Not much on the telly tonight, so I ended up watching "My 600 lb. Life" --- the show where folks go to Houston for bariatric surgery… some successful, some not so much.
After watching a couple episodes, I'm left with some mixed feelings.
Is super morbid obesity:
1) a disease along the same lines as alcoholism and drug addiction?
2) a lifestyle issue (poor food choices, lack of exercise, laziness)?
3) a mental health issue (poor self esteem, depression, etc.)?
What have you seen in your practice re: number of super morbidly obese admissions, bariatric surgeries, disease processes related to super morbid obesity, difficulty caring for super morbidly obese patients.
I don't have the "research" at hand :) . . . .. but I have doubts that most people are lucky like you. To be able to eat whatever you want and not gain weight seems like a rare occurrence.
I was thin and ate what I wanted as a young adult and closing into 40. I didn't show when I was pregnant until after 6 months in my 20's.
But as I've aged, I think my metabolism has slowed down and I struggle more with weight. And I never exercised as a young adult but now I slowly jog and work out with weights and still have trouble with weight-loss. For the first time ever, I ran a half-marathon last October as well and trained for it and never really lost any weight.
And I don't eat many carbs (Atkins) at all right now and have slowly lost weight. If I were to go back to the pasta gorging I'm sure I'd gain it all back quickly.
I love pasta. But I'm not addicted.
I'm not sure how rare but definitely different and no doubt lucky. I refuse to take more credit than I deserve, sometimes I work hard and I'll give myself that but the other part is just winning the metabolism lottery.
Have you heard of the body types, endomorph, ectomorph and mesomorphs and the challenges/advantages associated?
If not, mesomorphs are those who can eat pizza and McDonald's and still have a lean muscular body, they're the super freaks that need to only a make moderate effort and live sinfully and can still get ripped. Many of my son's friends are like that while my son is more of an ectomorph and has to work harder for the same results. The ectomorphs can't gain muscle to save their life or at least not with huge efforts and major protein supplementation. Then the endomorphs who can't get away with a dang thing and have to eat much less and work much harder just to stay within a healthy weight range and are most prone to IR due to carb sensitivity. Of course there are ranges in each category. And the addition of different family/social environments also contributes.
IMO, in believing in the science behind it, approximately 1/3rd of our population is so carb sensitive in both fat storage and the craving cycle that the medically endorsed 300 gms of carbs per day and low fat diet sets them up for failure. The drink 3 glasses of simple sugar milk and 6 servings of rice/pasta turns into sugar and spikes insulin the same as soda and junk and insidiously the train leaves the station.
I think in most cases it is caused by poor life choices. I'm fat myself( although not 600 pounds) and I have full awareness that I did it to myself and it is up to me to change it. My diet is not that bad but I don't exercise like I should.
Have you heard of the body types, endomorph, ectomorph and mesomorphs and the challenges/advantages associated?
Yes, I have.
There is also the research that says if you breastfeed your child, they have less of a chance of being overweight.
But genetics plays a role as well.
Spidey was breastfed until 3.5 years - of course he ate regular food as well and was started on solids at about 6-7 months (rice cereal, bananas). I made all my kids regular food that we ate using a masher so they could swallow.
But Spidey may have the same risk of diabetes that comes on my husband's side of the family. We think husband's grandfather was undiagnosed as a diabetic, his Aunt is diabetic, and he is diabetic. All Type 2.
I worry about Spidey - he is preadolescent and has a bit of tummy fat . . . ..hoping he'll outgrow that. He's very physically active though.
Specializes in Critical Care, Med-Surg, Psych, Geri, LTC, Tele,.
Re spidey moms post #53: I completely agree that healthy foods are not more expensive if you shop carefully. Convenience health food is expensive, like premade foods, but if you buy fresh, raw ingredients and make meals from scratch, it is much cheaper.
In my past life, lol, I ran a daycare program and fed a family of 5 very I expensively and healthfully. I bought oatmeal, fresh fruits and veggies, lots of beans, brown rice, whole wheat flour, basically stopped eating meat because of the high cost of lean, humanely sourced meat, taught my kids to enjoy tofu, grew some of our own fruit, etc.
But I'll admit, now that I only have 1 child at home and am single, therefore only have 2 mouths to feed, it's much easier to buy healthy food because i can more easily afford convenient health food.
However, I do not believe that the cost is a good excuse to feed kids garbage. Our kids deserve a healthy future.
