Are Fat People Lazy or Misinformed?

I was in Whole Foods the other day and noticed something interesting; half the people there were obese.  Not an unusual circumstance living in the United States, but this is a health food store we are talking about.  I wasn’t walking through Walmart or a ‘regular’ supermarket.  I was in a place where the consumers shop specifically because they want to live a healthy lifestyle.  So what the hell is going wrong here?  It’s simple, people either don’t know or don’t want to accept the fact that dieting is as simple as calories in vs. calories out.  They believe that organic foods are magical and defy the laws of thermodynamics.  Sorry to break it to you, but organic pizza has just as many calories as regular pizza.  Same goes for cake, ice cream, cheese, bread, etc.  That $8 pint of organic gelato isn’t going to save you.

This is by no means a shot at fat people or Whole Foods.  I also want to explain that I am speaking strictly from a body composition standpoint (i.e. weight loss/gain, how you look physically) and not improving ones health and wellness so to speak.  Yes, they are related but not necessarily linear.  The problem is that there is so much bullshit spewed by mainstream media and pundits like Dr. Oz related to diet.  That’s why, although this is very difficult, I try not to get mad when people label foods as good or bad.  When you are bombarded with this nonsense on a daily basis, it’s hard not to take it as true.  Every food can be good and every food can be bad in the right amounts.

This also does not absolve fat people of wrongdoing.  Some of them have no regard for their health and their body shows it.  I would go as far as to say 80-90% just don’t care.  But there are some that have good intentions, hence my Whole Foods observation.  It’s just very unfortunate that there is so much bad information out there.  It’s overwhelming and quite frankly I don’t think this story has a happy ending.  The Layne Nortons and Alan Aragons of the world who speak the truth are strongly outnumbered.

The body is a very complex organism, and I think people want to believe that dieting must be complex as well.  I can make anyone lose or gain weight with a little trial and error.  The tricky part is adherence and convenience.  But the laws of thermodynamics are very simple.  Don’t let some diet coach bullshit you that they have the magical formula, it’s all just basic math.  Don’t be fooled by health buzzwords like ‘natural’ or ‘organic.’  When you look at an organic cupcake or cookie or beer, just accept it for what it is.