4 ms·

While having strong self control is of course important, there are differences between individuals that you're not considering. Many of the people who give this

by nxc18 10y ago

While having strong self control is of course important, there are differences between individuals that you're not considering. Many of the people who give this self-control argument have never had theirs tested - it is hard to not eat a lot when you are acutely hungry and eating doesn't stop that, for example. Also note that your statement doesn't really work in the general case. I have friends who are extremely skinny (to the point that it distresses them) who are trying to get bigger. It doesn't matter how many thousands of calories they eat, how excellent their nutrition is, they struggle to gain anything - and that is someone who naturally only wants to eat ~1500 calories per day. Is it lack of self-control that they don't spend every waking moment stuffing in high-calorie food despite not being hungry?

avar 10y ago
Have these friends of yours tried talking to e.g. a powerlifting or bodybuilding coach? It's pretty easy to get on a structured low-effort diet to gain weight, and muscle mass with some exercise thrown in. Getting above 1500 calories isn't some desperate effort of "spend[ing] every waking moment stuffing in high-calorie food". It's a couple of protein shakes a day that take you a couple of minutes to prepare & slurp down. Eating enough can be a very difficult logistical problem, but not at the 1500 calorie level, but at something like a >5000 calorie level where you're a professional strongman or powerlifter, or someone like Michael Phelps eating 8000 calories a day.
- nxc18 10y ago
  He was drinking lots of protein shakes... It wasn't that he was maxing out at 1500, it is that he didn't seem to want much more than that. With the amount of protein shakes and other things he was eating, anyone else would have gained fat at the very least. He lifted, too, but he wasn't that dedicated, so idk.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
  - avar 10y ago
    Sounds like your friend went through a half-assed ad-hoc diet & exercise program, which unsurprisingly didn't yield results. Extracting any useful data from "I have friends who..." is impossible. People are notoriously bad at self-evaluating things like their food intake or exercise regiment, and on top of that they're prone to present themselves in a good light. You'll find few people who'll say "Yeah I could have lost/gained weight, but I lack the dedication and impulse control to manage my diet & exercise", even though that may be the description that best explains the situation.
  - dekhn 10y ago
    protein shakes are the opposite of what you want if you are trying to gain weight.
blfr 10y ago
having strong self control is of course important, there are differences between individuals that you're not considering Like that self-control is probably itself in large part a genetic trait.

by nxc18 10y ago

avar 10y ago

Have these friends of yours tried talking to e.g. a powerlifting or bodybuilding coach? It's pretty easy to get on a structured low-effort diet to gain weight, and muscle mass with some exercise thrown in. Getting above 1500 calories isn't some desperate effort of "spend[ing] every waking moment stuffing in high-calorie food". It's a couple of protein shakes a day that take you a couple of minutes to prepare & slurp down. Eating enough can be a very difficult logistical problem, but not at the 1500 calorie level, but at something like a >5000 calorie level where you're a professional strongman or powerlifter, or someone like Michael Phelps eating 8000 calories a day.

nxc18 10y ago
He was drinking lots of protein shakes... It wasn't that he was maxing out at 1500, it is that he didn't seem to want much more than that. With the amount of protein shakes and other things he was eating, anyone else would have gained fat at the very least. He lifted, too, but he wasn't that dedicated, so idk.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- avar 10y ago
  Sounds like your friend went through a half-assed ad-hoc diet & exercise program, which unsurprisingly didn't yield results. Extracting any useful data from "I have friends who..." is impossible. People are notoriously bad at self-evaluating things like their food intake or exercise regiment, and on top of that they're prone to present themselves in a good light. You'll find few people who'll say "Yeah I could have lost/gained weight, but I lack the dedication and impulse control to manage my diet & exercise", even though that may be the description that best explains the situation.
- dekhn 10y ago
  protein shakes are the opposite of what you want if you are trying to gain weight.

blfr 10y ago

having strong self control is of course important, there are differences between individuals that you're not considering Like that self-control is probably itself in large part a genetic trait.