This headline could read: Individuals expecting all problems in life solved by following this one simple rule...

Salesmen have been motivating people to buy their products that way for hundreds, if not thousands, of years. They are bottom feeders, or ghouls if I like to say, feeding off the desperation and unhappiness of people who are made vulnerable by the very need they are trying to fill.

All that work, and their only satisfaction comes from living longer and being healthy. my-my. Nice tradeoff, I'd say.

I wonder what in the world other than a childish perspective gave her the impression that once skinny, colors will be more vibrant and red carpets roll out wherever you walk?!?!

I've been doing a lot to put on a better external image...quit smoking, running, working out, tanning, getting acid peels, and getting expensive haircuts. I used to be terribly afflicted by acne. Did I think I'd get a promotion to the CEO of the company and wonderful treatment from others as a result? No. I knew that I was only doing these things because I wanted to walk in front of a mirror and think "damn I look good!"

I think the real story is that a person who -- much like myself because of my acne -- was treated badly as a result of her weight, put actual value in the criticisms of others and used that as her motivation.

To the contrary of popular speculation, Utah is a great place to live if you seek people who uplift you regardless of your physical appearance (mormon or not -- I'm not mormon) so this girl sounds to me like she's stretching the truth...a lot.

No being thin will not make you suddenly a different person. Why are all these people so scared of actually facing their problems? Congrats on the weight loss, I am doing it myself because I got sick of being sick due to my weight, but at no point do i suddenly expect to have a great personality that will land me women and a new job and an Audi R8 because i choose not to eat that entire pizza myself.

People need to get a grip on reality.

(continuation of message above) ...With the added plus of being, like the Four Lads' song lyric says, once more able to be "standing on the corner watching all the "beautiful" girls pass by".

Just have to say. Cry more. Be happy your killing yourself any longer. How about that?

In the last 2.5 years I have lost and kept off 100+ pounds. Not an easy task for someone who has always been a "big guy." While none of life's ups and downs have changed that much I can say I am a better husband and father. I am able to play tennis, racquetball, go on walks with my wife and play ball with my son. To be very honest sex is much better when you are not worried about your body image or suffocating the other person. It has also given me a sense to relax just a bit more and not have the constant fear of dying young and leaving my wife as a single mother. However, it is not a cure all for each and every of lifes ill's.

bibol - You are an idiot. Where in this article does anyone state that one will be happy by not exercising and getting fat? You missed the point entirely, which is that being thin or fat doesn't guarantee happiness or a perfect life. In fact, the article clearly states that the "dream life" does not exist.

No, I think the POINT is that you are not fat. What is wrong with being happy with just that? And all the benefits related? The article talks about all the benefits of being slim then they wring their hands that they are not happy? There are plenty of thin folks who were never fat who are unhappy. at least the unhappy thin folks would really be unhappy if they were fat.....

Jessie - you are as far out in left field as bibol. The article states that happiness is not determined by BMI. Happiness comes from within. If someone has an abusive personality and weighs 400 pounds, he isn't going to become gentle and loving at 180 pounds. If you are in debt at 300 pounds, those bills aren't going to go away just because you lose 150 pounds. Loss of weight doesn't even guarantee good health, as Jennette Fulda discovered when she lost almost 200 pounds but then developed migraines.

Being thin is not necessarily what it's cracked up to be. A friend of mine who is 50 has a metabolism that keeps her reed thin. Kids made fun of her and called her names from kindergarten forward. She has given birth to EIGHT children and has still never gained an extra ounce. She has no eating disorders but struggles to gain weight. She is currently on the umpteenth diet in an effort to ADD a few pounds.

There are much worse things in life than being overweight. The people in this article are not complaining about being thin and not being happy. I assure you that not one of them would choose to regain their weight. They are merely stating that being thin does produce the results that society and the media lead us to believe it will.

I once weighed 435 lbs. I am now right at 185 lbs and 41 years old. Unfortunately, we that are obese attribute too many of our issues to being overweight. We automatically think people don't like us or our failures have been due to our size and/or appearance.

Sorry folks, that's just not true. I realized when I was signicantly heavier than I am now that a man may just not like me because our personalities don't click or we just don't have chemistry. Maybe I didn't get that job because I gave a bad interview? Maybe the waiter in the restaurant was staring at me because I had a hanger coming from my nose?!

In a society obsessed with physical appearance, we have fallen for the very same foolishness we hate so much. I lost the weight because I was sick of it. I weighed 313 lbs when I graduated from high school; therefore I know nothing of what it is like to be a "normal" sized adult.

Anyone that has never had a significant weight problem should really have nothing to say about the subject. It is not nearly as simple as you would think. Medical science may one day be able to provide us with answers as to why some of us are able to eat more and weigh less but not have to work nearly as hard as the next person. We know that you have to burn more calories than you consume but what are the underlying reasons for why some of us cannot seem to get a mental grip on these issues? You think it's greed? In some cases, it is; but in the majority, that is just not the case.

Hardly anyone would go through the abuse, pain, and embarrassment just for the sake of something that will go through our bodies and end up flushed in the toilet. It was extremely hard to get where I am and it gets harder all the time. I'm not greedy but there is certainly a problem. I've been to counseling and tried just about everything under the sun. I guess I'll just keep fighting with blood, sweat, and tears and pray something happens to help those of us involved in this fight.

Major error in my post #2.3:

"They are merely stating that being thin does produce the results that society and the media lead us to believe it will" should state that "being thin does NOT produce the results that society and the media lead us to believe it will."

I am 5' 11" and 257 lbs, and now I am a type 2 diabetic-63 years old. I hate exercise and dieting but have been told that if I exercise without losing weight I will lower my blood glucose levels or get rid of the diabetes entirel. I also have sleep apnea, which is a real bummer, and have been told that I must lose weight to get rid of that. I lost large amounts of weight and inches with Weight Watchers several times but gained most of it back. People complemented me a lot when I lost the weight, wore thinner clothes, and I know that I did look good, but here I am back about my original size. I am a child of a very unhappy home, and must repair that part of me if I really expect to ever have success at weight loss permanently. Good luck to all!

scales,

Get off your rude soapbox! Why not just stay in your little box and not participate, you idiot!?

Once you have diabetes it is going to be hard. My father had diabetes and was told also to exercise and not to eat oil other than olive oil, no salt or sugar. So what he had to eat was tasteless. He told me that was very hard to eat and told me to take of myself now than regret it later.

At the end he couldn't stand that crappy food anymore and started to eat normally and that is what it took him away from me. Since then I lost weight and I keep struggling to keep my weight... since I love to juice medium rare steaks, burgers, and have few cold ones.

"Healthy" food is not as bland as people make it out to be. You do have to be a little creative with healthy food and cant just dump a pound of lard to make it all better.

You would be surprised by how awful some unhealthy food, like fast food, actually tastes when you eat things like fruits and vegetables instead of lard and syrup.

The reality of the matter is, your pallete evolves to enjoy the foods that you eat (as long as you are getting all the nutrients your body needs).

