Listen to the Folks.

The FDA has approved two new drugs for weight loss. They are supposed to work well with diet and exercise. Of course, this is NOT for the morbidly obese. If they are that fat, they had better have bariatric surgery before doing anything. (Ka-ching, Ka-ching! Anyone else hear that?)

Now, I had a couple of different reactions to this. According to my doctors and the doctors of everyone I know, the way to lose weight is "diet and exercise."Nothing else. Oh, if you have metabolism issues, they'll prescribe stuff to help with those, but you want to lose weight -- Diet and exercise. And if you don't lose weight, you aren't dieting or exercising. Never mind Tuesday's heat stroke or Friday's collapse -- if you aren't losing weight, you aren't exercising or dieting. Not even if your stomach is complaining loudly because of its emptiness.

There's a lot of things going on in obesity studies and research, and a lot of it is good. A drug or two that will kick start a dieter over a plateau isn't a bad thing. Bariatric surgery for someone who eats until too full is a good thing. It's not going to help much with someone who doesn't eat all that much to start with. Or a grazer.

Until doctors and nutritionists are able to look beyond this whole "Diet and Exercise" combo, they are not going to make any great inroads in battling the obesity "epidemic'.

The old folks had it right. Some folks are born to be fat. It's in their genes. No, that's not just an excuse. (There have been some intriguing research and discoveries into fat genes.) It's not a stereotype, either. Lately research is finding all sorts of things more prevalent among certain ethnicities, even when environment is not a factor.

Treat the genetic type, and how that body works, and you'll be abler to manage the weight.

One concern that's twinned with the obesity concern is that it is the cause or related to diabetes. There is a connection, but the scientists are so wrapped up in finding a cure (or ongoing treatments; much more profitable) that they are ignoring, once again, folk wisdom.

Diabetes is caused by lack of insulin, which the body (is supposed to) produce(s) in the pancreas. That has been the scientific wisdom for just shy of a century.

What if that's wrong?
What if, instead of producing insulin, the pancreas -- still very much a mystery organ -- stores it? What if, like the ovaries, the human body comes with a measured amount of insulin or the base ingredients to turn (stuff) into insulin? What if our modern refined diet is just using up a lifetime supply in a few years?

The old folk used to tell kids not to eat so many sweets or they'd end up with sugar in their blood.
Science came along and said that's silly, that's not how it works. So everyone eats refined sugars and uses up all their insulin and -- voila -- sugar in their blood at a young age.

Insulin is playing a role in the diet/exercise dilemma as well. No one is sure exactly how that all factors together, but they've discovered things like insulin resistance and glucose intolerance and gluco-this and glycemic-that. If they look, they'll probably be able to relate that to ethnic origins -- genetics.

If they look.

But they won't, or very few will. They'll continue to preach "Diet and Exercise" until they've killed all the people they haven't operated on. And maybe even those. Much easier to follow the party line, blame the patient, than take time to know the patient and actually help them.

The old folks had it right all along.
As usual.
That family is  usually fat, and if you eat too much sugar while you're young, you'll end up with sugar in your blood.

Listen to your parents and grandparents, if it's only in your memory. They knew your body and background before doctors knew anything.

Weighing in

There are weight loss doctors everywhere, or so you'd think. You can't turn on the tv, listen to the radio, surf the net without seeing or hearing them in every media. Obesity (which is a condition not a disease) has been declared an epidemic.

I recently went to a doctor, because I have gained weight all out of proportion to my lifestyle changes, my activity levels, and my food intake. Imagine being told that I need to lose weight, be more active, and eat less. DUH! I tried all that; it wasn't working. That's why I'm here, doc.

Disgusted, I came home and tried doing a little research. There are huge hospitals in Cincinnati. There are research places all over the map. There are clinics and other organizations.

The first thing any of them want to know is the name of your insurance carrier and how long you've had the policy.

The next thing they do is try to sell you on their one specialty. For weight loss, the specialty of choice seems to be some form of bariatric surgery. Don't want surgery? Sorry, they can't (won't) help you.
Or you could buy magic weight loss pills, powders, or products. Take eight or ten or twelve overpriced doses three or four times a day, and you're guaranteed to lose weight on their program.

Probably because you have no money left to buy groceries.

Weight loss programs like weight watchers or nutrisystems aren't much help either. If you can scrape together the membership fees, they rely heavily on their own foods, which, as members you can buy at special prices.

If you're not losing weight, it's your fault. Whether it's because of no surgery, no special powders, or no especially pre-packaged foods, it's your fault.
Even if you are doing everything right, but still are not losing weight, it's your fault.
You are a fat lazy cow who only sits and eats and you don't try to help yourself. You are fat, so it must be your fault.
 Everyone in the medical profession knows it, and every one of them will tell you so, although not  always in so many words.
They make sure you know it, though.

Maybe I should just see a vet.

fat getting fit

Why do the ads for exercise equipment keep using the already fit in their commercial? Only part of it can be that that's a subliminal message/goal to the prospective customers. Why not use people who really need their equipment? (It worked for Jared and Subway.) That's who they are selling for, isn't it?

Probably not. The people who are fighting fit usually have more disposable income. They spend money, not just on healthier foods, but on all the equipment and on the fashionably fit togs that are also a feature of the ads.

 What they don't tell: Many times their equipment isn't made for the truly overweight. There are weight limits on the things, usually around 250 pounds. Now, 250 is overweight for most of us, but the people who will most benefit from the products very well may see 250 as a goal to get down to.

There's also the ease of use aspect. If you are lighter, you can make that equipment sing, hum, fly! You can get it going and it goes, goes, goes. If you are around the 250 limit, just getting it to move can be a problem.

If the ponytailed blonde can whiz by on a walker, and the muscle bound guy can pull those elastic handles with ease, it's because they don't need to. Also because they have already done most of the work needed to get the benefit of the products.

No matter how easy it looks for the young and fit, it's work getting there.
It's work getting it started.
It's not easy work, and it's not quick work. But, as the advertising models know, it's good work, and gets easier as you go along.

Make sure it fits, and know, before you start, that you are worth the effort.