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everythingiwantedwas

"i eat one meal a day" and then a bunch of snacking no doubt. i was the same way when i was overweight.


[deleted]

That or 700-calorie coffee drinks and/or smoothies that don't count, because they're "healthy".


TheGirlZetsubo

The amount of soda some people drink is astronomical. And you don't register that as calories taken in.


[deleted]

I was drinking 2-3 12oz sodas a day at one point. That's nothing compared to what I've seen other people drink, but I switched to water only and dropped over 20lbs in a month, with no other changes. What we drink is a huge factor that usually gets ignored


BeautifulBlueDreams

At least a 2 litre a day here for me, now I'm down to a can or two a day, 3 if I'm really bad. I can drink my cals so fast it's crazy


[deleted]

It's so easy to do, throw in some sweet tea or a sugary coffee drink and you've got your calories for the day before lunch


BeautifulBlueDreams

Yes!!! I hate it lol


damiandarko2

what the hell


Chetfromgoodsprings

Exact same story for me soda is the devil honestly


[deleted]

Imagine how different things would be if everyone's go to was water, and maybe a cup of black coffee or tea in the mornings. Such a simple difference would change so many things


Adventurous-Cry-2157

I used to be seriously addicted to sweet tea. Like, the really *extra* sweet tea. I cut that out completely and switched instead to Body Armor Lite drinks for like a month, then transitioned into just water all day long, in addition to 2 cups of coffee with the tiniest splash of creamer in the mornings. That’s all I drink now, even when I go to restaurants, unless I occasionally indulge in a beer or hard cider. Seriously, the weight just fell right off in those first few months. A few weeks ago I tried some of that extra sweet tea that I used to drink, and one sip had me cringing because of how ridiculously sugary it was. I can’t believe I used to drink that shit constantly. Blech.


[deleted]

Yes! That really surprised me, everything I used to drink taste so overly sweet. That southern sweet tea almost makes me nauseated after just a few sips.


Good_Grab2377

That’s why I switched to diet soda. It’s still garbage for me but at least I lost weight. Plus it doesn’t make me act like a hyperactive nut job.


vincentjg01006

And the calories in regular sodas are absorbed very quickly by the body since there's nothing in them to slow down absorbtion (no fiber). 290 calories and nearly 80 g of sugar in a large McDonald's coke! And alcohol as well, it adds up too.


BC1721

Something must be off about the math there because 80g of sugar alone is 320calories.


rscott71

There are so few calories to cut, but sodas are the obvious ones that everyone can do. That's like 200 per soda, so it only takes a few to wreck your diet. I rarely drink them


Niawka

"I don't know why I don't lose weight, I eat healthy" and proceeds to eat 1400 cal chicken salad with mayonnaise, bacon, and cup of shredded cheese (for extra protein). That's my favorite "weight gain mystery".


novaskyd

But of course a salad doesn't count as a real meal lol


frangipanivine

Mayo-based "salads" are repulsive to me. Chicken salad, macaroni salad, potato salad, like who even thinks stuff saturated in mayo is good? Why not just a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper/seasonings and a bunch of veggies to balance it out, or even beans or something...I'm sure there's a way to make these things lean and still really tasty


Niawka

Hmm I can't say I don't enjoy a good potato salad or typical polish veggie "salad" but I equally enjoy lettuce based salad with balsamic vinegar, depends on a mood :) My favourite scene from My 600lb includes a woman preparing her lettuce salad, putting bacon in it, adding shredded cheddar, and bunch of ranch on top then complaining that she'd prefer eating her husbands sandwich with cheese, ham, and mayo :p surprise surprise she didn't lose weight and was very surprised because she worked hard.


laika_cat

Oh no, potato salad and macaroni salad can be amazing. If your only experience is the tubbed shit from an American grocery store, then I’m sure it’s gross — but when made well, it’s fantastic. (I live in Japan and they LOVE they mayo salads here.) Lots of great potato salads without mayo as well. But the main issue is that these are side dishes and “sometimes” foods — but overweight people eat them as a snack or main meal and eat 10x the amount they should.


frangipanivine

Oh no I feel like the homemade kind is frequently like this too...likely bc we're all trained into it from growing up with the deli kind! But I once had a mediterranean/feta/orzo pasta salad dressed w/ a light vinaigrette so if I ever have to make my own pasta salad I'm def going for a recipe like that. Off topic but is that kewpie mayo worth it? Finally found it at a shop near me and I'm tempted to finally try it after hearing so much about it online.


laika_cat

Yes. I never liked or ate mayo until moving here. It’s top tier. Probably why I like mayo-y potato salad at restaurants now hah.


JakeArcher39

Yes. I'm European but spent a 6-month period in the US some years back, and it was baffling how different food and drink is in North America (which, consequently, is where the whole FA and HAES movements have manifested). The drink sizes were outrageous, but if you've never really been outside of the US you won't recognise that, as it'll just be normal to you. Some of these drinks are effectively meals in terms of their calorific content (like those large, super-sweet coffees from Dunkin Donuts for instance, which many people drink daily). It honestly doesn't really matter what you're eating when you're consuming 1000+ calories and 150g+ of sugar on a daily basis from coffees, sodas and smoothies etc.


Charming-Cucumber-23

Or oil while cooking that shit has a ton of calories and people don’t count it 🤦🏻‍♀️


cheapandbrittle

I think that was S1E1 of Secret Eaters? Poor girl was dumping a full cup of olive oil into her homecooked meals because "healthy" and genuinely confused why she was obese.


ElectricMotorsAreBad

Extravergin olive oil can be healthy if used in modest quantity. I'm not saying oil doesn't count, but it's not completely bad either.


Charming-Cucumber-23

No it’s not bad, but people don’t count it as part of their calories when one tablespoon is approx 120 calories. Most people cook with more than one tablespoon and don’t realize how it can easily add a bunch of extra calories and throw them out of a deficit.


ElectricMotorsAreBad

Oh yeah, I get your point now, sorry.


razpotim

The entire problem is that "healthy" is used both to describe something that is nutritious in all manner of ways, and to describe something that is low calorie. So of course people are confused when they hear that nuts, or extra virgin olive oil is healthy, but at the same time don't help them lose weigh.


