Your are right of course. Our bodies are different.
But be just please—I didnt say "“If I can do it,then you have no excuse for yourself”----Those are your words, not mine.
What I was saying that if
I found a way to do it with with a serious medical condition, then there are ways for other to also achieve weight-loss, even with their medical conditions.
Is it easy? No, not by a long shot. But it is possible.
I think some of the posters here have been very helpful in expanding the educational understanding of what dynamics can go into weight-loss and metabolic disorders. And encouraging and given some ideas of what kind of experts to look to for answers.
What I found most helpful in this thread is the reminder that there are answers and solutions out there for those who struggle with obesity. It’s up to each of us take a look and see what is applicable for our own lives.
I most certainly agree with you that there are answers for those who struggle.
But what makes it so very difficult is that the answer is different for everyone, although the basic answer is the same–we all need to find a way to burn off more calories than we retain.
And it’s so discouraging searching for the illusive Answer to your own particular obesity problem.
You think you found it, you jump on the bandwagon of your discovery, you lose some weight and feel great, only to have the Answer fail during a challenge or crisis and see the weight come back.
Every failure creates more discouragement. Hopelessness sets in, and the obese person is convinced that they will be fat forever.
And with hopelessness comes obstinacy. The obese person resents others telling them that they need to lose weight or offering to help them lose weight. After all, they have tried several dozen or even several hundred “diets” and “exercise programs” over the decades, and nothing works.
I even had a
doctor tell me once, when I asked him about weight loss, that there is no answer and that nothing works. How utterly discouraging but at the same time, refreshing to hear a medical professional admit that weight loss is more than just eating less and moving more!
Also keep in mind that the search takes time, and that’s something that most of us do not have in abundance.
I am convinced that one of the reasons why many of us are fat is that we spend a lot of time doing for others (volunteering, attending meetings, getting involved with various groups, etc.), but not enough time doing for ourselves. We’re never home to cook a dinner because we have choir practice or volunteer work at the Rescue Mission or we’re playing piano for a children’s play. So we grab something from the fast food outlet, or we wait until we get home and then send out for late-night pizza.
Lack of time also contributes to the lack of exercise. If a person’s schedule is packed with meetings, volunteer commitments, groups, etc., they will not have time to fit in a workout. They can get up early in the morning, but chances are good that they went to bed late the night before, and lack of sleep is one of the contributors to obesity (my biggest stumbling block to eating healthily is tiredeness–if I am sleepy, I eat junk, lots of it).
If you’ve watched shows like Biggest Loser and Heavy, you will notice that there is one “key” that seems to unlock success for these contestants–they are freed from all their family, work, and social obligations to go to a “place” (the Biggest Loser ranch, a fitness resort, their own home with a live-in personal trainer, etc.) and are able to devote every waking and sleeping moment to the task of losing weight and getting healthy.
I am convinced that this is the “key” that would make weight loss happen for many Americans. We need to be able to step off our treadmills, stop working, give up our community and church involvements, and do NOTHING but cook and eat healthily, and work out.
But most of us can’t do this! So we need to find a “compromise.” I think that one of the first things that many obese people need to do is free themselves of as many encumbrances as possible. This will be very very difficult, if not impossible, for those with small children, or for that matter, with any children. But somehow, the obese person must get rid of all the activities that make it impossible for them to plan meals, shop, cook, and eat those meals. They also have to get rid of activities that keep them up too late and prevent them from working out regularly, usually 6 days a week.
This is all hard stuff! You can see why I said that for most obese people, the best way to tackle their weight is in small steps, a few hundred calories cut out, and few extra minutes of activity in the day. But then the results come soooooo slowly, and it can be very discouraging.
Not an easy issue, and no pat answers.