Oh, but I agree that the "food deserts"issue is a problem. As is a lack of basic education on nutrition, which we nurses have, but the general public does not.
Specializes in Critical Care, Med-Surg, Psych, Geri, LTC, Tele,.
Oh and spideys mom... I also breast fed my youngest until age 3. I breast fed the others until 1 and 2 yrs, respectively.
I knew my littlest may have had a higher chance if developing DMII because Both sides of the fathers family have DMII, as does his father. I knew breastfeeding would help to reduce his risk of developing that disease, as well as reduce his risk of obesity.
I educate him, elementary school aged, on healthy choices. I teach him how to evaluate nutrition labels and pray that I can combat the risks he faces.
Oh and spideys mom... I also breast fed my youngest until age 3. I breast fed the others until 1 and 2 yrs, respectively.
I knew my littlest may have had a higher chance if developing DMII because Both sides of the fathers family have DMII, as does his father. I knew breastfeeding would help to reduce his risk of developing that disease, as well as reduce his risk of obesity.
I educate him, elementary school aged, on healthy choices. I teach him how to evaluate nutrition labels and pray that I can combat the risks he faces.
Thanks - I appreciate both your posts.
I had my first child in 1983 and was not a nurse then. I breastfed him for 6 months, started him on formula, he had nothing but problems, ended up on the pre-disgested protein formula. And then soy for a couple of years because his doc though he was allergic to dairy products. He was never tested though.
I didn't make the same mistake with the rest - next son, 18 months. Daughter - 3 years. And the Spidey.
I also cook healthy foods by doing as you described. But . . . .. diabetic Dad is not a good role model and Spidey gets junk food when he is out with Dad.
As an example - tonight he showed up with two bottles of Cherry Coke. He had already started on the 1st and I made him put the second away. I'll probably toss it . . .
Specializes in Cardiac step-down, PICC/Midline insertion.
I'm in agreement that it's all of the above. I think the scale tends to tip more in the direction of laziness/overreating though personally. I mean....it takes effort to get that big. You have to be eating crazy amounts of calories, doing basically no physical activity. And somehow you're mentally ok with your body image or truly just don't care whatsoever. Most people make lifestyle changes when they start noticing their clothes don't fit anymore....these people just keep going. And you have to have people around you enabling the behavior, because let's face it.....a 600 lber can't exactly go grocery shopping or even wipe their own butt, much less prepare their own meals. Family is giving them what they want, otherwise they would start losing the weight....
I'm sure there is probably some metabolic/genetic issues as well, because some people would never get that big even if they tried. These types of people may always be somewhat overweight, but when you delve into the category of obesity....it's because you're making poor lifestyle choices.....which is why I find it hard to have much compassion for the morbidly obese.
I think we as a society have made a dangerous shift by taking an almost apologetic stance towards vices like alcoholism, obesity, and drugs. We've all but removed self control and accountability from the addicts by making it more of a diagnosis than a vice in a person's character.
I think we as a society have made a dangerous shift by taking an almost apologetic stance towards vices like alcoholism, obesity, and drugs. We've all but removed self control and accountability from the addicts by making it more of a diagnosis than a vice in a person's character.
I've started to notice that most waiting rooms have larger sized chairs...before you know it they're going to have bigger desks for kids at school!
Libby1987
3,726 Posts
I'm not sure how rare but definitely different and no doubt lucky. I refuse to take more credit than I deserve, sometimes I work hard and I'll give myself that but the other part is just winning the metabolism lottery.
Have you heard of the body types, endomorph, ectomorph and mesomorphs and the challenges/advantages associated?
If not, mesomorphs are those who can eat pizza and McDonald's and still have a lean muscular body, they're the super freaks that need to only a make moderate effort and live sinfully and can still get ripped. Many of my son's friends are like that while my son is more of an ectomorph and has to work harder for the same results. The ectomorphs can't gain muscle to save their life or at least not with huge efforts and major protein supplementation. Then the endomorphs who can't get away with a dang thing and have to eat much less and work much harder just to stay within a healthy weight range and are most prone to IR due to carb sensitivity. Of course there are ranges in each category. And the addition of different family/social environments also contributes.
IMO, in believing in the science behind it, approximately 1/3rd of our population is so carb sensitive in both fat storage and the craving cycle that the medically endorsed 300 gms of carbs per day and low fat diet sets them up for failure. The drink 3 glasses of simple sugar milk and 6 servings of rice/pasta turns into sugar and spikes insulin the same as soda and junk and insidiously the train leaves the station.