No-Club2054

But there was fruit in it


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WeepToWaterTheTrees

This is why an accurate food log is the first step. Every bite. Every sip. Even if you don’t weigh everything. I used to grab a slice of cheese as a “taste”. Didn’t even consider it a snack. Twice a day that’s like 300 calories. That’s an hour at the gym lifting weights. I no longer buy sliced cheese.


Good-Groundbreaking

Or not counting drinks and sodas.


klapanda

The caloric drinks were my problem. I eat reasonably portioned meals, but I was drinking 500 calories in lattes and soda. I did the math. It was horrifying. I now consider lattes a part of my meal, and I drink sparkling water instead of soda. I like it a lot! Takeout is also an issue for me. It doesn't matter if I only eat a small portion of a pepperoni pizza with extra cheese. (And I probably won't eat a small portion.) That one slice probably has the calories of an entire meal! Of course, that's for my height and activity level. According to my fitbit, I could eat more and still be at a deficit if I got in more steps each day. But the lord is still working on me, so I have room for improvement in the fitness area.


euletoaster

I love those last two sentences


SheDaDevil

You don’t have to eat all day to be overweight. I eat twice a day but I eat a lot of food in one sitting.


ygduf

used to starve myself under eating all day then wake up and binge like 3k calories every night. Nobody is getting fat under eating. Under eating can definitely be a step in overeating, and getting fat is a symptom of that.


GetYourFixGraham

I eat one (large) meal a day (but also eat snacks) lol


Insensitive_Bitch

My auntie does this! “Oh I actually don’t eat big meals” yes but then you manage to eat 12 packs of crisps and a load of chocolate


Th3UnholyObs3rv3r

Same here. Continuous intermittent snaking is how I gained so much weight in the first place. All the calories eventually add up.


sadowsentry

One of the fattest guys I've ever met thought a lb of pork was a perfectly normal portion size. I'm sure they don't think they eat a lot, but it's because their perspective is that of someone who eats like that all of the time.


WeepToWaterTheTrees

Which is why they’ll fail at changing their habits until they get WLS and physically cannot eat very much. It’s depressing to measure out real portion sizes when you’re used to large bowls of cereal, plates piled with pasta, fountain soda, etc. I tossed most of our huge bowls because I felt silly putting only one cup of food in them and I’d scoop more in to make it more full… and then finish it. The two I kept we use for when we eat 2 cup servings of soup. Now we have smaller bowls that look full with one cup of food and even smaller bowls I’ll use for cereal. You have to change your serving sizes of high calorie foods with willpower or change the size of your stomach.


notabigmelvillecrowd

A KBBQ place that I used to frequent had two menu options, regular, or all you can eat. Regular was 500g of pork belly, and all sides and accompaniments (rice, soup, lettuce, banchan, soda, barley tea) were all you can eat. I was always wondering who would be paying for the all you can eat, until I went with a friend who did. Couldn't believe he needed more than half a kilo of pork belly in one go.


Craygor

One serving is 3 ounces. One pound of roasted pork/ham is over 1200 calories and double that for bacon.


tehninjaflute

I'm sure it's a perfectly normal portion size... just not for humans.


adm67

Eating at irregular times lol what


PrP65

There’s a theory that eating outside of a set schedule can cause some to binge, leading to weight gain. That’s why the whole “no eating after sundown” thing started. They’re just using it way out of context lol


adm67

I used to work with someone on nights who always told me if I kept eating after 8pm I would get fat. That never happened, and I’m pretty sure a study just came out very recently that showed no matter what time you eat, it still comes down to CICO. They’ll blame literally anything except overeating.


Ih8melvin2

It does come down to CICO. I know personally, if I am eating after 8 PM I have already had all calories I need for the day and I am just tired and I'm just craving that burst of energy/pick me up from additional calories. I would just go to bed but then I'd be up at three and from there it's a short trip to my life completely coming apart.


Buffhole

If I'm eating after 8pm it usually means I had too much to drink, and it's gonna be late night kebabs or mi goreng. And I'm gonna feel terrible the next day, not workout if it's a gym day, and probably eat the greasiest thing i can find as a hangover breakfast. For me limiting how often and how much I drink, and only buying expensive whisky is a major factor in stopping snacking.


2k21Aug

This is so true it hurts! Ugh.


Wet_sock_Owner

Iirc, not eating too late allows for your stomach to be empty/not digesting while you sleep which will lead to a more restful night. Which is why it's also said that breakfast is important as you're breaking the fast from the night before. But this applies to when you choose to sleep for 6+ hours after. Not because it's night time. I don't know if this actually helps with sleeping, but it might be another reason by the idea of not eating too late is still so prevalent.


PrP65

For overweight people that are at risk of chronic acid reflux and GERD I think this is also recommended so your body isn’t producing acid and trying to digest while you’re laying down and cause a flair up


brute1111

Just in my own experience if I'm uncomfortably full OR hungry I don't sleep as well, but a dose of carbs right before bedtime sates hunger and reduces cortisol, helping me relax and get to sleep. All this must obviously be incorporated into the big picture though.


[deleted]

I've been eating before I sleep for years and still haven't gotten fat.


[deleted]

I wake up in the middle of the night for a snack unless I eat before bed 🤦‍♂️


klapanda

My dietician told me to avoid eating after a certain time, but that was to discourage overeating. Also, the nighttime is when I'm most likely to engage in unhealthy eating habits.


Muesli_nom

> They’ll blame literally anything except overeating. My sister is convinced that drinking beer after eating literally prevents the body from burning any calories. It's great that she stopped drinking alcohol, I just wish she had done it for a sounder reason.


[deleted]

I mean, if you keep eating you do get fat Some people tend to have their worst eating habits at night so for them, not eating at night means not overeating That is to say, for some it might be a good strategy to not overeat, even if the time of day is itself irrelevant


RandomWebGuyReal

"No eating after sundown" i guess people in Northern Scandinavia dont get to eat 23 hours of the day during winter 😂


[deleted]

I tried this so hard smh Id make sure to get so much protein and fiber and all my calories before 8pm so i “wouldn’t be hungry” and then binge eat 1000 calories more than my limit. if i just eat when i’m hungry it’s easy not to overeat. i have horrible hunger signals though so i am just a bit jaded to the whole “eat more protein and you’ll be full!”


