Jump to content

Photo

America's Weight Problem?


  • Please log in to reply
45 replies to this topic

#31 trudatman

trudatman

    one point nine hero

  • Members
  • Real Name:that guy
  • Location:State Of Love And Trust, The United State Of Amorica.

Posted 16 July 2011 - 01:31 PM

powders aren't answers unless the question becomes "with food choices/collection/production removed from our daily lives by the constructs of capitalism, how can I ensure supplementation of missing nutrients?" be emotionally detached and content with your options in Germany, but understand the vastly different "grocery" concerns of the average (obese) USA resident. we're disgusting and so far removed from the foods packaged for us that a bit of powdered supplement scapegoated as somehow not natural is a false rationalization of a misguided attitude. things are not good. dismissing the answers is easier than confronting the obviously overwhelming beast of a crazed overpopulation. good luck.

#32 Lemon

Lemon

    Legend

  • Members

Posted 17 July 2011 - 12:21 AM

Most vegetarians don't eat meat because they realize that in order to do so, you need to commit murder. Yes, murder, because I'm fairly certain no one in the meat industry let's the animal die of natural causes before they chop it up to serve. I'm saying this as a meat eater, mind you.

Basically, most aren't pompous, they just have a moral dilemma with enjoying that which was once animatedly alive. Plants are alive to, but they aren't alive like we are, so the moral dilemma just doesn't exist there.


America's fat problem is the combination of a lot of things. How do we stay healthy? Move more, eat less*.

Moving Less. We sit around all day. I'd wager that throughout all of human history, save the last 200 years, the vast majority of mankinds depended on a form of manual labor for their bread. Not anymore! We have machines, and most jobs at this point involve sitting down in front of a glowing box. Hell, even our transportation mode insists 99% of the time sitting down. The exception, of course being accidents, in which we spend that time in ragdoll physics meet twisted flaming metal land.

Eating more. During the World Wars, we developed a lot of technology to create cheap ass food and mass produce it, to cheaply feed both soldiers on the field, and people enduring hard times at home. We kept it up after the wars were over and depressions subsided. I think the next big step was Nixon, who during his presidency helped push lots of (now exposed as) s***ty food into school systems and people's diets. Quickly made food that is tasty as F***. Maybe it was Kennedy or Reagan though, can't remember exactly. I just know one of those folks helped introduce legislation responsible for this to some degree.


Also people are busy nowadays with lots of stuff to do (internet!) that also doesn't involve moving. It's a wonder we even have skinny people nowadays to be honest.

EDIT: Oh, also gardens are incredible. Growing your own food is a lost art that's starting to make a comeback. Let's all hope it does. The world pre-World Wars was one of incredible diversity in food, with farmers everywhere creating their own unique product. Nowadays most everything is standardized and mass produced, which while making it cheap, has drastically reduced the amount of diversity of tastes out there. Every town should have a farmers market, and everyone who enjoys the luxury of living in the middle class should buy local stuff instead of Wal-Mart food.


*(F*** yeah, quoting Mad TV)

Edited by Timothy McCorgi, 17 July 2011 - 12:24 AM.


#33 Sheik

Sheik

    Deified

  • Members

Posted 17 July 2011 - 04:00 AM

QUOTE(trudatman @ Jul 16 2011, 08:31 PM) View Post

powders aren't answers unless the question becomes "with food choices/collection/production removed from our daily lives by the constructs of capitalism, how can I ensure supplementation of missing nutrients?" be emotionally detached and content with your options in Germany, but understand the vastly different "grocery" concerns of the average (obese) USA resident. we're disgusting and so far removed from the foods packaged for us that a bit of powdered supplement scapegoated as somehow not natural is a false rationalization of a misguided attitude. things are not good. dismissing the answers is easier than confronting the obviously overwhelming beast of a crazed overpopulation. good luck.

I haven't thought about it that way. Most of the time when thinking about such consume-stuff I tend to think that the grass is greener on the other side and that the choice in the USA is bigger than here in Germany. Especially in the country, where I live, we have a fairly limited choice of foods. Still it's incredibly much, but even small cities have a choice of consume goods far bigger than what we can buy here. I bet they sell a lot of crappy food in America, they do in Germany, too. It's still your choice what you buy and what you don't.
Besides I encourage buying the raw products and prepare/make the meal yourself. It's far tastier, it's fun and you know what you are eating. I bet they sell raw meat and raw vegetables and raw fruits over there in the USA. And I also bet they sell the spices and stuff, too. All you gotta do is the cooking yourself. icon_shrug.gif
About gardens: My mum actually has quite a big garden and we also grow vegetables and fruits ourself, herbage too. It's not enough to live off it only, but it's enough for quite some meals during summer. It usually tastes better / more "natural", but that can also be the imagination knowing that we've grown it ourselves.

