WebMD 1:01: Why Do We Gain Weight?

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Leah
I hate those people who can eat whatever they want and never gain weight.

Noah
Oh, me too! Those skinny little creeps, I want to strangle--

Leah
Wait, wait, wait, I literally don't hate them. It's just an expression.

Noah
Sorry. I'm just trying to lose a little weight, and I'm a little hangry right now.

Leah
Well, let's focus that hanger on something more productive, like why we gain weight.

Noah
It's pretty straightforward. If we take in more energy or calories than we use, we gain weight.

Leah
Fat from food is broken down into fatty acids, which can travel in the blood and be captured by hungry cells.

Noah
But fatty acids that aren't needed right away are packaged in bundles called triglycerides and stored in fat cells, which have an unlimited capacity. And those fat cells are then stored in my booty.

Leah
Genetics and environment can play a role in weight gain, too. But overall, to burn off one plain 500-calorie fast food burger, you'd have to run for about an hour.

[GRUNTING WITH EFFORT]

Noah
Well, great. Now we know why we gain weight.

Leah
But that fat that makes

him look "meh" in a Speedo served our ancestors on the Serengeti well. They only had a few meals a week. Between meals, most of their energy was from stored fat.

Noah
Oh, that sounds awful. I get cranky even if I miss linner.

Leah
Linner? -Yeah, that's the meal between lunch and dinner? I think I look skinny.