Fitness vs. Fatness
Set-Point Theory
Psychology of Dieting

We have come to believe that being overweight or obese are almost unquestionably linked to risks for developing chronic, preventable illnesses. Health is equated to having a thin physique and individuals who are overweight are encouraged to seek out treatments in the belief that their supposed “illness” can be permanently reversed. Wooley and Garner showed that people who use dietary methods to lose large amounts of weight may find themselves experiencing phenomena that are familiar to those who have self-starved to below a normal weight: high rates of bingeing; lower calories maintaining the same weight; depression; preoccupation with food, weight, and body image; and no guarantee of an improved quality of life. Opposing researchers of the obesity epidemic, accuse government and medical authorities, as well as the media, of misleading the public about the health consequences of rising body weights. School children show a stronger aversion to being overweight than to being blind or crippled.

Fitness vs. Fatness

Research has shown there is not a direct link with weight and health, meaning overweight people can be and are just as healthy as "normal" weight people. Cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) is a strong INDEPENDENT predictor of mortality in older adults. One specific study showed that in general, patients lived longer (older men) when they had both a higher BMI and higher CRF. Obesity was independently associated with reduced all-cause mortality and obese patients having moderate or high fitness survived better than their normal-weight or overweight, non-fit counterparts.

A meta-analysis of mortality found that being physically active, no matter your weight, trumps being thin and unfit. Compared to normal weight-fit individuals, unfit individuals had twice the risk of mortality regardless of BMI. Furthermore, overweight and obese-fit individuals had similar mortality risks as normal weight-fit individuals. Researchers, clinicians, and public health officials should focus on physical activity and fitness-based interventions rather than weight-loss driven approaches to reduce mortality risk.

Another study showed there is a better prognosis in overweight and mildly obese cardivascular disease (CVD) patients than their leaner counterparts. The worst outcomes are often incurred by underweight CVD patients, followed by those of normal weight or severely obese. Physical inactivity and low CRF have long been recognized as major risk factors for CVD. High levels of physical activity and CRF largely neutralize the adverse effects of being overweight. Increased physical activity and exercise training, to maintain or improve CRF, are effective, safe, and proven strategies for primary and secondary prevention of CVD in all weight groups.

Set-Point Theory

One thing many people, not just sufferers of eating disorders, have trouble accepting, is the set point theory. Set point is the weight range in which your body is programmed to function optimally. Everyone has a set point and just as you have no control over your height, eye color, or hair color, you also have no control over what your set point will be. Your body will fight to stay at that weight!

Body weight is regulated at a predetermined or preferred level by feedback control mechanisms. People are genetically programmed to maintain their weight within a set-point range which varies from person to person regardless of other similarities like height. Food intake or energy expenditure corrects any deviation in body weight from the set-point. Weight is determined by inherited traits, the environment, and by hormonal, psychological, and genetic elements.

According to set point theory, after a time, your body will fight reduced calorie intake by sending signals (hunger pangs) and slowing down your metabolism to attempt to bring you back to your normal set point. Someone who is dieting may fixate on food, hunger, and weight, creating a negative loop. This can also lead to binge eating and cycling through various diet programs.

Psychology of Dieting

The multi-million dollar slimming industry tries to persuade you to diet. Buy their pill, buy their powder, buy their wellness program. When you diet and restrict your calories, your body goes into starvation mode, you stop responding to hunger cues, and rebound binge eating occurs. Yo-yo dieting can be more harmful than obesity itself. Dieting causes our metabolism to slowly shut down. The more weight you lose, the less food you need. Dieting and drastically cutting calories are just another eating disorder masked as being healthy.

The diet/health/weight loss/supplement industry is monopolizing on our fat phobia and bias. Diets are meant to fail; they want you to fail. When you fail, you try another diet, you buy more products. By denying yourself food, dieters make it more important, dieters are more likely than non-dieters to turn to food when anxious or depressed.

In Summary

Although health professionals tend to disagree about the most effective ways to treat obesity, rarely do they question whether obesity needs to be treated in the first place. We’ve known for 20 years that obesity treatments are overstated. Obesity treatment by dieting is widely shown to fail in the long term and we have very little information on what health issues are caused by the very expensive bariatric surgery. The negative health outcomes of obesity are overemphasized. While there is sound research suggesting that being overweight may protect you from certain chronic illnesses, it is not cited in popular media and is met with skepticism.

Being fit and being slim are not the same! Recent evidence shows that cardiovascular fitness, more than weight, indicates longer life span and lowered risk of certain diseases. Much of the data on overweight people and obesity are limited, ambiguous, and not scientifically sound. In fact, it's been shown that as populations grow healthier, prosperous, and long lived, they gain in height and weight. The categories of weight are arbitrary and do not line up with the association between BMI and mortality. Research has shown that with the increase in obesity there has been a fall in US total cardiovascular mortality and illnesses.

Exercise and workout so your body is strong and your heart is healthy. Love food for the fuel it provides your body. Eat a variety of fresh fruit and veggies and eat meat that has not been overly processed. Eat to provide your body with the proper nutrients and vitamins. Avoid eating foods with artificial sugar or saturated fat. Avoid highly processed carbs and eat more “natural” food. However, don’t restrict yourself, allow yourself to eat whatever you want! Don’t cut out carbs or fat just to lose weight. Don’t waste your money on the millions of supplements and vitamins being sold all over social media. Unless you have a vitamin deficiency, you should be able to eat food to provide all the nutrients you need. Don’t worry about the timing of your meals, or how many meals you eat. Don’t go on any detoxes, let your liver do that work for you!

The next time you look in the mirror and say to yourself “I need to lose weight” ask yourself why? Is it because you are unhealthy or have an actual illness, or is it just because you don’t like how you look. If it’s because you don’t like how you look, ask why you don’t like your body? What is wrong with your body? Is it really bad to have a few extra pounds of fat? Who says it’s bad? Are you comparing yourself to others? Are you giving into a fat phobic society? Are you giving into the pressures of the diet industry? Don’t give into these pressures.

3 Reasons the Obesity Epidemic is Exaggerated

Fitness vs. Fatness

Set-Point Theory

Psychology of Dieting

Fitness vs. Fatness

Set-Point Theory

Psychology of Dieting

In Summary

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