Why Women Lose Weight—or Don’t

Shame on you people. Nothing is black and white in our society today. If people keep on eating, when there stomachs are full, there is a reason and its not because they are still physically hungry or have no ???will power???. People can crave food because of a variety of reasons. Something is not being satisfied and they are turning to food for the answer. In our world of dysfunctional families, which most of us have come from or are in now, we deal with it in a variety of ways. Some chain smoke, some drink to much alcohol, some sleep around, some bite their nails, and some eat. Many of the ways we have of coping are not visible to others. Obesity is. People know when they are overweight. They know that when they are out of breath after climbing one flight of stairs, that it???s not normal or healthy. Having compassion for each other would be a good place to start if you want to help these people. By the way, I have been there and it is very hard to re-train your mind and behavior into dealing with problems, fears, and worries in a more healthy way. Nobody is perfect. Let he how is without sin, cast the first stone.

I have struggled with my weight all my life. There are morbidly obese women on both sides of my family. Even though I recently discovered that I have a thyroid disorder which gives me an extremely slow metabolism, I know my eating and exercise choices are also to blame for my extra pounds. That said, people with normal metabolisms have no idea what the rest of us go through. With Herculean effort, I was able to lose 40 pounds this year (still have another 40 to go) but my family begged me at one point to stop the diet because I was so miserable. I woke hungry. I was hungry after every tiny meal. I went to bed hungry. It???s as though there is a hungry switch in my brain that NEVER goes off. And even if I eventually attain my ???ideal??? weight, I know I will never be able to eat like a normal person. Ever. I have a tiger that is my appetite and I must take it out of its cage three times a day. Sometimes, it won???t go back in quietly. But I continue to try to whip it into submission. So if you are thin, thank God. And the next time you are tempted to throw stones at the fat girl, realize that only chance and good genes may be the difference between you.

Interesting the degree of emotion around other people's weight. Women's weight in particular.
That might be more telling in explaining our society's dysfunction around food and weight.

To the guy who said that it might be a good idea to start importing slender people from another country.. that is rather sad. That doesn't help the problem here at all and how do you think that would help the self esteem of the women who DO need to work on some areas in their lives? It's hard enough for women to sit and watch the Victoria Secret runway show on CBS and wish that they could look like that when some of them can't because of their height, bone size, structure, density, I am not overweight by any means but I could never look that skinny because of my bone structure. What you are suggesting does not help solve the problem AT ALL it only will intensify things and make them worse.

I was going to get involved in the discussion, but then I thought "what's the point" - it's just another fat bashing by skinny people. So I'm going to comment on the article - in my opinion perhaps the weight loss goal is outside the BMI boundaries is because people have realized that BMI is not be all and end all and perhaps they make weight loss goals that are more appropriate for their body type and lifestyle. It is healthier to be a bit overweight than underweight and it looks and feels better too - and it really shouldn't be anybody's business about how much a person weights or what they look like. Hopefully people will care less about the so called standards of beauty promoted by the media and will be more concerned with their health and well being - at any size. As far as the discussion goes, my comment is live and let live - who cares about your size if you can't find it in your heart to be kind to others.

hey dudley123 -- he sure is. :-)

If you can't take the heat, stay out of the fire. Weight discussion is, and always will be, a touchy subject. Especially with women. If you want to change it, believe in yourself and you will do it.

Kimden1. Your body will burn roughly 1500 - 2000 calories a day by itself. It will do this just to keep you alive and functioning. If you do not want to exercise (sounds like you don't) then eat about 1000 calories a day. Your body will slowly burn your stored fat.

To lose a pound fat you need to burn 3500 calories ( http://www.naturalphysiques.com/faq/281.html). So with your 500 calorie deficit you will burn 3500 ( 1 pound of fat) in 7 days ( or 1 week). Therefore to reach a reasonable weight (I'm guessing around 130) you would need to maintain this 1000 calorie diet for about 1 year.

Good luck!

I noticed the short paragraph about the risks associated with being underweight, but never see any tips on how to deal with this. I didn't hit 100 pounds until my sophomore year of high school, and at 22, I still weigh a measly 112 on a good day (I'm about 5'6). I'm not complaining about being 22 and still fitting in a pair of 0s by any means, but I would love to, just once, see an article on healthy ways for those of us who are underweight to actually gain weight and have a healthy BMI.

Hey donteatmeat. I am not overwieght but I can tell you that willpower is an issue, some people don't have the willpower to not be judgemental, rude or abusive. I would rather deal with someone who can't put down the cookies than somone that can't stop putting others down so they feel superior. Gotta go eat a ham, later tater.

To givemelibertyorgivemedeath; that is a great point. It is a culture thing and we do need to work on it. It's like watching that commercial with Paris Hilton eating a hardees burger. She probably ate three bites of the burger then went and ran for 4 hours. But will a normal person do that? You can't look like Paris Hilton AND eat that Hardees Burger... That and it doesn't help with magazines and the immense amounts of photo editing that goes into those photos.

One poster mentioned that eating healthy is cheaper than going out. This is true, but buying healthy food in a grocery store is not cheaper than buying boxed food that is unhealthy. Weight in our society is not only about eating too much or too little it is also about what we can afford to buy. I myself am overweight, but since my husband and I have had a little girl I have been trying to cook healthier buy buying more fruits and vegitables. We are absorbing the costs because this is important to us but not all families can do that. When a bunch of grapes cost over $7.00 and a box of Mac n Cheese is $1.09, the choice isn't that hard for a family who is already short on cash.

I noticed the short paragraph about the risks associated with being underweight, but never see any tips on how to deal with this. I didn't hit 100 pounds until my sophomore year of high school, and at 22, I still weigh a measly 112 on a good day (I'm about 5'6). I'm not complaining about being 22 and still fitting in a pair of 0s by any means, but I would love to, just once, see an article on healthy ways for those of us who are underweight to actually gain weight and have a healthy BMI.

I try to pay attention to my caloric intake/output as scrupulously as I do my bank account. By paying attention to every thing I eat, and looking up the nutritional info on the internet, didn't take long for me to recognize my patterns of eating, and was thus able to easily adjust. And being active on a daily basis was difficult to implement, but has proven to be easy to maintain, and I actually enjoy it by doing things that are interesting, like martial arts and swimming. Turn off your TV and get outside, and start eating to nurture your body rather than feed your emotional needs (that's what counsellors are for). It's that simple. And I'm sorry, but just because every one else is fat does not make it OK. That is the weakest excuse! It's the exact same logic as saying you should be skinny because every one on TV is. Obese is not attractive.