I saw this story on the CBC's website about obesity, and I couldn't believe my eyes.

http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2011/...a-obesity.html

Basically, Dr. Ayra Sharma of the Canadian Obesity Network says what most fat people say all along:

"I think one of the biggest misconceptions when we talk about obesity in general is that obese people are obese largely because of their lifestyles and because of the way that they live," Dr. Arya Sharma of the University of Alberta, told CBC News.

Sharma points to studies where people's eating and activity are carefully monitored. They show that some people can eat an additional 1,000 calories per day and not gain a gram, while others would gain five to six kilograms over a six-week period.

"There's a huge variability in how people can cope with extra calories," he said in an interview with CBC News.

I'm surprised this was allowed to be published since the party line is that there are no metabolic differences and that is everyone just eats less per a one size fits all metabolic rate, they should all lose weight. And, that of course is not true.

Of course, I'm not going to let this stop me in my goal of getting slender and healthier, but I am curious to what you all think. So odd and refreshing to see a little brutal honesty in the media.

I found this article very informative and very true to my own experience. I'm definitely a good fat storer and my "furnace shuts down" at the first sight of a pound lost! It's too bad he didn't tell how to overcome that. I'm doing my best by switching up the calories and the intensity of my workouts.

I have to believer exercise plays at least a small roll in weight loss though. But that one must be difficult to "study". That's one where they should measure body fat percentage and NOT weight. The study suggested that people who exercised didn't lose a significant amount of weight over those who did not but it said nothing about their body size.

I don't know, I've never thought that metabolisms were equal. In men for instance, we all know men can eat more calories than women and still lose weight. The big differentiator with men is that they have more muscle which is metabolically active. Also we know as we get older, our muscles start to atrophy. Our hormones also change. And then there is just plain old genetics. So metabolisms are different and you need to adjust your eating and exercise to your personal metabolism. You can also work on increasing your metabolism, either temporarily or permanently through cardiovascular training and weight training.

And one thing to remember is the level of obesity seemed to remain fairly constant for hundreds of years but all of a sudden there is a large leap in obesity. Obesity used to be largely older adults but things have changed. This points to other factors than genetics/individual differences. Lack of activity, eating excessive calories, etc.

I've been following Dr Sharma's blog for a while (about as long as I've been on 3 Fat Chicks): it's at Dr Sharma's Obesity Notes. He's apparently been interviewed before by the CBC. This statement is pretty much in line with his general theme on his blog, although he also covers a lot of news from conferences and scientific articles. One thing he notes frequently is that many general practitioners are not well trained in obesity and nutrition. (He works in a Canadian bariatric practice.) He also emphasizes that the public debate about obesity is too often couched in terms of willpower and laziness/lack of exercise, which he doesn't think is a useful approach.

I also read Weighty Matters, a similar blog by another Canadian physician (I think he might work in the same practice): Weighty Matters by Dr Yoni Freedhoff; although his opinions are often similar to Dr Sharma he tends to focus more on "corporate food" and government in connection with obesity problems, and confusing public messages about diet and obesity.

It's funny how DUH this revelation seems to me- I swear my husband can easily eat 3k-4k calories a day and not gain. Let's go through HIS typical day- shall we?!

Breakfast:
2 special K cereal bars, 1 fruit yogurt: estimated 300 calories

Lunch:
2 sandwiches on white bread, lots of mayo (I'm gonna say at 1 tablespoon per SLICE), 4-6 slices of meat (pastrami and honey ham), 1-2 slices of cheddar cheese.
1 mac and cheese instant mac cup
1 bottle of coke
Potato salad

Estimate 1300-1600 calories.

Snack:
A few servings of chips and dip- chips such as lays or fritos corn chips. The dip is usually french onion dip or some other sour cream based dip.

Estimate 400 calories

Dinner:
Wife's meatloaf (south beach meatloaf) plus green beans plus mashed potatoes (HUGE serving- at least 2 cups).

Estimate 500-600 calories.

And YET the man is 6'3" and at most 200 lbs. I estimate he eats around 3000 calories a day on average- and THIS is a good day for him cuz if he does something like go eat out at McDonald's he'll get a big mac meal large size and add another big mac- it drives me NUTS how much he can eat *cry*

Oh and if he happens to gain a few pounds he's just good for a week and the weight drops down like NOTHING. And he'll just do something like cut out the chips *double cry*

I have never thought we all had the same metabolism and I've been cynical about the standard approach to dieting. I do think that we have to change our eating habits and exercise habits to reach our goal weights and some of us just have to make more radical changes than others.

I lose weight very slowly because of my PCOS and I have to say that I'm often envious of the other folks on this site who seem to lose weight at a pretty steady pace. In the last year, I've lost 10 lbs, period, that included exercising 7 hours every week and eating less than 1600 calories a day, with some exceptions of course.

My body just isn't structured to lose weight the way other people are and I've had to accept that about myself (and make it a health-focused journey) rather than beat myself up about it.

I'm aiming for 12 lbs this year!

Well....

