This post is part of Problogger’s Top 5 Group Writing Project
I’m not fat, I’ve never been. However I know many people who are. When I listen to their stories, I recognize time & time again the same reasons why they are fat.
As there are patterns of success, there are patterns of failure. This post is a compilation of my 5 reasons why you are fat.
1. You Lack Information
- You don’t know how to lose fat.
- You don’t know what food to eat.
- You don’t know any healthy recipes.
- You don’t know how to cook, so you eat only what comes out of a box.
- You don’t know what training program to follow.
Everything starts with knowledge. The first thing you should do, is understanding how your body works: how it reacts to exercise & nutrition. Once you understand how the system works, you can hack the system.
Lack of information is the chief reason people aren’t getting results of their workout & diets. That’s what StrongLifts.com is about: giving you information that works.
2. You Are Lazy
- You know the methods that work, but you are not applying them.
- You’re too lazy to cook, you prefer eating junk food at work.
- You’re too lazy to exercise, you make excuses like “I have no time”.
Knowledge is power, but only if applied. You can be a walking encyclopedia of facts & data about losing fat. But if you’re not applying what you know, you won’t get results.
Stop procrastination. Get things done. It won’t happen overnight. Take action!
3. You Have Accepted the Fat
- It no longer bothers you.
- You don’t care about it anymore.
- You have accepted your appearance.
Society seems to have accepted being fat as normal: you see more & more fat people, clothes are available for fat people, …
Time for a wake up call: being fat is not a normal situation, being fat is unhealthy, it’s a food addiction. Yes, you are addicted to food.
4. You Have Been Brainwashed into Thinking Losing Fat is Hard
- endless books & magazines write about how losing fat is hard.
- the yo-yo diets you have tried without success.
- the training program you started but never finished.
Losing fat is not hard. Losing fat is easy. Some of StrongLifts.com readers have lost 20% fat in 4 months.
If they can do it, why can’t you do it? What makes you different from them? What are they doing that you’re not doing?
5. You Think You’ll Miss Something by Losing Fat
- Food cravings.
- Sweet sugar.
- Those French Fries you’re crazy about.
Rethink your position about food: you eat to live, you don’t live to eat. Food is energy, it’s not pleasure.
If you experience food cravings, you have a food addiction. Yes food addiction exists. So what does that tell about you? Are you controlling your actions or is the food controlling your actions?
Think positive, think benefits: losing fat will lead to more health, will make you feel better, will bring confidence, …
There are more reasons for being fat. I’ll leave that up to you. Share your thoughts using the comment section.
Mehdi,
I’m enjoying the blog, but I don’t think someone who has not been there can appreciate what it takes for a person who is 100+ lbs overweight to become and stay lean. It is a completely different endeavor than the process of someone who is already in shape dropping 10lbs. There are years of psychological and physical adjustments that have to be made, especially if the fat person is not currently active. With the massive amount of misinformation in the fitness industry, learning what to do at each stage of that journey is incredibly challenging.
Going on Jenny Craig and dieting away 100lbs isn’t a viable long term solution. Without development of the tools and habits needed to maintain that weight, it is a transient demonstration of extreme will power. Given that it is extremely stressful on the body to change weight, whether an individual is gaining or losing, an obese person must seriously evaluate the health impact of attempting to drop so much weight. It is very possible they will be much better off doing nothing than crashing down 100lbs and regaining it.
I think the individuals that mange to successfully lose large amounts of weight and keep it off are exceptional. They take an obsessive approach with their diet and exercise program, completely redefining everything that makes up who they are. Relationships with friends, family, work, sleep, food, and hobbies all have to be redefined. That’s a very hard thing to do. Given how important those things are to your psychological health, it may even be a very detrimental thing to do.
I would never recommend for someone who is significantly overweight to try to intentionally lose weight. Promote healthier eating and improved exercise patterns. Encourage the person to develop a healthy self image, get more sleep, stretch, and reduce day to day stress. Maybe they’ll end up dropping some weight, maybe not. Either way, doing those things will make them far better off as an individual than any weight loss focused program could. The weight itself, while not ideal from a fitness perspective, is not the primary culprit impacting their health.
Glad to hear you enjoy the blog.
I agree with you. Lifestyle is much more important than your training & nutrition.
Little things such as: eating breakfast, drinking more water, moving more, learning to cook, eating veggies & fruit… are good ways to start.
Once a healthy lifestyle has been set up, one can think about counting calories & training programs. People who end up yo-yo dieting, are the ones who didn’t get it. Diets don’t work. It’s a change of lifestyle that is needed.
The ones who truly manage to lose a significant amount of weight & keep it, are the ones that were deeply humiliated or experienced failure. These ones are fed up with it and determined to get rid of the fat forever. You can easily distinguish them from the I-want-to-get-lean-quick people.
