Heather, I just read this after my last response. Sorry if you misunderstood the question (maybe I wasn't clear enough). As I said, "fat" doesn't mean that the person doesn't exercise and eat a nutritionally balanced diet, just as "thin" doesn't mean they do.

Also, berryblondeboys's post touches on this a little bit (thank you berryblondeboys)

If it helps, here are some articles on the subject.
http://www.ebl.ku.edu/projects/mri.php (Just shows that Kansas University is investigating this as well)

http://healthland.time.com/2011/04/1...-a-few-pounds/ Time magazine quote: "Losing weight comes with a host of health benefits — including making your brain sharper"

Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2011/04/1...#ixzz1UTdsJSl1


These are just some of the first few hits off google, but if you're interested I can find some professional articles for you.

Kelly -- Thanks for clarifying what you were saying. It makes much more sense now!

Oh, oh! This too! I sleep much better, and I actually go to bed at a decent hour, now that I eat healthier and exercise daily. No more all nighters for me (though I will be attempting to stay up super late tonight studying - guess I should stop using 3FC to procrastinate - eek!).

The change in my digestion was truly amazing, both for the intensity of the change and the speed at which it happened. By the time I decided to lose weight, I was beginning to develop stretch marks on my stomach, not from rapid weight gain, but from the severe bloating. Morning- flattish stomach; evening- bowling ball. I had severe, ahem, "wind issues" all the time. Heartburn, reflux. It had gotten so bad that I was thinking of going to a doctor to see if I had some kind of disorder. Then I stopped eating greasy take-out and junk food (chips, cookies, cakes, etc). I felt a difference immediately, and five or ten pounds later, all those symptoms were gone.

My skin is super clear now, too. I'm pretty sure that's the exercise; when I go through a period where I don't exercise, it doesn't look as good.

In the year before I lost weight, I was feeling significantly more "brain foggy" than I had before. This was another thing I was considering discussing with a doctor. I will say that though I'm not sure I can contribute it to my exercise or weight loss or diet change, this issue has improved quite a bit for me over the last year.

I notice much greater brain functioning in general. I remember things better and don't seem as clumsy. I know that has a lot to do with having adequate nutrition!

I'd distinguish between the physiological effects of being thinner, the effects of actively being on a diet, and the effects of exercise. Not that it's always possible to tell which is which, of course. People often make other life changes when they start losing weight which can further confuse matters. I ended a highly stressful family relationship at the same time, for instance, and while I've been feeling better in certain ways, I think it's from the reduced stress.

At the moment, I'm finding that my PMDD, which started when I put on weight, is flaring up. The doctor has told me this is because not only to fat cells store oestrogen, but when you burn the fat cells they release oestrogen on their way out. So I'm hoping that once I settle at goal weight, the PMDD will be better, but on the way there it's worse.

My digestion is noticeably better too.

I started off getting very cold and shivery and had to take ginger capsules for a couple of months, but that seems to have more or less stopped. I don't expect that to be an issue when I stop dieting, it never was before I put on weight and it's a known side-effect of dieting.

I'm not exercising at all and have severe ME/CFIDS, so I'm not terribly useful as a statistic.