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For some people 223 is an ok weight....I almost weigh that ...6' 1" male ...
and about 190 is a good weight for me....
My best friend weighs in the 240-250 lbs range but that just a bit overweight for him...
he is 6' 4" and built like a truck....at 223 he's looking skinny
You didn't mention your height / gender ....but I am guessing 5' 2" and female....
then ...yes, 223 is obese.
I do think everyone is built differently. Most cultures don't like how being fat looks or it's deemed as extremely unhealthy so people do what they can to be thin. Not everyone...but many.
Until fairly recently people also didn't exercise the way they do today or have these crazy vegan, peleo, gluten free or fasting diets. Mothers seems to be much slimmer these days than in previous generations. It seems like letting oneself go is very frowned upon. Many moms these days dress and have the appearance of women in their 20's...if you look back in time women in their 40's look very different than our parents/grandparents. Many people are obsessed with appearance, looking young and being thin.
Thank you OP for sharing your story. I was a skinny kid, and now, at 77 i'm an overweight adult. But I don't judge either way or try to assign a cause. Don't understand why some folks feel compelled to do both.
HFCS is not allowed in my country (Canada). Even do, I eliminated sugar and carbs from my diet after watching the documentary "fat head" on youtube for several years by did not lose any weight.
If you live in Canada, then you know that is not true.
I'm one of six kids. We all ate the same foods (it was the '60s. We sat together to eat fresh home made food every night) and participated in similar activities.
Three of us have always been slim, three have always been chunky. Two males and one female on each side, so not a gender thing. Oldest and two youngest are plump, three middles are slim. So not birth order.
Mom struggled with weight all her life, dad stayed slim well into middle age.
So, yeah, I think there is a strong genetic component.
However, the two youngest both buckled down, followed good eating plans, and finally lost a lot of weight. Oldest just keeps getting rounder and rounder.
So we can overcome genetics to some extent.
You just reminded me of something. DNA turned up a first cousin in my family that nobody knew about. She was raised with 5 siblings and always wondered why she was thin and blond and her dad and siblings tended to be heavy. They all had the same mother. Her dad was not her bio father, my uncle was. He was a tall thin Swede. Definitely a genetic component in body types.
I've talked to other folks with a life long weight problem and they have similar stories to my own. It's strongly genetic.
Science says no. That being said, there are two forms of morbid obesity that are genetic but that has no relation to obesity as bandied about by the Media. Those people are a tiny percentage of the population and they are readily identifiable visually and physically because they have an extremely distended lower abdomen.
I'm not talking about the upper abdomen from the thorax to the belt- or waist-line I'm talking about the lower abdomen in the pelvic area below the belt/waist-line which is distended covering the genitalia down to the mid-thigh region.
Obesity as mentioned in the Media is about life-style and diet and has nothing to do with genetics.
Obesity is not "largely" genetic. (whatever that means)
Most people probably have some genetic predisposition to obesity, depending on their family history and ethnicity.
All human beings do have a genetic predisposition to obesity if they eat more calories than they burn. The human body is built to store energy that way.
But if you do a Google Image search for pictures of people prior to 1980, you will see that most people are slim, not obese, so the current epidemic of obesity is clearly not uncontrollable because of genetics. If it were "largely" genetic, just as many people would have been obese 50 years ago. They were not.
Clearly things have changed since 1980 to cause this obesity epidemic. Some of those things:
Frequency of eating. Back in the 60s, most people, young and old, white collar and blue collar, took in calories only three times a day with no snacks and drank only water or maybe plain coffee between meals. Today, many people take in calories of some form nearly every waking hour of the day.
Whole foods. Back in the 60s, there was very little in the way of ultra-processed foods. Even "fast food" was really just whole food prepared in a casual diner.
Sugar, particularly high-fructose corn syrup, and highly processed vegetable oils. Practically non-existent in the 60s, in practically every processed food item today.
Manufactured foods. Scientifically designed to increase craving and decrease satiation, ultra-processed, manufactured foods have become staple foods for many people.
Eating while stressed. This is major factor of people who eat at their desks. One of the common factors of people living around the Mediterranean is that those cultures typically do not eat while stressed. Their cultural habits put them in a position to be relaxed while eating.
Quote:
Originally Posted by msRB311
I do think everyone is built differently. Most cultures don't like how being fat looks or it's deemed as extremely unhealthy so people do what they can to be thin. Not everyone...but many.
Until fairly recently people also didn't exercise the way they do today or have these crazy vegan, peleo, gluten free or fasting diets. Mothers seems to be much slimmer these days than in previous generations. It seems like letting oneself go is very frowned upon. Many moms these days dress and have the appearance of women in their 20's...if you look back in time women in their 40's look very different than our parents/grandparents. Many people are obsessed with appearance, looking young and being thin.
They weren't "heroin chic," but they weren't obese.
Last edited by Mike from back east; 11-14-2023 at 02:51 PM..
Reason: Merged 2:1
There has to be SOME genetic component or how do you explain Samoans?
Healthy Samoans are large, but not obese. They really are "big boned."
Quote:
Or the very short, very fat Quechua women of the Andes mts.
Until recently, almost no sugar in either diet.
When I've seen pictures of Russian peasant women, they are all fat too. Not eating processed foods until very recently (if at all) either.
It is necessary to look at overall life style. People who don't eat processed foods may yet be taking in large amounts of starches and fats. Stress, frequency of eating, and other factors affect hormones and metabolism in ways that are environmental and lifestyle influenced more than genetic.
Obesity is not "largely" genetic. (whatever that means)
Most people probably have some genetic predisposition to obesity, depending on their family history and ethnicity.
It's definitely a combination of factors, like many diseases. (although obesity is not classified as such)
Certain ethnic groups are more prone to it, eg Polynesians like Samoans etc, and some other Asian groups are lighter and may be less prone.
Lifestyle also plays a big part.
For those of those of us that are Shift workers, that doesn't help much either. (although it's not a total excuse)
Co-morbidities like arthritis may also limit one's ability to exercise, as well and heading into middle age or older.
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