There's a lot of reasons why people are chronically overweight. Oversimplying, while they'd love to be in great shape the percieved pain of getting there is greater than the percieved value. The comfort that food provides over-rides the percieved comfort (or rather percieved dis-comfort) of remaining thin. My wife has a book out on this topic.

For example, if they have been heavy their entire life, their very sense of self it tied to that. IE: 'The Fat Albert syndrome' they are a jolly fat guy, everyone knows and loves them as the jolly fat guy and if they are not the jolly fat guy then who the f--- are they? Becoming fit subconsciously threatens their very sense of self, so while they often diet and try to lose weight, they consistantly, subconsciously self-sabatoge to not threaten the comfort of the status quo. This is just one of the mental traps people can become stuck in, completely unaware.

To a large degree this question can be turned around and I can ask you - I'm self-made millionaire. I enjoy doing what it takes to be successful. Why wouldn't anyone just do what it takes? Why do you remain struggling from paycheck to paycheck. The answer: You want to be rich, and try but you just don't see how it's going to happen. And although you're bought 101 get-quick-rich-schemes you're still broke. Same deal.

Some people don't care, some people love to eat, some people are lazy, some people have terrible self-control, some people have unfortunate genetics which is extra bad when coupled with one of the above.

I used to be quite overweight, still am a little but you can hardly tell. I only lost 2 stones, but it wasn't easy, and it's not like you can just turn a switch in your head that gives you all the motivation in the world to exercise and kills any cravings for junk food.

As an overweight person I always have to laugh when notoriously skinny people brag about how they go to the gym and that's why they are in shape. Look I go to the gym too and probably work out even more than you do. You're not skinny becuase you go to the gym. You're most likely predisposed to being leaner. Some one who is predisposed to gaining weight has to work a lot harder than you do to keep the weight off. That's like telling someone who has a much lower iq than me that I'm smart because I read books. It wouldn't matter how many books they would read they wouldn't retain the information and their brains would quickly go back to thinking about sports and bikinins.

The thing to keep in mind is that people like me have to dedicate absolutely every aspect of our lives and our minds to lose weight which ends up meaning huge sacrifices in other areas of our lives. For me it would mean giving up serious gaming, I would have to be less dedicated to my business, ect ect.

I used to be in better shape because I working out and ate like a body builder but then I hurt my arm and now i can't lift weights. With the Canadian medical system i takes a long time to get me arm back into shape. The next thing they are going to try is an injection of cortizone. I hope that works.

The simple answer is that it's not nearly as easy for someone who is predisposed to weight gain than you think.

I understand what you're saying, and I agree in essence, but you're still making it sound a lot easier than it is. It can be an extremely difficult process from a psychological perspective. Many people who are obese got there from habits and behavior learned as a child. Some have associations with eating that are so ingrained that it's almost a part of their personality. The worst part, I think, is the viciousness of the emotion cycle, where you need to be motivated and confident to make a real effort at change, yet being overweight can leave you feeling depressed and lethargic.

There is also the financial state many people find themselves in, where the cost of fruits take them off the table and the most economical route is empty carbs. The quality of my own diet has plummeted since I lost my job, so that's one factor I can understand wholeheartedly.

There are other influences that can creep in, as well. Job situations where a person is on their feet all day and the last thing they want to do is exercise, situations where no healthy foods are in easy access, too many enablers chipping away at a person's resolve, and I'm sure there are more.

Enablers are a big part of the reason I had a slow weight gain over several years. True story, no lie, I used to have an employee, a sweet older lady, who would bring me a snack and a soda whenever we were scheduled to work together, or even if one of us relieved the other. It grew until she was bringing me a Little Debbie Star Crunch cake and two sodas, then maybe some miscellaneous candy. I eventually hinted that I was trying to eat healthier and it seemed like she got it. The next day she brought me a Little Debbie Zebra Cake, instead; she thought it would be better because it had less chocolate. My mother wasn't that bad, but she would bake a lot of sweets and bring me a slice, always with the "a little bit won't hurt" mentality. I really had to get firm with both of them, and even say "no, take it back" a few times.

I lost the weight I gained, but it was a hard struggle, not just with myself, but with other people.

I have a friend and former coworker who just gave up. I don't think he'll ever lose weight until he ends up in the hospital. Eating is a psychological addiction for him. If he can't eat when he's stressed or bored then he can't think, he becomes irritable and unfocused. It's literally a waste of time to talk to him if he's thinking about food. He's been on hundreds of diets and he always fails, which crushes his spirit. His entire family is overweight, his wife is overweight, and food dominate his life. He was raised on Mountain Dew and drinks 8+ cans a day despite being a diabetic.

So, no, it's not easy by any means.

The only way to stop the obesity epidemic, I think, is to target children now, get parents to understand how important it is to give their kids good food, that they're essentially killing them if they raise them on junk. We have to change the culture as much as we can. If you want a person to be honest then you teach them that from childhood. If you want a person to be healthy then you teach them that from childhood.

Food is addicting, basically.

We should make food illegal for those who are under 18!

I've dealt with this problem, or my gf actually.

She's overweight, and set with an overactive thyroid which gives her heart problems so the extraextra weight just makes her heart work even harder. I've done everything to manipulate her to start working out with me, but its like pulling teeth.

Here are my latest tricks-
-telling her how jealous her lady friends will be of her when she starts losing some
-telling her how i'm going to get jealous more often bc of all the extra attention that guys will give her

the dumb bitch even has kidney problems bc she's let her blood pressure be high for a long time....bc of the overactive thyroid and the weight adding onto it.

But, its still hard to get her to do anything.


I think that some dumb fukks just like to be fat and eat a lot.

Sorry for the anger, if this offends anybody but I love her fukkin dumbass and all.

YOU ARE SMART.

Why does anyone need a calorie?

You got every point I was going to make.

No wonder you're writing to prisoners.

At least that would solve child obesity