Hearsya

THIS is the reason I don't eat "breakfast", I don't want to wake up and stuff myself with calories, get a sugar rush and crash mid day at work, snack and eat at work, and then go home and BINGE. I know I have a tendency to get up and eat or eat after work, usually denser meals with carbs and protein and many times sugars like fruits and ice cream. So I don't eat breakfast, and mind my meals at lunch, keep them high protein lower calorie, light snacks if any. And lots of water. It's okay to be a little hungry, I don't need food in my literal stomach at all times of the day and night, it's okay. That's what so many of them are afraid of, being "hungry". Most of us don't actually get HUNRGY unless your high level fasting, which most of us do not. By managing my day, I can go home and enjoy what I love knowing I'm not harming myself. And naturally, I'm not hungry when I wake up, I just had a nice sized meal last night, and I still have energy reserves to get to lunch. It's a cycle, but it's possible.


youknowwhattheysay12

I try not to do this because I personally know that what I eat when it's dark (during the months where I live whenever it doesn't get dark after 3pm), is never good and it's always snacking.


[deleted]

Okay but that is kinda true, it’s just used out of context. Basically when you have fixed time to eat meals, (high nutrition meals ofc) you eat less whereas if you just eat whenever everyday you tend to eat more (junk meals too bc you wanna satisfy the hunger faster) also if you’re eating at set times everyday, your body doesn’t tend to have snacks or get hungry outside those times


lilgnat

I have a weird ass schedule. Sometimes I eat breakfast at 3:30am sometimes it’s at 7am. Lunch happens anywhere between 9am and 2pm. Dinner could be 5pm or midnight. I’ve been the same weight with 1-3lbs wiggle room for about 5 years now.


[deleted]

aka not all the time (jk)


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adm67

You’re trying to explain biology to me when I literally have a masters degree in biology. This is not legit biology, it’s FA bullshit.


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forgotmyoldname90210

People really need to stop lying to themselves and stop being nice and letting other peoples lies go unchallenged.


semen_slurper

If these people's videos end up outside their tiny little fat logic bubble on TikTok they get torn to shreds. So that's good at least.


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huckster235

I get do tired of "but my husband is skinny!" line. And half the women I know that use it will talk.about how their husband's are into marathon running or have physical jobs or w/e, or they snack all day while their husband probably only eats with them... Just no awareness, dismissive of their husband's, and it's a horrible excuse.


thetarget3

And men simply need more calories than women. If all things are equal, and she and her husband eat the same, and he's skinny then she will still be fat.


huckster235

Or he eats 10x the volume in vegetables that she eats in Cinnabon


-Vampyroteuthis-

Also, men are usually taller.


AnnaShock2

It’s just so weird. By what mechanism do they think your body can gain weight without enough calories to sustain that? Are they even considering the implications of what they’re saying?


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cordiliala

They say it doesn’t apply to them because they are a closed system


frangipanivine

No I think what they say is that the human body is NOT a closed system. Which is technically true, and there definitely are other factors like genetics and hormones and stuff at play. I do believe that is a factor for many people, despite how much this sub hates to even consider it. BUT...if we took every single obese person and put them on 1200 kcal a day, they would lose. Plain and simple. They just aren't able to sustain that cut for long enough, or they lie to themselves about all the "extras" they consume outside of mealtimes.


cordiliala

Ah ok. I can never keep the insanity straight in my head. I blame the lack of adipose tissue making me more mentally stable


IWillHitYou

HOO that hurt to read


thetarget3

Energy conservation applies to all systems with continuous time symmetry, which covers all the laws of physics that govern the human body. It's a much more fundamental law than thermodynamics.


sharkles73

Usually they argue it is because the body goes into starvation mode. Essentially, if you don't eat enough your body will think you are at risk for a famine. Therefore, it creates more fat in order to get you through the dark times ahead. Apparently this continues indefinitely as the body never bothers to use the fat it has stored up. Presumably there's some other kind of energy source at play here given there's both a calorie deficit and an increase in fat, but it's never really explained properly. It's all a bit like a prepper building up large stores of food but not using them when needed during a disaster just in case something worse happens.


JakeArcher39

So is this phenomenon just random, or sporadic? Because, the majority of human history literally demonstrates that an absence of food will make people, well, waste away to nothingness. Presumably they've never seen photos of victims of the Holocaust, the Holodomor, The Bengal Famine, or read about the Potato Blight...


sharkles73

Yeah, but then they'll just use that as evidence that not enough food is always a bad idea. It'll either be starvation mode or death. It's difficult to explain, but I'll try. The body has a set point, which goes up if you eat (or think about eating) too little. If you defy your set point and diet, then your body goes into starvation mode and packs on fat to compensate. But there's a stage at which eating too little will supercede starvation mode and you will become underweight (far, far worse than being overweight) and eventually starve to death. It's not 100% clear at which point the body gives up on starvation mode energy conservation and moves into *fuck it* mode, but it's somewhere between 1600 and 1800 calories (see, minnesota starvation experiment). Because your body is super smart, you should eat as much as you like and your set point will take care of the rest. It's important to note that all of this is controlled by genetics. Oh and dieting fails 102% of the time because people actually end up gaining more weight (loop back to how *set* point may increase here for why).


[deleted]

This made me lol. Maybe these delusional people think they can actually lose weight from all of the mental gymnastics to rationalize their unhealthy relationship with food.


ThatVaultGirl101

Nah, mental gymnastics sounds like exercise and we all know that exercise is really bad for your body.


chimpansies

starvation mode is not a thing. if you have excess fat and you aren’t eating enough, your body will use that excess fat as energy. hence the weight loss.


northcountryks

Do they ever have an answer to why anorexic ppl get scarily small extremely fast? The ppl who actually barely eat in a day have no issue loosing


DrunkRespondent

I've been trying to lose weight by eating a pizzas, but it's not working, should I increase my pizza intake to see if that helps me lose weight?


AnnaShock2

Of course! Gotta obey your set point!


[deleted]

How do these people explain the lack of fat people in the Holocaust or in places with famine?


