Geez, I’d love to see this article go viral. People with weight issues are constantly judged as somehow bringing it on themselves, when it just usually isn’t true. Are some obese people obsessed with food? Yes. So are some non-obese people!

Weight problems may start out as a little overeating as a kid, or poor diet but they bring on health changes that become medical conditions. And how much control people have over appetite is debatable.

But so many of us would rather judge than admit that maybe alcoholism is a disease and maybe people with obesity have a real condition.

I can speak directly to this as I’ve spent a lifetime trying to be thin (was a chubby kid who ate normal foods, this was long before junk food was common, and was incredibly active). As an adult, I’ve been diagnosed with low thyroid disease. I eat an insanely healthy diet that is mostly vegetables, with some fish, meat, and fruit. I exercise daily, often taking long walks — way more than most people. Although not overweight technically, I still am not “thin.” There is no doubt in my mind that a genetic and disease component is playing out. If I ate like some of the normal “thin” people I know, I would be obese.

I know, it’s all anecdotal. Except — so many people share my story…which is why we have oodles of diet books.

Oddly, I have been practicing a breathing program that has made a difference in my metabolism, and it’s helped as much or more than diet.