Are you sick?

(Jay Patten) #1

So last week was interesting.

Every year we have a huge training conference in Sevierville, TN. It draws in just about every building inspector and fire marshal in Eastern TN for two days of training.

Last year I was the vice president of the organization and this year I was the president. So both years I was on stage, in front of everybody.

Well this year I had several people ask me about my health. I have lost well over 100 pounds and I’m currently hovering around 180 pounds (I’m just shy of 6’2"). Apparently people thought that I was sick.

Then, when I took the volunteers out to lunch (as a thank you for their help), a couple of people freaked out over the fact that I don’t eat during the day (I eat OMAD).

So why is it that people would’t say s&%t when I was three hundo but when I drop down to a healthy weight they lose their damn minds?!?!

(Janelle) #2

I’ll admit, when my brother lost a lot of weight, the first time I saw him (he lives in California and I live in Atlanta), I thought he looked a little sick and I missed his big jolly self. I’ve had to just get over that and congratulate him on the weight-loss and see him anew. He was heavy for so long - it’s just a bit of a shock and drastic weight loss is so rare, people assume illness.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #3

But . . . but . . . healthycarbs . . . arterycloggingsaturatedfat . . . brain needs glucose. . . :rofl:

Congratulations, Jay! :+1:

(Marius the butter craving dude) #4

I find by subjective observations in the mirror that the face looks skinny as you approach target and normal weight. Once there and when you maintain it the face steadily starts to loose that skinny look without going back to chubby mode.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #5

It occurs to me that people aren’t going to say anything to us when we’re fat, because we’ve all finally learned to stop shaming people for being obese. And they worry so much because we’ve all, as a society, anyway, forgotten what true normal weight looks like.

Now that I’ve been eating a ketogenic diet for a while, it’s distressing to see how even “healthy,” athletic men have a layer of fat under their skin. I mean, women are supposed to have some subcutaneous fat, but lean men’s ribs should be visible.

(John) #6

I am pretty sure if you had gained from 180 to 300 in a single year, people would also notice but might not say anything out of politeness, because they would have assumed you were overeating and/or not exercising.

Significant weight loss is relatively rare, so it’s not something they expect.

People dropping 100+ pounds in a year, in most people’s experience, equals cancer.

(Bob M) #7

100 pounds in a year still shocks me every single time I see it, especially considering it took me years to lose 50 “pounds” (while gaining muscle, so the weight loss isn’t as high). When I see people go from being extremely overweight to normal weight in a year, that is still amazing to me.

(Janelle) #8

Yep. My 260lb, 6’2” dad lost 100lbs due to pancreatic cancer. The loss did not look good on him.

(MelissaH) #9

People are quick to notice when other’s aren’t doing what they are? “What you mean you don’t eat bread, or dairy”. As they stuff their faces with dinner rolls slathered honey butter🤣

(Jay Patten) #10

See, that’s a problem to me.

My family and close fiends should have been encouraging me to lose weight.

We have gotten so sensative about obesity that no one wants to step up and say “hey man, I’m worried about you.”

(Carl Keller) #11

Lose 100 and people assume you are sick. Gain 100 and people don’t bat an eye. The current carb-driven culture is conditioned to believe that being fat is normal while losing fat is not.

I like to point out that humans have been around for a long time and they’ve not always had the luxury of eating every three to four hours and that it’s only in the last 50 or so years out of the past 200,000 that we’ve become addicted to this behavior.

I can’t think of any animal on this planet that is a consumer of nutrient dense foods, that even needs to eat three times.

(Jay Patten) #12

I eat once a day (sometimes twice on a weekend) and I am perfectly happy doing this. People equate fasting with eating disorders, I guess.

(Carl Keller) #13

I think that when we lose weight, the people close to us become more self-conscious of their own weight. As addicts of carbs, their natural thoughts are “but what you are doing must not be healthy”. As a recovering addict, I can safely say I saw myself doing this a lot when anything challenged my eating behavior.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #14

Dr. Phinney has mentioned that some “experts” call it “the anorexia of ketosis.” As though constant hunger should be considered normal, oy!

(Stickin' with mammoth) #15

Oh, you are effing kidding me! That is Hiss. Stair. Ick. Call.

So, lemme see if I have this: Becoming a poster child for Auschwitz as a vegan is dedication but reaching a healthy weight on keto is akin to the most fatal mental disorder in the DSM-5 today?

Unbefrackinglievable. (eats steak, shakes head)

(mole person) #16

Yes. It’s sooooo much this. It’s now considered the norm for older people to always have fleshed out faces. Loose skin on the face, what used to be normal in the elderly, is now considered sickly whereas a huge gut is not.

I love my husband’s spare keto body. He looks and feels to the touch like the man I was dating when I was 19. Yay, and double Yay! I love time
warps! But people tell me repeatedly that he looks too thin. Well, not to me.

Yup, even my CrossFit coach who is a god of muscles and very young to boot is always struggling with ten extra pounds of fat.

Yup again!

Lol… I know I’ve just practically quoted your entire post but it all struck me as so right I felt it deserved repeating!

(Jay Patten) #17

My brother-in-law has been doing cross fit for YEARS and is still quite overweight.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #18

The way I look at it is that you can’t exercise your way out of a bad diet. And if you are eating a good diet, you don’t need to exercise.

No pain, no pain! Just saying.

(Jay Patten) #19

@PaulL I agree with this 100%!

(Chris) #21

Disgusting. You can eat as much cake, candy and mayonnaise as you want and no one bats an eye. But, skip a meal? ARE YOU INSANE?