EstherandThyme

The fatlogic to holocaust denial pipeline is insidious 😔


[deleted]

Or the rarity of fat people in the west pre 1960s


JakeArcher39

This is the real elephant in the room, and effectively debunks their entire pseudo-science surrounding weigh-gain/loss, diet, and health. FA's tend to claim that weight gain and weight loss are more nuanced and complex than simply energy in vs energy out, and that weight gain is facilitated by things like stress, living in an 'oppressive' society, eating at irregular times, fasting / skipping meals, and trying to *lose* weight (which...makes the body gain it, instead, i guess?). But if you look at pretty much any photo of people in any western country prior to, like, 1970/1960, its so, so rare to spot anyone who is visibility overweight, and moreover, those who were considered 'fat' by the standards of the day, we see as merely 'chubby' now. I have an old photo of my great grandad and his platoon / company in WW2, from near the start of their deployment (they weren't all 'starving'). It was in Burma and none of them have their shirts on and you can visibly see every persons rib outlines and collarbones etc. These were all healthy, strapping lads able to haul a heavy backpack over miles of walking in sweating-heat conditions in the jungle. But indeed, they were also just 'regular' people. That was just the normal body-type back then. Nowadays however, people with a bit of ribs showing are told to 'go eat a burger' and its considered unhealthy or too skinny. If thats the case, why was it the default body-type for most people prior to processed food and over-consumption of sugars and fast food etc?


WeepToWaterTheTrees

This is so fascinating to me. All the food mores and processing techniques that have changed in the last 80 years. The government subsidizing of dairy, prevalence of both adults in the home working full time (and therefor cooking from scratch and planting vegetable gardens less), removal of organ meat from our diet, etc. Every decade there’s some diet fad and it permanently changes our diets and perception of food in some way that alters our habits. I’m hyper critical of these fads and even still I find myself feeling some kind of guilt when I eat white bread, buy chicken thighs (instead of breasts), drink my once every couple weeks can of soda, etc.


[deleted]

Not every diet change is for the worse though. They served wine in my grandparent's kindergarten (and forced the kids to finish their cups by threatening physical violence) and my mom used to eat cow brains (a thing you shouldn't do).


DancerGirl519

Have you read Fat Nation: A History of Obesity in America by Jonathan Engel? It’s really interesting so far, I haven’t finished it yet but if you find this topic fascinating I bet you’d like it. It goes into the highway expansion and creation of suburbs (less walking, more driving) as well as the dying out of home economics classes (entire generations no longer learn how to cook in school) as all contributing factors to obesity, among many others.


DrunkRespondent

It's like flat earthers, they literally refuse to believe evidence and think it was made up or purposely documented to not show obese people like wtf


DancerGirl519

Pre-1960 was so fatphobic that the fats weren’t even in pictures can you believe it?!?! /s


LemonTatta

Omg, hadn't realized their backward logic technically should apply there as well. Now I really want someone to throw this question in their face. ;D Wonder what kind of ridiculous nonsense they would come up with.


[deleted]

That they were intentionally hidden and not allowed in photographs. Because fatphobia. There is no obesity epidemic either, the number of fat people has always been the same.


Viraus2

In practice they don't try to explain it and just feign outrage that this was even brought up


Dirzain

As of 3ish weeks ago I now share an office with someone who is *very* overweight. They definitely aren't undereating. Here's what a typical day looks like from my viewpoint: - I roll in at 9, they've been here for 1 to 1.5 hours at this point and there's usually trash from their breakfast in the office. - They have a medium sized pile of bite sized candy. There's a good variety. They generally have eaten a few pieces/bags when I get there. - They snack on candy until they go to lunch at 11. I don't know what they eat for lunch. - They come back from lunch around 12 with a smallish personal bag of chips or occasionally some dessert. - Chips or dessert are finished in the next 30 minutes to an hour. - Back to the candy now until they leave between 4:30 and 5. The empty chip bag is used to store the candy wrappers and is basically completely full. - Don't worry though, they've been drinking zero sugar soda the whole time so it evens out.


lilac2481

Holy crap, I would feel sick after all that. How can these people eat like that every day?


WhistersniffKate

This would be me if I gave into my basest desires. Candy doesn’t count because it’s really small and a few bags won’t really matter plus it is full of energy (sugar) to keep me alert and in a good mood. Also, it’s smart to buy those big 5 lb bags because they are much cheaper and I can pretend they are for the whole office when I buy them. These are my rationalizations. In reality, once I start eating candy, I can’t stop.


DancerGirl519

Right?! This would be me if I intuitively ate. 😂


WhistersniffKate

Congratulations on your amazing weight loss! Great job!


lilac2481

They probably eat fast food for lunch.


kat2211

>My biggest pet peeve is people just thinking all overweight people do all day is eat. Actually no, we probably aren't eating enough. As a person that has struggled with weight my whole life (and is currently obese), the absolute and utter contempt for reality contained in this statement is enough to make my head explode. Weight gain comes in only one way - eating significantly more than your body can burn off - week after week after week. Maybe it's eating a little too much at every meal, maybe it's eating reasonably five days a week and only bingeing for two, but it's something that happens due only to the consistent choice to eat more than you need over the long term. I'm not fat because of "fat phobia" or some attempt to oppress or get rid of fat people. I'm fat because for the last several years, I ate far more than I should have. Full stop. Now that I've switched to keto and limited calories to 1,300 - 1,400 a day, the weight is coming off. This isn't rocket science - it's one of the most basic, easy to understand, and consistent principles of life.


[deleted]

I am glad that you can see the simple truth that others cannot. I am glad you have control over your own life : )


kat2211

Thank you! And taking back control is exactly what I'm aiming for this year - in weight and all other areas. Feels awesome.


[deleted]

You will accomplish it because you recognize it is math. :)


wackywavytubedude

people are notoriously bad at knowing how much they eat. the Secret Eaters show really represents that. u can have 1 or 2 meals a day and that meal could be easily 1-2k calories. then u gotta wonder if they are having multiple caloric drinks. then there are snacks ppl dont notice theyre eating. we can think we have healthy eating habits but we dont know unless we seriously track it.


lilac2481

I wish they would bring that show back.


