Anyone who closely follows a diet plan is strong willed, and it can take virtually a supernatural amount of willpower to eat less than your mind is craving. That doesn't stop the fact that weight will be lost if fewer calories are consumed. Again I'm not saying it's simple to manage or that's it's the same for everyone.
No, for some people the diet-plan will work through sheer will power.
But, there are some people who may have a range of medical conditions which physically will prevent them from losing the weight, as there are for people who are desperate to put on weight. I think this is what wafflycat is trying to get across to you.
No medical condition can prevent someone from loosing weight. It can however be difficult/impossible for some people to loose weight and yet consume the nutrients they need to be healthy. I already said as much in reply #44.
Again, I'm sorry I've upset you Wafflycat. Please accept I'm sincere about that. Again, I'm interested in discussing the subject in general rather than criticising individuals. I think it's fair to say the majority of overweight people could loose weight healthily if they want to and if they have some help. Isn't that fair?
It links to the original topic in that perhaps people can be encouraged to loose weight while being able to have good clothing, rather than being forced to loose weight to have it (by the larger sizes not being available).
Apology accepted. But you do have some misunderstandings about weight issues. Example: a neighbour's child put on a vast amount of weight whilst on steriods for a medical problem. The weight he put on really was a huge amount of weight. This was without eating any more. Amongst other things, he was retaining a lot of fluid which made him balloon up. Nothing whatsoever to do with overeating or simply needing to eat less. Came off the medications when his health issue was sorted and his weight returned to normal: without dieting.
The majority of overweight could lose weight healthily? Who knows? We really don't know for sure. If it was as simple as pure calorie reduction, then I doubt we'd have such a big weight problem. Just one of the complicating fatcors is that food is tied up in all sorts of social and cultural aspects of life that it isn't simple. A minor example is one I can give by direct experience. Try eating out at a social gathering when you have to watch every single thing you eat. At a restaurant with friends, I scoured the menu to find the healthiest option. I asked about ingredients, I asked for no sauces.. no oils.. no alcohol and made the best choice I could. Yet I was made to feel a social pariah by sticking to my guns about eating healthily and carefully. I was given the usual "Oh go on, one night won't do you any harm!" Well actually, it will, I've learnt the hard way that for me, one night will do me harm. Add into that the experessions of horror on the other guests when I was asking the waiter about stuff *for my choice*. I was not inflicting my healthy choice on any other peron in the group, yet I was made out to feel as if I was making a 'fuss' Yet if I had eaten unhealthily, I'd have got the 'you only have to eat less' thrown at me (it happens). perhaps we fatties aren't supposed to have a social life until we get to a socially acceptable size? Should we hide away out of sight as we're socially unacceptable? Try to do something about weight and in public we're making a fuss, "Oh go on... one won't harm" as the box of biscuits is passed around. Don't make the effort publicly and we get harangued about lack of control and not being able to eat less, or being unhealthy, a drain on NHS resources..
It used to be smokers, and now it's the overweight. What next? Could it be those exercise junkies who are so addicted to exercise that they go out and get injured, and that's a drain on the NHS... just saying that as an illustration as we all have health faults, we all have or do something that someone else considers a vice, a bad habit, a disgusting trait..
There are certainly adverse medical issues around being overweight. And there are adverse medical issues at the other end of the spectrum. What is seen as a 'healthy' weight is largely a cultural issue. Back in the past and even now around various parts of the globe, being what we think of as fat is seen as a sign of health and prosperity. Currently, in the west, in times of plenty, being *thin* is seen as healthy and desirable.
Ideal weight and proportions is as much cultural as medical.