Myths about FAT

Reflect for a moment on the word fat and what it means for you when you hear it or see it written.  Are you judgmental of yourself or others who are fat and do you understand all the reasons behind what makes us fat… As levels of obesity in our society are increasing, it seems important to understand more about what makes us fat, as myths about fat can be inaccurate.  For example:

Fat people are greedy

There is no evidence for this and in fact the larger your body, the more you need to eat to support your higher energy needs.   What we do know is that fat people are more likely to turn to food when they are stressed and obese binge eaters are more likely to have experienced early trauma in their lives or to suffer with emotional difficulties or substance misuse.

Perhaps fat people turn to food at times of need because they don’t feel they have a person to turn to who will understand and not judge them.

Fat people have a slow metabolism

This is more likely to be the opposite as someone carrying a lot of fat will also have more muscle to support this extra weight, so it is likely that they have a good metabolism.

If you diet however, we know that this does slow metabolism so the best kind of diet avoids muscle loss since muscle mass increases our body’s energy burning capacity.

Fat people are lazy

Much of the population avoids physical activity for a range of reasons and today’s culture is generally more sedentary than previous generations.  For someone who has a large body size, think about the extra challenge of exercising as they are so much heavier than the average person.

Exercise is uncomfortable when you’re carrying a lot of extra weight and many say they feel too embarrassed to even try.

Fat people are born this way

You may not realise that people vary in the number of fat cells that they have.  This can be influenced by a mother’s diet before conception and during pregnancy as well as at key times around 2 years and puberty when fat cells develop.  If you have a high number of fat cells compared to someone else, this means that you have the potential to be bigger or fatter than them.  Careful eating and exercise will therefore be more important for you in managing your weight.

Fat people are responsible for their size

This is a cruel, heartless and ignorant view to hold of fat people who are often unfairly judged because of their body size.  Many factors contribute to obesity as well as the heritability mentioned above.  These include:

• Our cultural tendency to use food for comfort, enjoyment, treat and boredom for example, as well as for the energy we need for vital body processes
• Sedentary lifestyles in which we move around less than previous generations, often taking in more energy than our body needs. Today’s society uses more energy saving devices than forebearers such as transport instead of walking, remotes for changing TV channels.  Despite the popularity of exercise, we still sit down more than our ancestors did.
• Our bodies burn energy for vital processes like breathing, when food is digested and when we move around. Physical activity varies greatly among people and due to increased amounts of sitting down, people are not moving around like our ancestors, who did not suffer the levels of obesity that we do.  Moving around includes walking instead of driving, taking the stairs instead of the lift, getting up to change TV channels, taking a break to walk around at lunchtime if you work at a desk, etc…
• Less eating around the table, more eating and snacking in front of the TV which creates a trance-like state which tends to increase the amount you consume. As takeaways and food deliveries become increasingly popular, less energy is expended in buying and preparing food
• Traditional family meals are often replaced with snack foods that are energy dense and high in fat. Due to work practices, stress and family structure changes, people are reaching more often for convenience foods.  Fruit and vegetables are often lacking from these meals which makes them even more energy dense.  Parents are no longer acting as gatekeepers for foods within the home, promoting obesity in childhood
• Increasing availability of food has led to eating areas selling calorie/fat laden food choices in cafes, sports centres and cinemas for example, with few healthy options
• Food labels are misleading us, for example low fat crisps contain 60% pure fat whereas full fat milk is 96% fat free. The terms “Lite, healthy or natural” do not necessarily reflect the nutritional value of food.  We are being misled into thinking food is low fat when in fact it is not
• As British farmers are offered subsidies for dairy and meat production, this raises the price of fruit and vegetable. As children tend to be suspicious of new tastes especially disliking fruit and vegetable,  parents are even less likely to buy these expensive items
• Set point which is a range in which your body’s weight will naturally settle. This is the reason why many people put on weight they lose after a diet
• Sleep deprivation can influence body size because this decreases the hormone leptin which then increases the hormone ghrelin that stimulates appetite
• Gut bacteria are also considered to be implicated in weight gain with the natural balance being influenced through diet, pre, pro and anti-biotics and surgery, for example.
• Biological conditions such as polycystic ovary syndrome and hypothyroidism influences weight gain in a few people and viruses have been associated with obesity in some research papers.
• Genetic research has highlighted a genetic influence in body size such that some people will be born with a greater tendency towards weight gain than others.
• Medication such as auto-immune treatment and some antidepressants is also know to influence weight gain in some people. Illness also increases immobilization and therefore physical activity which affects weight gain
• Disordered eating such as binge eating which may be triggered by dieting given societal pressure to be “thinner.” About 1 in 3 people with weight problems suffer from compulsive eating.

Experts say that health is at risk when a person is carrying about 30lbs of excess weight or when a male’s waist measures over 95cm or a woman’s over 85cm.  Why – because this increases the chances of you experiencing hypertension, coronary artery disease, diabetes and cancer.

Overall, research shows that “happiness” can greatly influence weight management because if you feel happier then you become more able to manage your diet and sustain weight loss.   So whilst you are planning your next attempt at cutting some calories, you may consider the benefit of focusing your attention away from your body size and onto your MIND and MOOD instead. Weight issues are complex and as there is no known way to guarantee weight loss, what have you got to lose by improving how you “feel” as the person you are in the world.  Can you imagine feeling happier than you are right now and how this might influence your levels of motivation in losing and sustaining weight.  Perhaps as a happier person you would make some life changes…Counselling coaching can support you in doing this if you don’t think you can do it alone.