It’s an age old question. How do people get fat without noticing? In short, becoming overweight is something that doesn’t happen overnight. It happens over an extended period of time in very small increments.
In the era of instant gratification, there are now more than ever, an absurd amount of opportunities to eat high calorie foods. I can just pop over to Chick-Fil-A and get myself a large cookies and cream milkshake (780 Calories).
And don’t get me wrong, I still will get one of those milkshakes from time to time. But I am just warning you about how easy it is to get our hands on high calorie foods.
It also does not help that the fitness industry is full of lies when it comes to weight loss. People think that if they get overweight, they can just take some pill and be done with it. I am here to tell you that won’t happen.
There is no magic pill for weight loss, no matter how hard you search, you will not find it. There is a formula for weight loss, which we will get to later, but it takes time. And there is also a formula for weight gain, which you will find that most people follow on a daily basis, which is why so many people in the world are now obese.
In this article, you may find some eye opening truths about weight loss, weight gain, and health. Therefore you will want to pay attention to each section and bring it all together.
The mirror does not warn them that they are getting fat
As I mentioned in the introduction, people do not get fat overnight. It’s not like you wake up one day and all of a sudden you are 100 pounds overweight. No, it happens over many months and years.
When you see yourself in the mirror every single day, you don’t see the warning signs because the changes are so subtle. It isn’t until you see an old picture of yourself or maybe someone asks you about your weight gain, that you realize what has happened.
This is what I mean by the mirror doesn’t warn you about getting fat. And unfortunately, when people do finally realize what is happening, they think that it is too late to get into shape.
I am telling you right now that it is never too late to get into shape. I have witnessed countless people regardless of age lose fat and build muscle. It is a choice to get into shape. These are the same people that asked, how do people get fat without noticing.
And once they realized how they became overweight they were able to reverse it.
The formula for weight gain and weight loss
There is a formula for weight gain, just like there is a formula for weight loss. And as I mentioned in the introduction, you will find that the reason people become obese is because they just habitually overeat. It is that simple.
Before we go any further, I want you to check out my article on how to calculate my maintenance calories. Knowing your maintenance calories is going to be the basis on which everything I say from here on out is measured.
So let’s talk about the formula for weight gain. If you eat OVER your maintenance calories every day, and do this over an extended period of time, you will gain weight. Yes, it is that simple. This is called eating at a caloric surplus.
A common misconception is that people think all they need to do is workout and that’s it. No, it doesn’t matter what you do. If you are eating consistently at a caloric surplus, you will not lose weight, and the fat will continue to pile up.
One more thing to mention about weight gain is that if you are already low in body fat percentage and you want to build muscle, eating at a minor caloric surplus is the only way to build muscle. You cannot build muscle in a caloric deficit.
Now we know the formula for weight gain. What about weight loss? It’s just the opposite. If you eat UNDER your maintenance calories every day and do this over an extended period of time, you will lose weight.
Again, this seems so simple, yet people are willing to lose their autonomy because they don’t think it is possible. Remember, you cannot lose belly fat while in a caloric surplus.
They don’t workout
Remember what I said in the previous section. If you are eating at a caloric surplus, it doesn’t matter if you workout or not. You will still gain weight. BUT, it can slow the process if you are working out and eating at a caloric surplus.
Most people who become obese do not workout though. They continue to eat at a caloric surplus, and the pounds keep piling up.
Eating at a caloric deficit is a conscious choice. As you get older, your maintenance calorie number continues to get lower. This is why most people get fatter as they age.
In order to effectively lose weight, you have to combine a caloric deficit with working out. It really is that simple. Easy? No, but once you get in the groove and see the possibilities, you will really start to become interested in the process.
The same way that people gain weight is the same way people lose weight. Slowly over time with consistent results. This is why I find it immensely important to take “before” pictures of yourself. 3 months down the road when you are wondering if it’s all worth it, you are going to look at a before picture of yourself and be shocked with the results.
What type of workouts should you be doing though? If you are trying to lose fat quickly, I highly recommend high intensity interval training, or HIIT for short. These workouts will challenge you, but your results will be massive.
Here are the best high intensity interval training workouts for beginners at home.
You can also download our app All Workouts: Personal Trainer (iOS | Google Play). We have plenty of FREE workout plans, and guided HIIT workouts!
They don’t watch what they eat
This kind of goes hand in hand with the formula for weight gain and weight loss section. The fact of the matter is that high calorie foods are prevalent in our kitchens and restaurants. Have you ever wondered how many calories a Bloomin Onion from Outback Steakhouse is? It is a shocking 3,080 calories.
And that is just one dish from one restaurant. How about a bacon cheeseburger with fries from Five Guys? That will set you back over 1,500 calories.
Whether you gain weight or lose weight is a choice. You have to be consciously monitoring what you eat. And if you decide that you want to have a cheat day, you still need to watch what you eat.
I highly recommend downloading an app like MyFitnessPal. It is free, and you can scan foods that you eat or use their extensive restaurant database to find out how many calories you are eating.
I challenge you to track every single thing that you eat for a whole week and see how many calories you eat per day on average. This is a great exercise to open your eyes to how much you are consuming.
Some people don’t realize that small things that they are eating might be very high in calories. Look up how many calories are in mayo, oils, breadcrumbs, peanut butter, ice cream, etc..
Remember, you can’t just eat healthy for a week and expect to see massive changes. Most people give up when they realize that they can’t lose 50 pounds of fat per month. Fat loss is a process. And when you complete that process, you will be better off down the road.
Main Point: How do people get fat without noticing?
Did we learn the answer to our question, how do people get fat without noticing? If you made it this far, you now realize that it is a combination of many things.
Mostly becoming overweight happens by eating at a caloric surplus consistently over an extended period of time. We learned that to counteract this, we can eat at a caloric deficit over an extended period of time.
If you want to accelerate your fat loss, be sure to exercise alongside your caloric deficit. Get involved in high intensity interval training. I recommend doing this 3-4 days per week.
If you are truly eating at a caloric deficit AND doing HIIT 3-4 days per week, the fat will shed off your body faster than you have ever imagined.
I want you to be honest with yourself about eating at a caloric deficit. Even on your cheat days, be sure to calculate how many calories you are consuming. One cheat day can completely ruin your whole plan if you don’t account for it.
Eating at a caloric deficit is something that has to continue over an extended period of time. If you eat at a caloric deficit for 6 days per week, and then on the 7th day you have a massive cheat day, it could negate your work from the previous 6 days.
Be sure to take “before” pictures of yourself. This is what is going to keep you motivated to continue on when you realize on multiple occasions that it is going to take time to get where you want.
What do you think about all this? How do people get fat without noticing? I would love to hear from you and see what your take is.
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