Good insight Scott.
I found this post very informative. I have been trying to lose weight for some time and I really get caught every time. I realize I have been ‘living to eat’ not ‘eating to live’. I have a lot if things to work on and to re-focus how I see food and exercise. I know that other people have lost substantial amounts of weight and have kept it off, but I really feel like they are a minority. It’s scary when you read that most people who lose weight gain it all back and more.
Thank you for sharing TeaMouse.
Realizing that you’re “living to eat” and not “eating to live” is the first step towards change. You’re aware of your own actions, that’s a start.
It doesn’t matter if the amount of people who lost weight is a minority. The fact that some people have achieved it, is a prove that it can be done.
If you failed in your previous attempts: start questioning what you did wrong. Then start looking for people who achieved what you desire: what did they do, that you aren’t doing?
If they can do it, I can do it.
Like you, I have never been in the fat zone, but I see some of the same mentalities when I talk to people. I think you make some really good arguments here about not only why people stay fat, but why people keep doing a lot of things. You could easily re-word this to be something like “why people fail in business” and you’d be pretty much dead on there as well. Its something that we all have to learn how to overcome in many aspects of our lives to really start living life the way we deep down want to.
Exactly Dan.
Losing fat (like any other achievement in life) should be taken up as a business: setting goals, making a plan, taking action,…
I’ll make an article one day about losing fat succesfully.
Tnx for the comments!
I do not consider myself as an overly fat person. ALthough I am really concious about my physique.
It is true that the reason why many tend to be fat is because they already accept the truth that they are. But being fat tends to have a drawback. It greatly affects human health and may cause some serious effects in the future.
Nice post. Very informative!
If you have time, why don’t you drop by my post:
It’s also an entry for the problogger top 5- group writing project. ^^ Goodluck to us all!
Thank you for your comment Karlo.
You are right to be conscious about your physique & your health.
totally agree,
all 5 reason are relevant to make my weight never go down
even doing fasting regularly
Haha, if you recognize yourself in this post, I did a good job I guess
GREAT, Awesome list and site. I found this through Problogger’s 5 things. Glad I did.
Glad to hear you like the article!
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I’m a big fan of #5…food is just food and the donut you don’t eat today will still be there tomorrow. I know that some people derive a great deal of pleasure from cooking and eating, but in its most basic form, food is fuel.
Tnx for the comment Manolo. I’m a big fan of the Manolo for men
Hey, good for you! This is a tired old topic but you’ve managed to cut right to the core of the issue with your bluntness. I agree with all points made here. Eating is a crutch! Just stop eating so much. JUST DO IT!
Thanks for your comment Dina.
Wow. You are so right. I’ve never seen it that way before. It’s all a mental state, not being able to lose it. Thank you.
Good post. I found it through the Problogger Top 5. Keep laying down the law. Life is about personal responsibility. I understand that some people have genetic predispotions to health disorders, but in this case most people just have excuses.
Thanks for your comments Brennan & Justin Durst Jr.
Mehdi, I agree that lifestyle is where the focus should be. You should not just be thinking about losing weight (though a healthy lifestyle will result in weight loss).
In my journey I have lost 80 lbs. and have kept it off for 2 years. These “5 reasons” really resonate with me. One thing I heard many years ago, but never learned until I made the changes that I needed to make was that fat people should study how skinny people live and eat and they will see what they need to do to become a skinny person. Now that I fall into the skinny (or, at least average) category, I realize that that statement is true.
There is a lot of baggage that goes with living 35 years of your life as an obese person. But, these 5 tips are very true. I realize that there are some people with medical conditions which limit their weight loss, but that is not the majority of people. If people would be honest with themselves, they do not get the exercise they know they need and they are eating differently than their skinny friends. Whether it be by eating too much (my problem) or consistently eating unhealthy foods.
I think it is safe to say that physically, anyone can lose weight. Mentally there may be greater challenges for some people than for others, but most people will be able to overcome that as well.
Great post. I enjoyed it.
DPeach
http://www.mythoughtspot.com
Dpeach,
Your story is to proof that it can be done. The mental barrier is for the majority of people the only barrier. I’m sure having lost 80lbs & keeping them off gives you a feeling of “I can handle everything”.
Thanks for sharing, great inspiration.
Harsh but good!
I know I’m overweight and I like food and I can also agree that I am lazy.
Even as I sit here I am thinking.. I can’t exercise with my leg being in a cast. Then I think, of course I can, I just can’t exercise the way I would like too!
Like you said… excuses excuses excuses!! I would like to find something that I am comfortable with doing and stick with it. Build that will powerup to want to change!
