Is there possibly a thyroid issue that maybe we don't know about and Sully/Celtics don't want to disclose?
Thyroid medicine is notorius for weight gain.
Thyroid medicine is notorius for weight gain.
Sullinger out "for a while" with stress reaction
- Thread starter nattysez
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This is a pretty controversial topic & everyone considers themselves an expert. I've done & lot of reading & reviewing of scientific literature so here goes with my hot takes:
In the vast majority of people, appetite is a very precise regulator of caloric needs, e.g., just 100 calories per day (about one mouthful) lead to ~20 pounds per year of weight gain / loss. The calories in/calories out model is correct. But, there are certain calories that are worse for weight control - sugars & simple carbs that are metabolized virtually identically to sugar. This is because those carbs cause insulin spikes & crashes which leads to crazy appetite cravings totally out of line with caloric need. Those carbs are basically metabolic poison. It is extremely difficult, borderline impossible to diet by just "exercising restraint", because one most exert willpower almost every waking minute & a 5-minute slip up can ruin several days of work.
That being said, if my full-time job with tens of millions of dollars on the line was in sports, modeling, music or acting, you can bet I would do everything humanly possible to be as fit as possible. I would hire a full-time nutritionist to just follow me around & constantly police me. Sully must be burning like 5,000 calories a day, so this isn't like me being like "oh I had a cupcake at the office - my day is ruined". It takes serious eating for him to gain weight while exercising like that. If I had to guess, I bet he eats total garbage. Like, he stops by a French bakery on the way home and loads up on sweets, or eats whole massive plates of pasta + sauce like Big Baby before every game.
In the vast majority of people, appetite is a very precise regulator of caloric needs, e.g., just 100 calories per day (about one mouthful) lead to ~20 pounds per year of weight gain / loss. The calories in/calories out model is correct. But, there are certain calories that are worse for weight control - sugars & simple carbs that are metabolized virtually identically to sugar. This is because those carbs cause insulin spikes & crashes which leads to crazy appetite cravings totally out of line with caloric need. Those carbs are basically metabolic poison. It is extremely difficult, borderline impossible to diet by just "exercising restraint", because one most exert willpower almost every waking minute & a 5-minute slip up can ruin several days of work.
That being said, if my full-time job with tens of millions of dollars on the line was in sports, modeling, music or acting, you can bet I would do everything humanly possible to be as fit as possible. I would hire a full-time nutritionist to just follow me around & constantly police me. Sully must be burning like 5,000 calories a day, so this isn't like me being like "oh I had a cupcake at the office - my day is ruined". It takes serious eating for him to gain weight while exercising like that. If I had to guess, I bet he eats total garbage. Like, he stops by a French bakery on the way home and loads up on sweets, or eats whole massive plates of pasta + sauce like Big Baby before every game.
HomeRunBaker said:
I was thinking Love, Al Jefferson and Kendrick Perkins as 3 examples for Sullinger to follow. With Oliver Miller, Traylor and Mel Turpin as the cautionary tales.
Sure, there's a maturity component to this, but there's also an educational component as well. And as much as hiring people to cook for/monitor him and monitor him may be necessary, those moves won't be sufficient unless he internalizes the problem and the solutions.
Rustjive said:
Yeah, but it's a stupid argument. Body builders have a caloric surplus, but get ripped, not fat. Kids have a caloric surplus, but get taller, not fat. There are lots of documented cases in the third world of fat people who are simultaneously malnourished. It's a complex chemical process that we don't understand very well, and applying a simple in equals out formula is technically correct. It just doesn't actually tell us anything actionable or interesting.
ALiveH said:
100 calories being a mouth-ful is an across-the-board statement. You can eat cheeseburger, you can eat salad, you can eat yoghurt with oat flakes. Do you think a mouth ful of each has the same calories? Of course not and it just shows what the guy needs to do, eat things that stops his hunger/appetite for a long time and has low calories. If he has such big weight trouble, while he´s training/playing so much, he either has no idea what that means (eating smth healthy for a breakfast, not Kelloggs with gatorade, having an apple as a snack instead of pringles, etc.) or he has a health issue. Maybe he has to take some medication, which could be a big problem, too. We don´t know the exact problem. It always seems easy to say "[...]he´s a millionaire, he just needs to play his ball, train, eat, sleep, earn his money, where is the problem.." but some people deeper problems we cannot see and they don´t want to show or talk about.
