# Naturally fat?



## Dex (Jul 21, 2012)

I am! I am fifty years old, male, physically active (work outside in Texas fixing RV'S), do not over eat and yet I am obese! It is genetic. My parents, grand parents were also plus size. To all those morons who say it is a lifestyle choice to be fat, I say screw them. Sorry to be so blunt but I am just pissed at some of the media misinformation out there. I have battled this crap for most of my adult (and childhood) life.


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## imfree (Jul 21, 2012)

Great post! There is, indeed, a horrible amount of media misinformation out there. Welcome to Dimensions Forums, where many of us share those very same thoughts and concerns.


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## MissAshley (Jul 21, 2012)

I believe people can be naturally fat. If they can be naturally thin, why not fat as well?


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## JohnTav (Jul 24, 2012)

I also believe that people can be naturally fat like they can be naturally thin but many fat people are not fat by nature just as many thin people are not thin by nature. What sets the 'naturally' factor in my opinion is the comfort zone a body feels happy and healthy to be at. I've met plump girls around 200 - 230 pounds who had difficulties carrying their weight around and I've met ssbbw who at 400 pounds were as strong as athletes. I've also met thin girls who were eating much more than they needed but never gained weight and thin girls who had to starve to remain thin, so obviously their natural body was fatter than that. I also think that people who have been fat since childhood are almost definitely naturally fat without of course implying that thin children cannot grow up to be naturally fat adults.


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## EMH1701 (Jul 24, 2012)

I know I have a genetic tendency to be fat. I've dieted before. They only work for a short period of time. I've given up dieting and my weight has actually been fairly stable over the past year, at right over 200. I find it interesting that my weight has been more stable since I've taken a HAES approach to life.


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## fat hiker (Jul 31, 2012)

Genetic tendency to be fat? Of course. You are the size you should be if you eat decently and get enough exercise. 

The only caveat I'd add there is that too much refined sugar (and corn syrup, etc.) will drive up your weight as those aren't foods we evolved to eat - they will add more weight to you than your genetics would normally allow. Complex carbs, though, are fine.

For my self, I know I shouldn't diet, because experience has taught me that it makes me feel depressed, even if I don't feel hungry.


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## largenlovely (Jul 31, 2012)

Yup naturally fat here. My thyroid recently went out. I eat healthy and exercise all the damn time and the scale doesn't really budge. I wanted to take some weight off so my new hip would last as long as possible. I have no problem being fat, I've just been super concerned with my mobility the last few years.

I'm feeling stronger and stronger every day though with all the exercise. If the weight doesn't come off to ease up on the new hip, well there's nothing I can do about it. I'm just gonna be focused on becoming as strong and as in shape as I can and be happy with that.


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## KittyKitten (Jul 31, 2012)

I do agree there are people who tend to put on more fat (and hold on to it) than others. These people tend to be endomorphs as compared to ectomorphs who do not readily gain weight. Ectomorphs are naturally lean, usually lanky. Mesomorphs tend to build more muscle. People can be a combination of those three body shapes. I am a combination of endomorph and mesomorph so I gain fat and muscle very easily. There is a genetic component leading to these body types. 

Somatotypes


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## AuntHen (Jul 31, 2012)

I have PCOS so I have to fight not to gain. I can eat 84759834587345 calories from meat, fat, and veggies and actually lose weight but the moment I eat sugar, carbs, starch, etc., I have to keep *very *active just to maintain.


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## fat hiker (Jan 4, 2017)

fat hiker said:


> Genetic tendency to be fat? Of course. You are the size you should be if you eat decently and get enough exercise.
> 
> The only caveat I'd add there is that too much refined sugar (and corn syrup, etc.) will drive up your weight as those aren't foods we evolved to eat - they will add more weight to you than your genetics would normally allow. Complex carbs, though, are fine.
> 
> For my self, I know I shouldn't diet, because experience has taught me that it makes me feel depressed, even if I don't feel hungry.



I have now discovered that my last statement is not completely true - there is one, quite efficient, diet that doesn't make me depressed, and that is a low sugar/sugar-free diet. I feel much better after a few weeks of cutting my sugar intake.

After a few months of cutting my sugar intake, I'll also be a few pounds lighter (but only a few).

Sugar. Avoid it. (Apparently too much sugar also predisposes for heart attacks.)


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## Tad (Jan 4, 2017)

fat hiker said:


> I have now discovered that my last statement is not completely true - there is one, quite efficient, diet that doesn't make me depressed, and that is a low sugar/sugar-free diet. I feel much better after a few weeks of cutting my sugar intake.
> 
> After a few months of cutting my sugar intake, I'll also be a few pounds lighter (but only a few).
> 
> Sugar. Avoid it. (Apparently too much sugar also predisposes for heart attacks.)



One sort-of-exception I'd add to your original posts comments about being the size you are supposed to be ... one of the surest ways to end up fatter seems to be repeated bouts of yo-yo dieting. Personally I have a suspicion that diets are in fact responsible for some of the increased weight we see around us these days.