OK, so, yes, I absolutely believe there is variation in metabolism. I was under the impression that most people do. But I also know that as a people we are growing larger. Obesity is an epidemic now; it didn't used to be. Therefore, it isn't all about metabolism—not by a long shot. It's also about food choices, overindulgence and a lack of exercise. For example, I can actually only remember knowing one overweight child when I was a kid myself. Kids were always running around, doing this or that.... Sure, they had active metabolisms, but they were also active period. These days obesity affects even children—lots and lots of children. There is something more than metabolism at work there. Kids play video games instead of running around, they eat too much and eat food that is loaded with calories, etc. The same goes for adults.

PP there was someone commenting on that in the article- I agree and I think a major part of the problem is because 1- people eat out a LOT more than they used to. And 2- things that were seen as treats in the past, ie- a glass of coke, have become part of the daily diet. There is no reason to drink soda everyday- it has no nutritional value whatsoever and is full of calories and sugar.

I totally agree. I also think people in general get less exercise. There are many personal habits, often ingrained from childhood, that contribute to obesity.

Well I don't know if it is all eating out or all treats. I mean, when I was young (and when I gained most of my weight), we hardly ate out and most of the meals we ate were cooked from scratch. Although there were diet sodas in the house, I hardly ever had a regular soda. I even used to walk a lot from a young age because it was the only real way to go anywhere.

Of course I have issues and definitely have had to deal with 'portion distortion'. I just don't think there is a one size fits all answer or even reason for wide spread obesity. It seems to have many layers.

I do agree with many things said here. For example, I know from personal experience that exercise alone does not achieve weight loss or even stave off weight gain. Diet is key. And I do think that many people do have success kick-starting their metabolisms by having a cheat meal once a week or even by switching to maintenance for a time before going back to losing weight. I think it is possible to avoid plateaus this way. Other people can stick to their diets 100% and lose weight the whole time. You have to find what works for you.

I do, however, find it hard to believe, again, that obesity is largely about metabolism. I think there are a lot of people out there—men, for example—who wouldn't be obese if it weren't for poor eating habits combined with a sedentary lifestyle. There are people who started out with good metabolisms out there who are obese. Why? Because so much of the world is obese and the world is naturally diverse. Obesity affects people across gender lines, across racial lines, and across metabolic lines as well.

My own experience tells me how important other factors are. I work out more than anyone I know, and have for 20 years, but I couldn't drop the weight I wanted to until I stopped eating as much as or more than I burned. It doesn't help to have a faster metabolism or to spend a lot of your time at the gym if you still overeat for your metabolic and exercise level. I eat more than most people even now. Before I lost weight I ate more than most people would believe. If I didn't have a number in my head that I refused to cross, who knows how much weight I could have gained? I had the potential. I think most people do. As it was, I went up and down the same five and more pounds for years. I did crazy, fanatical things to keep my weight below that "magic" number.

Do I think my metabolism is fairly generous? Maybe: I don't really know. I don't know where my metabolism ends and the exercise begins. But I don't think that matters all that much regardless. Behavior, life habits—this matters much, much more. And this is, ultimately, what the doctor is saying. Unhealthy habits kept me under 129 despite my best efforts to eat the world. Healthy habits now keep me under 108.

I think "the problem" is our tendency (even in the scientific community, though it's finally starting to change a little bit in that regard) is viewing obesity as a single and simple problem, rather than a very complex and multi-faceted one.

When you consider obesity a simple problem, you try to fix it with simple solutions. I think seeing it as a multi-faceted problem will clear the way for multi-faceted solutions.

I know in my own life, treating obesity as a single, simple problem was never very effective. It was only when I started to understand the complexity of my issues that I started addressing them. It was more like chipping away at a mountain. Approaching it from one direction makes the task that much more difficult, or even impossible, but attacking it simultaneously from all sides, makes easier work of it.

Trying to just eat less and move more, didn't work very well in the long-term, because I wasn't addressing the underlying issues of hunger and fatigue that made eating less and moving more such a monumental task. Finding ways to address the hunger and the fatigue have made my task a lot easier. I thought I had to work harder, when I only had to work smarter.

Well yeah for sure it all isn't that- but I think a decent majority is bad diet whether it be eating out too much or eating too many foods that should be considered "treats."

I do think part of it is also exercise like PP mentioned- at most as a child I was chubby because I played outdoors all day. I ran and swam and played baseball and soccer and tag and all that stuff. As I got older I stayed in more and watched TV. More and more kids just watch TV and surf the net.

I had a great trainer and she said to me that it's her belief that 9 times out of 10 it's not a genetic predisposition. Specially when she worked her second job (waitress) and would see very overweight parents with thin children. She felt if it were genetic how come the children were just fine? I mean there is definitely more to that but I agree that so little of obesity is due to genetic disorders. And I'm one of the FEW with PCOS who has somewhat of an excuse and I refuse to let it keep me overweight the rest of my life.

BTW I agree with Kaplods that obesity is a multi-faceted problem and it is much more simpler than eating right and exercing BUT with time and technology it seems that the decline in exercise in general and the increased ease of getting fast food and so on is making obesity more of a problem than ever. These factors are greatly contributing to the increasing rates of obesity.

duplicate

I feel this way, too.