Obesity

Obesity is a word I am reluctant to use. I recognise that it has become part of the national vocabulary and is to be found frequently in the media. People who are severely overweight, to the point that their health is potentially compromised are described as obese. It is therefore the name of a medical condition.

            I am uneasy with this. Making fat a medical condition has the effect of taking the responsibility of excess weight from the fat person and makes them believe they are suffering from a condition. It is practically as if their fat was caused by a virus or bacteria. Their problem becomes medical and therefore beyond their control. I believe that many overweight people hide behind the label obese and use that as a reason to take no action.

            I am not trying to alienate anyone. I must therefore make it clear that I recognise how difficult it is to tackle a weight problem, particularly if you have been overweight for any length of time. Slimming and staying at your correct weight is going to mean substantial changes in your life and many people find this too difficult to handle on their own. There will be support if you need it and I will give some suggestions about that in another post.

            There is a difference between acknowledging the difficulty of losing weight and hiding behind the label of obesity.

            The term obese suggests the problem is external. Ultimately, weight gain is the result of eating too much. If you eat more calories than you need, as we have already seen, your digestive system will convert those excess calories into fat. When you eat, your body will always use the calories in your food for its energy needs before starting on the reserves. It follows that if you do not change the balance and eat fewer calories than you need your body will not start to turn your excess fat back into energy.

            As a fat person, you need to accept this fact in order to make the changes which will result in weight loss and ultimately stabilising your weight at a healthy level. If instead of accepting this you insist that your obesity is what is making you fat and that some treatment is the only solution, then I am afraid you are going to stay overweight.

            Obesity is another word for overweight. It is the medical term and is used by doctors. It is the label that links overweight to poor health. That does not change the simple point that fat is the body’s way of storing excess energy and eating more energy rich foods than you need will result in the fat on your body increasing.

            There are many sources of information that help you determine your healthy weight. If you can accept that you are too fat, and that this has happened because you ate more calories than you have consumed, then you are also admitting that the solution is to find a means to reverse this process.

            You can then find a plan that will work for you. You can follow the plan alone, or you can seek help. The best you will get is help; no one is going to do the work for you. You have to make the commitment to losing weight. If you believe that you will need support, and to some degree you will always need some outside assistance, then you will have to decide where that is going to come from and what form it will take.

            I am not going to discuss surgical solutions or the pharmaceutical options. There are stomach staples, gastric bands, balloons, and you can have your jaw wired shut so you can only take liquids. There are drugs which suppress appetite and which change the absorption of certain nutrients. There are no doubt other procedures which are available as well. There are also cosmetic surgical solutions to having excess fat deposits around your body; liposuction for example which is where the fat cells are liquefied and sucked out from under the skin. I will not go into any further detail about these options.

            I believe that most people should be able to tackle their body weight without going to these lengths. If you have run out of other options, then you should talk to your doctor to see whether any of these other options will offer you a solution to your problem. Even if you take one of these routes, they will not change your metabolism and the basics of your digestive system. You body will retain its ability to store fat if you eat more energy than you need. If you have your stomach capacity restricted you will still need to find a way to satisfy yourself with less food and, once you have lost weight and have the device removed, you will have to stick to whatever changes you have made to ensure you do not go back to where you started. This is the same for the drugs. I do not think you can spend your entire life using medication in this way. At some point you would have to stop taking the medication and then you would need to control your diet.

            I lost weight without any medical intervention and most people should be able to do the same. You should try to slim down without drastic surgery or other medical support. All surgeries carry risks. I have no doubt that the reputable doctors who specialise in these techniques manage the risks well and advise their patients properly. It must still be better to avoid the risk in the first place.