Are we to FAT in the USA?

[dee_burk]

You didn’t answer my question: If it isn’t bad for you, then why does it matter if it is in everything?

HMM, i thought i answered it pretty well…

Green beans are not bad for you, i dont want them in everything,
Cinnamon is not bad for you, i dont want it in everything,
Basil is not bad for you, i dont want it in everything,
Salmon is not bad for you, i dont want it in everything,
I am not anti-corn syrup, it has a place…like pecan pie at Thanksgiving, not in spaghetti sauce. So yes, i make my own spaghetti sauce after reading labels…it has tomatoes, garlic, onion, basil, dash of salt…nope no corn syrup or sugar.

God Bless and may the Lord be with you.

 

[dee_burk]

After our 40’s I think that we’re not able to burn off fat as we use too.

Definitely agree, and women’s metabolism really seems to slow down and as we get larger and lose muscle mass, it drops even more, then the added weight is bad on your joints which slow you down, which makes you lose more muscle, its a vicious cycle.

 

[Bonnie]

I’m not trying to make an excuse for anyone’s bad choices, but I am trying to point out that it’s not as simple as saying, “Well, I can do it, so why can’t you?”

You’re right, it isn’t that simple. A good book on the subject is “Scarcity: Why Having Too Little Means So Much” by Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir.

 

[WilT]

Definitely agree, and women’s metabolism really seems to slow down and as we get larger and lose muscle mass, it drops even more, then the added weight is bad on your joints which slow you down, which makes you lose more muscle, its a vicious cycle.

 

[Kal2012]

For a really big person, exercise is very hard. Hard on the joints, and hard on the emotions. I know we are not supposed to care what others say about us, but it is hardly an incentive to exercise if you are subject to rude comments at the gym or while out for a walk. Also, most exercise instructors are not knowledgeable about how to modify exercises for a larger body. There are very few exercise videos that are made for larger people, and even walking can be hard if you have a work schedule that doesn’t give you much time at home during daylight hours. Probably very few men, and even fewer women want to walk at night.

I am VERY comfortable in my own body, but it took me years to get this way. I just wanted everyone to know a little of what life is like for a very large person.

Thank you for sharing! I hated going to they gym in my old city because everyone was so focused on appearance. You’d go into the women’s changing room and someone would constantly be talking about how fat they were. I’d giggle because I have a lot more fat on my body than the women complaining, but then I’d still go through the “old mental tapes” out of habit.

I like the gym that I go to now because there are more people who look like me.

 

[Kal2012]

I’m not trying to make an excuse for anyone’s bad choices, but I am trying to point out that it’s not as simple as saying, “Well, I can do it, so why can’t you?” I grew up in a household where the only vegetable we ate with any regularity was iceberg lettuce. I had to learn how and when to buy produce, and then how to use it up or preserve it before it went bad in a way that I was going to like. I had the time and resources available to figure that out.

People don’t take into account that changing habits is really hard.

 

[tomarin]

Isca:

I’m saying this not because I want any congratulations, because it was entirely my own fault that I got fat in the first place - I wasn’t fat as a child and neither were my parents. I just think we have to take responsibility for this. Yes, there are people who have medical conditions that make it very difficult or impossible to get much weight off, but they are actually few and far between. Most obesity is self-inflicted, and the cure is also up to the individual. As an adult, no-one forces you to put high-calorie food in your mouth!

Just out of curiosity, what percentage of the population would you say those genetically-inclined-to-be obese people are?

 

[tomarin]

As a fat woman, I want to share a few things that most of you probably do not know and will never experience. They are in no particular order.