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## loopytheone (Jan 4, 2017)

Tad said:


> One sort-of-exception I'd add to your original posts comments about being the size you are supposed to be ... one of the surest ways to end up fatter seems to be repeated bouts of yo-yo dieting. Personally I have a suspicion that diets are in fact responsible for some of the increased weight we see around us these days.



Certainly I have some suspicion that several health issues typically associated with obesity are actually associated with yo-yo dieting. I would love to be able to sit down in front of a university computer with access to all the academic journals and do some real research into these things.


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## Dr. Feelgood (Jan 4, 2017)

fat hiker said:


> there is one, quite efficient, diet that doesn't make me depressed, and that is a low sugar/sugar-free diet. I feel much better after a few weeks of cutting my sugar intake.
> 
> After a few months of cutting my sugar intake, I'll also be a few pounds lighter (but only a few).
> 
> Sugar. Avoid it. )



This is the truth, but not the _whole_ truth. Complex carbs, such as starches, are broken down into (among other things) glucose during digestion. Alcohol, chemically speaking, is a sugar, and contributes to the 'beer bellies' of those who drink a lot. I never lost much weight, either, by cutting out sugars -- because I continued to eat refined carbohydrates like white bread, white rice, and pasta. When I got diabetes I had to cut out the starchy foods as well as sugar, and I lost quite a bit of weight fairly quickly (and totally effortlessly). I am no longer diabetic (yay!) as long as I avoid sugar and starch, and I've remained at a lower weight for just about a year now.


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## Green Eyed Fairy (Jan 4, 2017)

I ended up bigger than I otherwise would be and perhaps diabetes from my own yo-yo diet. Find myself still going up and down- old habits are hard to break.


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## Tracyarts (Jan 4, 2017)

fat9276 said:


> I have PCOS so I have to fight not to gain. I can eat 84759834587345 calories from meat, fat, and veggies and actually lose weight but the moment I eat sugar, carbs, starch, etc., I have to keep *very *active just to maintain.



Yep. I have Metabolic Syndrome. PCOS is just one piece of the puzzle. When I was young and healthy, I was over 200 lbs but extremely active and everything was good. But when I hurt my back and couldn't be active like I was, it all went to hell in a handbasket and I gained up to 500+ pounds really fast and my health and mobility cratered. 

I managed to undo most of the damage, and get back to a more liveable weight, but this is going to be a life long battle. My blood glucose is under control, but I have to work very hard to maintain it, and that really sucks a lot of the time because of the carbohydrate restrictions and need to get up and move even when it hurts or I'm fatigued. But it is what it is, and I have to play the hand that I was dealt.

Metabolic Syndrome, PCOS, Insulin Resistance, etc... all can really cause a,lot of problems.


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## choudhury (Jan 5, 2017)

There's another kind of 'naturally fat,' I think. It would be someone who just loves food and loves to eat and would be very fundamentally unhappy if they had to go around depriving themselves in order to be thin. Some people are just born foodees and therefore prone to overeating and being overweight - a different thing from someone whose body just puts on fat far more easily than average.


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## fat hiker (Jan 5, 2017)

Dr. Feelgood said:


> This is the truth, but not the _whole_ truth. Complex carbs, such as starches, are broken down into (among other things) glucose during digestion. Alcohol, chemically speaking, is a sugar, and contributes to the 'beer bellies' of those who drink a lot. I never lost much weight, either, by cutting out sugars -- because I continued to eat refined carbohydrates like white bread, white rice, and pasta. When I got diabetes I had to cut out the starchy foods as well as sugar, and I lost quite a bit of weight fairly quickly (and totally effortlessly). I am no longer diabetic (yay!) as long as I avoid sugar and starch, and I've remained at a lower weight for just about a year now.



Yes, cutting out more carbohydrates, starting with the simple ones such as refined starches, will certainly help with weight - we didn't evolve genetically to eat pasta! 

And alcohol, well, my wife's sugar-restricted diet notes that the effect of alcohol is so severe that the calories in alcohol should be multiplied by 1.5 to get an accurate measure of their effect on the body.

Keeping your blood sugars under control is one of the basics of Health at Any Size, I think. Avoiding things that have a high glycemic index, like sugar and refined starch, is key.


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## fuelingfire (Jan 6, 2017)

loopytheone said:


> Certainly I have some suspicion that several health issues typically associated with obesity are actually associated with yo-yo dieting. I would love to be able to sit down in front of a university computer with access to all the academic journals and do some real research into these things.



You would find many similarities. But the research would also likely be flawed. Most obese people have tried dieting at some point. It would be hard to control who has yo-yod enough and who hasnt. Also the choice of food while dieting could make a big difference. People often try to eat the foods they like but reduce their caloric intake to lose weight. That often leads to a lose of variety in different nutrients.

Nutritional research is some of the most corrupt research out there. Unfortunately you cannot look up what company funded each study.


