What factors affect Obesity?

What factors affect “Obesity”?

1) The “State” of your body

I’ll explain this by giving data on a “Supersize Me” experiment I did on myself.  I was 5’10”, 70 Kg (152 lbs), 10% total body fat, 29.4 kg muscle (64.81 lbs) when I was 22.  I am the same today at 56- 70kg, 7 kg fat, 29 kg muscle. 

15 years ago I decided to experiment on myself. I started eating only burgers and pork/beef ribs. In 6 months I weighed 88 Kgs (194 lbs). I now had 32.65 kg fat (72 lbs) on me and only 21.7 kgs (48 lbs) muscle. It is important to know that I exercised just as hard. But for every 5 lbs of fat I gained, I lost 1 lb of muscle. I was bulky, and lost my flexibility and explosiveness.

When I was lean and muscular, my muscles required about 18 Kcal per lb per day to “maintain”. When I sat idle, doing NOTHING, my muscles used up 1,166 Kcal/day, just being present on my body. My Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) for my organs etc to function was about 1520 Kcal/day. So while I was NOT exercising, my body was burning at least 2,700 Kcal/day (The actual number was greater because I was moving around and exercising also).

When I put on fat, the quality of my muscles deteriorated. They didn’t consume 18 Kcal/lb/day. At best they used about 12 Kcal/lb/day. My muscles idle now used up only 590 Kcals, a huge drop off. My BMR went down to 1220/day. My body now was burning only 1800 Kcal/day.

I was the same person. Different body composition. And that made a 900 Kcal difference a day. This is the confound accursed “cycle” of being obese. The body craves more fatty foods. The quantity of saturated fats eaten is a lot more. The body also doesn’t burn as many calories. The liver produces a lot more visceral fat, making a person heavier, more sluggish. The body loses muscle and burns less Kcal than before. Repeat cycle…

The "Obesity Cycle" which drives up the "Fat storage" curve exponentially

2) The Quality of the Food

I rate the quality of the food higher than the quantity IF you are eating "real" food, like real vegetables, fruits, wild caught fish, organic Tofu, skimmed milk Paneer etc. 

3) The Quantity of the Food

The quantity of the food becomes a higher factor if you are eat junk "food" or FUUD as I have defined it. A little bit of FUUD is bad for you and you have to limit FUUD. Therefore quantity becomes a gating factor.