Is fat behavior or biology?
Have you ever tried not to go pee? At first its pretty easy. Sometimes the urge even goes away. But most of the time, the longer you hold it in the worse the urge get’s. And, eventually, you just can’t hold it anymore. When I think of dieting and what the science suggests about weight loss, I almost always think of this analogy.
At the core of the anti-fat argument is the suggestion that fat is a choice. That overeating is the primary cause of fat, so all fat people have to do is choose to eat less. Words like “lifestyle” and “willpower” are thrown around to represent the idea that the “behavior” of being fat is surmountable.
Well, all us humans have experience this thing we call hunger. It’s a biological urge that compels us to eat. As I like to say, “Humans are built to eat.” Food is our primary energy source. So, unlike smoking or drinking, people can’t just give up eating “cold turkey.”
Okay, so, on the one hand we’re talking about behavior…and on the other we’re talking about biology. In nuanced conversations we have to admit it’s a bit of both. Sometimes eating is a behavior. Something tastes good and you want to eat more.
The question of the moment; is fat more behavior or more biology? Well…
- There is science that says fat is a result of fierce biological cues.
- That people are genetically disposed to a particular weight range.
- That some people can lose weight in the short run through dieting.
- But nearly all people can’t keep the weight off in the long run.
- And research that shows people keeping their calorie count low over a period of time leads to hoarding and binging behavior (aka semi-starvation neurosis.)
Time and again I’ve read articles where scientists and medical professionals admit they know about all these nuanced pieces of information… but, in their very next breath, they say us fatties should fight the “genetic hand” we’ve been dealt. They seem to be suggesting that everyone can win the battle, if only they try hard enough.
But the evidence suggests otherwise. Except for statistical outliers, dieting with the goal of weight loss is a losing game. If you go by facts alone, fat seems to be more about biology than it is about behavior.
The worst part? I don’t think the public is clear about the nuance of this conversation. I don’t think they understand that when the professionals talk about “willpower” they mean “fighting against biology.” I think when the public hears “dieting requires willpower” they think that means mental fortitude.
Like, they think, “If I can’t resist the urge to eat, then it’s my fault becasue I’m weak or lazy.” When, really, if they can’t resist, it’s probably becasue their body is winning the battle.
This is the point where I’m going to remind you about the analogy of trying to go pee. Yes, you can choose to fight it. And on rare occasions you might even win. But, most of the time, biology is going to win in the end.
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Sources:
The biology of why we get fat (pdf)
Is Obesity About Willpower Or Wiring?
CSWD:Long Term Diet Failure
“Experimental Neurosis” Resulting from Semistarvation in Man
“They seem to be suggesting that we can win the battle, if only we try hard enough.”
You can… only, it makes you crazy, and depressed, obsessed, and other bad things.
Even those of us who ARE the statistical outliers who have managed to lose weight and keep it off - it’s still a struggle… just one that appears to be somewhat less crazy making than for a non 5%er.
To keep with your analogy… I think for the 5% success rate people, that urge to pee is there… we want to go pee, but it never gets so bad that WE HAVE TO GO RIGHT NOW OR DIE!!! Which probably has something to do with brain chemistry, etc.
Also, I strongly suspect that as I get older, biology is going to take a heavier hand (as with all the other things that go along with getting older), and it’s going to make it harder and harder to not “run for the bathroom”
noceleryplease -
In the study about semi-starvation neurosis, there seemed to be a spectrum of how people reacted neuropsychiatricly (ie their brain chemistry) to a calorie restricted diet. And there were extremes at each end, with some of them really going crazy and some of them coping fine.
If restricting your calories makes you so crazy that you can’t stop yourself from eating, then I’m of the opinion that those people CAN’T loose weight. But, if we’re going to talk about the spectrum, then I have to admit that the 5% of statistical outliers probably have the urge but it doesn’t take them to that place where they have an overwhelming biological compulsion to eat.
Somewhere in the middle, between those two extremes, falls everyone else. Statistically, the evidence available to us seems to suggest that “everyone else” has not been able to loose weight and keep it off for an extended period of time. I don’t know why…but I still think it’s an important piece of information to tell people who are being told they “should” loose weight.
Sometimes it’s hard being nuanced about this issue becasue I feel like there is a whole book worth of information that has to be communicated…and that it’s mostly made up of theories. And I have to admit this post is an opinion becasue I can’t hard and fast prove any of it.
noceleryplease -
I decided to change the word “we” to “everyone” in the line you quoted. Small thing, but I want to be clear that I acknowledge the 5% of people that do loose the weight.
Although… I did hear one weight loss specialist once say that anyone who manages to keep lost weight off for their entire life just died before it came back.
Even the “pros” understand the near-impossibility of the thing…
Mmmmmmm… cold turkey.
I’m just finishing “The End of Overeating” by Dr. David Kessler. On the one hand, he acknowledges some of these nuances, but he, too, makes it seem as though willpower is all that’s needed (except he doesn’t call it willpower). He also tries to make it seem as though all fat people are victims of “conditioned hypereating” and all thin people have figured out how to successfully resist it. Then later he goes on to state that, oh yeah, some thin people can exhibit behaviors of conditioned hypereating, maybe.
He tries to be nuanced, then paints with broad strokes for most of the book. I have to say that a lot of it was eye-opening, yet there is enough generalizations to make it standard fare with regard to the science.
