Do Fat People Really Eat More?

I can remember at summer camp at Georgetown University (right here in DC) when my “friends” took it upon themselves to inform me that I was the fattest kid at the camp.  I protested!  I said that this other kid (whose name I forget) was fatter than me and that I was only the 2nd fattest kid at camp.  They called that kid over in the locker room, looked at us both and said, “its close, but Josef is definitely the fattest.”

Shit!

That was not exactly my best day at camp.

It always seemed ridiculously unfair that I would get made fun of because I was not some gluttonous monster who went around eating everything in site.  I really did eat the same or less vs. my skinny friends.

It turns out that I was right.

“The energy intake of the obese boys was significantly less than that of the non-obese controls. Little difference was noted in the amount of time scheduled for light, moderate, and very active exercise.” (my emphasis)

STEFANIK, P.A., et al. Caloric Intake in Relation to Energy Output of Obese and Non-Obese Adolescent Boys. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 7, 55-62, 1959

One study does not make anything so.  However there are LOTS and LOTS of studies that find the same thing over and over again.  Gary Taubes called it “one of the most consistently reproducible findings in obesity research.”

If it was just a matter of eating less no fat child on Earth would remain fat.  It’s such a horrible experience that no one would do it voluntarily.  The only people that say such absurd nonsense are people who have never experienced it themselves and simply cannot fathom what it is like to live a different kind of body.  If you have not been called “blubber thing” at summer camp then you cannot possibly understand.  You cannot have any more motivation to eat less and exercise more.

This is like saying that someone would choose to be black in the American South at the turn of the 20th century.  Or that someone would choose to be gay.

There is a very good reason why 98% of all people on weight loss programs regain everything they lose within a few years – because they’re relying on the “eat less and exercise more” theory.  It really doesn’t seem to work, especially not over the long haul.  Of course the people running these kinds of programs blame the participants.  The message goes, “98% of you are fat, lazy slobs without an once of self control!”

The opposite idea – that if something fails 98% of the time, maybe it’s a horrible plan – never occurs to any of these so called experts.

What I am NOT Saying

This is not at all to remove personal responsibility from the equation.  If you are overweight, then you’ve got to do something about or nothing will change.  This is just to point out that the premise upon which ALL of you past failures were based on is utter BS.  You’ve got to get a better plan.

Josef Brandenburg is Washington, DC’s #1 fat-loss expert for busy people.  He shows normal people with hectic lives and average genetics how to create the bodies they want in the time they actually have.  To find out more click here.