Thank you for that very detailed response Anala. I did know most of it although not about mask police. That sounds hideous and shouldn’t be allowed. They should be held to the same or higher standards than the public and violating privacy is not ok.

I accept what you say at the basic level about calories in/calories out and weight in general. However when it comes to calories in there are many many variables. When I first moved in with my boyfriend I ate as i had at home with my parents. I grew up in a social housing area. My stepfather worked full time and my mother part time as a nurse. They also had my brother who was ten years my junior. My parents were poor and tired and so heavily processed foods like chips (fries) chicken burgers, fish fingers etc were both cheap and easy.

When I educated myself about nutrition and started cooking healthier meals our grocery spend more than doubled. We were fortunate that we could afford to do that, many others aren’t so lucky. I know there are ways and means around this, batch cooking, items with a shorter shelf life etc, but these are things you have to learn.

I believe it’s a major failing in schools and that so many key life skills are ignored. I believe students should be taught how to make a budget, how to shop around for cheapest utilities, what an APR is and most importantly learn a few staple family meals as well as learning how to bulk buy cheaper ingredients to use in multiple meals.

There’s also trauma. Many sexual abuse survivors describe overeating first for comfort and also to feel bigger, and more safe.

Medication can cause weight gain, PCOS, menopause and so on.

Yes, many people gain weight because they eat too much but it’s still a complex and multi-faceted issue.

You’ve already said the body is reluctant to give up its energy stores which makes losing weight difficult but all there again we find psychological, genetic, demographic and other element that also impact success rates as well as the body’s own fight against dropping too much weight.

I’m glad ensure works for you but i’m sure you agree it wouldn’t for lots of people. Indeed, Lorrae G called it liquid candy in her comments on another of my posts.

To close, I want to say that all of my posts are to draw attention to how complicated the issue of weight is and to encourage people to stop hating themselves. I would also like people to stop commenting about weight as it’s none of their business. I don’t think that’s too radical :)

Sorry, I didn’t mean to write you an essay.