@Jessie, Yes you ARE fat (or obese as some people prefer) if your weight is such that it is causing health problems. It is a proven fact that many dangerous and costly chronic health problems are caused by being obese. A few thousand years ago being obese meant the tiger ate you instead of the non-obese person. Now in modern times with everything being provided through convince, the incentives to not be obese are lessened while the physical imperative to eat hasn't been removed.

@Lee, Science figured out a long time ago why people are obese. Energy input vs Energy output. Everything else is just window dressing. If your intake four to five thousand calories a day in energy but only exert two thousand calories a day, then you WILL gain weight as your body attempts to store those unused calories into fat. Fat is nothing but a giant organic battery, its used to store energy during times of plenty for use during times of famine. Everyone has a biological imperative to intake additional food to store for future use, the amount of additional food you desire to intake is different for each person. This is believe to be partially based on genetics and partially based on environment situation during youth development.

Nothing of what is above prevents any obese person from doing the single BEST thing to lose weight. And that is control your eating habits (stop f*cking snacking or drinking sodas) and increase your physical exertion. When energy input is less then energy output, you body will convert energy stored in fat to compensate for the difference. This conversion can be unpleasant for people not used to it, it will cause you to feel tired and drained. But if you (anyone) keeps this up, they will loose weight rather quickly.

What was also found out is that people who seem to be "always" thin even though they eat much food isn't anything special. Their simply exerting more energy output during a typical day, often by 50% or more. This is done through getting up, sitting down, going to the bathroom, walking around the office, fidgeting at their desk, twitching their hands / feet, or just keeping their body physically active all day long. A study was done where they attached pizo-electronic sensors to a bunch of people's ankles and wrists. They were small and extremely light / unnoticeable. Each group consisted of a few dozen people. The first group being of mostly large / obese people, the second being of healthy people. After weeks of study they found that the healthy people moved 5km MORE per day (average) then the obese people did, but they worked at similar occupations (all office work). The additional movement was from fidgeting and just being more active in general. Obese people tend to sit down and well ... their body stops moving and their muscles shut down, until they get up. Counting that effect is required to keep the muscles active and thus have them burn through more energy.

So in short, if an obese person truly desires to loose weight, all they need to do is have the intestinal fortitude to drastically cut down on their energy input, and resist the desires to snack, while increasing their energy output and sustaining it for weeks and months on end until it becomes a permanent life style.

theotherguy --

A few thousand years ago being obese meant the tiger ate you instead of the non-obese person. Now in modern times with everything being provided through convince, the incentives to not be obese are lessened while the physical imperative to eat hasn't been removed.

A few thousand years ago, being fat came with a lot of work associated...they didn't have the absolute filth we eat today, so they had to be chowing down almost all day.

Being fat now comes from eating the crap that everyone else in the country eats...only having been screwed by a slower metabolic rate. Granted some (very few) people gain weight from chronic eating, but that is the extreme exception, not the rule.

Everyone -- and I mean everyone -- has a physical abnormality of some kind. Some people have warts since birth, others have oddly shaped bones, many have issues they don't even know about until they start dying from it (high cholesterol, high blood pressure). The only difference between a skinny person and a fat person is that their abnormality (low metabolic rate) has a visual effect.

You have no more right than I do criticizing these people (and I am and always have been skinny, mind you), so why don't you shut your vulgar trap?

Haha vulgar? Guess you had to fall down into insults to back up a non-existent argument.

Gaining / losing mass ~always~ boils down to one thing. Energy Input vs Energy Output. If your take in more organic energy then your expend, you will increase in body mass. If you take in less organic energy then you expend, you will decrease in body mass. Everything else is just ancillary to this discussion. Or are you somehow under the impression that your biology does not follow the universal law of conservation of energy and matter? Are you spontaneously creating matter or energy? Are other "skinny" people spontaneously losing matter or energy?

Haha vulgar? Guess you had to fall down into insults to back up a non-existent argument.

Non-existent? What kind of buffoon are you that you think that all humans process energy exactly the same???

Gaining / losing mass ~always~ boils down to one thing. Energy Input vs Energy Output. If your take in more organic energy then your expend, you will increase in body mass.

Not true. Not even close. Your metabolic rate is the determining factor in how quickly your body processes, absorbs, and stores energy. If it is slow, you stockpile a lot of energy (fat). If it is fast, then the energy is processed and absorbed almost as quickly as you can eat.

Or are you somehow under the impression that your biology does not follow the universal law of conservation of energy and matter?

Actually no, it doesn't. Idiot.

Are you spontaneously creating matter or energy? Are other "skinny" people spontaneously losing matter or energy?

Neither statement makes any sense nor is pertinent to this conversation. No one has any body function happen "spontaneously."

Lee-178825 - I agree 100% - if you've never suffered from obesity, you have absolutely no idea what you're talking about regarding this article. People who have never struggled with their weight think they have all the answers - afterall, look at them, they're not over weight. They don't have a clue about the suffering that comes from being obese, i.e. the aches, pains, insults, low self esteem, etc., etc., etc. They think it's a conscience life choice, or that you're "lazy" or a "pig".

There are numerous reasons why a person becomes obese - and not one of them is because of a life choice. Genetics, upbringing, stress - and all three in some cases. Some people feel hopeless, especially if obesity is all they've ever known. It is those who have been obese since childhood who's perception of themselves is permanently damaged, and no amount of weight loss will change that perception. An obese person can lose 100 pounds and be within normal weight limits, but in his or her mind, they will ALWAYS be obese. It's a mental image of oneself that's extremely difficult to erase. After living a lifetime with obesity, your perception of yourself and of the world around you is permanently skewed; mentally, losing a large amount of weight can be more difficult than any other aspect of weight loss.

One more thing - a person who did not grow up obese, but became obese in adulthood, and then turned around and lost the weight, also has absolutely no idea what this article is talking about. Only a person who suffered with obesity their entire lives can relate. And it's way too complicated to explain to anyone else. You have to have walked in our shoes to understand. And I understand completely!

Bibol, I'm assuming you were being ironic and meant to connect your last two sentences together. If so, I agree.

Most people assume metabolism is just catabolism (breaking down food). If your metabolic rate is slow, that means you do not store much of your food either. To store food, your body has to break up large molecules (catabolism) to something more absorbable, and then build them in to molecules that your body can store (anabolism). Contrary to popular belief, storing a large percentage of food you means your metabolic rate is not that slow.

People forget that the amount your body wastes is not a product of metabolism. You can be as skinny as a skeleton and eat large amounts of food, yet your metabolism can be slow. The reason could be that your body does not metabolize your food. What your body does instead is wastes it.

Also, a 300 lb unhealthy person will "burn" calories at a faster rate than a 120 lb runner in every task imaginable. This has to do with the fact that the 120 lb runner is more efficient in bodily functions and is not carrying around an extra 180 lbs of fat.

