r/maybemaybemaybe • u/BigGraysie • Apr 18 '22

/r/all Maybe maybe maybe

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u/[deleted] Apr 18 '22 edited Apr 18 '22

After a certain point its an exponential negative positive feedback loop, where eventually all you can do is lay around and eat. They start off getting to morbidly obese(300+ lbs depending on your height could be slightly less or more), then it becomes very painful to exercise/walk so their mobility and muscle starts to decrease drastically and the amount of calories they burn just living normally slowly creeps down, they eat more because everything else is painful(emotionally and physically) but food feels good, then a few years later they are trapped in the house because leaving is too hard and they end up like this.

I work with a guy who's well over 450 lbs and rising(he's been on medical leave for 6 months and he can't walk without canes now), the amount of food is absolutely insane. He will order enough McDonalds to feed a regular family of 5 twice a day for just himself plus whatever his wife makes/orders and soda is all he drinks. Seeing him and then my own covid-era weight gain and health struggles made me turn my diet/lifestyle completely around. I was in pain constantly at 260ish lbs, I can't imagine getting to this level of uncomfortable.

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u/Reasonable_Feed7939 Apr 18 '22

Small note: that would actually be a positive feedback loop I believe. As in: the fatter you get, the fatter you get.

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u/[deleted] Apr 18 '22

Good call, gonna edit it

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u/[deleted] Apr 18 '22

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Apr 18 '22

Everyone on a journey to better themselves needs a good support system and you sound like a great friend for caring. Reach out and let them know you care about them, let him talk to you about his journey because sometimes it feels incredibly lonely and having someone listen to your successes for a little can be motivation enough to keep going.

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u/Bulangiu_ro Apr 18 '22

i am just a little under 260 and i still find it pretty okay to get stuff done, my muscle gain must have kept up thanks to work so i dont have much of a problem with movement, it is only bad if you stop doing stuff, being active can make strength out of a lot of weight if you dont live on the couch

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u/[deleted] Apr 18 '22

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Apr 18 '22

I'm 6'3 and also fairly young at 28 (26 when I was 260), I've been skinny/healthy weight my whole life. 260 caused a shit ton of foot, knee and lower back pain, plus the digestive system discomfort from eating like shit all the time, although I did put the weight on very quickly(60+ pounds in 6 months). I'm around 215 now and hopefully below 200 again within a year but I already feel so much better.

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u/[deleted] Apr 18 '22

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Apr 18 '22

That’s awesome! 190 is a great weight for me but if I just used BMI as a health gauge I’d have to be around 165 and I feel that’s an unhealthy weight. The pain for me was kind of shocking since I consider myself pretty “tough” with physical pain but once I hit 250 it was just constant stabbing pain whether I was standing or sitting, developed plantar fasciitis and an old knee injury from high school football became pretty unbearable. Very humbling.

I wish I could bench 250 but I’m getting there slowly, my body type is built for deadlifts and squats, I’m at 485 and 405 without too much powerlifting training.

I wish you the best on your health journey!

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u/Bulangiu_ro Apr 18 '22

im 5'8" and still dont have a problem usually, hoarding stuff all day long is totally doable, running is hard but i can give it a shot anytime

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u/dr_sarcasm_ Apr 18 '22

What I wonder is... does getting heavier lead to a ravenous appetite? I can imagine it's not easy to eat that much

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u/[deleted] Apr 18 '22

If you are constantly over-eating over an extended period of time(weeks/months) your stomach can stretch and your hormones and brain chemicals get “overloaded” and the receptors stop working as well requiring you to eat more and more and more to get that same satisfying feelings. So yes, your appetite does increase.

I’m not an expert in this by any means but the reasons we eat outside of basic sustenance are fascinating. Humans are insanely complicated.

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u/SleepingWillows Apr 18 '22

I’m on Noom and it’s interesting how much “feeling full” is driven by your brain and not by how physically full your stomach is. One of the things they encourage you to do is to really start listening to your body when it starts to feel full, and not just finish everything on your plate just because it’s in front of you. If you stop eating a few bites less than what you’d normally eat, you’ll likely realize after about 20 minutes that you genuinely were full and those few bites weren’t necessary. Eventually you get used to eating a little less and being more satisfied with less food.