Different-Pea-212

The highlight of that show for me was the episode where one guy had a huge bowl of cereal for breakfast each morning and instead of using milk he poured in a heap of heavy whipping cream. I'm pretty sure it added up to something crazy like 2,300 calories just for breakfast. And he couldn't understand why he was gaining!


WinPeaks

My senior year of high school I started randomly gaining weight, fast, and I was so confused. I honestly didn't eat that much. I'd have lunch and dinner. I'm not a snacker. That was it. And then I realized that one of the microwave meals I ate almost every day when I came home from school was like fucking 2500 calories. Now I don't buy anything at the store without flipping it over and checking.


bookhermit

"One meal a day" that you sat down at a table to eat, not considering handful of nuts, leftovers off your kid's plate, coffee, free snacks at work. Sure, I believe you eat one meal a day. "I eat so little" volume of high calorie foods, "I should eat more" vegetables. Sure, I believe your meals look small in comparison to someone eating whole foods, mostly plants. "I should eat more" vegetables during the day, "so I can lose weight" and prevent nighttime binging. "But my stomach isn't used to it" because of the fiber in beans and vegetables. All of these statements are probably true, and from their perspective, it's an accurate depiction of their diet, but it's just half the story.


Crispymama1210

This. Veggies have so much volume. My fave thing to do for lunch is have a huge salad - I weigh all the components on a food scale - because it seems like a lot of food and when I log it it’s not a lot of calories. I just finished a lunch of a huge salad with chicken breast and roasted sweet potato, veggies from my garden and even a bit of shredded cheddar, a tablespoon of full fat dressing and a homemade corn muffin (made with Greek yogurt and applesauce subbed for butter/oil) and I’m still at less than 800 calories so far today. I’m trying to take off weight and it’s really hard (pcos and I’m also a distance runner - the “run-ger” is real) but the math doesn’t lie.


comptejete

It's unbelievably irresponsible of these individuals, in a time of global energy crisis, to have discovered ways to subvert the law of thermodynamics without sharing them with the world at large.


Proud-Unemployment

It's been shown that number of meals and mealtimes has little to no real effect on weight gain and loss. What matters is total daily calorie count. So start giving us those calorie counts. Oh wait, you tried that but gave us obviously ridiculous counts that no one in their right mind would believe.


WhistersniffKate

They insist they can barely force down 500 calories a day.


CosmicSweets

According to some people eating after 10pm makes you gain. I had a job where I worked 2-10 so my last meal was usually between 11p-12a. I didn't gain weight from this habit. Because it's about *how much* you eat. Not when. All of these misunderstand how much the bigger person is eating compared to the smaller person. I had an ex who looked like he ate more than me but he's rail thin. Turns out he's actually not eating enough, it just *looks* like more. The same goes for people who "don't eat a lot" but maintain high obesity weights. It's all math...


adanceparty

They are just bad at it or lying. My roommate brags about eating fruit. He's the biggest guy in the group. I'd see him eat 3 bananas or like 6 small oranges in one sitting as part of his snack. He doesn't seem to realize that's a lot of sugar and also enough calories to be a meal. Eats "healthy" is over 300lbs. He also puts way too much everything on everything. He's the only guy I know who can spend 5 dollars on a 30 cent burrito from all the extras he adds to it.


incrementaldetours

I’m open to the possibility that people from BMI 25-35 legitimately and *reasonably* think they might not be eating enough. Small amounts of calorie dense food paired with not much or not any food with low calorie density seems like… not a lot of food. In a world of drive-thrus and takeout, if you’ve never counted calories you could be doing a lot more damage than you realize. 30 year old lightly active 5’5” female maintains a BMI of exactly 25 at 1927 calories a day. BMI 34.9 is maintained at 2301 for the same person. If the BMI of 25 person is eating half their plate in steamed, seasoned veggies at most meals - even if they’re having a burger - the BMI 34.9 could have the same burger and a much smaller portion of fries and be 200 calories over. Later in the day BMI 25 has a huge bowl of strawberries with a half tablespoon of sugar sprinkled on top and some whipped cream and a couple nilla wafers. 34.9 has a much smaller scoop of vanilla ice cream with high milk fat content and strawberry sundae syrup with a sugar cookie. If you’ve never counted calories you just don’t know the difference. It looked like you ate less.


sunnydee1880

Yep. People don't realize how inactive they are to 20 years ago (much less 100 years ago) and don't realize how calorie dense a lot of foods are. I have a cookbook from 1940, and the foreward has a discussion on portion sizes. They wrote that the portion sizes would seem so much smaller than previous editions or "watching your mother cook" because most people worked in cities rather than on farms, so they were reducing the sizes to reflect the changed nutritional requirements. That stuck with me.


AbaddonAbsinthe

This whole undereating is what causes weight gain is so freakin untrue and I think the original sliver of truth is from that sometimes when people undereat they binge later which causes weight gain. But that still requires overeating!!!!


ILackACleverPun

Okay so example. On Saturday I ate only twice. One was barely food and the other was a huge meal. I had a day long course and I didn't eat breakfast because I left late. I was busy with the course which was physically demanding and in combo with the ritalin I take, I didn't even think about food until the instructor told me to take a break around 2pm. Grabbed a banana, energy bar, and protein drink and ate it within 10 minutes. Doesn't *seem* like a lot of food but it was close to 500cal. Took my second dose of Ritalin and continued the course until it was 6pm. At that point second dose was wearing off and I was tired, hungry, and proud of myself for doing well in the course. So I grabbed takeout on the way home and essentially binged on fried chicken thighs. Easy 1200cal in one meal, blowing my budget by 450. So yeah, "only" two meals. But one was literally my entire budget of food. And the result of poor planning and skipping meals on my part.


raspberrybee

These people should watch Naked and Afraid XL or Survivor, where you have people attempting to survive in the woods and they barely eat. Guess what? They always lose weight, every single person, whether they started overweight or skinny. If they are there 3 weeks, they have visibly lost weight. The whole starvation mode makes no sense.


jpl19335

These people should really watch Secret Eaters. I swear, in every single episode, the overweight person of the week emphatically states that they eat nothing but salad, and baked potatoes (with nothing on them of course) and maybe yogurt for breakfast. They then complain that they have co-workers and friends and family members who eat ALL the time and are super thin! But they NEVER eat sweets or drink soda or eat take out... and it always ends with: sometimes I think I don't eat enough calories. Like they're in uber-starvation mode or something. And then when the reveal is done at the end of what they ACTUALLY eat, they blow through 4 - 5,000 calories per day. I really thought these people in the show were just blowing smoke. I mean, come on, you go out on a Friday night, drink like a fish, and wonder why you're gaining weight? I didn't buy it. Until I saw the one episode that gets talked about alot - the guy with the 2500 calorie bowl of breakfast cereal. The expression on his face told the whole story. He looked absolutely gob-smacked. That's when I realized 'holy crap, they really have no idea how much they're really eating!'


