Could there be a cause for this? (body holding on to fat despite somewhat decent diet)

[Anonymous]

My DH is morbidly obese. He always has been. He is 6 feet tall and goes between 250 and 280 lbs, and has been basically his whole life. He was 325+ at one point, but that was about 20 years ago. His mother fed him horribly -she showed me his baby book (proudly) where she had recorded him weighing about 267 in the 7th grade (!!!!!) This is horrifying, but that's not the point of my post.

He does not eat perfectly. However, while he eats too many carbs, he doesn't eat fast food or chips or ice cream or anything else 'bad' for you on the regular. He snacks too much, for sure, and he eats after I go to bed - but it is only stuff that is in our house - so hummus and pretzels, or baked lays potato chips, or whole wheat english muffin with PB and jelly. Breakfast/lunch/dinner serving sizes are normal. He snacks too much, but his snack sizes are normal. I make the food in this house, and it is balanced, healthy, and whole grain/fruit/veggies. Again - he eats too much - yes - but he does not eat enough to warrant being so big. He is an active human - so he walks/runs every day, plus he is outside with our kids all the time playing sports.

He has a physical coming up, and I want him to ask about this, if there is some sort of logical question in what what I've described. Or maybe his body is just so used to carrying all this weight that it would take a big switch to lose the weight?

Please - I don't need comments about how dangerous his weight is. I know it. He knows it.

[Anonymous]

I think your idea of what is "normal" is skewed here. 3 normal meals a day on top of a bunch of snacks will maintain a morbidly obese weight. There's nothing odd about that weight on that diet.

[Anonymous]

Yes, he does, he does it that much.
Healthy or not, he eats too much. He needs a health professional and not your ideas of what healthy food is. Healthy food has calories too.

[Anonymous]

He eats too much. Period. Probably many more calories than you’ve accounted for.

[Anonymous]

Sorry if this sounds snarky but if you were to drop your DH into a deserted island and come back 3 months later…you’d find a much thinner man. I think as Americans we tend to be in denial about what a “normal” amount of food and snacking is. Baked chips, English muffins with jelly, etc.. is not healthy food. He needs to cut back on the snacking and also his overall calorie intake.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry if this sounds snarky but if you were to drop your DH into a deserted island and come back 3 months later…you’d find a much thinner man. I think as Americans we tend to be in denial about what a “normal” amount of food and snacking is. Baked chips, English muffins with jelly, etc.. is not healthy food. He needs to cut back on the snacking and also his overall calorie intake.

OP here, and yes, you are likely correct. I think part of the issue is that years ago, he went to see a nutritionist, and that person mentioned that for some people, eating small meals every 2 hours was the best approach. I think he uses that rationale to justify eating all the time, and since it is small - a few pretzels/carrots and hummus, an english muffin with PB and jelly, etc - that it prevents him from overeating at dinner. Which it does, actually. However, the cumulative total of calories in is too much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DH is morbidly obese. He always has been. He is 6 feet tall and goes between 250 and 280 lbs, and has been basically his whole life. He was 325+ at one point, but that was about 20 years ago. His mother fed him horribly -she showed me his baby book (proudly) where she had recorded him weighing about 267 in the 7th grade (!!!!!) This is horrifying, but that's not the point of my post.

He does not eat perfectly. However, while he eats too many carbs, he doesn't eat fast food or chips or ice cream or anything else 'bad' for you on the regular. He snacks too much, for sure, and he eats after I go to bed - but it is only stuff that is in our house - so hummus and pretzels, or baked lays potato chips, or whole wheat english muffin with PB and jelly. Breakfast/lunch/dinner serving sizes are normal. He snacks too much, but his snack sizes are normal. I make the food in this house, and it is balanced, healthy, and whole grain/fruit/veggies. Again - he eats too much - yes - but he does not eat enough to warrant being so big. He is an active human - so he walks/runs every day, plus he is outside with our kids all the time playing sports.

He has a physical coming up, and I want him to ask about this, if there is some sort of logical question in what what I've described. Or maybe his body is just so used to carrying all this weight that it would take a big switch to lose the weight?

Please - I don't need comments about how dangerous his weight is. I know it. He knows it.

he eats too many carbs
He snacks too much, for sure, and he eats after I go to bed - but it is only stuff that is in our house - so hummus and pretzels, or baked lays potato chips, or whole wheat english muffin with PB and jelly.'
HE eats too much, you wrote that twice, I think?
Too much, and jummus and pretzels of bakes lays poatoes chips or a whole wheat muffin or PB and jelly...jesus christ!
Are you a troll?
Surely nobody is this clueless in 2021?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DH is morbidly obese. He always has been. He is 6 feet tall and goes between 250 and 280 lbs, and has been basically his whole life. He was 325+ at one point, but that was about 20 years ago. His mother fed him horribly -she showed me his baby book (proudly) where she had recorded him weighing about 267 in the 7th grade (!!!!!) This is horrifying, but that's not the point of my post.

