Readers continue the thread:
One of your readers mentioned that he/she is “excellent at losing weight, but terrible at sustaining the loss” and attributes it to being unable to maintain razor sharp focus. I think it’s important to point out that this phenomenon is more physiological than mental. Tara Parker-Pope wrote a fantastic article about this in the New York Times called “The Fat Trap.” It should be read by everyone who wonders why people lose a lot of weight and gain it all back.
To summarize, in order to maintain your newer, thinner body, you have to be far more disciplined than a person of the same size who was never fat. Not only does your resting metabolic rate (the number of calories you burn if you lie in bed all day) decrease, your body becomes more efficient during exercise (formal or informal). As a result, compared to a person who has always been thin, you have to do about 2500 calories worth of extra exercise to maintain your weight. That’s the equivalent of running 5 miles every week day. No wonder 97% of people who lose a significant amount of weight gain it back within five years.
Another:
As a physician I am dismayed by one of your readers quotes “I am healthy despite my weight”. That’s the equivalent of saying I’m healthy despite my heart disease or I’m healthy despite my colon cancer.
I agree that there is a problem with how this society views fitness/beauty. Six packs and stick figures are not attainable healthy for the most part. The problem is we use the mirror as our tool for judging weight loss. Being overweight or obese lowers our self esteem and weight loss improves it. If you are lucky enough to be one of the few people who doesn’t hitch their self-esteem to their outward appearance, then congratulations. Unfortunately this does not help you or the very real health consequences of being overweight, or worse, obese. I could list all the things, but it would take forever. There is not a single thing that being overweight/obese does not effect. In my opinion it is the single biggest roadblock to excellent medical care. We certainly don’t all have to be skinny, and we’d do better to try and separate the superficial from our feelings of self worth. But we as a society need to realize that obesity is a disease that will shorten your life.
Another:
I am a 32-year-old male. This past January while lounging around at 285 pounds I decided to make a change. I started to track my eating and doing a lot of cardio activity. Today I am down 65 pounds and everyone is amazed at my weight loss. What I see is different and was illustrated on Saturday morning when my wife commented on all my extra belly skin, I was defensive and told her it’s fat, because in my mind I have not changed in the ways I thought I would change. Losing 65 pounds is great and my doctor really loves it, but in the mirror I still feel like I weigh 285 pounds.
Another:
Those who have written in about the sagging skin resulting from their extreme weight loss should look into and seriously consider surgical removal and reconstruction surgery. There should not be any shame attached to doing so, but only consideration of the risks and pain involved. Obesity can damage joints and arteries – we all see repairing those as necessary and attach no shame. The skin is another organ. It should not be seen as vanity to seek to repair it if it has been damaged. If it can be repaired through surgery to give those who have lost the weight better mobility, comfort, and self-image, it is just as legitimate as a hip or knee replacement, in my opinion.
The Dish 