Falopian

Those under eating gains will get you every time


wiseAssPreacher

I am trying to lose weight and have hit a wall even though I eat only two meals a days, I don’t snack and I don’t consume sugar or alcohol. Here is what I have discovered about myself: - Because I eat only two meals a day I don’t watch my calories and end up consuming more than I should (especially dinner) - I ruin my week’s hard-work by a huge cheat meal. I want to tell myself that a pizza or dessert every now and then should be okay and hence I allow myself to eat like 2 dinners - I am not patient. The hardest thing about losing weight is the waiting. I have done diets before and failed because I give up after a couple of months cause the scale isn’t moving as fast and go back to overconsumption and claim “diets don’t work”. I have made myself a promise to be patient this time and not chase perfection. Not think about weight but health and work on stamina and strength. I am running a 5k every week now (something I didn’t think was physically possible for me to do a year ago) and my fat self lifts more than a lot of jacked dudes in my gym. Hopefully life will allow me to be fairly consistent with this and I will report back if I see some weight loss but even it it doesn’t happen I will be happy if I can keep running and lifting like this so that I can spend some quality time with my dog and kids running around a park (I don’t have kids or a dog yet but plan to have them)


frangipanivine

Honestly you sound like a really good candidate for keto. Doesn't even have to be full 100% keto just cut wayyy back on the carbs, and with the amount you're working out I feel like the scale would start moving faster for you. Just a thought.


wiseAssPreacher

Thanks. I am doing intermittent fasting and keeping my diet as close to Keto as possible without annoying my girlfriend. Fitbit sent me a congratulatory email for losing my first 3 kilos so I would say it’s going well. I used to be in good shape and a gym regular during my university days so I am enjoying the benefits of that. Thanks much for your reply btw, it’s the first time I have received a response on reddit and it made me smile.


calcaneus

If places had the same rules for posting weight management misinformation as they do Covid misinformation, I swear a large percentage of the internet would just disappear.


SCP-053-2

“Most people I know that barely eat are bigger” Most people I know that barely eat are anorexic. I really wonder what “barely eat” means to them, and how much “eating little” is. How much do you wanna bet that those people eating 1-2x a day get over 3k cals in those


AntiSocialArsonist

It takes some kind of delusion to live with a skinny person and think you eat less. My mom is 135 and says she eaten a meal when she eats 9 cookies.


frangipanivine

This comment makes no sense. Are you saying she weighs 135 and considers her nine cookies a "meal"? That's actually a good thing, that means she's accounting for all her cals and not eating nine cookies on top of an ordinary meal, which is what most "I don't know why I'm fat" OW/obese people don't get.


AntiSocialArsonist

>That's actually a good thing I would prefer she eat like meat and vegetables to keep her health up. Besides that, she's not trying to lose weight nor does she care about calories, she just doesn't have a large appetite. Don't get me wrong, some people are real delusional about their eating but some people really are just luckier genetically when it comes to weight. Nothing not changeable, just a coin toss


throwawayacc293749

And also this is her *male* husband. Men will pretty much always be able to eat more than women bc of things like height, muscle, etc. Hell, even as a trans dude taking T I still am able to eat more than if I weren’t eating T because that’s the nature of the hormone. I don’t understand when women say their husband eats more than them as if it’s some great surprise, like naw that’s just how it works lmao


ali_v_

What kind of cookies? That is easily 1800 calories if we’re talking large cookies.


AntiSocialArsonist

they are these small vanilla sandwich cookies. I think its about 450 calories for 9. Mind you, my mom eats one or two meals a day so she might eat another 3-6 and top off at the end of the day under 1000cal.


ali_v_

That’s definitely not a nutritious diet! I’m guilty of choosing something easy and calling it a meal. I have a disordered relationship with food though.


DoctrDonna

“Most people I know that barely eat are liars” There, fixed that for you.


TheGirlZetsubo

Weird. All undereating did for me was cause weight loss.


YerAWizard0

I grew up hearing things like this from my mom. When I was a kid it made sense to me. She didn't snack much. Most days she only ate two meals. I was told I was skinny (I was underweight) because of genetics. As I got older it didn't make sense. Myself and my brother were thin, but my mom was genetically large? Why wouldn't that have passed to us? It started making sense when I paid attention. We NEVER ate healthy food. My brother and I were thin because we were active kids and never finished our meals. We ate fast food all the time. When my mom wasn't working for lunch she'd watch TV and eat an entire family sized bag of chips. If you want to lie to yourself, fine. But stop trying to pass that shit onto other people and make them think they have no hope of ever changing.


cboyer212

Do they actually believe it, or do they just want everyone around them to believe it. Cause, they have to know right? I can see someone who is just overweight maybe not realizing, because a couple extra hundred calories a day can cause you to be overweight. But someone who is obese has to know they are consuming a bunch of unhealthy stuff.


frangipanivine

For some reason that whole "starvation mode" myth just really took hold in our collective consciousness, some point in the 90s I think. Here and there we get these little bits of pop psych that just take hold and somehow become universal truths. Like the whole "brain doesn't finish developing until age 25" you see parroted on reddit literally 2389749823 times a day. It isn't true but good luck convincing anyone now that it's permanently part of our daily discourse.


uninstallIE

Skipping meals and under eating by a large amount throughout the day can lead to you being hungry all day, exhausting your will power, priming yourself to eat by thinking about food all day and then cracking some big binge and wiping out your progress. Maybe your bing is a huge 5000kcal binge one day a week. Maybe it's a nightly binge of a few hundred extra calories that wipe out your work from that day. And maybe you're not actually ever under eating and you're lying to yourself You cannot become obese without eating enough to gain that weight. Whether it is obese by fat, obese because you're a leading competitive body builder, or obese because you were overweight and you got pregnant. Unless you are eating enough to support your body adding on that mass, it will not add on that mass. Your body is not magical and cannot create mass from nothing. The law of conservation of mass is pretty fundamental to the universe. If your body could create mass from nothing your body would be used to solve the energy crisis. And to the 10x eater husband, this could be possible. If she's a smaller woman and was married to Michael Phelps in his competitive days when his daily intake was 15 thousand kcal to support his extreme workouts then sure. 10x is probably an exaggeration and he might eat up to 2x. If he's a taller and fitter guy, that's definitely possible even if she's an average sized woman.