1. I had weight loss surgery a few years ago after YEARS of struggling. I am still obese. Do you know that many women after this surgery can only eat about 1000 calories a day without gaining weight? That is not much. Personally, the only proteins I can now tolerate are the higher calorie ones, such as cheese and ground beef. The second month afterwards I only lost 8 pounds – and that was with eating probably no more than 800 calories a day. It’s not always a simple formula.
2. Many people, especially women, have tried diet after diet. Dieting can lower your metabolism so that it is MUCH harder to lose weight.
3. You can be guilty of the sin of gluttony even if you are built like a supermodel. Don’t we all know someone who can eat whatever they want and not gain? That doesn’t mean it is ok for them to eat grossly huge amounts of food.
4. For a really big person, exercise is very hard. Hard on the joints, and hard on the emotions. I know we are not supposed to care what others say about us, but it is hardly an incentive to exercise if you are subject to rude comments at the gym or while out for a walk. Also, most exercise instructors are not knowledgeable about how to modify exercises for a larger body. My city has a women-only fitness center with special classes for large women, taught by a 300+ pound certified aerobics instructor (and yes, she can kick butt and the certification is a national and respected one). However, that is not common. Also, it is much harder for a large person to have a good job and make enough money to join a gym. I am somewhat of an exception, as I happened to be promoted by a couple of very open-minded bosses. Most people assume I am stupid, although I was a National Merit Scholar and went to college on close to full scholarship. There are very few exercise videos that are made for larger people, and even walking can be hard if you have a work schedule that doesn’t give you much time at home during daylight hours. Probably very few men, and even fewer women want to walk at night.

I am VERY comfortable in my own body, but it took me years to get this way. I just wanted everyone to know a little of what life is like for a very large person.

Yes, fat people can make excuses for eating too much, but I think most of us sinners make excuses for the sins we commit. I know I do.

I’m not even convinced that exercise helps one to lose weight. I’m neither skinny nor fat, and I’ve been an avid runner for years. I never saw my weight go down more than a few pounds because of it. (I do think exercise is good for overall health, however).

A better strategy I think would be changing one’s diet (though it sounds like you’ve experimented with that aplenty already). I find avoiding processed carbohydrates (anything “white” essentially - rice, bread, pasta, etc.) works wonders for me.

 

[pensmama87]

People don’t take into account that changing habits is really hard.

Yes, absolutely.

And modern food is deliberately produced in such a way that will reap the most profit for those who manufacture it. I don’t think anyone is putting crack in food, but scientists who work with food definitely know that human taste is oriented toward favoring lots of sugar and fat. That’s really important when you live in the wild and need to find food that is going to give you energy and not poison you, and help you survive until the next opportunity for meat comes along. But that’s not reality as it is today.

I am recovering from food addiction. Some people scoff at such a thing, though they wouldn’t if I was attempting to recover from alcoholism, nicotine use, or hard drugs. Guess what? If you give up soda, fast food, candy, etc, you go through withdrawal. Withdrawal is nasty business. I remember when my therapist drew me a picture of how my brain literally had to rewire itself so that my cravings would eventually minimize and I would be able to think about food like a normal person. That withdrawal period lasted, for me, about six months (after the grace of God helped me to get through more than a month without relapsing).

Food addiction is a lot more common than people realize, I think. There are literally foods I just cannot eat now, just like an alcoholic can’t have “just one drink.” But we make it all about willpower, and laziness, and that just shames people into being too afraid to attempt life without.

Sometimes, of course, it could just be a “habit,” and not full-blown addiction, but even non-harmful habits are really, really, really hard to break.

 

[tomarin]

I know myself I’m at least 20 lbs. overweight with a slight beer belly, but the other day I say many couples that were way too fat. Too much skin and bulges where there shouldn’t be any. The Scriptures tell us that our body is a holy temple so therefore it needs to be cared for. We need perhaps to get on bikes and leave the old car behind.

Anyway it’s not just the United States anymore. If the media are to be believed, it’s hard to find a country that doesn’t have an obesity problem. (Even Japan apparently, although I go there often and I see very few fat people.)

 

[WilT]

Yes, absolutely.

I am recovering from food addiction. Some people scoff at such a thing, though they wouldn’t if I was attempting to recover from alcoholism, nicotine use, or hard drugs. Guess what? If you give up soda, fast food, candy, etc, you go through withdrawal… That withdrawal period lasted, for me, about six months (after the grace of God helped me to get through more than a month without relapsing).

