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Are people aware not everyone can exercise?


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There are those who can get so nasty abut fat people and make assumptions they are lazy, etc. I guess they are ignorant of the many physical reasons that might prevent someone from being able to exercise. Now, maybe some people can lose a lot of weight on diet alone, but I can assure you I am not one of those. It takes both strict diet and daily exercise, ever increasing as time goes on, for me to lose weight.

 

Some of the things that can keep a person from being able to exercise include joint and knee problems, such as the one everybody eventually gets, arthritis. Some people are unlucky and arthritis sets in at an earlier age.

 

One thing that kept me from being able to do much for a long time was compressed nerves. I have one in my leg that has been there for 25 years, and one in my arm that is more recent. Both caused by accidents or falls. Any weight-bearing only makes it worse.

 

One of the most common things that limits people of all ages is back injury and back pain. You can do stretches and some mild things, but lifting anything or push/pulling is going to make it worse. Lifting my 18-pound bag of dog food once a month usually makes my back hurt for a couple of days and sets my compressed nerve in my leg off. I don't dare lift it with my arm that had the compressed nerve because nothing will make it swell up faster.

 

Many people have really terrible feet. I have a friend whose feet will not fit in most shoes because they have psoriatic arthritis and has had it for decades. She is quite peppy for the most part, but her feet rarely stop hurting.

 

Other foot problems can be bone spurs, high arches that are painful (I have that) and the thing I had that was the most crippling to me was plantar fasciitis, which is extreme heel pain. It got flared up over my one two-day vacation in four years and ruined it for me. I couldn't even walk.

 

Another thing that can prevent people from doing any cardio is breathing problems, and there are many of those. Also certain heart problems.

 

And one thing that nobody talks about are prolapse problems, which is common in middle-aged and older folks and is when organs are slipping down. If they slip far enough, they can protrude from your body cavities. There are prolapses more in women than men because they have that extra orifice and plenty to fall from it, but men can get them too. They are usually operable, but for those with some slippage but not to the uncomfortable stage, living with it and not aggravating it is the best course. Exercising makes the prolapses jostle down further.

 

So all I'm saying is next time you or someone you know makes a nasty comment about fat people being lazy, do like I do and tell them "I can't wait until you get old." Because there comes a time in most people's lives when exercising only makes things worse. Stretching is about all many can handle without making things worse. Or some may be able to do upper body and others only lower body, but the point is, their days of being able to exercise to keep weight off are over. And it's pretty impossible for people to lose weight without exercise.

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Maleficent

Have to agree with enigma here. There is a very very small percentage of people who cannot be ohysically active.

Most people simply don't want to. Not necessarily because they are lazy, but because they have chosen to prioritize other things.

It's easy for me to spend four nights a week at the gym. The only beung relying on me at the moment is my cat.

 

 

As for older people, they can also be active. Please don't be so small minded...

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Ninjainpajamas

People make it sound like they're completely debilitated by some life crippling illness that makes it absolutely impossible for them to do anything but simply veg in a chair/couch/bed all day and wait until the sun doesn't rise anymore.

 

We've all got problems, in fact the people who do the most suffer the greatest injuries more often than not.

 

I've had plantar fasciitis and have a 3 inch scar to show for it.

 

I've had 4 ACL, MCL and some major knee work done on BOTH knees, not one...both.

 

I've had 3 epidural shots into my back for a pinched nerve as well as inflammation that never goes away...I also had cortisone shots into my knees as the right knee is still bothersome and burns, the pain is constant but not overbearing.

 

My shoulder has been injured for the past year, and still continues to give me problem.

 

These are just the big ones...not to mention I have had pretty severe seasonal allergies during the spring and summer, in which I had to just essentially play sports in a very uncomfortable state making it hard to breathe (nose is completely useless) and spitting every 10 seconds just to clear my wind pip of mucus.

 

Those are just some of the fun things I've had to endure in my life, not even the entire list.