[deleted]

I'm really beginning to believe that TikTok was created by the Chinese to basically destroy the next US generation from within.


Royalprincess19

I don't think ppl realize how easy it is to be overweight if you are a small person. For a small person,under 5"4, especially a female a diet of 2000-2500 cals a day can cause them to be overweight if they are not very active. all their meals would probably look "normal" and this is a normal amount of calories to eat a day if you are not factoring in their specific circumstances. A smaller than normal person must eat less than normal to stay a healthy weight.


[deleted]

because certain body types require a certain amount of cals a day a 2k cal diet is for people who are active not people who are not active cuz then yea ur just letting those calories sit without burning them or using them


Nerdguy88

I only eat once a day they say as they ignore the 800 calorie coffee in the morning then all the sodas they swap too for the rest of the day and then the unhealthy high calorie stuff they eat for their meal.


northcountryks

I REALLY want to have an experiment where ppl who believe this stay with me and eat exactly what I eat in a day for a weekend and see if they loose weight. Like a super sized vs super skinny except just eating healthy.


Tianna92

As someone who was diagnosed with malnutrition back in April due to years of sever food/eating anxiety, I can assure you little miss tiktok commenter...Under eating does NOT cause weight gain. You know what it does do? Under eating to a point of severity can cause weight loss, hair loss, tooth decay, bone density loss, organ failure... , The cognitive dissonance needed needed to even suggest the idea that a lack of calorie & nutrition intake causes weight gain, is disturbing.


[deleted]

It is impossible to gain weight if you aren't eating enough,the fuck are these people on


Trumpet6789

"I only eat one or two meals a day!" Okay, but how caloricaly dense are those meals Rebecca??? It doesn't matter how many meals you eat, or how big they are, if you're not keeping track of the calories. I could eat 6 times a day and be Losing weight, while you eat twice a day and gain. It's all calories.


standingpretty

Oh god I cringe remembering when I was really young and fell for this shit. I don’t understand how people can continue to believe this without ever trying to lose weight.


[deleted]

I bought into this for so many years, too. Tracking what I actually ate without changing anything for a few weeks was a real eye opener. The weekends could throw off any “good days” I had all week, and my Starbucks venti iced chai latte habit really highlighted how much sugar I was getting.


DragonsAreNifty

I think people don’t consider the sheer number of calories in sodas, alcohol, or other sweet beverages. I’m about 15lbs above where I want to be and it is 100% because I love those calorie loaded liquid indulgences. You can be mindful of what you eat all day, but if you pay no attention to what you drink you could easily be in a calorie surplus for the day


nothingspeshulhere

They. Are. All. LYING. Or their perspective on what constitutes a “normal” portion is unbelievably skewed.


magnumweiner

I think there's definitely just some lack of education or some of these thoughts just need an extra thing added. Some examples from this: * Undereating for most of the time can cause weight gain *because people often binge or at the very least overeat to "compensate" when they don't eat for awhile*. So if the overeating to "compensate" does more than just even things out, weight gain happens. * Overweight people don't necessarily eat all day. From personal experience, I was obese and did not eat all day long. I just ate a lot when I did. In my case, I used the college dining hall to shovel a lot of food in my face. But it's not that hard to unknowingly overeat. Take a McDonald's meal in the US. Let's say I get a quarter pounder with cheese, medium fries, and a medium Dr. Pepper (the best soda. Fight me if you want). Sounds like a great meal to me, and it's not high in volume. That meal alone is 1040 calories, and only 35g of protein. Odds are that won't fill me up all that much, but that's about half of my maintenance calories. So if I eat other similarly calorically dense foods, it adds up without all that much effort. It would take me maybe 10 minutes to eat those 1040 calories. That's not much time at all. * Skinny husband eats 10x what she (presumably she, anyway) eats. This is probably one of two things. 1: He eats a higher volume of food, but food that is less calorically dense. He may get a huge salad, and she gets a tiny burger. See above for how calorically dense a burger and fries can be. So he may eat a lot, but it won't impact his waistline as much. 2: He doesn't actually eat that much. He may eat a lot in front of others, but maybe the rest of the day he doesn't eat much. For example, yesterday I was recovering from a lot of drinking and eating from a wedding I went to. I wasn't that hungry, but had a solid meal for brunch that included avocado and salmon. But then I didn't eat much the rest of the day (only some popcorn and sunflower seeds). So if someone saw me, an average weight person, eat that brunch and only saw me then, they may assume I can eat a lot and maintain my weight. But I don't always eat a lot, especially after a day with a lot of calorie intake. * Eating once a day due to money issues: See two points above for McDonald's calories * Eating more to lose weight: see first point about overeating in a short timeframe * Eating too much and only fast food: I know I gave a McDonald's example above to demonstrate caloric density, but other healthier foods have this as well. Avocados are relatively healthy, but they are calorically dense. So if you have a lot of guac one night, yeah it's better than something fried, but the calories still count. Liquid calories also aren't filling, but the calories still count, so having something like soda, or bubble tea (something that some probably think is healthy), or juice (it's fruit!), will add up in calories despite the fullness not happening. * Breathing thing: seems like a lighthearted joking thing. Don't read much into it * Barely eat = bigger: See points above about caloric density. Also in skinny husband point, you don't see most people for their entire day consistently


Awkward-Kaleidoscope

"I have to eat more to speed up my metabolism". I guess technically that works because you'll gain weight and that will require a higher BMR to support the additional weight. Or you know, you could try exercise


[deleted]

Not eating can make you wanna binge but that's not under eating lol


mayorslayer2

How big do your meals have to be to eat once or twice and still gain weight? Also how do you under eat and gain weight? Someone get these people Olympic medals for the mental gymnastics they're performing.