Also, saying obesity is not a life choice is just laughable. Did someone force you to eat that large pizza for lunch? Did someone force you to be lazy and sit on your couch an do nothing? I am sorry, but you cannot get fat if you do not eat, it is physically impossible. What you eat and how much you eat is a life choice. Just like how much you exersize is a life choice. Your desire to blame everyone and everything but yourself is why you were probably obese in the first place.

Fat people like to blame everyone in the world and everything except themselves.

Like I said before putting on weight boils down to matter in vs matter out. Laws of physics are inviolable. A fat person doesn't suddenly wake up one day with an additional 5~50 kg of matter inside their body. A healthy person doesn't magically have 5~10 kg of matter vanish out of their body.

The #1 biggest factor about gaining weight is appetite. What I've personally seen from every single fat person is that they enjoy the positive sensation they get from eating till a full stomach. But that feeling (release of dopamine from brain caused by chemicals) only happens when you've eaten BEYOND your capacity, its the biological imperative to eat everything available in case you won't be able to eat again. This is the same function that makes sex enjoyable, its all to trick you into certain behavior patterns. The solution is to stop eating to f*cking much. No more snacking, no more diet soda's with a triple big mac. No more high calorie foods, no more high sugar / carbohydrate foods. Yeah it sucks, yeah it'll make you depressed as hell. Your body will try to force you to go back to eating like a pig, you mental will power must be stronger then your body's desire. Then you ~must~ make the effort to increase your energy exertion, start out walking a mile or two every day after work. Eat small reasonable meals, no snacking, drink water instead of soda. Cut down on coffee, especially if you put sugar in it. You must do all these things and your body will start to shed weight at a solid pace.

In short ... fat people are addicted to food and it should be treated as an addiction.

Not true. Not even close. Your metabolic rate is the determining factor in how quickly your body processes, absorbs, and stores energy. If it is slow, you stockpile a lot of energy (fat). If it is fast, then the energy is processed and absorbed almost as quickly as you can eat.

Or are you somehow under the impression that your biology does not follow the universal law of conservation of energy and matter?

Actually no, it doesn't. Idiot.

Stop the press's, everyone stop. Call in the nuclear physicists because we have a new source of infinite energy for the planet. According to dustin we can power our world by FAT ENERGY. Since obese people produce energy from nothing and are not bound by the laws of universal conservation of matter / energy then we can use them to power our world and city's. Hell we could use them to get our shuttles into orbit, no need for chemical boosters and fuel to provide the kinetic energy. Instead we put a few fat people inside and have their spontaneous energy creation abilities power the shuttle on its way up.

Wow dude, you should do a paper on that idea and patent the fck out of it. It'll win a prize... imagine ... a human being being exempt from the laws of physics and space / time.

Law of conservation of energy and mass is not technically a universal law. The laws breaks when univereses are created and destroyed (think the moment before the big bang as an example). The law also breaks with many theoretical objects (white holes, etc).

Anyway, the "law" of conservation of energy and mass is really nonapplicable. What happens before you eat food and after you expell the food is really irrelevant to why people get fat. It is the transfer through the body is what matters (wonderful differencial equations).

Also, your energy input vs output is really irrelevant. Lowering your energy state and your entropy may do nothing to your mass (radiating thermal energy does not change mass). What matters is mass input vs mass output. Part of this is dictated by metabolism and part by wasteing. There are many things your body stores, like micronutrients, provide no energy to the body, but they do provide mass. Your body can also release energy but store the waste products (hence why you have things like kidneys and livers to try and mitigate this).

What the hell do you think "fat" is in the body? Its stored chemical energy in the form of sugar bonds. You body process's sugars and carbohydrates into chemical energy, if it doesn't use them in a short period of time it converts them into fat and stores them for future use. This process has been understood for decades. Everything else you just stated is irrelevant as it takes up a VERY small amount of overall excess mass vs what fat is. Unless your liver / kidney is failing to filter / excrete the body wastes, but then your dieing and have a day or two to live at best.

Its simply physics, energy in vs energy out. Consume chemical energy through sugars and carbohydrates, output energy in the form of heat / kinetic (motion) energy and electrical energy. Walking, running, breathing, talking all consume energy, even just being alive consumes energy as your body maintains metabolism. The amount of energy output you have is what should determine how much you intake, not your mood or whether you need a "pick me up" feeling.

And your gibberish about universe creation / destruction is sci-fi nonsense. There is no known model that can explain that as we simply don't have the science to do so, but I can be 100% certain that your body isn't breaking physics and creating worm holes / universes to gain weight. Your body is 100% bound by physics, no amount of internet forum trolling will alter that. If you want to lose fat, then increase energy output while decreasing energy input. Maintain proper nutrient / mineral intake, but decrease sugar / carbohydrate levels. Its a 100% proven method that has worked for thousands of years, not only on humans but on every living creature on the planet. Amazing isn't it.

You say the body cannot magically create mass, but you say the body can magically turn energy in to mass? While there are theoretical objects that can do that, your body is not one of them.

Energy input vs output has little do do with your weight. I can eat a pound of rocks. They have little chemical energy as far as my body is concerned, but I would be willing to be you I would still weigh a pound heavier afterwards. Likewise, I can consumer large amounts of high energy objects and gain little to no mass. You should eat a gas fireball (an object very high in chemical energy), and I bet you would end up losing a lot of mass and gaining a lot of energy.

You do not need to increase your energy output to decrease your mass. In fact, fat people have higher energy output than skinny people. On top of that a skinny person can eat the same exact food as a fat person. That fat person can emit more energy, yet the skinny person will gain less weight. How does that work? the skinny person wastes the food. That is not an output of energy in the sense you are talking about, but an output of mass.

Water provides little chemical energy to you body, yet it makes up a large portion of your mass. If you are one of those idiots that go on creatine binges, you would probably believe all that extra water you are retaining in your body magically turns in to muscle too.

You would be surprised how much of you body weight is your waste. Not only that, you would be surprised how much your mass is made up of the mass of other organism that live inside of you.

Again your grasp of biology is lacking. Sugars and carbohydrates are where your getting your mass from. Their converted from one form to another depending on whether your use the energy immediately or store it for later use. Go use wiki to research the long chemical process through which sugars are converted into ATP which is then used broken down by your muscles during their reaction.

Your straw man arguments are amazingly off base. Water isn't even in the equation here. Are you saying that all fat people are simple carrying around 50 lbs of "Water"? No most excess mass is adipose cells which are just fat cells full of the stored forms of glucose. They grow and grow until full, when your body is in need of energy and no free glucose is available, then it drains the stored forms and converts them into glucose which is then sent to muscles where the chemical energy is removed by breaking the chemical bonds. The leftovers are then filtered by the liver and excreted through the digestive tract.

You intake mass that contains energy (carbohydrates), you use some for immediate needs, the rest is stored in fat for later use (fat cells get bigger, you get heavier). Later you body drains the fat cells for energy when there isn't any present, the remains of the matter after energy extraction is then removed from you body.