 

I don't know if some people have just resolved themselves to being completely useless or that they cannot push forward with the slightest pain, or they need the best circumstances only in order to exercise...but my life has been really rough and yet I've heard people with excuses galore of why they couldn't do this or that and then someone else does them and it's like...WTF, I guess that person is just SPECIAL or not all people are the same :rolleyes:

 

It comes down to will and desire...I even had an injury on my right knee that kept my off my feet completely, and I lost 15 pounds just changing my diet alone and watching what I ate...zero exercise, and that would have been even more had I been someone with some serious weight problems.

 

I then had to go through grueling physical therapy, put electric shock pads on my legs to strengthen the muscles back up, had the knots in my muscles all the time from trying to get my legs back into stride.

 

But I push myself each time...I don't draw a line in the sand and claim that this is it, this is my resting place and where I shall die...I shall simply give up and make excuses as to why I couldn't or won't do something without even trying, without even changing. There are people who were born without legs, or some disability that TRULY keeps them away or prevents them from doing anything, and they would have wished for nothing more than to be in your shoes and deal with your problems for the chance to do the things they never could.

 

I really don't understand how people can just fart out a laundry list of things they cannot do, and say it with a straight face like they've done EVERYTHING they could or can to change themselves but have utterly failed. Instead of focusing on the things you can't do, why don't you focus or figure out a way to figure out the things you can...instead of just letting yourself just rot away into a whole.

 

We're all in pain, a lot of us have permanent long-lasting injuries that we have to fight through in order to get the kind of body or physique to a reasonable level for ourselves, and to do the best we can for our bodies. That doesn't become our excuse, or our wall, because we all know we could live our lives making a thousand of them every day, but at the end of it, nothing would have changed or been gained.

 

Life hurts, life is pain, life is suffering unfortunately...it's not a red carpet where there's a gym, personal trainer, all the healthy food you could ever want spread across the table every day that you never have to think about what to eat or how to cook. It takes effort, and will, and those are the two ingredients that people are missing more often than some medically nail in the casket disability.

 

At yet, half of these damn people seem to do just fine once they hit the dance floor or have to walk the local county fair or what not in order to run around eating all those sweets and fried foods, must be a miracle for those people with those debilitating diseases...and yet, if people were to have gotten themselves together while they were young, while they were healthy, maybe they wouldn't be dealing with the medical issues they are now.

 

But nope, anything to snowball that great mountain of reasons you can't do anything to help yourself and call it quits. Because some of us don't let the pain stop us, some of us actually get stronger and the pain lessens and sometimes you're going to feel pain anyway, you might as well be in pain for something worth while.

 

I'm sorry, but this epidemic of a people who suddenly in 2015 have no way of helping themselves, like it's some new race of people or somehow genetics were altered and there's a huge portion of the population who can't do normal human activities that we've been doing since the beginning are somehow off-limits now as we all die and suffer as a species, just does not wrong credible to me...it doesn't sound realistic, it seems like people today can go to the doctor and be told they aren't perfect or something is off and they're all too willing to throw in the towel and wave around a doctor prescription and suddenly it's ok to stop trying...but when it comes to doctors telling you what weight isn't healthy, all of a sudden the guy doesn't know what he's talking about.

 

If you are seriously disabled and seriously incapacitated, then that is a sad state and I hold no grudge for those who or were never able to help themselves. But to become seriously disabled or incapacitated, due to your own choices and doing, and then you want sympathy for that...I'm sorry, but I expect people to help themselves and if they don't or are now in a position where they can't, I have a hard time developing sympathy for them.

 

I will get older, I may get sick or have some kind of issue, but I will always do what I can to take care of myself and that for me is the point....but for people who just give up and throw in the towel and really have no reason not to have done more to help themselves, why do you want a free pass that nobody else gets in life? that's the way it is.

 

We all have a responsibility to take care of others...some value that more than others, much more because it's a priority, not an option.

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amaysngrace

They give physical therapy which is exercise to people on their death beds.

 

So no.

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The best way to stay active into old age is to stay active throughout life. If you want to be able to climb stairs at 90, climb stairs every day of your life.

 

Inactivity compounds upon itself, just as activity does.

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loveweary11

Agree with all the posters.