MainerInExile said:
Right.
Also, to the snark on "So, your body can violate the laws of thermodynamics?", one reply is "So, every person's body extracts 100% of the energy from the food they eat in exactly the same way as burning the food in a calorimeter"? Just because some food has 100 calories of energy doesn't mean that energy is always efficiently extracted.
wade boggs chicken dinner said:
Short answer to your question is 'no'.
Here's something I can add: Body weight and metabolism is regulated by the central nervous system. At the most basic level, there are two neurotransmitters that control your hunger, fat retention, etc. It's a dynamic process. It's also like a ratchet. The system is designed to prevent you from losing weight. Makes sense when food supply is very scarce. But once you've gained weight, it's hard to reverse.
Now, it's a whole lot more complicated than that. For example, the above process is regulated by a whole bevy of hormones that come from a lot of different places in the body. And there are a whole bunch of behavioral factors at play. Plus, there's the issue of the bacteria in your gut, and yes, genetics.
HomeRunBaker said:
Tear what apart? UW-Madison has done some pretty extensive research into controlled human metabolism. When people eat less calories than they need, under a controlled environment, they lose weight.
EDIT: That's not to say that the human body's use of caloric intake is equivalent across parties, or that the rate of weight loss in such a controlled environment is equal across subjects with different genetics - it isn't. But the premise is what it is. A controlled environment is perfectly impossible for a human being to maintain on their own of course, but that's where the whole playing for the Boston Celtics thing comes in.
I'm not a nutritionist but seems to me that sully admits to over eating. It is a discipline/ psychological issue. A lot of people can't overcome addictions. I hope Sullinger can
Research has shown that the most common cause of unwanted weight gain in middle-aged males is sitting in front of a computer screen drinking beer.
Hey! Where did everybody go?
Hey! Where did everybody go?
luckiestman said:
Because people in the US eat absolute garbage most meals. And most of them don't have room in their budget to spend on trainers, chefs, nutritionists, et cetera. Do you think of those millions, most would be dismissive if they were offered a personal chef and nutritionist free of cost?
I'd have more pity if he had some sort of metabolic disorder that was the reason for his weight issues. This is just gluttony with a side order of sloth.
mt8thsw9th said:
Or a lifetime of bad eating habits -- with compelling evidence that he learned it at home -- that has to be unlearned. You seem to take it for granted that people will intrinsically understand the difference between dropping from 400 to 300 cans of Pringles a day and switching from Pringles to apples.
There has to be more to this, right? Did Danny say "you aren't suiting up again until you drop xx lbs" and Sully weighed in at his goal today?
Has he even been practicing with the team?
Has he even been practicing with the team?
I had written him off for the season. If he can stay healthy, this is good news for the franchise as he becomes a viable trade chip again.
Strange….
6-8 week timetable isn't unreasonable for him to be back on the court (it's been about 6 weeks right?), but I would have expected that to be more of a minimum before he is even allowed to run. Not when we see him in a game. Has he been secretly practicing for a week or two?
For a guy his size, seems like a quick return. If he really had a full blown acute stress fracture (and not a milder stress response), 6 weeks is pretty quick for it to be "completely healed". But who knows.
6-8 week timetable isn't unreasonable for him to be back on the court (it's been about 6 weeks right?), but I would have expected that to be more of a minimum before he is even allowed to run. Not when we see him in a game. Has he been secretly practicing for a week or two?
For a guy his size, seems like a quick return. If he really had a full blown acute stress fracture (and not a milder stress response), 6 weeks is pretty quick for it to be "completely healed". But who knows.
Coach John Lucas@CoachJohnLucas1One rep at a time to a new beginning. To thy own self be true
Anyone else find this tweet hilarious?
- Sully looks vaguely different, not necessarily in better shape
- Abs hidden by 20lb plate
- Mannequin torso in the back showing six-pack, so you can subconsciously paste it onto Sully
= BestShapeOfHisLife
Hey it's a start. It's also a 45lb plate unless he's using those Crossfit ones where they are all the same size.
Sorry, I was thinking it was a 20kg plate (been living outside the US for a while now) and remembered to write lbs but forgot to do the conversion too.
