We've all seen them. The morbidly obese. The really fat women, men, or children that stroll around walmart in their mobile scooter things. How I envied those scooters that were reserved just for them, when I was dying in my 3 inch boots, holding like 7 grocery bags waiting for the damn bus. You Binghamton University people know exactly what I'm talking about!!
We always say to ourselves, "Damn. I'm never gonna let myself go that much. Ever." You always wonder how they got so big and why aren't they doing anything about it. But, anyone who diets should know that it is not so easy to diet. You have to consume a lot less than you are used to and when your skinny best friend chomps on a chocolate chip cookie, you want one too. You can't say no to a chocolate chip cookie fresh out of the oven. Then, you gotta hit the gym or do yoga at your house. It's so easy to lose sight of your goal when there is so much good food lying around waiting for you.
But, to the morbidly obese...sometimes, food is just a symptom. There are a lot of underlying issues inside people who "abuse" food. This is called Food Addiction. It is a pathological disorder where people have compulsive, obsessive comsumption of food. It is not only psychological, but physical as well because you can't force your body to suddenly stop eating that much food. They think about their next "fix" all day long and have cravings similar to the effects of cocaine.
So, why does this happen? Like drugs and alcohol, it is all about control. People with food addiction lose control of eating. Look at it this way...if your life sucks or you are depressed..and you can't do drugs or drink to escape your problems...you are probably gonna eat some chocolate or ice cream. Then, multiply that by 100x because now you eat all the time to make yourself feel better. You can't stop anymore. When you try to stop, you feel even worse because your body is going through withdrawal. You can't just suddenly stop eating all those candy bars, because now your body is used to your unhealthy diet. You have to ween yourself off it.
Also, studies have shown that eating a lot of food releases large amounts of dopamine into your brain and body. This is the exact same thing that cocaine does to your body. When you snort cocaine, your body releases dopamine...and it makes you feel really good. Food also releases a lot of other feal good hormones like endorphins and other narcotics found in painkillers. Food becomes a drug.
So, when we see the morbidly obese now...we can't just ostracize them and think, "Well, they are fat. They have to lose weight." It's not that easy. I'm not talking about a 300 lb person who can probably control themselves. I'm talking about heavy up to the point where you have to use a stroller to navigate Walmart.
A lot of people say they should just do surgeries like..stomach stapling or liposuction. In order to put out a fire, you need to find its origin. It is the same reasoning here. In order to help these people lose weight, you need to find out why and how they got to this point. No matter how many surgeries they have, if they don't find out why they have an unhealthy fixation on food..they will just revert back to their old habits.
As for now, I'll leave you guys, the readers to think on this.
Peace!
Labels: cocaine, dopamine, fat, food addiction, obese, walmart
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