have done without so much of the sibling infighting; okay, we got it. But I liked the Phat Fly Girls dance troupe--it was nice seeing a group of large ladies move! I also liked the nurse describing how she herself was healthier than her thin sister--and that doctors should be retrained to be a lot more sensitive in a lot of ways, if they truly want to help heavy people.
I'd also like to find Daniel Pinkwater's book "Fat Camp Commandos"--we have a lovely local bookstore called Women And Children First who may even have it already in stock.
Again, thank you so much for having provided this link.
Thanks for sharing the link! I haven't watched it yet, but I'm going to do that shortly. Besides, it'll be good preparation for my upcoming oral understanding exam in college next week (I'm more used to British English than to American one, so it'll sure help).
I don't know if I'd say I have super human strength but I think it has taken me many years to find out what works for me. I struggled for many years above 300 lbs, not really knowing what to do. I had the periods of starvation, I had the periods of exercising 2 hours per day, I had the periods where I just felt as if I was fighting a losing battle.
Also, I think when they talk about the hunger, they are trying to say it is a physical hunger and I'm not so sure it is. Especially considering when they said that only 5% of WLS patients will get to a normal weight. If it was purely a physical hunger thing and they sever the physical hunger signals, wouldn't the rate be much higher?
I did like the conclusion though because it is true they know that modern life is making us overweight but they don't know what combination and which factors affect more people than others. I also liked seeing the kid after his surgery and I hope he does find peace with his weight.
I just think that weight loss is mix of so many factors, the physical, the emotional, the societal that no one thing can be the solution. I will admit that I had factors against me such as having obese parents and being obese since such a young age that I don't know what it is like to be normal. Although despite trying to lose weight my entire life and being fairly physically active most of my life, I have weighed 300 lbs or more for more than half of my life.
If I had viewed this TV special 5 years ago, I might've given up but now I know what I can do and what my body can do, there is no way I'd give up.
Watch PBS "Fat" documentary online