Your mistake is that your assuming energy is extracted during eating, which is wrong. The high energy chemical bonds remain all the way till actual use, either ten min after use, or ten months when you finally get your fat a$$ out of the computer chair. Either way, energy in vs energy out. If your consuming 5000 calories of energy a day in food (stored chemical energy) but only burning 3000 calories of that energy, then the remaining 2000 calories of chemical energy is stored in fat cells. The form it comes in as doesn't matter much as your body breaks it all down to glucose eventually. ~Everything~ else is just excuse's to blame someone, anyone, on your own personal problems. The #1 100% proven method to lose weight is reduce chemical-energy intake (f*cking eat less) while increasing chemical-energy output (exercise more).

My lack of biological understanding?

Sorry but not all bodies store excess mass, or in this case you mis-use of the term energy. In fact, even bodies that love to store excess mass to not store 100% of what you call "energy"

I am tall and skinny as heck; yet, I eat like a fat kid and spend most of my day sitting around. By your logic, I should be 350 lbs. You want to know why I am skinny as all heck? My body does not store excess mass. I probably eat about 3-4000 kcals of "energy", and probably only burn about 2000 kcals. Yet, if you look at me, I probably look like I have not eaten in months.

Excersizing more also means you body is coverting stored mass in to muscle mass, which can actually increase your weight.

There are only two methods to ensure you lose weight (not one is exercise). The first is to stop eating (eventually your body will start wasting itself). The second is to shut down you metabolism (as your body cannot store mass if it cannot break it down and absorb it).

Also, if you are 50 pounds overweight, roughly 60-70% of that extra mass is water (a mix of free water and water associated with other molecules). So, yes. I am saying fat people are carrying around extra water (in addition to extra waste, extra muscle mass, extra lipids, and extra of pretty much everything).

They are probably harbouring lots of extra microorganisms within themselves too.

theotherguy1234 and Endo: Although the two of you appear to be arguing and debating who knows what and who doesn't, I have to say, reading your posts was fascinating. Each of you appears to know quite a bit about chemistry.

Endo, it's just not fair that your body cannot store fat, and that other people, like myself, specialize in storing fat. In my youth, let's say in my 20's, I worked my a$$ off to stay thin. I probably consumed around 1600 calories per day and worked out, meaning aerobic exercise and weight lifting, 6 days per week, all so that at 5'10" I could keep my weight down at 165 pounds. I'm a woman, by the way. And plenty of folks would say "thin"? I was a size 10 back then, and at my height, I looked great. I had no problem getting dates - it probably didn't hurt that I happen to be very pretty.

Anyway, over the past 20 years, raising children in an often difficult marriage, no longer measuring/weighing what I eat, or even caring, and no longer exercising, my weight has ballooned. It took an enormous amount of self discipline, to the point of being obsessive, to manage my weight back in the day. When I was no longer able to put on my focus on myself, things just got out of control. I'm not even a big meal eater - my problem is sugar. I love sugar. If you put a steak in front of me and a piece of chocolate pie and tell me I can only have one or the other, the pie wins every time.

I wish I could get to the real root of my weight problem. I wish I could understand why my body has such a strong chemical reaction to sugar - why it craves it and why it stores it so well. If I could conquer sugar, I'm convinced I wouldn't have a weight problem at all. What do the two of you think about what I've said? I'm very curious to hear what each of you have to say about sugar and how our body processes it.

8Wow sorry I didn't read this thread in a long time.

J the only answer is will power and extreme control over what you eat. I have a very close relationship to sugar because I was addicted to it when I was a teenager, Sugar as we know it now is a super condensed of naturally occurring sugars. Normally you'd have to eat quite a bit of fruits and vegetables before you'd be able to consume what is now in a single piece of pie / cake or a 20oz cola. Sugar is the short term energy supply for your body, its easiest metabolized into ATP which is used to fuel well .. everything. But most forms of sugar are difficult to convert into storage, contrary to popular belief eating lots of sugary candy won't make you fat, just hyper and possibly give you diabetes.

What is really happening is that your also consuming carbohydrates (breads / rice / grain) or fatty oils and those contain a different form of energy. Carbs are easier to convert into storage then base sugars and their also more difficult to convert (burn) to ATP then base sugars. This is why the Atkins diet actually does work, it makes the person focus on their main source of energy intake and reduce that.

What this all means is that by eating lots of sugars your body is using the base sugars as its main energy supply instead of converting fat into energy. If your still consuming carbs then your body will store those as fat while burning the base sugars for energy.

The realization for me came when I understood that "fat" is nothing more then a biological battery. One pound of body fat is equal to about 3500 calories. Walking one mile consumes [(weight in lbs x 2) / 3.5] calories, this is a very general number and doesn't count for environmental conditions. A 200 lb person would burn (200x2)/3.5 = 114 calories per mile walked, meaning one pound of fat is enough energy to walk 30.7 miles. Bigger people burn fat faster because of this, but bigger people usually walk less per day.

The only #1 guaranteed method to loose weight is to strictly control your energy intake while increasing your energy output. Eat 1000 calories a day while burning 2000 calories total would consume 1000 calories of fat or little more then a quarter pound per day. Since 1000 calories is a very small amount, most people find it difficult to do that. Your body CRAVES energy, it will constantly barrage your brain to consume as much as possible. There is nothing short of heavy medication that can prevent that desire. It comes from the same parts of your brain that breathing and sex are at. Its a mental practice you must do to tell yourself ~NO~ anytime you have a craving for sugar / energy. Sometimes you can trick your body by snacking on vegetables, but keeping a bag of celery sticks or carrots around isn't always possible (I personally used bags of baby carrots).

My personal method was to eat two meals per day, each limited to 700 calories total and snack on vegetables whenever I couldn't suppress a craving. I tried to walk / run alot and work out as much as possible.

Ohh and the reason some people seem to be able to "Eat forever" and "never get fat" has been proven already. It has nothing to do with metabolism, actually fat people have more efficient metabolisms. Those skinny people are burning twice the daily energy that the fat person is. Getting up to walk to the office water cooler, tapping their hands / feet, moving around while seated. When you don't have a section of muscles for awhile they shut down and go to sleep. This way those muscles your not using are not consuming much energy and your body is more efficient at energy usage. But by making small movements and being physically active all day long, a person can prevent their muscles from going into a dormant state. This will dramatically increase your daily energy consumption. Something as simply getting up and walking to a water cooler for a drink every 15m is very noticeable over time.

She went to all that work to change her body, but it never occurred to her she might have to change her mind as well.

So sad, and so true for so many behavior issues that are sold to us as euphoric cure-alls.

Quit smoking, you'll feel so much better, be able to smell things better, have more energy, etc. The reality is things will be pretty much the same only you won't be smoking any more. You will be healthier though.

Start exercising, you'll have much more energy, feel better, lose weight, etc. The reality is that for most you won't lose weight, you'll look the same and feel the same. You will be healthier though.

Lose weight, etc, etc.

For some reason we have this need to give all these phony reasons why people should make health related changes in their life, then when nothing changes everyone is surprised. If you want to be technically healthier then diet, exercise and no smoking are key. If you want to look and feel better then there's a chance those can help you, but the odds say they won't.

