That’s my point, 85-90% of all obese/over-weight people are that way due to lack of decent eating habits and obscene food intake.
I like to eat - I grew up on my grand-parent’s farm. We ate heartily! Biscuits, gravy, bacon, ham, eggs, pancakes, fried okra, fresh milk and butter, and orange juice (THAT WAS BREAKFAST)! But, we worked from 5:30AM until the sun went down! So, we were extremely active! I left the farm for my last three years at home (moved to the city), before joining the Corps, and I didn’t change my eating habits, but I definitely did NOT do nearly as much work and physical activity (even with high school sports). I quickly gained about 35 pounds.
About a year ago I realized that my work habits were causing me to have very bad eating habits and very little exercise time. My metabolism is pretty normal, if I am hungry, I eat. I try to exercise about 30-45 minutes a day (usually a short session in the morning and another in the afternoon). I drink LOTS of water. I have lost about 40 pounds in the last year or so. It is a pretty simple thing.
Now, if all you ever eat is sugary, fat filled cake and pies, as long as you work out in proportion to the intake, you can probably maintain your weight, but your body is going to be feeling pretty weak and bad - because you are not getting all the right nutrients and vitamins.
Same thing though, if you eat nothing but wheat-grass and drink water all day and only do “maintenance” work-outs, you will probably never be over-weight, but your body is going to be feeling pretty weak and bad - because you are not getting all the right nutrients and vitamins.
So, proper intake plus proper exercise usually equals normal body weight and healthy living! We each should know our own bodies and what we can eat and can’t eat, what work out works best for us and that which does not work. I don’t think people need to take 20 different pills, starve themselves and give up every single items that contains sugar. None of those things will fix weight issues: normal intake and normal exercise is the BEST way - PERIOD.
I had a friend who was always eating and drinking “diet”, “sugar free”, “fat free”, etc., etc., etc - with everything he consumed, to any extent possible.
He also was always complaining about his weight.
After years of watching this, one evening, after a nice bar-b-que, I watched him wolf down a quart of “fat free”, “sugar free” ice cream, and then listened to his explanation that it was O.K. ‘cause it was “fat free” and “sugar free”.
Oh, and he always complained that he was always hungry.
I finally told him what I thought. I believed he actually consumed way more calories than I did and most likely an awful lot more calories as carbohydrates than I did. But, since so much of his intake was composed of foods made from artificial this and artificial that, with so little actual fat or actual sugar, that his body was starving for real food, and converting his over-abundance of carbs into fat.
I told him that I would bet he would be less hungry and wind up consuming less calories and less carbs if he gave his body real food, including butter and sugar instead of all the “diet” stuff.
We are no longer friends so I don’t know if he took my advice or not.
I think the old adage “all things in moderation accepted” still holds a lot of truth.
Actually my point was that while exercise and sensible eating habits are good, not all people are fat because of overeating and not all overeaters become fat. Exercise may or may not be a factor in either case. There are plenty of skinny people and people who exercise who put on weight, develop type II diabetes or higher cholesterol despite their lack of body fat or their diet or their exercise regimen. There are plenty of fat people who do not develop any of these problems and who live to a ripe old age despite their extra weight. I have quite a few relatives who spent most of their lives overweight but had none of these problems and lived into their late 80s or late 90s. I have also know very trim and fit military people who despite their diet and regular exercise developed all of these problems and some who died from them. Each person has a different metabolism and physiology that reacts differently to food and exercise. Some fat people got fat by eating too much and not staying in shape, some are fat despite all of the exercise and a good diet. The 85-90% figure is way too high; not everyone puts on weight for the same reasons.