 

Even 100 year olds confined to bed can exercise in pools and stuff.

 

Literally, if you have a pulse, you can do something... Steven Hawking excepted.

 

Weight comes from food, mostly. Anyone can lose weight, even without exercise. As an extreme example, ever see a heavy person in those really poor African villages where people are dying from starvation? Think they do a lot of exercising?

 

All you need to do to lose weight is *permanently* drop your caloric intake while maintaining proper nutrition. Exercise isn't even required, though it helps because thin with zero muscles isn't all that healthy either.

 

Point is, it's fully within your control, should you desire to change the status quo.

 

Also, enigma is right about joint problems. Ask your doctor. Weight comes off, many times joint problems go away. Especially knees.

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SammySammy

I know someone who had a bad car accident when she was young. I won't say it's impossible for her to work out, but it is extremely difficult due to the extent of her injuries.

 

She loves to cook and loves to eat. You can imagine what the results are.

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Yes, Ninja, you will get older, and when you do, talk to me then about how it's only a matter of effort to get back in shape.

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amaysngrace
I know someone who had a bad car accident when she was young. I won't say it's impossible for her to work out, but it is extremely difficult due to the extent of her injuries.

 

She loves to cook and loves to eat. You can imagine what the results are.

 

Cooking and eating are both activities. So if she's able to do those two things then she's able to do some light exercise as well.

 

Who puts groceries in her house and who cleans up after her?

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SammySammy
Cooking and eating are both activities. So if she's able to do those two things then she's able to do some light exercise as well.

 

Who puts groceries in her house and who cleans up after her?

 

She sits down to cook. Sits down to wash the dishes.

 

She hires somebody to clean her house. Other people buy her groceries and put them away.

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Agree with all the posters.

 

Even 100 year olds confined to bed can exercise in pools and stuff.

 

Literally, if you have a pulse, you can do something... Steven Hawking excepted.

 

Weight comes from food, mostly. Anyone can lose weight, even without exercise. As an extreme example, ever see a heavy person in those really poor African villages where people are dying from starvation? Think they do a lot of exercising?

 

All you need to do to lose weight is *permanently* drop your caloric intake while maintaining proper nutrition. Exercise isn't even required, though it helps because thin with zero muscles isn't all that healthy either.

 

Point is, it's fully within your control, should you desire to change the status quo.

 

Also, enigma is right about joint problems. Ask your doctor. Weight comes off, many times joint problems go away. Especially knees.

 

LoveWeary, everyone is different about the ratio of exercise and diet they need to take weight off. I can lose weight for exactly 3 weeks without exercise and that is all. Similarly, I can lose weight with exercise only for about a month and then the diet must begin. Everyone is not the same. And anyone under 60 really can't fathom the difference. I was always young and thin and since I began gaining weight, I've lost over 70 pounds four or five times, but once I got enough stuff wrong with me, that became impossible. Your body wears out when you get old. It doesn't repair itself from exercise. It just starts wearing out, the joints, everything. Everything you do only makes it wear out worse except stretches, which is basically all water aerobics is. I used to do water aerobics and like it, but falling down in the wet lockeroom busting my knee put a stop to that.

 

I'm not a lazy person and I defy anyone to say I am. I have worked two jobs most of my life and am still trying to do so. All my physical energy at this point pretty much goes to getting those done, doing the grocery shopping, and paying the bills. On a good day, like today, I took my dogs for a short walk, but a month ago, I couldn't walk at all for two days and was on a cane for a week. Today when I walked, it made my hips hurt because at this point it's just wearing them down more, making them more painful.

 

I take every window of opportunity to move around but I usually have to wait for a good day to even go to the store. And you're all assuming a 60-something will have the energy of a 30 year old. It's all you can do to get your normal routine done past a certain age. There isn't much left after working all day. I start at 8:45 and work until 9 or 10 at night usually, with little breaks like this. I really don't have much left for anything optional, though there's plenty I wish I could go do.