Have to remember we're talking about a former 300 lb doughboy, so he's never going to be ripped or anything. Needs enough bulk, particularly in the rump, to stay effective down low to make up for his lack of height and bounce. If he can find that happy medium where he's big enough to still outmuscle guys/carve out space and fit enough to stay on the court, I'm sure he'll be effective.
Also have to remember that he's in a contract year, so hopefully there's not too much of an overreaction should that potentially good season come to pass. We know what he can do but this is someone who came in with a serious red flag or two and hasn't really done anything to alleviate those concerns.
Also have to remember that he's in a contract year, so hopefully there's not too much of an overreaction should that potentially good season come to pass. We know what he can do but this is someone who came in with a serious red flag or two and hasn't really done anything to alleviate those concerns.
Also, not everyone needs to be cut like Karl Malone. Zach Randolph get by just fine with his physique.
Sully will never be a skywalker and he plays under the rim anyway so some amount of bulk is actually good. It's just that he's been carrying too much. Good to see him trying to improve his situation. I like him more than most here especially when he added a respectable outside game. Sully and Amir together can bang with the best for short stretches if that's what is needed.
Sully will never be a skywalker and he plays under the rim anyway so some amount of bulk is actually good. It's just that he's been carrying too much. Good to see him trying to improve his situation. I like him more than most here especially when he added a respectable outside game. Sully and Amir together can bang with the best for short stretches if that's what is needed.
As a very big man i sympathize to a large degree with Sully,i do. I'm a shade over 6'2 and weigh in around the 275-280 range.Some of it is muscle and just barrel chested due to heavy physical labor and occasionally lifting weights.But for the last 10 years i've just struggled with appetite,eating the right things especially. when i was younger it didn't matter what i eat,i stayed around the 185-205 range,lots of physical activity,basketball nearly everyday,some weightlifting,etc.But around 28 years old it just started to add on and i've been carrying it around since. It's truly all about willpower,i lost 55 pounds a few years ago,cut out the hamburgers,fries,candy,soda to a large degree and hit the weights and elliptical.But I've since put at least 40 of those pounds back on.It's hard,get home late,eat late,midnight snacks. It's all mindset and having the right one and giving in,and man it's so easy to just eat what you want and damn the consequence.
But I'm not a professional athlete,with the incentive of millions of dollars and 10-15 years of NBA basketball in my future. He's got money now,hire a trainer,a personal chef. Would be the first thing i would do if i were rich. Sometimes you just can't be left to your own devices and need a kick in the ass. But he's got to nip this now because it only gets worse as you get older. It's a form of addiction,it is. I don't drink,smoke,gamble (often) but food is just a beast that has proven a difficult beast to slay. I ride the coaster,lose a lot,build muscle,then put a lot back on,but at 37 it's only getting harder. He's a 22-23 year old kid so he has less of an excuse. I wish him well,seems a good kid,and in a way it should be treated as most other forms of addiction. So easy to stay on the straight and narrow for a while,but eventually you slip off.Hopefully he can walk that wire and lead a successful career. Some guys can do it,Barkley while never svelte lost a lot of weight as he aged,pierce while never heavy toned up noticeably as he crept into his mid 30's. It's like having a winning lottery ticket in your hand but ripping it up.
But I'm not a professional athlete,with the incentive of millions of dollars and 10-15 years of NBA basketball in my future. He's got money now,hire a trainer,a personal chef. Would be the first thing i would do if i were rich. Sometimes you just can't be left to your own devices and need a kick in the ass. But he's got to nip this now because it only gets worse as you get older. It's a form of addiction,it is. I don't drink,smoke,gamble (often) but food is just a beast that has proven a difficult beast to slay. I ride the coaster,lose a lot,build muscle,then put a lot back on,but at 37 it's only getting harder. He's a 22-23 year old kid so he has less of an excuse. I wish him well,seems a good kid,and in a way it should be treated as most other forms of addiction. So easy to stay on the straight and narrow for a while,but eventually you slip off.Hopefully he can walk that wire and lead a successful career. Some guys can do it,Barkley while never svelte lost a lot of weight as he aged,pierce while never heavy toned up noticeably as he crept into his mid 30's. It's like having a winning lottery ticket in your hand but ripping it up.