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## agouderia (Jan 6, 2017)

fat hiker said:


> Yes, cutting out more carbohydrates, starting with the simple ones such as refined starches, will certainly help with weight - we didn't evolve genetically to eat pasta!
> 
> And alcohol, well, my wife's sugar-restricted diet notes that the effect of alcohol is so severe that the calories in alcohol should be multiplied by 1.5 to get an accurate measure of their effect on the body.



To play devil's advocat - if this were unequivocally true, then why do pasta & baguette countries Italy and France do so much better in diabetes statistics than for instance the US and Canada???

France has in reference to population app. 2/3 of the number of cases, Italy even only half.

I agree that the human body is not made for the onslaught of industrial refined sugar we are inundated in, it being in even the most unlikely eatables.

But vice-versa the total "carb" vilification is just as off - after all humanity got to where it is today with the vast majority of the population subsisting mainly on carbs.

Healthy eating is about a balance of many factors - starting with knowing what you eat & drink because you made it yourself. Focusing on quality, less quantity of the food, using common sense when it comes to questions like alcohol and exercise.

Regarding the original thread issue - keep in mind that half to 2/3 of "overweight" and "obese" people are that simply by statistic definition. If you are above a certain weight, you're automatically pigeon-holed into that category. Even if in the eyes of any non-body-fascist beholder you're simply a normal, healthy person.


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## Dr. Feelgood (Jan 6, 2017)

agouderia said:


> To play devil's advocate- if this were unequivocally true, then why do pasta & baguette countries Italy and France do so much better in diabetes statistics than for instance the US and Canada???



First of all, I doubt that there has ever been a statement made that was _unequivocally_ true.* But you are right to stress that carbohydrates themselves are not the problem. The problem is the metabolic syndrome, or the body's breaking down the carbohydrates too fast. Vegetables, fruits, grains, and legumes all contain fiber, both soluble and insoluble, that slows down the rate at which the various complex carbs are broken down into glucose. In refined flour, white rice, etc., this fiber has been removed, so your liver suddenly finds itself with more glucose than it can handle. It sends an SOS to the pancreas (okay, to the Islands of Langerhans _in_ the pancreas), and they release insulin, which metabolizes glucose into fat. The more this happens, the more the body develops resistance to insulin; hence, diabetes. And this is why French and Italian people don't have diabetes rates as high as Americans. Having traveled in both those countries, I can attest that, along with moderate amounts of bread and/or pasta, they eat a _whole lot_ of vegetables. They really know how to cook vegetables, too: they don't simply boil them to death (as a vegetarian, I loved it over there!). Compare this with the archetypical all-American meal: a big slab of meat surrounded by starch, with plenty of bread, and possibly a vitamin crying because it's all alone. At my in-laws, on Thanksgiving, I typically face a menu of: mashed potatoes, bread stuffing, corn, white rice, and dinner rolls. I believe the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in the US is not due to carbohydrates as much as to the way we prepare and serve them.

* at least, not since the founding of the first school of law**


**at, appropriately enough, the University of Bologna


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## Tracyarts (Jan 7, 2017)

Dr. Feelgood said:


> I believe the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in the US is not due to carbohydrates as much as to the way we prepare and serve them.



I agree, and so does the doctor who treats me for Metabolic Syndrome. It's not that carbohydrates are bad, it's how we get them in our diet that causes problems with insulin sensitivity. But once the insulin issues have gotten out of hand, it does become an issue of managing blood glucose by any means necessary, and for those with severe insulin resistance that includes limiting carbohydrates, especially from high glycemic sources.


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## ScreamingChicken (Jan 7, 2017)

Throw in the activity levels between the typical American and the typical Frenchmaln/Italian as well. Americans mostly take out cars everywhere and sit on the couches in our spare time after being in those cars for two to three hours a day on our commute to works. This is especially true for us who work 9-10 hours a day behind a desk.

Our European counterparts are more likely to either walk or bicycle everywhere and probably spend more time doing recreational things that require more physical activity.


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## fat hiker (Feb 2, 2017)

agouderia said:


> To play devil's advocat - if this were unequivocally true, then why do pasta & baguette countries Italy and France do so much better in diabetes statistics than for instance the US and Canada???
> 
> France has in reference to population app. 2/3 of the number of cases, Italy even only half.
> 
> I agree that the human body is not made for the onslaught of industrial refined sugar we are inundated in, it being in even the most unlikely eatables.



You've answered your own question - it's the 'industrial sugar' in the carbohydrates. French baguettes are baked without any sugar in them - unlike the sugar and high fructose corn syrup that laces American white bread - and Italian pasta is typically served with vegetables and meat or cheese, and without the sugary 'pasta sauce' that is an American staple.

Thanks to added industrial sugars, simple carbohydrates with ridiculous glycemic index numbers are all over the US diet. Even between Canada and the US, there are differences, nearly always with the balance being more sugar in the US products. When I cross border shop, I read labels.


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