#34 Dark Ice Dragon

Dark Ice Dragon

    Wizard

  • Members

Posted 10 October 2015 - 05:02 PM

I eat almost every day pasta, bread, pastries and at least 2 times a week i eat meat ..and yet i have the opposite problem, my BMI is only 16 (counting in Kg and Cm), a little more than a stalfos.

  • Valientlink likes this

#35 SpikeReynolds

SpikeReynolds

    Ironically bald furry

  • Members
  • Real Name:Spens
  • Location:Grand Rapids, Michigan

Posted 10 October 2015 - 06:01 PM

There's a lot of layers to this issue. There's a lot more to it than 'Americans are fat because...' The biggest thing, at least that I've seen, is straight up misinformation and twisted statistics. The BMI scale is a terrible indicator of obesity, because, simply put, at 6 foot, 217 pounds, and a build somewhere between dad-bod and brick shithouse; I'm 4 pounds shy of obesity. Yes, I have a gut. That's it. I'm not that fat, and there are a lot of people built like me (average with a slight gut) that are classified as obese. If I gained four pounds of fat, my body fat percentage would still be below the high-risk area. 

 

I don't know how much of this 'obesity epedemic' you can chalk up to folks like me, but I'd imagine it'd be a good percentage. There are, of course, actual obese people with actual problems, but we need a better way of drawing the line between a little fat and morbidly obese. 

 

The other big thing I've seen is blatant dietary misinformation. I'd recommend Tom Naughton's documentary 'Fat Head' for a little bit more on that. Every good dietary success story I've seen first-hand was due to people cutting starch, rather than fat, out of their diets. Science got kind of twisted by political and financial gain, and that's why we have fake science backing up our dietary guidelines. 

 

The last part of the issue I'm gonna touch on is that, simply put, junk food is cheap. Where I live, meat is expensive. A good steak will run you 8-13 US dollars per pound, but you can feed two people on a 6 dollar Digiorno. It's still not impossible to live both cheap and healthy, but it is a challenge. 

 

I mean, yes, there are people who eat too much and don't do anything. On the flipside of that, not all of them are fat.

 

Also, I forgot to mention, fuckin' soda pop, man. You're gonna gain weight if you drink 1000+ calories every day.



#36 Valientlink

Valientlink

    ~V@LîΣÑTLîÑK~

  • Members
  • Real Name:Bread
  • Location:Earth

Posted 10 October 2015 - 07:21 PM

I think the problem with obesity in America stems from the over-commercialization of fast food or other food products that are just genuinely not that good for you. I've eaten a ton of unhealthy food in my life but I was blessed with height and a fast metabolism (actually underweight which is bad). I'm 6"0 and 129 pounds, when I was 17 I was 147. In my case unhealthy foods seem to cause me to lose weight, I think. But I've done quite a bit of cardio this year so maybe that plays into it. Been a bit worried though, because too skinny is bad. Even so that doesn't save you from cholesterol complications or other problems. I've actually had to stop watching T.V because of how off putting commercials are nowadays, you sit there and watch the same commercials for hours just to watch a few minutes of a show, before doing the same thing again. It's basically brainwashing, and that's where the fast food commercials play in. So much Taco Bell this and McDonalds that and Burger King this and Wendy's that. Constantly playing over and over again, it disgusts me beyond comprehension.

 

And don't even get me started with the over commercialization of beer (SHIT beer might I add), which further adds to weight gain.


Edited by Valientlink, 10 October 2015 - 07:27 PM.


#37 SyrianBallaS

SyrianBallaS

    Defender

  • Members
  • Real Name:Samer
  • Location:Detroit, Michigan

Posted 10 October 2015 - 09:18 PM

For me it's a little weird. I have an extremely fast metabolism (~2700 cal/day) without doing anything but I'm still fat. Am about 6'1" and 230 lb. According to some fitness test I took it said if I was 210 lb. I would be in shape, granted I retain my muscle. 

 

As a kid, I was able to eat anything and not gain any weight. The real weight gain started when I was 18.

 

I can tell you one thing that will make you have fat that is very difficult to burn off, fast food, namely trans fat. It is possible to burn it off, but it's a little weird because it gets smaller first but takes a lot of effort to get rid of.



#38 Anarchy_Balsac

Anarchy_Balsac

    Quest Builder

  • Members

Posted 10 October 2015 - 09:28 PM

One thing that needs to be said is that part of the reason is that different culture have different perceptions of where to draw the line for overweight.  What's "fat" here might be normal weight in some cultures.

 

Of course, I said it's part of the reason, it's not the entire reason but it does mean that calling ourselves a comparatively fat country has to be done careful when there's a blurred line on what constitutes fat in the first place.