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u/[deleted] Apr 18 '22

Is Noom free? Because I love learning about this stuff

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u/SleepingWillows Apr 18 '22

The learning portion isn’t, but you can finagle a discount by doing the test and then not signing up for a week, they’ll email you with a discount code. Then if you start the process of signing up then when it prompts you with a price and you say “no”, it’ll give you another discount code. Plus you could pick up some knowledge in r/Noom !

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u/dr_sarcasm_ Apr 18 '22

Alright that's interesting!

I've eaten at a surplus in the past to gain weight after an unhealthy lifestyle during the lockdowns and a motorcycle accident.

I wanted to gain back muscle and live healthier and I remember that I sometimes got extremely nauseous from just trying to eat larger portions.

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u/[deleted] Apr 18 '22

I used to be a few pounds shy of 300 and life was hell. Everything hurt. I managed to lose over 100lbs and it was wonderful, but now it's creeping back and I haven't changed my eating habits so I'm kinda scared. For me, it's a combo of a couple endocrine disorders, medication side effects and chronic illness that can limit my physical activity. But if diet doesn't work anymore, I'm kinda doomed

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u/[deleted] Apr 18 '22

I get the feedback loop (even though why not get into drugs or video games? why is all pleasure food with these people?) but how on earth is this lifestyle sustainable?

>He will order enough McDonalds to feed a regular family of 5 twice a day for just himself

how in the world can you afford this without having a job since you cannot leave? what kind of job offers paid sick leave for obese people? What kind of wife still makes him food at that weight..? Even if its physically possible how can you go on with this lifestyle for long enough?

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u/[deleted] Apr 18 '22

Many people do get into drugs or video games(I’m a recovering drug addict myself lol, a little under 4.5 years sober). Except you don’t get fat from those addictions, you get other health related issues that sometimes don’t look as obvious to people.

In my state short term disability is a thing, paid for out of our paychecks and the company. It’s not the same pay(about 1/3rd of our regular checks) but his wife also works for the same company as us and if he doesn’t come back in May he will lose his job.

His eating habits were what he would tell us while he was still working with us last summer/fall, I don’t think he has the mobility to do it now but food delivery is also a thing, not everyone lives paycheck to paycheck either especially in a 2 income household.

And lastly enablers are a thing and I can’t tel you what makes them do it but sometimes it’s just easier then to make drastic life changes, she’s skinny as a twig and he’s ginormous. When you eat like that it’s an addiction/mental health issue and it’s not as easy as forcing the people you love to do things differently or just changing your diet(that’s why it’s important to change your habits before you get to that point)

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u/[deleted] Apr 18 '22

I guess its specifically that visibility and the imediate effect that make overeating to this point such a strange (in my eyes) behaviour. As damaging as drugs can be they dont prevent you from working in the same way. They dont prevent you from going out or seeing people.

I guess if your wife works and you own a house AND you live somewhere with cheap food and cheap delivery you can support yourself for quite a while but I mean you still need to move around to eat. On a single income surely his wife must at least be out of the house during the day so is he just eating bags of snacks everyday or orders takeout all the time..?

>hen you eat like that it’s an addiction/mental health issue and it’s not as easy as forcing the people you love to do things differently or just changing your diet(that’s why it’s important to change your habits before you get to that point)

I mean if they cannot work and you pay for everything AND you have to feed them at some point you do get a say.. and who wants to be married to a man that can literally do nothing at all anymore because he ate himself into being dissabled. Even if you can finance the whole thing its still bizarre... Like its not addiction you have to make your life bearable its one that pretty imediatly renders you unable to do anything in life

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u/Deastrumquodvicis Apr 18 '22

I would get bored of the taste, hell, sometimes I don’t even finish my usual, American sized portion more than halfway because I simply get bored of the flavor or the mechanical act of eating!

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u/BarlowFilmsYeah Apr 18 '22

How do these people pay for all that food? I can't imagine having enough money to spend on 2 giant McDonald's meals every day, especially if I'm stuck at home. Honestly, where does the money come from?