My body is a thermostat... ?
I should actually say, "my body is a broken thermostat." That at least is the case for most people.
I am going to try and explain, very short and simply, why the body is so susceptible to fat gain. Most say, 'it is so easy for me to get fat.' This is true, but it is also the case for everybody else too. With the exception of people with thyroid and other illnesses, humans gain fat easily.
Everyone has an internal thermometer. This means that the body has a way of regulating EVERYTHING. We cannot begin to understand the complexity of this issue, however we can make some assumptions.
Humans evolved. Everything is based from this one simple fact. Taking that into account, you must do everything just like the beings you evolved from, to be in top mental and physical health. Our caloric intake was low, on the brink of starvation most of the time. Our protein sources were limited and we were restricted to fruits, vegetables and nuts. So we can conclude from this that the healthy things to eat are protein sources from animals, carbohydrates from minimally processed rice beans vegetables etc, and fats from nuts. Not only did we adapt to this type of caloric intake, but our body also adapted to times when this food is not available. This is where the thermometer comes into play.
In the past, when we were not able to obtain food from hunting, gathering, farming etc., our bodies had to have a way to slow down the metabolism in order to conserve energy. Turns out the body has a way of doing it, and it works really well... better than we want it too. Humans who are deprived of QUALITY calories undergo changes that I will not get into much detail about (metabolic rate decreases, fat storage increases, energy expenditure decreases, and of course hunger increases). What you do need to know, is that the body overcompensates. Meaning, if it should only slow down to preserve a little fat, it slows down more to preserve extra calories just in case.
So as you can see, the body is like a thermometer. When the intake is too low, the body slows down the metabolism, when the intake is too high, the body speeds up the metabolism. Much like a thermometer turns on ac or heats the room depending on the temperature set. But here is where we have a problem with our evolutionary path. You see, we never really had a need to turn up the metabolic rate. It was very rare that humans gained unnecessary fat; and if they did, it would be burned up very quickly. Most were on the brink of starvation, eating 60% of their "TDEE." In conclusion, you can see why it is easy for humans to gain fat, but not lose it; because we simply did not develop a mechanism to speed up our metabolism in a necessary way to overcome the effects of poor diet and sedentary lifestyle. The likelihood of starving to death was great, and the likelihood of becoming obese was non-existent. This is why most of our bodies are like broken thermometers.
But wait there's more... Some may say, "but Twist, you never gain fat." Sure this is true. Many people can eat and eat and eat (fattymcbutterpants) and not gain any weight. Why is this? Well these people tend to have a higher caloric expenditure, severe decrease in appetite following food intake, and a warped perception of actual calories consumed is developed. Basically skinny people move more, eat less, and think they eat more. This is all genetics unfortunately.
I hope this is explained well enough for people to understand without me getting too into detail. Keep in mind I just finished my gym session and am hungry, cranky, tired, and in need of a fat ass steak and a bowl of rice.