People who have learned to exercise a lot often do it for the same reason that other people overeat. I today's world there are all kinds of stresses and after 20 miles on the bicycle I can deal with it again. Or after a 3 hour hike up and down a mountain I feel good, I'm relaxed and it's a nice place to be.

So, I go out on the weekends for 4-5 hour bicycle rides, go for long hikes and exercise every day during the week. I'm healthy, although I've had a few injuries, and I know what it looks like coming down the ridge for 20 miles on a beautiful (or stormy) day with trees and grass all around. Some of the most fun times have been out in a storm (with good gear on).

And that is why I'm 170 instead of 250 lbs. It doesn't solve everything, people don't magically like me any better, but it's a nicer life.

John Toradze, Right on!!! Absolutely excercise changes my entire outlook. The chemical reaction to excercise is proven and is like a nice mellow high, accompanied by the self satisfaction that I accomplished something positive and took the time to get outside and look at the world. People cannot underestimate the power of eating well too. On days that I don't eat well, my mood is miserable. Sleep is equally important. All of these behaviors are expressions of respect to oneself and to the others in ones life. Thanks for sharing that!

She went to all that work to change her body, but it never occurred to her she might have to change her mind as well.

No - it didn't occur to her. It's a rude awakening to discover that after losing a large amount of weight, you're more confused than ever before. The image in the mirror does not match the image in your mind. You become a stranger to yourself. If you've suffered from obesity your entire life, and are suddenly of normal weight, it's as if you've been placed into someone elses body, and you have to LEARN how to live in that new body. Nothing comes naturally - you are born again and must learn to cope with all the changes that come from living within a normal weight range. It's not nearly as simple as "changing your mind" about what you want for dinner or what you want to wear to work. This is the kind of change that she was not prepared to have to face. After years of being told you are fat, lazy, a pig, wide load, being rejected, snickered at, etc., etc., etc., and all of a sudden people are nice to you, you find yourself looking over your shoulder and thinking "are they talking to me"?

Excuse me, but the media gives us images every day of how wonderful life is for skinny people. We are overwhelmed with these images of beautiful, slender people falling in love, getting great jobs and basically living unattainable lives. Many skinny people suffer from the feeling that there is something wrong with them because their lives don't measure up either. We are so focused on looks in our culture that we loose sight of the things that really make a person happy - their interconnectedness with other humans.

I was impressed with a recent Saudi Arabian beauty contest - the winner was based upon who had the best relationship with their parents. We saw a glimmer of this in the TV show "Ugly Betty." But even that show saw the main character achieve greater happiness as she became more attractive.

@differnet, While the media may make some celebrities appear to have great lives, there are many counter stories as well. How many celebrites end up being cheated on, arrested, on Celebrity Rehab or bankrupt? These stories are not hidden.

People choose to believe what they want to believe.

I also take issue with your comment that falling in love and finding a great job is part of living an "unattainable" life. Losing weight only takes care of the weight loss goal. Finding a great partner and developing a great realtionship takes just as much focus. Finding a great job takes focus, planning and often many years working in jobs that aren't great before career goals are met. And honestly, even with a great relationship and a great job, some days (or months) just suck. It's life. It doesn't mean that life satisfaction, (happiness is a mood and cannot be constantly maintained), is a "Lie."

Perhaps the people that the media portray as living the good life ARE happy. However it is discounting the hard work that they may have put into their relationships, careers and even looks to assume that they have it all because they are beautiful and slim. It is pretty shallow.

Most of us are our own worst enemies and want an excuse as to why our lives are not "measuring up" (a dangerous concept anyway).

Do you ever watch TV shows? The media is not just the news. It is TV, movies, magazines, books, etc.... It's shoved down our throats moment by moment. When was the last time you saw a movie about a happy fat woman? Or man for that matter....

There are movies out there with overweight stars finding love, happiness, etc. John Candy played in some of them. Bet he wished he exercised more and ate less! Anyone, be they fat or skinny, that believes things in the movies or on TV are reality needs help. I think this article was nothing but a disservice to overweight people. It puts it out there to not worry about losing weight because all your troubles will be the same. WRONG! Your health issues will get better and if you have children, you will set a better example for them to grow up healthy! I certainly don't believe you have to be rail thin either. There are plenty of people that can carry their weight in a healthy manner without looking like Twiggy! First and foremost, it should have been put out there that losing weight when you are obese is good for you! Lose the weight and live long enough to get counseling to understand why you are unhappy.

Yes, I do watch TV and movies. First, I think most fictional TV and movies are unrealistic on so many levels, that I do not think I would ever bemoan my life not working out like it might in a movie or on TV.

That said, quickly, My big Fat Greek Wedding, Bridget Jones (who granted isn't that big), and Valentines Day come to mind. Not that the leads are always happy in those films. But the structure of most movies are such that there is conflict for the main characters anyway so even when the leads are thin and cute, their lives are not fairytale perfect. Well, you brought up Ugly Betty. There are heavier significant characters Greys Anatomy and I remember watching Days of our Lives and there was a rather large actress who had a very actractive and slim husband. Look at According to Jim or King of Queens. There are some heavy guys there...

TV is even more dramatic. The TV I happen to stumble upon where most of the cast is very thin and attractive is loaded with drama that I can do without in my life. Desperate Housewives, One Tree Hill, Gossip Girls and I'm sure there are many more examples... The characters are rarely happy, despite their good looks.

What is your list of movies and TV where the characters are always happy and thin and where one can assume that their happiness is related to being thin? I will say that some romatic comedy movies give an unrealistic idea of relationships, but watching romantic comedies never disabled my common sense or crippled me in my own relationships. I may as well be surprised that the pirates off the coast of Somalia are not like Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Carribean.

Whom ever is getting bombarded moment by moment with media images needs to turn off the TV, and put down the fashion mags. These are just excuses.

Yes, I do watch TV and movies. First, I think most fictional TV and movies are unrealistic on so many levels, that I do not think I would ever bemoan my life not working out like it might in a movie or on TV.

That said, quickly, My big Fat Greek Wedding, Bridget Jones (who granted isn't that big), and Valentines Day come to mind. Not that the leads are always happy in those films. But the structure of most movies are such that there is conflict for the main characters anyway so even when the leads are thin and cute, their lives are not fairytale perfect. Well, you brought up Ugly Betty. There are heavier significant characters Greys Anatomy and I remember watching Days of our Lives and there was a rather large actress who had a very actractive and slim husband. Look at According to Jim or King of Queens. There are some heavy guys there...

TV is even more dramatic. The TV I happen to stumble upon where most of the cast is very thin and attractive is loaded with drama that I can do without in my life. Desperate Housewives, One Tree Hill, Gossip Girls and I'm sure there are many more examples... The characters are rarely happy, despite their good looks.

What is your list of movies and TV where the characters are always happy and thin and where one can assume that their happiness is related to being thin? I will say that some romatic comedy movies give an unrealistic idea of relationships, but watching romantic comedies never disabled my common sense or crippled me in my own relationships. I may as well be surprised that the pirates off the coast of Somalia are not like Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Carribean.