He does not eat perfectly. However, while he eats too many carbs, he doesn't eat fast food or chips or ice cream or anything else 'bad' for you on the regular. He snacks too much, for sure, and he eats after I go to bed - but it is only stuff that is in our house - so hummus and pretzels, or baked lays potato chips, or whole wheat english muffin with PB and jelly. Breakfast/lunch/dinner serving sizes are normal. He snacks too much, but his snack sizes are normal. I make the food in this house, and it is balanced, healthy, and whole grain/fruit/veggies. Again - he eats too much - yes - but he does not eat enough to warrant being so big. He is an active human - so he walks/runs every day, plus he is outside with our kids all the time playing sports.

He has a physical coming up, and I want him to ask about this, if there is some sort of logical question in what what I've described. Or maybe his body is just so used to carrying all this weight that it would take a big switch to lose the weight?

Please - I don't need comments about how dangerous his weight is. I know it. He knows it.

he eats too many carbs
He snacks too much, for sure, and he eats after I go to bed - but it is only stuff that is in our house - so hummus and pretzels, or baked lays potato chips, or whole wheat english muffin with PB and jelly.'
HE eats too much, you wrote that twice, I think?
Too much, and jummus and pretzels of bakes lays poatoes chips or a whole wheat muffin or PB and jelly...jesus christ!
Are you a troll?
Surely nobody is this clueless in 2021?

You are really rude.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think your idea of what is "normal" is skewed here. 3 normal meals a day on top of a bunch of snacks will maintain a morbidly obese weight. There's nothing odd about that weight on that diet.

+1

Eating a lot of even healthy food will maintain your weight, especially if you are eating three meals a day plus lots of snacks, including late at night. He's not going to lose weight unless he really cuts down on his caloric intake.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Sorry if this sounds snarky but if you were to drop your DH into a deserted island and come back 3 months later…you’d find a much thinner man. I think as Americans we tend to be in denial about what a “normal” amount of food and snacking is. Baked chips, English muffins with jelly, etc.. is not healthy food. He needs to cut back on the snacking and also his overall calorie intake.

OP here, and yes, you are likely correct. I think part of the issue is that years ago, he went to see a nutritionist, and that person mentioned that for some people, eating small meals every 2 hours was the best approach. I think he uses that rationale to justify eating all the time, and since it is small - a few pretzels/carrots and hummus, an english muffin with PB and jelly, etc - that it prevents him from overeating at dinner. Which it does, actually. However, the cumulative total of calories in is too much.

If he really just ate the small meals, and NOT the main meals, he might lose weight. But he's eating regular meals AND constant small meals, so it's not doing him any good. It's just displacing his overeating from dinner to the rest of the day.

[Anonymous]

He likely has some degree of insulin resistance in addition to eating too much. Reducing calories AND carbohydrates (even "whole grain") might make a difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He likely has some degree of insulin resistance in addition to eating too much. Reducing calories AND carbohydrates (even "whole grain") might make a difference.

+1

OP, your husband can probably maintain his current weight on close to 3000 cal/day. He's probably better off cutting the snacking and having two really big satisfying meals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:He eats too much. Period. Probably many more calories than you’ve accounted for.

I agree -- he eats even more than you think. He's eating three meals, plus what sounds like pretty constant snacking. He's not going to lose weight eating like that, unless all he eats is celery. Even healthy, or healthier, food has calories.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DH is morbidly obese. He always has been. He is 6 feet tall and goes between 250 and 280 lbs, and has been basically his whole life. He was 325+ at one point, but that was about 20 years ago. His mother fed him horribly -she showed me his baby book (proudly) where she had recorded him weighing about 267 in the 7th grade (!!!!!) This is horrifying, but that's not the point of my post.

He does not eat perfectly. However, while he eats too many carbs, he doesn't eat fast food or chips or ice cream or anything else 'bad' for you on the regular. He snacks too much, for sure, and he eats after I go to bed - but it is only stuff that is in our house - so hummus and pretzels, or baked lays potato chips, or whole wheat english muffin with PB and jelly. Breakfast/lunch/dinner serving sizes are normal. He snacks too much, but his snack sizes are normal. I make the food in this house, and it is balanced, healthy, and whole grain/fruit/veggies. Again - he eats too much - yes - but he does not eat enough to warrant being so big. He is an active human - so he walks/runs every day, plus he is outside with our kids all the time playing sports.

He has a physical coming up, and I want him to ask about this, if there is some sort of logical question in what what I've described. Or maybe his body is just so used to carrying all this weight that it would take a big switch to lose the weight?

Please - I don't need comments about how dangerous his weight is. I know it. He knows it.

he eats too many carbs
He snacks too much, for sure, and he eats after I go to bed - but it is only stuff that is in our house - so hummus and pretzels, or baked lays potato chips, or whole wheat english muffin with PB and jelly.'
HE eats too much, you wrote that twice, I think?
Too much, and jummus and pretzels of bakes lays poatoes chips or a whole wheat muffin or PB and jelly...jesus christ!
Are you a troll?
Surely nobody is this clueless in 2021?

You are really rude.

Am I? Is it better to live in denial? He doesn't eat healthily at all. You are likely sabotaging your dh, buyng muffins and baked potato chips and hummus. You think being a young widow will be a walk in the park?

[Anonymous]

Yes. When you grow up obese, it’s nearly impossible to maintain a healthy weight as an adult. Your physiology changes entirely. Which is why parents’ job is so important in this regard.