If you type "obesity" and "malnutrition" into a search engine, it will return over a million results. The first few articles that show up are pretty much saying, hey! Obese people are actually malnourished! Who would have thought?!

Then you read the articles, and they start blaming the modern agricultural methods and processed foods, soda pop and high fructose corn syrup. They could be right.

But I'm interested in following this in a different direction.. or perhaps just further along the same lines.

So, we'll take a person (we'll call her Cindy) that is eating the typical flour and shortening diet. She is gonna be short on vitamin C. (And D, and chromium, and iron.. etc. etc but we'll pick on C). So, now the body says, HEY, we're missing something, yo!! But, it can only say it with a nagging hunger that sends Cindy searching through her cupboards. Her eye lands on some ice cream (in the cupboard.. I know, right?).. and she digs it out and starts eating. But since there isn't vit. C in the ice cream, a couple spoonfuls doesn't quell her hunger, so she eats until she's ready to pop.

Now she puts on some weight. 5'1 Cindy, who should weigh maybe 120lbs, now weighs 140. With the increase in weight, her body now has to work harder just to exist (the muscles have to carry the extra load, etc), so she needs MORE nutrients.. more vitamin C, and calcium, calories, etc. etc.

But, does Cindy increase her consumption? No, of course not! She sees her pants don't fit, the scale has the wrong number, and so what does she do? She goes on a diet! Slashes her calories. But if she just eats less of the same nutrient-poor food that caused her to gain weight in the first place, then she's eating fewer nutrients too! (Imagine she was eating a big plate of spaghetti that had 2 cups of tomato sauce on it, and changes to a small plate of spaghetti with 1/2 cup sauce. The majority of the vitamins in that spaghetti are in the sauce, and now she is eating 25% of the vit C. that she had been).

The pounds drop off, but so does her basic nutrition level. Eventually her body rebels and she can't keep to her diet anymore. She starts eating again, and her body is screaming for nutrients, but keeps getting fed junk, so the pounds just pile on. Now she's heavier than she was before!

People that are carrying too much weight need to be FED, not starved. But WHAT they are fed MUST CHANGE! We have all the energy we need (and more).. but it's the missing nutrients that we must find and replenish.

Bariatric surgery works because we are able to decrease our calories. The postop diet is designed to keep our protein levels up, and we are to take vitamins to replace those we don't get from our food. But not every vitamin comes in pill form, and not every nutrient has a blood test. We HAVE to continue working to improve our food choices so that we can fill all those needs.

I have people at home that are trying to lose weight, and I'm watching my MIL grab about 1oz of pork loin to eat for dinner (with some corn). I'm like, what the *expletive* do you think you are doing? She's sooo.... clueless... when it comes to nutrition. But she won't let me formulate a plan for her.

3 hours ago, Berry78 said:

It would be nice to not have to count and plan.. and if we could still eat 20 cups of food a day, then maybe we would have that luxury. But, here we are, having to meet a zillion different nutritional needs into 3-5 cups of food. Heck yeah we have to plan!

My hubby, with his normal-sized stomach, can easily eat 2 cups (4 servings) of Beans, PLUS a nice hunk of whole wheat bread, PLUS a side of baked apples, all in one sitting. Then he can eat 2+ more times during the day. He has the LUXURY of spreading his nutrients out into massive quantities of food, and it's nearly impossible for him to not meet his Protein needs (the above meal has 34g, right there).

But I'm not him. I don't have a normal sized stomach any more, and if I ate the given meal, it would take all day, and I wouldn't have room for anything else. And I would only consume 34g for the whole day, which would leave me deficient.

But this was my choice.. I'm exchanging a future of diabetes (and having to count blood sugar readings several times a day) for counting my protein.

Careful Berry...You are making me hungry!

I haven't craved sweets in 2 1/2 months until you brought up baked apples! Now, I am secretly plotting a way to make them. What is your recipe? I know they sell Splenda brown sugar, but don't know if that is a good thing or not.

As far as I can tell, your diet is on point, and your health should definitely show it! In response to your comment about the amount we can eat in a day, I will say that I don't think that we were meant to eat 20 cups of food (or more in my case) in a day. We consume way more, and are way less active than our forefathers/mothers. I never thought that I could be healthy eating as little as I do, but as you stated, it all comes down to planning.

45 minutes ago, DropWt4Life said:

Careful Berry...You are making me hungry!

I haven't craved sweets in 2 1/2 months until you brought up baked apples! Now, I am secretly plotting a way to make them. What is your recipe? I know they sell Splenda brown sugar, but don't know if that is a good thing or not.

As far as I can tell, your diet is on point, and your health should definitely show it! In response to your comment about the amount we can eat in a day, I will say that I don't think that we were meant to eat 20 cups of food (or more in my case) in a day. We consume way more, and are way less active than our forefathers/mothers. I never thought that I could be healthy eating as little as I do, but as you stated, it all comes down to planning.

You should try this stuff out! It's made with erythritol and Monk Fruit Extract and for most people, won't cause intestinal distress or blood sugar spikes. To me, it reminds me of brown sugar! And it's at Walmart! https://www.walmart.com/ip/Lakanto-Monkfruit-Sweetener-Golden-8-29-OZ/51451687?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&adid=22222222227039080202&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=60196590338&wl4=pla-96948103538&wl5=1026334&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=online&wl12=51451687&wl13=&veh=sem

Ok, you'll need a pen and paper for this one.