I Drink sodas instead of h20 and yes there is definitely withdrawals from leaving it. To me it comes in a form of a mild anxiety and headaches.:whacky:

 

[freeRadical]

HMM, i thought i answered it pretty well…

Green beans are not bad for you, i dont want them in everything,
Cinnamon is not bad for you, i dont want it in everything,
Basil is not bad for you, i dont want it in everything,
Salmon is not bad for you, i dont want it in everything,
I am not anti-corn syrup, it has a place…like pecan pie at Thanksgiving, not in spaghetti sauce. So yes, i make my own spaghetti sauce after reading labels…it has tomatoes, garlic, onion, basil, dash of salt…nope no corn syrup or sugar.

God Bless and may the Lord be with you.

That didn’t answer my question.

 

[freeRadical]

Processed junk food is usually cheaper per calorie than fresh fruits and vegetables.

Again, I don’t see how. You are telling me that processed food is cheaper than $0.50 a pound?

I am not sure if you are aware of the SNAP challenge, which encourages people to live as if they were on food stamps for a month. The nationwide average allotment for a person on food stamps is $4.50/person/day. I live in Pennsylvania and because I know how to cook, as well as having the time to shop and use coupons, our family can eat extremely well on that (our grocery budget is actually about $3/person/day). But when you live in an area where fresh produce is incredibly expensive (ever been grocery shopping in NYC?), with limited transportation, time, and ability to cook, that’s not going to work out well.

Do you know what the S in SNAP stands for? Supplemental. SNAP is not people’s only source of income its supposed to help supplement income. So, that SNAP challenge is ridiculous. It has nothing to do with reality.

I’m not trying to make an excuse for anyone’s bad choices, but I am trying to point out that it’s not as simple as saying, “Well, I can do it, so why can’t you?” I grew up in a household where the only vegetable we ate with any regularity was iceberg lettuce. I had to learn how and when to buy produce, and then how to use it up or preserve it before it went bad in a way that I was going to like. I had the time and resources available to figure that out.

I don’t really care about people’s choices. They are free people. If they want to drink soda and eat processed food, that’s their business, not mine.

Not everyone does. Your posts come across as shaming, as if everyone who doesn’t do what you do is stupid or lazy, and that just isn’t the case at all.

I’m not shaming anybody. Just trying to get the facts straight about the prices of “healthy” versus “unhealthy” food.

I eat very unhealthy. Mostly fast food and soda. I don’t exercise. I smoke. So how am I shaming anybody?

At the end of the day, I don’t understand why people can’t mind their own business. People can eat what they want.

 

[Zzyzx_Road]

a few remarks:
It’s not just the processed carbs, it not just the sugar or HFCS, that are that bad by themselves, the real kicker is when they are combined. In this case, the effect of the whole is far greater than the sum of the parts. Not enough to chop carbs or sugar/HFCS, got to hit both.

Look at pictures of people from the 60’s, 50’s, 40’s and earlier. It’ll amaze you how skinny people were back then.

A few years ago, I saw somewhere a picture of the circus fat man circa 1886. This guy was 6-2 and 350 lbs, extremely unusual for his time. Imagine if the spectators of that era were plopped down in a Walmart today. They’d think they were in the middle of a circus.

 

[LongingSoul]

yes, we are. We have obese children, we have a higher instance of diabetes, and we have too many processed foods out in the market which are basically some of the few things that people on food stamps can afford because healthier items like fresh fruit are more expensive.

This is one of the most virilent myths that the less finacially flush groups cling to. If you were to break down the ingredients and compare… you’d be shocked out of your mind by the cost of fast, frozen and processed foods. Years ago I ran a cottage family meals business. I did family meal size soups, casseroles, curries, vegetables in sauces and au gratins, Shepherds Pie, Lasagnes… that sort of thing. These really are uncomplicated but nutritious and delicious meals that nearly anyone could make and freeze weeks worth of dinners for one.

If you broke down the ingredients in a Maccas family meal… burgers and chips and softdrink basically… it is way more expensive than having a pack of breadrolls, home made rissoles and frozen chips in the freezer for an easy weekend meal. But unfortunately the myth lives on.

