[gnur]

It seems like the piece actually takes away some of the responsibility of the person. If your resting metabolism burns 400 calories per day less, you can eat exactly the same as someone else and slowly gain a lot of weight. I really don't think there is anyone to blame in that case.

[bb85]

That doesn't explain it though, as how much you weight and how happy you are with it should influence how you eat.

Obviously a kid and an adult, a sedentary female and an international athletes have different needs.

When you have tooth problems, you go through a lot to have it fixed. When your hair looks bad you get a haircut.

Some obese people change their lifestyle and lose that weight. So what about those who can't? Is it too hard because of whatever predisposition (or, as other comments point out, having a huge industry putting tasty things in front of them), or do they just feel better being big?

[dempseye]

> how much you weight and how happy you are with it should influence how you eat.

I'm pretty sure constant hunger would trump those considerations for you and most people.

[bb85]

I've experimented quite a bit with how I eat, and gone through extended periods of fasting. To me, the "real" hunger, the debilitating one, only lasts so long. It feels like once your body is entirely relying on itself for food, it just goes away.

The "other" hunger seems to come with boredom or other emotional variations though.

Unfortunately I have never done those thing more than a couple weeks at a time, but I can talk about the opposite. My "natural" weight (where I end up if I only eat when I'm hungry) is too low, and even if I'm super lean at that weight I don't have enough muscle, and end up having back / knee problems.

I have to pay attention every day to eat a little bit more than I feel like. It is a big effort, and sometimes I'm just not up to it, but I'm not sure how it compares to dealing with hunger.