A question from JayK
First, fantastic book. Great humor and writing. More than anything, thanks for being so honest. Most of us experienced similar emotions and gone to extremes to lose weight. I have not read such an honest account. You bared parts of your life which could not have been easy to share but more than anything put into context the agony of being heavy against the joy, although it is strangely not always joyful, of eating. I am just wondering first if you have any thoughts about the theory that overweight people do not consume anymore food than those of lower weights. I have read many studies saying they do not, but what I observe tells me something else. Second, what do you think of the theory, I think this was expressed by Gina Kolata in "Rethinking Thin," that many people have a set point in regards to weight? Thank you for a great book about what was really much of your life and much happiness in the years ahead for you.
Answer:
I try to be careful, since I'm not a scientist and haven't done or reviewed a wide body (pardon the phrase!) of research, about these opinions. So I have to stress here that I'm speaking merely from my own experience, and from the anecdotal evidence of what I see in people I know.
When I've been seriously overweight versus not, I've consumed more. Absolutely. That said, I think there's truth to the underlying notion that the correlation between amount of food eaten and body mass index, or whatever, isn't exact or simple. People seem to me to metabolize foods in different ways---and then there's the issue of WHAT the food metabolized IS---and people's activity levels from moment to moment vary so much. A constantly moving, shuffling, etc., person is probably going to get away with a lot more eating than somebody else.
"Set points" --- I think there's some truth to this. Again, from my own experience: when I've let weight stay on for longer periods of time, it becomes harder to lose. When I've stayed slim for longer periods of time, I seem to stay more easily away from overeating and binge eating. And as I have noticed and continue to notice this, I'm put in mind of the old biological principle of homeostasis, which I remember (I hope correctly!) as an idea analogous to a rubber band wanting to snap back to its original shape. An organism is inclined to return to what it knows best, right? Doesn't it go something like that. It snaps back to where it's most familiar being. That feels true and right to me, and that feels true and right regarding slimness versus heaviness. It's why getting in shape TODAY, versus tomorrow or a month from now, is doing oneself a favor.
