10 Myths That Obese People Believe, and How to Overcome Them

Compare Price of Bariatric Surgery In Europe gastric sleeve surgery in France 10 Myths That Obese People Believe, and How to Overcome Them Being a doctor and working with people for over 20 years, trying to help them get healthy has given me a different perspective on obesity. I think I have heard every excuse in the book. Because of this, I no longer tell people what they want to hear, but rather I tell them the truth. The truth begins by finding out the reason for overeating. Your own personal reason may be different than that of anyone else. In dealing with obesity it is important to understand why you are overweight. If you don't deal with this issue, you will not be successful in your efforts to lose weight. In one case, a woman came in to see me saying she wanted to get off of her diabetes medications because they took away all of her energy. I explained that since she weighed over 250 pounds the fat would prevent her from achieving her goal and we would have to deal with that. She came in faithfully every two weeks for over a year, but didn't lose a single pound. She said she was doing everything I suggested, but it just wasn't working. Finally, in frustration I dropped my head into my hands and questioned, more to myself, "Why aren't you losing weight?" She timidly answered, "Because I don't want to." I looked up, amazed, "Why not?" She went on to explain that she had seen a man on TV who had lost a hundred pounds and they showed his skin hanging down from his arms, legs, and abdomen. "I don't want to look like that!" she blurted out in tears. Another woman who wasn't losing weight on a supposed 500 calorie per day diet offered that she kept the fat on to keep people away. "I don't want to get close to people and risk getting hurt, and the fat is a very effective way to keep my distance." This included her family and friends. She was sabotaging her own efforts on multiple diets over years because of her emotional fears. Over the years I have collected some of the most common myths that obese people believe that prevent them from getting healthy. Many of them are actually touted in the media, and even by doctors! 1. Exercise can make you skinny. This is a huge one. If it were true, then Sumo wrestlers would be thin. They exercise all day, every day, and are able to maintain over a hundred pounds of fat because they eat over six thousand calories per day. They eat their big meal at night to and maintain their weight. Many believe they can eat what they want and just exercise more to "burn up the calories" and prevent weight gain. We were told that a calorie is a calorie and (calories in) - (calories out) = (stable weight) Not true! If you don't curb your intake, exercise can actually make you more efficient and cause more fat deposition. Don't get me wrong, exercise is important for maintaining health and strength, but just don't believe the myth that you can lose fat by exercising. 2. Eating less fat causes weight loss. Another common myth is that low-fat diets cause weight loss. This idea was started over thirty years ago, allowing for an experiment on the whole society. As people eat less fat, they eat more carbohydrates. In fact, since the 1970's sugar consumption has gone up dramatically from about 30 pounds per person per year, to now, the average American eats his weight in sugar every year! This has caused an epidemic of obesity, as well as diabetes. Over 60% of the population is overweight, and about one fifth of the entire population is either diabetic or pre-diabetic! Low-fat diets don't lower body fat. 3. Low thyroid causes weight gain. I am amazed by the sheer number of people who still believe that they are overweight because of a "thyroid problem." Clinics in the 1980's for weight loss that gave people high-doses of thyroid hormone were surprisingly unsuccessful. Multiple studies on the effects of thyroid on weight have failed to find a connection - and yet the myth persists. There are many medical Read more...