I think we’re all dealt a genetic hand of traits that make us more or less likely to be fat or to overeat, and the more traits you inherit, the more difficult it is to struggle against it. The other book I recently read called “How Fat Works” acknowledges that obesity is 50-90% genetically determined. Yeah, you can do things to mitigate the health risks, but altering your body? Not so much.
Great post.
Peace,
Shannon
atchka -
“I think we’re all dealt a genetic hand of traits that make us more or less likely to be fat or to overeat, and the more traits you inherit, the more difficult it is to struggle against it.”
I would tend to agree with you. In my opinion, weight is a system not a switch.
The science of fat is SO in it’s infancy. We REALLY don’t understand how the machine works. We know some of the components and some of the results…but the whole picture isn’t there yet.
Which is why I think there are so many people trying to paint a picture with these “broad strokes.” That, and there are people INVESTED in the idea of us KNOWING. Money and power and all that shebang.
Even I have my own little opinion and theory and agenda, as is shown in this post. I’m not an expert…but I play one on this blog. (LOL)
atchka -
The more I think about it, the more I really like that you separated being fat from overeating when you said “traits that make us more or less likely to be fat or to overeat.”
I’m willing to admit that some people can CHOOSE eat themselves into being fatter. So overeating can lead to fat. But overeating can also NOT lead to fat, for those who are of a particular naturally thin body type. And I firmly believe that people can be fat but not overeat.
I’m going to try and remember to make that distinction more often, as a way to separate the behavior of eating from the physical trait of weight.
O.K. here’s a little TMI moment for you.
I once peed my pants while trying to hold it until I could get to a bathroom.
It wasn’t one of my proudest days.
I actually get kooky if I don’t eat when I’m hungry and start acting like a lunatic. My daughter is the same way.
If she’s having an episode, my husband and I turn to each other and ask when the last time she ate was.
dufmanno -
I’ll raise your TMI. I was the little girl in school that pee’d her pants on a regular basis. One of the symptoms of an undiagnosed food allergy is incontinence. And it wasn’t until I was in my teens, when my mom found this awesome allergist, that we learned I had food allergies.
I try NOT to get bogged down about exactly how miserable my childhood was…but it wasn’t easy being a sickly kid. Funny enough, I don’t really remember getting teased about that. Either I was really good at hiding it, or the kids were so embarrassed FOR ME that they didn’t tease.
My turn!
When I was probably 7 or 8, I was sleepwalking when I went into my brothers room and opened his sock drawer. He said, “What are you doing?” and I said, “Going pee.”
And I did.
Peace,
Shannon
atchka -
That’s awesome! I totally have a mental image of a little boy peeing in his brothers sock drawer. It’s hilarious.
Also - TMI - I had to go pee after I read this
noceleryplease -
Hey, I may have made you all go pee…but at least I didn’t compare us to breed of dogs!
Thank goodness I used the bathroom earlier with all this peeing talk (LOL). Ok, Is fat a behavior or biology? I think it is both but mostly biology. For example, Monique lost weight but she is still fat. I think her behavior change but biology remain. The same goes for Queen Latifah and other celebs as well as “average” folks. Genetics play a huge role and I don’t care how many “experts” say otherwise. How my body displays (on the surface) food storage is completely different from the person next to me. What does smoking and drinking have to do with eating??? So food is detrimental to my health…um no.. chemically injected chicken and vegetables & fruits sprayed with pesticides are and narrow minded individuals but that’s another post.
Hidi -
How my body displays (on the surface) food storage is completely different from the person next to me.
Totally. A part of me just doesn’t understand how people can think weight is the same for everyone. All you have to do is look around to see that we don’t all come in the same shape or size. And all you have to do is ask your friends and family to find out that our experience with weight loss and gain are not all the same.
What does smoking and drinking have to do with eating???
Maybe that was kind of random without context. “Obesity” has been compared to smoking quite a bit…because their both considered “behaviors” with a negative consequence.
My point was that I DON’T think smoking or drinking can be compared to eating becasue, ultimately, eating isn’t a choice. Even at the point someone is addicted to smoking or alcohol, they can generally go “cold turkey” without life-threatening results.
I don’t believe food is poison. And, except for extremes, I don’t think overeating is an imminently life-threatening behavior. I just don’t buy into this idea that fat is a disease.
Maybe being sedate and eating a limited spectrum of foods is bad for a person. MAYBE. But those “behaviors” are NOT restricted to us fatties, so putting the blame on fat feel like a lie and a manipulation to me.
Sorry. Got a little ranty there at the end. Anyhow, we’re on the same page. And I love your use of celebrity examples. I think it’s awesomely defiant to throw pop culture references back at the mainstream ideology. My fave example is Oprah…of course.
Elizebeth,
Yep, I agree we are on the same page. Oprah really need to accept the fact that she is fat. I believe the drastic weight change is totally unhealthy; I think her body is suffering. (No offense to her)
“I just don’t buy into this idea that fat is a disease.”-If fat is a disease, then we all would be dead by now. There is no “cure” for it. We won’t even live long enough to “burn” the fat. Do you know how long I will have to be on the treadmill in order to “burn” fat? (pure sarcasm) I really don’t believe it is a diesease at all.
My take on the willpower argument is basically this: even if it does all come down to willpower, if only 5% of the fat population have the willpower to achieve and maintain significant weightless, then it’s ridiculous to expect the other 95% should be able to do the same. Only a small percentage of people will ever win Olympic medals, or be awarded PhDs, or any number of things which require extreme dedication and commitment. Does than mean we should berate the rest of the population who ‘fail’ to achieve these things?