Being Fat / Getting Fat..

[Skeeter]

I used to eat junk food all the time. Chips for lunch, chocolate all the time. But at that time (up to late teens) I was a competitive swimmer training 3 times a week, I couldn't drive and lived in a village a few miles from my mates so rode my bike everywhere, and use to always walk to places across town at school rather than get the bus or anything.

Now I drive, get the train to work, don't swim and spend all day sat at a desk. I eat the same as I always have (actually, I probubly have a better diet than I used to), but I am now almost twice the weight I was when I was a teenager.

For me its 100% down to exercise. I've tried an uber healthy diet and it just makes me tired and the weight hardly changes. The weight is there from lack of excersise, and the way to get rid of it is to excersize.

 

[Natwee]

I have lots! Normal ones, iced top ones, orange n cranberry ones, small ones with pastry stars on!
Nom nom nom

I can't eat solid food for 6 weeks

 

[Morba]

I can't eat solid food for 6 weeks

Why would you torture yourself like that at Xmas?!

 

[monkentage]

Except there is, it contains a lot of calories, calories that don't achieve anything. I consumed almost 3500 calories last night just in drinks, let alone the kebab and chips.

And the reserch quoted, goes against what they've said in the article anyway.



There's big differences between one or two drinks, and getting sloshed. Something the article doesn't differentiate.

7 calories a gram, so almost as calorific as fat and almost double that of carbohydrates and protein.

A lump of plastic contains calories. Chewing that up and eating it will not result in the body using it as fuel. How do you think your body metabolised all those 3500 calories of alcohol? The liver can only digest a unit or so an hour.

There is no statistical relationship between consuming alcohol and putting on weight. Post hoc ergo propter hoc.

 

[Morba]

Yep, I know plenty of alcoholics who are not obese. In fact most are pretty skinny!

 

[sunama]

Morba, the problem is that those alcoholics probably don't eat much.
It's like chain smokers. They hardly eat, so consume less calories and are often thin.

If these alcoholics kept eating food that a non-alcohoic person ate, with the addition of the caloires from alcohol, they would add additional weight to their bodies.

The general rule of thumb is that if you consume more calories (all other things being equal) those calories will be stored as fat, glycogen or muscle, which all cause weight gain.

To say that calories in alcohol do not contribute to any weight gain seems a little "off" to me. I haven't done much reading on alcohol and weight gain, as I am teetotal, but I can't believe that calories in alcohol just vanish into thing air.

 

[Morba]

Obviously some people have liquid kcals but many eat normal food then spend hours in the pub every night of the week having 5+ pints. That's a lot of kcals yet they are not huge monsters.

 

[Glaucus]

There is no statistical relationship between consuming alcohol and putting on weight. Post hoc ergo propter hoc.

Yes there is, in so much as its calories, as showen by the reserch that supposedly says there's no link.
From your quoted article, this is one of the reserchs, when you don't ignore half the findings.

As quantity increased from 1 drink/drinking day to ≥4 drinks/drinking day, BMI significantly increased; in men, it increased from 26.5 (95% confidence interval (CI): 26.3, 26.6) to 27.5 (95% CI: 27.4, 27.7), and in women, it increased from 25.1 (95% CI: 25.0, 25.2) to 25.9 (95% CI: 25.5, 26.3

Alcohol may contribute to excess body weight among certain drinkers.

Not such a great link and article when you actually read the reserch is it.
As said smokers and drinkers can consume less calories, but that doesn't mean parodic users follow that trend.

Also yeah it deals with roughly a unit. But it'll motabalise the alcholo eventually. That's why you don't instantly sober up, it can take 10s of hours to convert it.

It's only regurler drinks who drink small amounts showed a lower BMI, but then it also doesn't look at what they eat either, so doesn't show us what's actually happening.

And this is the problem with a lot of this sort of reserch.
It doesn't look into enough detail. Is it low frequent levels of alcholo that cause this. Or is there something taht low frequent drinkers have in common. One thing I could suggest is that frequent low level drinkers, might be like that as they play some sort of sport and have a single point afterwards.
And as such statistically thinner. Not only do they exercise but due to taht exercise probably look after themselfs better anyway.

Another one of the reserch papers used for you're article only looks at frequent low level drinking. So doesnt really tell us anything.