Whom ever is getting bombarded moment by moment with media images needs to turn off the TV, and put down the fashion mags. These are just excuses.

Gee.. a handful of exceptions and that's what you cling to? You think the female lead in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" was overweight. I guess you didn't actually watch the movie - just got your answer from the title.

@differnet

You didn't answer Amy's question about your list of movies/TV shows that show thin people being happy all the time and that happiness is directly related to their thinness.

You don't see many larger people on TV because people generally don't want to look at that...not because larger people can't be happy and successful. Notice the larger people on TV are usually attractive as well...are you going to blame their success in life on their attractiveness? Not to mention TV is FAKE and they have to make good things happen to their characters (along with bad things) to further the plot. Few people want to watch a completely unhappy story.

I don't watch much TV, but with what I've seen Amy is correct. The leads may be thin and attractive, but their lives aren't any less complicated than an average looking person's. Take Friend's for example...Jennifer Aniston's character was a waitress for years before getting a job doing something she actually likes. Then she had to work her way up. She also had a number of ups and downs in relationships like an average person.

The most you could expect is to maybe have a few more doors opened in the dating world and *maybe* if you are in a looks oriented career like fashion or TV you might have a few more doors opened in the work world. However, it's up to YOU to get out in the world and give those doors a chance to open and it's up to YOU to step through those doors and give it your all.

If your relationships keep failing or you don't get promotions when you are skinny the problem is and always has been you and I don't see any contradiction to that in the shows I watch.

@Differnet, Basically, you asked me for the "last time I saw" an example and I provided many. I am not clinging to anything.

Do I think that the entertainment business is fair? No, I do not. I live and work in Los Angeles. I have worked in the entertainment business and my husband and many friends still do. What is more unfair is nepotism. It certainly makes things harder. But you know what? Even against the odds of not knowing anyone and being broke when we moved here, my husband and friends have managed to build humble but respectable careers in the business. Maybe they should have quit because they were sold a fantasy that a person could be discovered in a diner.

There are lots (tons really) of gorgeous people out here who never make it. And the leads in tv and film (and in my personal opinion, magazines especially), are not always the prettiest in the room. If you want to argue that advertisements make beautiful people seem happy, fine.

But, come on! You are accusing me of clinging to an argument. What are you doing? You are arguing against reality and common sense.

The way the article was written was a bit irresponsible, because it put all of the blame externally instead of addressing unrealistic expectations or underlining depression.

After all is said and done, I think for the few people who were highlighted in this article, many, many more people are thrilled to lose the weight, and the weight loss does help them feel better about themselves and feel that they can accomplish more in their lives.

I prefer another version of the "grass is greener" saying: the grass on the other side of the fence still needs to be mowed. I've always remembered that one when tempted to violate my marriage vows. The new situation always looks better, but once you get there, you're back to needing to maintain the things that, if ignored, lead right back to dissatisfaction.

Like another poster said, and I agree, you can't just change your body but your mind as well. At one point in my life I was pushing 280 lbs, and smoking. In all a pretty sedintary lifestyle. At once I quit smoking got a gym membership and within six months I dropped almost 100 pounds. My body fat perctentage dropped from 34 percent to 12 percent. What happened was I changed my mind. I did this without surgery or steroid use. My college grades improved immensely while also managing 32 hours a week of work. The reason is my energy level tripled. I didn't expect to be more popular or for a magic wand to wave my woes away, but only to improve things I did have control over. I was happy that I could lift my own body weight or go up a flight of stairs without losing my breath. The little things.

Super T Anvil - congratulations on your determination and success.

The truth is people are about as happy as they decide to be. This happens all the time with relocating to a new city, changing careers, etc. If you were unhappy in Los Angeles, you'll probably be unhappy in Denver. If you are unhappy as a rocket scientist, you'll probably be just as unhappy as a corporate attorney. The same applies to weight. Decide to count your blessings and be happy and a lot more things will fall into place for you. And kudos to you - Super T Anvil and Joe!

Super T Anvil - Congratulations on your success with weight loss! But one word of caution; losing 100 pounds in 6 months is dangerous for one simple reason - it can come back just as fast. Whatever you did to lose that much weight that quickly was not within the range of a normal lifestyle. Slow weight loss as a result of lifestyle changes is the best way to get it off and keep if off. Once you've been obese, it is extremely easy to put the weight back on. Your body never loses the fat cells that were created - the fat cells simply shrink - and they stay there just waiting to be filled up again.

It hurts to be obese - and it hurts even worse to lose the weight, only to turn around and put the weight back on - and usually then some. Be careful - you'll need to find a comfortable way to maintain the weight loss. It will be a lifetime of work - you will have to manage the maintenance. Maintaining the loss will be more work than losing the weight, but it's well worth the hard work to keep the weight off permanently. Good luck!

Spoken like a person who has not suffered from obesity their entire life. Thank goodness Amy-1466754 read this article and posted to this blog. I sure hope the subject of this article reads this post - it should definately help her to "get real".

Amy - good luck losing those "few pounds".

Well actually, I've already lost 50 pounds and I have another 30-50 to go depending on if I want to be on the high end or low end of a healthy weight for me, so yes, I have some experience with weight loss and expectations. Perhaps wanting to lose 100 pounds total isn't enough for some people, but I have found it to be quite a challenge myself. Really, not that it should matter!!! But thanks for discounting my opinion!

I did post a question in there that anyone is free to answer. If implying that weight loss is an extremely positive accomplishment that will affect your life is "creating a fantasy" then what are people asking for???? As I said before, the flip side is that they'll see everyone as being negative.

Personally, it has made a profound difference in my happiness and life to be getting my weight under control. To make healthier eating choices and to exercise regularly. This is not a fantasy.

It is so simple. People choose to buy into what they want to. People choose to believe what they want to believe. It is not anyone else's responsibility to take accountability for another's happiness. Happiness and contentment come from within.

Someone please, answer my question. What is the solution? What kind of information should be out there that is not available if one looks? What are they asking for??? So far I have read a lot of empty complaints and insults.

Dear Amy,

Congrats on your weightloss. I've been following your posts and responses and I just had throw in my 2 cents. Speaking as a plus size diva, most peole do have a fantasy around losing weight- that to a certain extent is fed by society. Not just TV and movies that oftentimes show unrealistic body ideals for the average American. But in general daily life too. I can't tell you how many people have come up to me commenting on whats on my plate or offering weightloss tips---not knowing a thing about me or my situation. Or how many times I've gotten snide smirks when I show up at an advanced yoga class. Or better yet, the MD who told me 'how much happier I would be' if I lost weight. Unfortunately being healthy in the US has become more and more about competition around BMIs and judgment- and less about embracing healthier behaviors. Oftentimes being heavy or obese is treated as some kind a character flaw that people need to 'correct' and fat people people are judged to some how be less worthy or capable of having a meaningful life until they are a 'normal' weight. Because SURELY losing weight is the BIGGEST & MOST PRESSING PRIORITY in a heavy person's life (yeah, right) until that's done everything else must wait. So people wait-and they dream- of the happy day when they hit that magic number of the scale and can actually participate in life. But then they hit it and many realize that nothing much has changed about their circumstances.