 

As I said before, weight isn't what caused my knees to finally go. And it's not what caused my hips to go. It was accidents and falling and just the natural aging and getting arthritis on top of that. I was told this year I have the normal amount of arthritic degeneration for my age. I have been thin off and on and it made absolutely no difference in my leg and feet pain or my nerve-related pain.

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amaysngrace
She sits down to cook. Sits down to wash the dishes.

 

She hires somebody to clean her house. Other people buy her groceries and put them away.

 

What's wrong with her?

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amaysngrace
LoveWeary, everyone is different about the ratio of exercise and diet they need to take weight off. I can lose weight for exactly 3 weeks without exercise and that is all. Similarly, I can lose weight with exercise only for about a month and then the diet must begin. Everyone is not the same. And anyone under 60 really can't fathom the difference. I was always young and thin and since I began gaining weight, I've lost over 70 pounds four or five times, but once I got enough stuff wrong with me, that became impossible. Your body wears out when you get old. It doesn't repair itself from exercise. It just starts wearing out, the joints, everything. Everything you do only makes it wear out worse except stretches, which is basically all water aerobics is. I used to do water aerobics and like it, but falling down in the wet lockeroom busting my knee put a stop to that.

 

I'm not a lazy person and I defy anyone to say I am. I have worked two jobs most of my life and am still trying to do so. All my physical energy at this point pretty much goes to getting those done, doing the grocery shopping, and paying the bills. On a good day, like today, I took my dogs for a short walk, but a month ago, I couldn't walk at all for two days and was on a cane for a week. Today when I walked, it made my hips hurt because at this point it's just wearing them down more, making them more painful.

 

I take every window of opportunity to move around but I usually have to wait for a good day to even go to the store. And you're all assuming a 60-something will have the energy of a 30 year old. It's all you can do to get your normal routine done past a certain age. There isn't much left after working all day. I start at 8:45 and work until 9 or 10 at night usually, with little breaks like this. I really don't have much left for anything optional, though there's plenty I wish I could go do.

 

As I said before, weight isn't what caused my knees to finally go. And it's not what caused my hips to go. It was accidents and falling and just the natural aging and getting arthritis on top of that. I was told this year I have the normal amount of arthritic degeneration for my age. I have been thin off and on and it made absolutely no difference in my leg and feet pain or my nerve-related pain.

 

That's a shame that you're in such bad health but at least you're able to work twelve or thirteen hours a day.

 

There are plenty of people half your age who don't put in those long of hours everyday.

 

Try to focus on the positive, huh? Look to what you can accomplish rather than what you can't. You do the best you can and there's no shame in that.

 

Screw what other people think.

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SammySammy
What's wrong with her?

 

I don't know the full extent of her injuries, but she struggles to stand and can only walk a few steps. The car accident caused multiple broken bones, damage to her knees, hips and ankles. She has had several surgeries over the years.

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amaysngrace
I don't know the full extent of her injuries, but she struggles to stand and can only walk a few steps. The car accident caused multiple broken bones, damage to her knees, hips and ankles. She has had several surgeries over the years.

 

That's really sad. Was she a pedestrian in the accident? Or did she hit a wall or something in her car?

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loveweary11

I can tell you that without exercise, if I fed you 100 calories a day you'd be quite thin, then die of couse...

 

All humans are the same. As caloric intake lowers, you lose weight.

 

BUT... with this post, I might say that maybe you don't need to lose weight?

 

If over 60 and comfy in your own skin, I doubt anyone is looking at you and thinking there is a problem. A bit of weight on an older person is kind of cute, actually. :D

 

I would imagine (and hope for myself) that as you're heading toward 70, other things take more precedence in life.

 

You're right, I cannot fathom the difference, nor would I pretend to be able to understand. I defer to your greater life experience and knowledge.

 

May I suggest trying one thing because it has helped me tremendously at a younger age to feel like my body is 18 again?

 

http://www.amazon.com/Organic-Buckthorn100-Genesis-Today-Liquid/dp/B003BI2A4W

 

 

A little teaspoon of this each day is a fountain of youth. It somehow gets your body working 1000% bettervat the cellular level. Russians used to give it to their horses in wars to make them stronger. It is scientifically accepted as a good treatment for radiation poisoning because of how it helps the cells function better.