 

[kwerk]

Yep, I know plenty of alcoholics who are not obese. In fact most are pretty skinny!

i guarantee their livers aren't skinny.

Human fois gras more like.

 

[OspreyO]

Hmm, I'm nearly 40 and I still weigh the same as I did when I was 18. No dietary changes and no increase in activity (I have always been reasonably active anyway).

Kinda missing the point there aren't we.

In general people get less active as they get older. You haven't. Which is excellent.

Obviously some people have liquid kcals but many eat normal food then spend hours in the pub every night of the week having 5+ pints. That's a lot of kcals yet they are not huge monsters.

I've yet to meet someone who eats normally and drinks every night, and is not overweight. You are also ignoring that some people might be doing a lot of physical labour/exercise which will burn up calories.

 

[jamesaltria]

Saturated fats are what you want to avoid. However as you get older your metabolism will start to perform slower and your unhealthy eating will catch up with you. I advise you have a big breakfast (eggs and bacon) and then for lunch have fruit instead of a pasty etc and then for dinner stop eating chips. I found that carrots are a nice substitute for chips.

 

[OspreyO]

...Back then I did not have the advice and care that I do now....

That's got nothing to do with what you said. You gave a ridiculous scenario as some sort of proof about diet/calories.

 

[Glaucus]

Saturated fats are what you want to avoid. .

Why? Or have you just listened to media and mainline nonsense?

 

[sunama]

It's interesting how we are moving away from the paradigm, that grains and low fat food is GOOD and fat is EVIL.

One thing which is consistent (over the decades and across all diets) is that a low calorie consumption is the way to reduce bodyweight. Whether this is by reducing fat or by reducing carbs - this is up for debate - but reducing calories seems to be consistent in any "diet" or eating regime.

 

[Glaucus]

Trouble is they've used epidemiology as fact. Rather than what it's good at, which is highlighting areas for study. Just becuase there's a trend doesn't mean that's what's causing it.
Which is why so many things both cause and reduce cancer, its just statistics, rather than hard clinical studies.

The clinical reserch does not follow the epidemiology. Well in some cases like cholestrol that epidemiology never existed in the first place, the scientist removed loads of countries to form a line.
Trouble is its so ingrained and people do not like change and admit they were wrong. So rather than re look at all the reserch, we just blindly go on giving out bad advice.

 

[cHk4]

When I'm not training and pick up an injury I always put on a few stone. Then takes me about 3 months to lose it all.

 

[spoffle]

Saturated fats are what you want to avoid. However as you get older your metabolism will start to perform slower and your unhealthy eating will catch up with you. I advise you have a big breakfast (eggs and bacon) and then for lunch have fruit instead of a pasty etc and then for dinner stop eating chips. I found that carrots are a nice substitute for chips.

Saturated fat is good for you. People need to stop with the "eating fat makes you fat" rubbish.

What you're basically saying is eat food that is more rich in nutrients. Anyone who has chips for their dinner on a regular basis isn't getting a balanced nutritional diet, which is the problem, not the chips itself.

 

[Morba]

Saturated fats are what you want to avoid. However as you get older your metabolism will start to perform slower and your unhealthy eating will catch up with you. I advise you have a big breakfast (eggs and bacon) and then for lunch have fruit instead of a pasty etc and then for dinner stop eating chips. I found that carrots are a nice substitute for chips.

What the holy **** are you going on about lol. Carrots a good substitute for chips? Get out

 

[lemonkettaz]

These next few weeks are a total write off. Everyone has to put on weight over christmas time. The amount of crap I will eat from now till the 1st Jan won't be good. I will pay for it come Jan 1st.

I don't make new years resolutions, but I will have to really increase the tempo of my normal ex routine come the new year.

 

[JBod]

The only thing that makes people gain weight is ignorance/lack of drive to be a healthy weight

lol not at all.

I love food and hate exercise. Simples. I am well aware of what I am doing thanks. In the same way smokers smoke fully in the knowledge of what it is doing to their mouth/teeth/throat and lungs.

I don't want to be an old man and realise that I just spent the last 40+ years eating horrible food and not enjoying any meals and sweating for hours in a lifeless soul sucking gym.

Don't get me wrong I'd love to be ripped but not at the expense of eating nice food, enjoying that satisfied feeling at the end of a good meal and sweating my guts out in a gym.