I am clinically obese and believe it or not---pretty damn happy. Why---because I actually live life. I have spent a good part of my life trying to lose weight-and frankly being miserable because I just couldn't get it to work for me. Then one day I realized I had spent most of 20s obsessed with scales and my body and I decided to let it all go. Shockingly--sitting on the couch and stuffing myself with Oreos really doesn't make me happy and neither did all the obsessing over being the best skinny me possible. But hanging out with my friends, watching movies, going clubbing, and riding my bike does. So I embraced other measures of health--i lay off sugar, try to eat more fruits and veggies, and practice yoga. I also stopped buying clothes a size smaller (hoping they would fit later) and started buying great clothes that actually fit now. I also chucked my self consciousness about my body. Have a lost of a lot of weight---no not really, a few pounds here and there, but that's it. But I'm way more happy then I've been in years. And my health stats are pretty damn good too.

The point is there are many roads to happiness, but a lot of people aren't told that. People get bombarded with messages that says weightloss is the cure-all and given the social pressure today its easy to see why they want to believe it. For you, your weightloss journey has given u more energy and a self-esteem boost. Thus you have a better outlook on life and your life is better. But for me, it left me drain and frustrated. Personally, I think total health needs to be addressed more in our society and not just the numbers on the scale. Getting people to be more active for the sake of being more active, eating better because its fun, and encouraging people to be active in life no matter what their size without judgement.

There's a BIG difference between wanting to lose a "few" pounds, and losing 50 pounds. Congratulations on your weight loss. It takes a lot of work, determination, and will power to lose that kind of weight. I sincerely wish you success in your endeavor as you continue to work at it.

I can't speak for anyone else but myself in answer to your question "what are they asking for" - but for me, growing up obese left me feeling unlovable. I was "asking" for love and acceptance. Not only did I get both, but got even more than I bargained for. Turns out I was extremely attractive to men after I lost 60 pounds. I had always been told I was "pretty", and being 5'10" tall, turned out to look sort of like a model after I shed the weight. But I was completely unprepared for all the attention I got - I had been starved for attention, and once I got it, I didn't know how to handle it. It got me into some tough situations. So, losing weight was both a blessing and a curse.

People are very clandestine about how often that happens. And women are never given suggestions as to how to handle it.

I hope that you are okay now.

I so agree with you. Most overweight persons are saddled with issues that got them heavy in the first place.... Change is always good but LOOk within to win!

I think you're on the right track here. People often feel that if they can just have 'that,' whether it be weight loss, money, a dream job, or whatever, then finally they will be happy. Unfortunately, those achievements seldom ever make a person truly happy. I don't necessarily believe that society is responsible for this phenomena, but it doesn't do anything to dispel the myth. People do need to be realistic in their expectations. And to remember to be appreciative of the good things you have in your life; don't just focus on those things that aren't perfect.

Men will always be men..

What does that mean exactly? Are you looking to get attention from men to help boost your sense of self esteem, and when you didn't get any more attention from them after losing weight, it's their fault? Or are you getting too much attention and you want them to leave you alone?

What is it you expect or want from these men that you seem so disappointed in?

As an obese person I got attention because I was pretty, I was totally unprepared for the overwhelming attention...What I was not prepared for was the BS factor... I guess I was just naive... I had no idea that men lied about who they are or what they do or what they are about.. I was behind the learning curve..Needless to say I got quite the education quickly...

Congrats Kim...but I disagree with your comment about men. Not all men lie. Nor do all women buy 10,000 pairs of shoes (LOL), just that percentage that give everyone bad names. Yes, I have known deceptive men in my past, but also the same number of deceptive women. Just because someone is a man does not mean immediately he is not telling you the truth.

Stereotyping is so dangerous, and can keep you from finding a really nice man because you assume everything he is telling you is a lie. That is a sad way to live, and I hope you are able to move past it. I wish you luck in the future. :)

you are right... I was speaking of MY experience.

Wha, wha, what??!! You mean the book didn't write itself and all the other motivational issues this woman had didn't magically disappear along with the weight? I'm shocked. Shocked!

You're funny MikeyMike ;-)

Maybe you have never had this experience but they are very much connected, especially in the way that people respond to you... and how you define youself... obesity is a disease just like cancer... so maybe when you have lost all your hair you will have more insite.

Obesity is not like cancer! Obesity can be changed by lifestyle modification, surgery, etc. I truly wish cancer cures were that easy! Maybe my husband wouldn't have died last month then! You and the women in this article are missing what most are saying here. To think that losing weight is some magic cure-all for all your ills is just dumb. If you have issues with your self-image, that has nothing to do with others - it has everything to do with you. What people are saying is get your head on straight if you want to be happy. Get help if you need it. And above all, don't discount the benefits from losing that weight just because you aren't as happy as you thought you would be from that weight loss! Lala is right. You seem bitter and maybe you would appreciate your health improvement more if you got help realizing that others don't shape you. You do that yourself. You can sit back and let others tell you who you are or you can look in the mirror and see who you are.

Wherever you go there you are. Whatever you weigh, you are who you are. Deal with it.

"Be happy" - Good advice. It is a choice.

ya know what? I was super skinny for a long time...and I was unhappy for the majority of that time. I told myself that if I could break 100lbs things would be better. Then I put on some weight(kids will do that to you) and I was still unhappy. I told myself that I needed to look different or carry my weight better and then I would be happier. I got up to 200lbs and was really unhappy. I joined a gym and tried eating better and lost a few pounds and told myself that now I would be happy. Guess what? I was still unhappy. Then I took a real hard look at my life and realized that no matter what my size was(which had ranged from a size 0 to a size 18), it was all the other things in my life that were making me unhappy. So I started dealing with those issues and an amazing thing happened...I stagnated at 175lbs(5ft10in tall) and still lamented my belly fat, but I found happiness and joy in my life. I started to relax for the first time I could remember. And it all had so very little to do with what the scales said. Like so many have said here, happiness is not measured in pounds or inches, but in quality of your days and the feeling of contentment you (hopefully) find within yourself.

slr- YOU have found it; the real key. Somehow relaxing and being happy with who you are. Now, would you kindly teach the rest of the class (most of the posters on Newsvine, this article plus any that have to do with weight) how you did it! :)

I doubt you've ever struggled with significant weight issues. Try to separate yourself from the culture in which we live, take on the role of an anthropologist, and look at the messages sent by society: thin, attractive people are portrayed as successful and happy, while overweight people are overwhelmingly villified as lazy, gluttonous, an inconvenience (e.g., airplain seating), and a drain on society (e.g., obesity epidemic, healthcare costs).

We live in a culture that worships a specific image of health and fitness. I know "fit" people who can't run a 5k, but I ran my first one while I was about 285 lbs. (at 5'8"). I know "fit" people who get sore after a five mile bike ride, but I can ride 24 miles without much trouble. Walking? I can walk 10 miles. Yes, I'm still fat. No, I'm not healthy yet, but I am active and making progress.