 

It would do wonders for joint pain.

 

I kid you not. I laughed when my ex suggested I try it. She took it to keep her skin looking young. Literally all aches, pains, etc went away in a week. And i wad a skeptic,wanting to say it was junk.

 

Stuff is incredible... I literally feel the same as when I was 18.Look younger too. It is great for skin cells.

 

LoveWeary, everyone is different about the ratio of exercise and diet they need to take weight off. I can lose weight for exactly 3 weeks without exercise and that is all. Similarly, I can lose weight with exercise only for about a month and then the diet must begin. Everyone is not the same. And anyone under 60 really can't fathom the difference. I was always young and thin and since I began gaining weight, I've lost over 70 pounds four or five times, but once I got enough stuff wrong with me, that became impossible. Your body wears out when you get old. It doesn't repair itself from exercise. It just starts wearing out, the joints, everything. Everything you do only makes it wear out worse except stretches, which is basically all water aerobics is. I used to do water aerobics and like it, but falling down in the wet lockeroom busting my knee put a stop to that.

 

I'm not a lazy person and I defy anyone to say I am. I have worked two jobs most of my life and am still trying to do so. All my physical energy at this point pretty much goes to getting those done, doing the grocery shopping, and paying the bills. On a good day, like today, I took my dogs for a short walk, but a month ago, I couldn't walk at all for two days and was on a cane for a week. Today when I walked, it made my hips hurt because at this point it's just wearing them down more, making them more painful.

 

I take every window of opportunity to move around but I usually have to wait for a good day to even go to the store. And you're all assuming a 60-something will have the energy of a 30 year old. It's all you can do to get your normal routine done past a certain age. There isn't much left after working all day. I start at 8:45 and work until 9 or 10 at night usually, with little breaks like this. I really don't have much left for anything optional, though there's plenty I wish I could go do.

 

As I said before, weight isn't what caused my knees to finally go. And it's not what caused my hips to go. It was accidents and falling and just the natural aging and getting arthritis on top of that. I was told this year I have the normal amount of arthritic degeneration for my age. I have been thin off and on and it made absolutely no difference in my leg and feet pain or my nerve-related pain.

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SammySammy
That's really sad. Was she a pedestrian in the accident? Or did she hit a wall or something iin her car?

 

Single car accident. She ran off the road late one foggy night. She had just learned to drive. It was her first car. Cute little car that didn't provide adequate protection in the accident. The car was destroyed and she was lucky to be alive.

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thefooloftheyear

Not buying it....sorry....

 

Not when I see combat veterans with multiple amputations compete in challenging physical events..

 

Not when I see my 90 year old aunt, who contracted polio as a child, still continue to do some form of exercise..Daily no less...

 

Not when I never missed a day of training, even when I suffered injuries such as a severely torn rotator cuff that prevented me from moving my arm at all..Guess what? I have two good legs...Time to do legs..

 

I can go on for days with examples...And I bet I am close to the age of the OP, so enough with the "wait till you get to my age" kind of stuff..

 

Look...

 

No one is saying its easy...Believe me, its harder for everyone as we get older..Father Time is the undisputed and undefeated Champion of all Time..No one escapes...

 

Now is it right to shame people? No...Of course not...But rather than say its impossible, just admit that maybe yu just dont have what it takes and leave it at that...I may be fit as hell, especially for my age, but I cant play the guitar worth a shyt....Its only because I don't try to play guitar...I wont blame it on age, lack of free time, or anything else..

 

TFY

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thefooloftheyear

Just an addendum to my previous post...

 

Many of the complaints the OP mentions can actually be reversed with exercise...The key is to start slowly and work your way back...

 

One of the most important things people need to remember about getting old..This is true for both men and women..Muscle mass starts to deteriorate at the age of 40 or so...No longer is it easy to build or even retain the muscle you already have once you start aging..Its absolutely VITAL to maintain muscle mass!!...At all costs...This is the most important thing...