Your Top 5 list is right on. I can see myself in your list since I have battled with being overweight most of my life. So, you’ve done a good job.
I’d like to add that what is also needed to not only loose weight but to keep it off as well, is to understand why you are using food as an addiction in the first place. I’m glad that you make the point of mentioning that eating too much can become an addiction for some people, me included. Over the years, I’ve come to realize why I overeat, and battling those emotional demons is incredibly difficult, but not impossible. If you never recognize why you turn to food, you’ll never become healthy.
Thanks for a great post! I’ve really enjoyed reading all of the submissions. I wish you luck!
Tyler Ingram >
Do what you want to do. If you’re overweight & don’t mind it: stay like you are. However if your situation is bothering you: time to do something about it.
Carolyn >
A change of lifestyle has been mentionned by several commentators. A change of thinking is probably even more important. Food addictions are real. Fighting this is not easy. You first need to become aware of your actions: what are you doing & why are you doing it.
Could be the topic of a next post. Thank you both for your comments.
In fact, being fat is hard in all sorts of ways; losing it is not as straightforward as you indicate. Since you’ve never had a weight problem, you don’t have the internal insight to the challenges or issues. There is normally an emotional component which ensures the continuation of the problem; if this is complicated by health issues, then losing weight can be the biggest challenge you’ve ever faced. Like other “addictions”, significant (and even apparently “minor”) overweight is not solved by information but by a multi-faceted approach that includes healing both the body from any health issues and the psyche from any emotional challenges.
Check out my post on what I learned from having a weight problem at: my blog I’m now a healthy weight and doing more and more exercise as my body has healed. I’ll soon be lifting weights again and my joints will be able to handle it! But I assure you that my original weight problem doesn’t have anything to do with a lack of discipline or a problem with information. Knowing isn’t enough. Your body has to be able to keep up with what you know!
Monique Attinger,
Thank you for your comments.
I’ve read your story & invite others to do the same. You know better than me what it is & feel like to lose significant weight.
You didn’t choose surgery: the smartest decision you could have done. As you say: knowledge is only one part of the puzzle. Reprogramming your brains & changing your lifestyle is more important. Nobody can lose weight using will-power for more than a few weeks.
Thanks for sharing!
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“Rethink your position about food: you eat to live, you don’t live to eat. Food is energy, it’s not pleasure.”
Well life would certainly suck if food was not pleasure. I think a major problem is that people are sitting in front of their televisions all evening eating dinner off of tv trays and then stuffing their faces full of whatever comes out of a bag in the cupboard. I fully believe that food should be enjoyed! And also, savoring that food lets you know when you are full. Also, you mentioned that another reason is “you don’t know how to cook, so you eat only what comes out of a box”. Maybe it’s just me, but I have never met a chef who didn’t find pleasure in food!!!
I agree with you Mana. Lack of exercise is the main cause of obesity.
About food & pleasure. I enjoy food. I like fine dining with a good glass of wine. Enjoy you’re food, learn to cook healthy & you’ll be ok.
Good comment!
i heard that the no.1 reason fat peeps are fat…
fat friends
and the no.2 reason fat peeps are fat….
fat family
here is a classic what came first the chicken or the egg situation
now that may not be too constructive but it give us some basis for understanding the mental/emotional environment. i have never been fat, the most over weight i have been is probally 10 extra lbs of fat, i am more muscle bound. i believe in the old school formula of weight loss.
Expend more than you consume and you will be GUARANTEED to loose weight.
This formula requires that you kinda know the calories you intake, and that you excerise.
When it comes down to brass tacks, i think we all know how to loose weight. but i think there are other issuses to loosing weight.
a older female friend of mine told me once that women can subconsciously hold onto their fat because it kinda gives them a “feeling” of emotional protection, like a suit of armor made of fat. true change will only occur when one understands the driving reasons that they do what they do. this goes for uprooting any bad habits.
it may take a while of introspection and ontology to understand why you are fat. go back to when you first started to pack on the pounds.
it could be you love sense gratification, in this case your sense of taste. i LOVE to stimulate my taste buds and explore the different textures and aromas of all foods. the difference is i dont shy away from using my body. the pleasures of having a healthy body are endless. you must focus on what you want instead of what you dont. mental monologue like this will help…. ” eating this will nourise my body” instead of ” im not sastisfied by eating this” or ” with everthing i do i build a closer, more harmonious relationship with my body” instead of “wouldnt it feel great to just sit down and relax”
the body has great intelligence, we should all take the time to listen to what our bodies are saying to us. our emotions are the bodies reaction to what we think. are you feeling terrible? what were you thinking before you felt terrible? wanna feel better? think of something positive! “oh, boy. it’d feel great to be able to run like a kid again, fleet of foot and free of spirit!”