I know many who opted for gastic bypass and similar surgeries. The initial weight loss for all of them was amazing. Some of them, however, started to grow larger again after a few years (when the new, smaller stomach expanded, even though it was still smaller than it was originally). Some studies have found that gastric bypass patients have an increased risk of nerve damage in their extremeties as they age--one of the symptoms of progressing diabetes the surgery was to help avoid. I agree it is a too, but it is not one to be used without much long-term thinking. The near-term results are so appealing that I fear few people really consider the long-term risks.

I've had doctors recommend I have gastric bypass for years. My peak weight was 348 lbs. I'm in the 280 lb. range now. It's taken me most of a decade to lose that (nearly 70 lbs) and to stay stable where I am now. I still need to lose more, but have run into another rough patch. I'm going to do it, but progress is slow. Little changes. Little steps. I figure it took decades to get me where I am today, so it is going to take time to move it the other way.

@Marc: Your ignorance is astounding. The majority of obese people suffer from obesity for one (or more) of the following reasons:

1.) Their brain is actually chemically imbalanced and they are drawn to food in an attempt to restore that balance (an addiction, per se, just like cigarettes or alcohol).

2.) They learned poor eating habits from their parents and were unable to break that way of thinking for a long time. It's easy when you're overweight to convince yourself that you're destined to be fat.

That said, obese people are very often plagued with huge insecurity issues, due in large part to the idea of thin attractiveness our society tends to perpetuate. They see their weight loss as a major obstacle to overcome, and when you're in the process of chasing that goal, it is very easy to believe that all your problems will be solved once you've achieved it.

Are they stupid or crazy for realizing that once they lost all that weight their lives weren't magically better? Of course not. They are simply having to deal with a reality to which the ordeal of their weight loss had blinded them. Get off your high horse.

That's a very good point; like the difference between starting your own business, working from the ground up-or winning the lottery. If you don't give your *mind* time to catch up with your body, you'll be very confused. Working for the things you have definitely puts things in a different perspective.

It's a shame you feel that someone who has chosen to have GB is taking a short cut... GB is a tool...

Oh, Goody. Here's "Destiney" to show us how anyone who uses a "tool" of any kind to assist them on their way to weight loss is a "cheat" who somehow doesn't deserve happiness....

Destiney did you miss the point where the first lady had been on every diet and exercise plan ever written for years?? Aren't they technically "cheats" if they are written or taught? Really, whether it's a physical or mental *tool* to weight loss what's the difference?

I lost 100 lbs by going on a very strict one meal per day diet with 6-8 hours of exercise. Went from a size 22/24 to a size 4. Barely spent time with my family, slept around 3-4 hours per night. Worked HARD physically. Took a medication as well. Guess I "cheated" my way to that weight loss, right? (I was, by the way, miserable with a smile on my face trying to act as though I was the happiest person on the planet)....

@Miskaffon

Wow...calm down there. Destiny was in no way saying that someone who has had a GB doesn't deserve to be happy. He/She is just saying that the confidence and "can do" attitude you would most likely gain from losing weight by exercising and eating right could promote more happiness than someone who has had a GB and doesn't need to work as hard (granted I'm sure they put up with side affects of the surgery...but that's not the same as hard work).

I'm inclined to agree...if a person loses weight by eating less and exercising more I'd bet they at least somewhat tackled their personal demons that caused them to eat more than they needed all the time. Which in turn would lead to a happier person.

And I don't care how many "diets" someone has been on...if you are thinking of it as a diet that means it isn't permanent. I'm betting it isn't the specific diet's fault she didn't lose weight with it.

Seriously Miskaffon, I don't think that was the intent. The article was about the psychological issues behind weight loss. Destiney was offering her thoughts on why the author was unhappy, and it totally makes sense. No one's saying GB is a shortcut, we're only saying that the psychological reasons behind the weight gain in the first place might still be there. After all, you [usually] don't get fat from eating carrot sticks and exercising regularly, right?

To lose weight without GB, people have to make a commitment to themselves, to eat healthier foods, to eat smaller portions, and to get plenty of rest and exercise. With GB, sometimes a person doesn't have to make those same decisions. There is a huge sense of personal accomplishment that comes when you set ANY goal for yourself and meet it, and with GB, there may/may not be such goal setting.

Besides, it sounds like your experience was horrible, but did you learn anything? Are you going to let yourself have that extra cake, or skip a workout, because you know how rough it is to lose extra weight? Probably not, but someone who didn't have to claw their way to a happy weight might not have those same qualms about it, or have that same work ethic, and therefore might not have that wonderful feeling of accomplishment later, which is what the article was about: self-esteem.

emj417 - I had to chuckle when you stated that the "food is so damn good" in the South because it IS. It's impossible to beat Southern cooking. The good news is that it's possible to find Southern food that is both delicious and healthy. I was born and raised in the South but have spent most of my adult life living all over the USA. For the past decade, I've lived about six months out of each year in Michigan and six months in Florida. I ALWAYS lose weight when I'm in Florida but tend to gain back a little whenever I'm in Michigan. Part of the reason is that the fruit and produce raised in the South is so much more delicious than whatever is raised and sold in Michigan. They are naturally sweeter and more flavorful, so it's easy to make a meal out of lightly steamed fresh vegetables with no fat laden seasonings. In Michigan, it's impossible to find yellow summer squash, among other items, unless one has the space to grow one's own. We have great apples in Michigan (the Honey Crisps are to die for) but I'd trade those for the peaches, cantaloupe and watermelon available at the local produce markets in Florida. I don't even bother wasting my money on those items in Michigan because they lack proper flavor and texture. Southerners also have a way of preparing poultry, meat and fish that isn't available in the Midwest. In Florida, I can go to the locally owned barbeque restaurant and buy delicious, freshly smoked turkey by the pound - no additives or sauces - to serve with fresh veggies...heavenly but nutritious. The key, of course, is to avoid the sweet tea, cobblers and fried dishes. If one could combine the delicious Southern food with the gorgeous seasonal changes in Michigan, one would have the perfect place to live.

You are also correct in that it is difficult to get motivated to exercise in the South. Who wants to go for a jog or long walk with it's 95 outside with 99% humidity? The best alternative is to find a local YMCA or gym that has indoor facilities to use until the weather becomes more moderate in the fall and winter months. The same is true in reverse for exercising in the Midwest, though. I live in fear of slipping on ice in the winter and breaking a wrist or ankle, so walking or jogging outdoors is out of the question. However, the indoor pool at the Y is lovely year round.

I agree about the food being so damn good! I attribute at least 40 pounds to BBQ and sweet tea! Our building manager made the best pulled pork around! And then, with all the humidity, horse flies and mosquitoes, who wants to go for a walk?

Your son is a wise man: 'Years ago my teenage son told me on how he could tell when a person was not going to lose weight: they said "I need to lose some weight" not " I will lose some weight".'