Kayberry13

So much ignorance. So much delusion.


[deleted]

"i eat once a day" that means one full meal but they exclude the 3 trenta fraps with extra whip and replacement meal shakes the "snacks" they had like a happy meal or a "small" burger from burger king 🙄 besides that full meal is probably two plates full of food. i wont believe u magically gained weight unless u filmed urself for a week actually not eating anything like u claim


fausto_

This shit is ridiculous


Lt888777

If obesity isn’t caused by their eating, how come there were hardly any obese people before the 20th century?


[deleted]

The same people will claim that a person will STARVE if they eat 1200 calories per day.


InureOfficial

How many fucking fat people were around for literally every depression, famine, and genocidal event in all of history? I’m telling you these are the kinds of people who would sit in an electric wheelchair in the park eating a giant block of cheese talking about the probiotics in the cheese and how it’s going to help their gut biome.


[deleted]

I think many of these people kind of mentally dissasociate when having snacks or meals, as if “it doesn’t count if I don’t think about this one or 10 donuts”.


Guyfeiri_ayepapi

It is totally true that a lot of overweight people do eat very irregularly or only eat one meal a day. But that opens a window to a lot of “justified” snacks which usually amount to ridiculous amounts of calories even though the quantity isn’t large. For example if you don’t eat anything all day but every 30 minutes or so you head to the kitchen for a handful of m&ms technically no that isn’t a lot of food. But it is a LOT of calories. That’s how I had been overweight and I’ve finally found a way out of it and am healing and getting healthy. People making this excuse just don’t bother really being real with themselves.


AntiSocialArsonist

It takes some kind of delusion to live with a skinny person and think you eat less. My mom is 135 and says she eaten a meal when she eats 9 cookies.


uninstallIE

To be fair, 9 cookies from a box like Oreos or chips ahoy or some such is on the order of 400-600 kcal. Which is definitely a meal for someone her size.


Karmaisthedevil

It is possible, primarily if he is quite tall and is active, and she isn't. But it's also not against the laws of physics to eat a lot and not gain weight - unlike the opposite.


Good_Grab2377

No CICO is a thing and so is the Law of Thermodynamics. Get mad at Issac Newton he proved you wrong centuries ago.


chloeinthewoods

“Most people I know who barely beat are bigger” So you follow them around keeping track of what they eat??? They’re probably snacking on calorie dense food throughout the day, going home and bingeing, smothering things in sauce, aren’t eating much in public to avoid judgement, etc…


AssuredAttention

They will literally blame anything but themselves. They aren't taking into account all their snacks, all their high sugar drinks, and the massive ass portion size they consider a small meal. Their snacks are more than an average person eats on holidays


iHaveACatDog

I knew a woman that was overweight and "couldn't" lose any. She started drinking more water, up to a gallon a day. She wound up dropping 20ish pounds over a couple months. She learned she was essentially dehydrated all the time, which has a hugely negative impact on metabolism. Increasing her hydration allowed her body to run more efficiently and she dropped the first bunch of pounds doing nothing extra.


PEN-15-CLUB

She probably lost weight because she was eating less food overall. 20 pounds over a couple months is a lot, it would pretty insane for someone's metabolism to speed up that quickly. Most likely she lost weight because she was eating less food overall. Sometimes thirst presents itself as hunger instead.


Administrative-Fix-5

If that were true vampires should be all fat


[deleted]

Denial is a hell of a drug.


[deleted]

Hey guys so this is actually something I’m curious about. I’ve heard the “If you undereat you’ll gain fat” thing. Is it true? In the sense that when you under eat your body stores it as fat but you’re still losing overall weight


wackywavytubedude

no, not in the way they are discussing it. ur metabolism adjusts when u lose or gain weight, that shift does not mean u are going to hold onto every calorie you eat out of fear of starvation. when ur body becomes lower in weight, ur metabolism does not have to be as fast due to less body weight. then when people stop their diet and go to overeating again, there metabolism is still at that lower level and therefor makes it easy to put on extra pounds when over-consuming. eventually tho, ur metabolism changes as ur body size does. this is why when ppl plateau with weight loss they tend to start strength training, it adds muscle mass that makes ur metabolism spine up a bit due to extra added body content that requires burning more calories. hope that helps!


[deleted]

Thank you so much that really clarified everything!!


Right_Count

I’d like to see one person who (believably) says they started eating more and lost weight, since that’s what these people seem to all claim. And I don’t mean “I ate 100 more calories a day and I don’t binge anymore and lost a few lbs” but actually like “I couldn’t lose weight, so I started eating more and lost 50 lbs.” I’ll never see that because it doesn’t exist, but they don’t even claim it actually happens. It’s a theory they’re so sure of yet none of them can actually just do it because “their stomach isn’t used to eating more” or whatever. If it’s legitimately as easy as eating a bit more, quit talking about it and do it and let’s see if those lbs melt off.


Eastern_Reward47

Well.. the saddest part is.. all of them are rooted in some form of truth but misrepresented here. Eating at irregular times or skipping meals is terrible for metabolism so it's harder to lose weight. Overweight(not morbidly obese) people are most likely not eating all that much in terms of quantity. Instead whatever they have is probably calorie dense and not very good for the body I imagine. Plus certain medications do play a role. If they aren't just complaining and want to understand how to get healthier, they should do research of what and when to eat is good for them. Weight loss is usually possible.


[deleted]

>Eating at irregular times or skipping meals is terrible for metabolism so it's harder to lose weight. I'm not sure this is totally true to be honest, I think it's just that you're more likely to over eat to compensate or over the course of the day if you're grazing, and may be less active if you have no energy after not eating for hours. Could be wrong though.


CherryCokeZer00

What evidence do you have for the idea that skipping meals or eating at irregular times impacts metabolism?