Yes, the body is saying "nourish me" and they're feeding it food that is high-calorie and low-nutrient. So the body keeps asking "nourish me". And they feed it the same thing. We shouldn't be so quick to blame the body for the mind making poor decisions.
> It is incredibly difficult to lose weight for anything more than a year or two, and in fact very rarely happens
But why is that? Have they developed new better habits, or simply put the proven bad ones on hold? Is the whole family / household in on the effort, or is it usually one very obese person trying to change, while the obese and overweight under the same roof aren't making any effort (to change diet, exercise, and TV watching* routines).
The point is, we are known creatures of habit. We are also creatures known to conform to the surrounding norms. If the norms of the house are counter-productive then yes you're going to lose. If the norms once you leave the house (or turn on the TV) are against you, that doesn't help either (but it's a bit less impactful).
I understand it's a complicated social issue. But the biology and psychology / behavior aspects are fairly well known and documented. People don't want to believe that all that good tasting food is bad for them. They don't want to give up the idea that ice cream is for daily consumption (not limited to special occasions). Etc.
I agree. It's not easy. But the denial doesn't make it any easier.
* My parents loved to watching cooking shows, and their diet reflected it. I wish I had $20 for every time I said, "Food is for nutrition, not a pleasure center...Rachael Ray is not your friend."
I'd like to add that Oprah spent years pushing the idea of "love yourself" (regardless of how unhealthy that might be) now has a diet-friendly food line (a la Weight Watchers). And yet no one stops to say, wait didn't she help normalize this problem?
The food doesn't really seem to be the main issue (though it probably adds its own set of health complications). Newer research tends to suggest that the body is not saying "nourish me", it's saying "I need to be 120kg" (the lipostat model), and it doesn't seem food is what's affecting that. Various other substances are known to cause similar effects (hormones, lithium, possibly PFAS and other plastics), but it remains to be seen if any of them is present in high enough quantities to be the root cause.
I agree. There are also too many unknown environmental factors.
Nonetheless, too many calories ingested, and not enough calories burned is only going to go in one direction.
btw, I recently read "The Comfort Crisis" by Michael Easter. I wouldn't say there was a whole not a new info (for me) in it. But he does a very good job of bring a wide range of info together and presents it in a way that's easy to consume (but not in a junk food sort of way). I think it's worth a read for anyone who looking to improve their health via diet + movement.