 

By keeping excess weight down and muscle up, all of those pesky joint pains start to vanish...Think about it...Joints suffer the same degradation from age...Now make it worse on those joints by carrying around a bunch of dead weight(fat) and not have any muscle to support your frame and assist with daily activity and what do you think will start to happen to those joints?

 

Also important to live clean..Don't smoke,drink or do drugs....Even most prescription drugs will degrade you...Try to wean off of that stuff if you can..Take it only if absolutely necessary...I work a high stress job and a ton of hours, but I offset it by taking the best care of myself I possibly can...

 

And be wary of doctors...Most don't know shyt about the benefits of an active and clean life, because many of them cant do it themselves..Im not saying ignore them when you are sick or injured, but just be aware that not all of them have an understanding of the way this works..

 

TFY

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The thing is, if you strength train (which I realise has only become popular for women relatively recently) you get less injured from falls and you can prevent ostheoporosis.

 

My grandmother had a leg amputated in her 60s. She still moved around a lot and became careful with her diet to adjust. There is always something you can do unless you are paralised. I saw a girl in my gym who had to be lifted out of her wheelchair by her trainer. She still trained.

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My grandmother fell and broke a hip at 90. She needed surgery. That was a few years ago, and she's back up and climbing the stairs again. We've forbidden her from carrying her own composting into the woods (how she broke her hip in the first place).

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OP - I think there is physical therapy and water exercises you can do that won't pressure your joints and allow you to start building muscle.

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TaraMaiden2

I broke my back in 2002. It also shattered my intra-vertebral disc (Lumbar 5/Sacrum 1)and damaged a portion of my spinal cord.

The result is that part of my left leg is insensitive to pain, but is also useless... my calf is atrophied and is 11.5" in circumference at the thickest part, while my right calf is just over 14" round... My right leg takes much of my weight and does most of the effort.

 

Excessive exercise causes me incredible cramp pain in my left leg; I have been known to pass completely sleepless nights because the pain and cramping has kept me up all night with the sheer tortuous discomfort...

I am advised that this is due to a lactic acid build-up in the muscle and my inability to get rid of it, because there is no neural impulse and the fact that the muscle simply doesn't function.

 

I have asked several trainers what I can do to get fit, and they all cite exercises which also require leg-work (jogging, mechanical rowing, swimming) but I can't run. Period, literally, running is out of the question.

Cardio exercises require even body-work and part of it, doesn't. I don't need upper-body exercises. I'm not trying to build, I'm trying to hone and lose.... But even sit-ups require both legs be secured, and both legs, in normal sit-ups anchor the body while the upper body works. So they BOTH take the strain of the body-crunching...

Yeah.

That just causes more cramps....

 

So all these damn, able-bodied know-it-alls who insist that anyone can exercise, and nothing is out of the question, need to experience a disability before dismissing those who maintain that exercise is difficult if not impossible, as liars or lazy.

 

Oh, and if anyone has any suggestions as to what exercises I CAN undertake to hone and trim the abdomen, and maintain fitness, without adding strain to my leg, let's hear it....

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I hope the OP was not looking for validation for her choice to accept her condition and chose not to make life style changes that could improve every complaint she listed.

 

 

When people are overweight, it's their choice. It boils down to a lack of discipline in prioritizing correct nutrition and the volume they are consuming each day. I've read a gazzilion times that 90% of weight loss comes from cutting back your calories you consume each day. To lose weight, you have to eat less calories than you consume. Its science, nothing more. Yes, you will hit plateaus as you lose weight. That's also normal too. The other 10% comes from some form of exercise.

 

 

I've known many, many people with all sorts of serious health issues. Bad knees, hips, feet, diabete's, high blood pressure, etc. that were over weight. They blamed it on bad gene's or thyroid. Guess what, they finally stopped the excuses, stopped eating double meat hamburgers with large fries and a large coke and made life changing decisions about diet and exercise and lost the weight. Most if not all their ailments resolved as well.

 

 

The big issues with over weight and obesity is our stressful world we live in today. Some people cope with it by smoking, doing drugs or self medicating with food.

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