Wash apple and slice it up, removing core.

Sprinkle with cinnamon. Add a little pat of real, salted butter.

Microwave for 2-3 minutes or until done.

Eat.

I am now super sensitive to sweet, so need nothing extra.

Mmmmm....sounds delicious!

Cooking fruit makes the sugars super easy to digest... so anyone with blood sugar issues might not want to do this, or should limit their consumption and combine with fat, fiber, and/or protein to slow 'er down.

Obesity is a disease of malnutrition. Read the book "why we get fat and what to do about it" by Gary Taubes. This isn't a modern problem. The problem in its simplest form is some of us can not process carbs likely others. We eat carbs, our body produces large amount of insulin to process those carbs, the insulin causes us to produce large amount of LPL enzyme, and that causes use to store fat. It because a nasty cycle for us.

The other aspect that isn’t spoken about is the fact that many of us are addicted to food. There is a significant body of research that looks at how repressed emotions drive physical disease and addictions. 90% of families are judged to have dysfunctional patterns. Just think of how girls and women are taught to not show anger and to never set boundaries and say no. As for men and boys ‘Big boys don’t cry’. When emotions are pushed to the bottom something else takes their place - alcohol, cigarettes, computer games, smartphones, food - the list carries on and on. Most of us have multiple addictions that we go to when we don’t want to feel those emotions. ‘Comfort’ eating - I feel bad so rather than sitting with myself and feel whatever uncomfortable emotion that wants to talk to me - I eat something instead and now my focus is on the food. For me I notice that my stop button goes away - I stop listening to my stomach saying ‘enough’. What I eat changes as well - I stray into sweeter territory and maybe even bread. This is the biggest learning for me. I can do the healthy eating ( I have a lot of training in nutrition) - but if the mental and emotional work isn’t being done, I sabotage myself. My biggest fear: going through all of this and STILL effing it up...

@FlyFatA$$Fly Love that book and Gary Taubes. Also love his partner Peter Attia. They make so much since. Also Dominic D'Agostino. Such brainiacs! Have you ever read any stuff from Hyperlipid blog? He's also the bomb!

Great story. Tks for sharing

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4 hours ago, Cityrie said:

going through all of this and STILL effing it up...

Some days you WILL mess up. We all do! But that's ok! 2 steps forward, 1 step back.. still gets you there, it just takes longer!

Who cares how long it takes? This isn't a race.

*Beating yourself up when you go off plan is MUCH more harmful than going off plan ever could be.*

(Well, in a literal sense.. don't go slam down a big mac on your way home from the hospital after surgery.. that would be very dangerous! But if you know your life is on the line during the first 2 months postop, usually that's enough to get through that time frame without messing up. It's later when that big mac won't kill you that the struggle is likely to become real.)

Anyone with addictions needs outside help. Counseling, group therapy, support groups, all of that. {Hugs} You aren't alone. MANY people on this board struggle with just this thing.

[mention=323455]FlyFatA$$Fly[/mention] Love that book and Gary Taubes. Also love his partner Peter Attia. They make so much since. Also Dominic D'Agostino. Such brainiacs! Have you ever read any stuff from Hyperlipid blog? He's also the bomb!

No, I haven't seen the Hyprlipid blog, but will for sure check it out. Gary Taubes and Peter Attis are great! There is so much pseudoscience in the weight loss world, but they cover the actual science. They also do it an easy to understand way.

10 hours ago, FlyFatA$$Fly said:

Obesity is a disease of malnutrition. Read the book "why we get fat and what to do about it" by Gary Taubes. This isn't a modern problem. The problem in its simplest form is some of us can not process carbs likely others. We eat carbs, our body produces large amount of insulin to process those carbs, the insulin causes us to produce large amount of LPL enzyme, and that causes use to store fat. It because a nasty cycle for us.

I agree that some of us have the excess hormone problem and insulin is the problem. Some researchers have theorized that those of us with the thrifty gene are the ones more likely to suffer with metabolic syndrome. Anything we can do to reduce insulin levels will go a long way to helping us normalize our weight.

There are different ways of achieving this and WLS is one of them. Another interesting thing I have just learned is how some doctors believe that intermittent fasting mimics the feast and fast cycle and this may be one of the reasons this style of eating works for many people. It works with the natural tendencies of their metabolism. Very interesting stuff.

4 minutes ago, FlyFatA$$Fly said:

No, I haven't seen the Hyprlipid blog, but will for sure check it out. Gary Taubes and Peter Attis are great! There is so much pseudoscience in the weight loss world, but they cover the actual science. They also do it an easy to understand way.

Peter at Hyperlipid will blow your mind! Can't wait to hear what you think!

Great post.

@Berry78 you are amazing. I needed this today. I have had horrible eating pattern for the past 3 days. Already back on right path, but this has made me realize that I don't eat enough veggies. I'm so focused on getting enough protein in, and I'm getting like 120g from just food, and not getting over like 1200kcal, but I need more veggies.

I have meal prepped since day one, and it has saved me, but I make the same stuff over and over. I need to venture out more.