 

[pensmama87]

Again, I don’t see how. You are telling me that processed food is cheaper than $0.50 a pound?

It’s cheaper per calorie. A $1 candy bar provides far more calories than $1 worth of fruit. If you’re stressing out about having money to eat, you use that money to buy as many calories as you possibly can. That’s normal human behavior. It doesn’t fit our current food situation, but it makes loads of sense if you’re trying to survive with limited resources (aka most of human history).

I only brought up SNAP, etc. to illustrate that, while it’s possible to eat healthily on a limited amount of money, it’s hard when you add to that limited time, ability, or history of eating healthy (plus lots of my acquaintances are gushing about how good it is and I agree with you that it’s a lame challenge - mostly only for people who’ve never bothered to budget in their lives, ever).

There’s a lot of factors that work against eating more healthily, even if they want to.

 

[freeRadical]

It’s cheaper per calorie. A $1 candy bar provides far more calories than $1 worth of fruit. If you’re stressing out about having money to eat, you use that money to buy as many calories as you possibly can. That’s normal human behavior. It doesn’t fit our current food situation, but it makes loads of sense if you’re trying to survive with limited resources (aka most of human history).

I only brought up SNAP, etc. to illustrate that, while it’s possible to eat healthily on a limited amount of money, it’s hard when you add to that limited time, ability, or history of eating healthy (plus lots of my acquaintances are gushing about how good it is and I agree with you that it’s a lame challenge - mostly only for people who’ve never bothered to budget in their lives, ever).

There’s a lot of factors that work against eating more healthily, even if they want to.

Regardless, eating “unhealthy” food does not make you obese anymore than eating “healthy” food does. The main contributor to obesity in the US is overconsumption of food in general.

 

[Viki63]

But all of that is irrelevant considering eating “unhealthy” food doesn’t make you obese. Overconsumption of food is general makes you obese.
.

I don’t think you can become overweight by eating too many fresh vegetables and fruits. It’s diet sodas, “fat free” but sugar loaded snacks, and other non foods that attach to the same receptors in our brains that heroin does. Sugar is addictive, and it’s in everything.
Healthy food may be more expensive, but it’s cheaper than eating unhealthy food and having to take a handful of expensive medications to keep your blood sugar and blood pressure normal.

 

[Demetra2]

A trip to the mall shows me that people are getting heavier as compared to fifty years ago. it was unusual to see a fat child then but not now. It occurred to me that in my childhood our family went out to eat on only rare special occasions. I believe that eating out frequently is a huge problem unless you are aware of the number of calories in your restaurant meal. I have just lost twenty pounds and have to be vigilant everyday to keep it off. It is a constant struggle but one I am willing to tackle. And yes, good healthy food ( veg, fruit ,quality protein) costs more than pasta and sugar for example. I think that many people just give up or don’t understand how to eat to keep weight from piling on.

 

[pensmama87]

Regardless, eating “unhealthy” food does not make you obese anymore than eating “healthy” food does. The main contributor to obesity in the US is overconsumption of food in general.

OK, but it’s also a lot easier to overconsume needed calories in a fast food bacon cheeseburger than eating several apples. They may take up the same volume of space in the stomach, but one has many times the caloric value of the other.

A person who is eating primarily produce, lean meats, with maybe some dairy and whole grains is a lot less in danger of overconsuming food than a person who is eating food that is much more calorie dense. A person eating primarily fast food, candy, etc - even if they aren’t addicted to it, is not going to get the signal that their hunger has been satisfied until they’ve eaten an enormous quantity.

I am reading “Farmer Boy” by Laura Ingalls Wilder right now to my son before bed. I am fascinated by the way her husband lived growing up (in the 1850s and 60s), including how much he and his family ate. It’s astonishing. But then, they all had a great deal of manual labor to do every day. So I’m not convinced it’s just that we eat too much. I think we still pretty much desire to eat the way we always have, but our sedentary lifestyles don’t match up with our hunger signals, and we have food that is much more calorie dense than ever before.