 

EDIT: Oh, also gardens are incredible. Growing your own food is a lost art that's starting to make a comeback. Let's all hope it does. The world pre-World Wars was one of incredible diversity in food, with farmers everywhere creating their own unique product. Nowadays most everything is standardized and mass produced, which while making it cheap, has drastically reduced the amount of diversity of tastes out there. Every town should have a farmers market, and everyone who enjoys the luxury of living in the middle class should buy local stuff instead of Wal-Mart food.

    *(F*** yeah, quoting Mad TV)

 

It's a nice ideal.  The problem is that most people can not afford the farmers markets because they are more expensive.  And since Rent-company trusts and gentrification are driving the costs of living sky high, that's not going to stop anytime soon.

 

I'd use them myself if I could though, since the food is fresher if nothing else.


Edited by Anarchy_Balsac, 10 October 2015 - 09:37 PM.


#39 Dark Ice Dragon

Dark Ice Dragon

    Wizard

  • Members

Posted 11 February 2017 - 05:20 PM

i kept eat meat,sweets,cakes,chocolate for a year and half and...my BMI diminuished, maybe i found a new diet or i have a sneak in my body that eat for me


  • Anthus likes this

#40 Matthew

Matthew

  • Administrators
  • Real Name:See above.
  • Pronouns:He / Him
  • Location:Ohio

Posted 11 February 2017 - 09:40 PM

Some people talk about widespread obesity, but I doubt I'll ever have that problem. My dad and I both metabolize so fast, it would take a prolonged and conscious effort for me to gain any weight at all. In the end though, the cheap convenience of fast food and sedentary lifestyles contributes to obesity.

Also, ancient thread, wow.

#41 Naru

Naru

    Magus

  • Members

Posted 12 February 2017 - 07:00 PM

@Dark Ice Dragon, some people just have bodys that are not very good at saving nutrients, and just feeding yourself unhealthy is not really the solution. Rather the opposite, it might be that an unhealthy diet makes it even more difficult for your body to save anything, making healthy food thought to help loosing weight the better choice for you to gain weight. Also, did you ever try to completely avoid products with sugar put into them? It is rather annoying since they put sugar into everything, but if you do it right your body will realize about the change, even showing withdrawel-symptoms. I could imagine that this might be helpful for you, but than again it is not without danger - I mean if you normally eat that much there is the danger of confusing a normal craving for sugar to be ignored with the actual craving for nutrients you actually need.



#42 Aevin

Aevin

  • Members
  • Pronouns:He / Him
  • Location:Oregon

Posted 12 February 2017 - 07:49 PM

I've been watching my calories, and it's helped me notice certain things about food culture in the US that can contribute to obesity.

 

I had this experience where I went out for a Blizzard at DQ, having carefully calculated the calories so it fit in my plan. Our order took a long time and they forgot about us, so we had to remind them. And to make it up to us, the guy ... put in double the chocolate candy into our ice cream. There was never any doubt for him that we'd appreciate this; he didn't ask us, he just assumed that anybody would want more candy.

 

Similar is the fact that when you go out to just about any sit down restaurant, you get too much food. It's a regular thing with the portion sizes ... Either you take leftovers and make two meals out of it, or you stuff yourself. And many of us are trained to feel like we're not getting our money's worth if we don't get those huge portions. We feel ripped off if that plate isn't positively heaped over with fries with our burger. For my part, I feel a very strong compulsion to finish what's put in front of me. Growing up poor with seven people in the house meant that I was encouraged to eat everything on my plate to avoid wasting money, and if I was slow in reaching for more food my siblings would get to it first and I wouldn't get enough to eat. So not finishing everything served to me at a restaurant feels wrong to me on a fundamental level that I have trouble controlling.

 

Then there's stuff like all you can eat buffets, where we effectively see it as a contest to eat as much as possible to "get our money's worth," and have this perception of ripping off the restaurant to our own benefit if only we can stuff down enough food - which is invariably way, way more than we need.

 

As for my part, my weight problem's effectively solved. I've lost 60 pounds since September, so I'm now "formerly obese." Give me one more month, and I'll no longer be overweight at all.


  • nicklegends, Jared, Naru and 1 other like this

#43 Dark Ice Dragon

Dark Ice Dragon

    Wizard

  • Members

Posted 13 February 2017 - 04:41 PM

@Dark Ice Dragon, some people just have bodys that are not very good at saving nutrients, and just feeding yourself unhealthy is not really the solution. Rather the opposite, it might be that an unhealthy diet makes it even more difficult for your body to save anything, making healthy food thought to help loosing weight the better choice for you to gain weight. Also, did you ever try to completely avoid products with sugar put into them? It is rather annoying since they put sugar into everything, but if you do it right your body will realize about the change, even showing withdrawel-symptoms. I could imagine that this might be helpful for you, but than again it is not without danger - I mean if you normally eat that much there is the danger of confusing a normal craving for sugar to be ignored with the actual craving for nutrients you actually need.

 

i wil try, thanks for the advices, i did the test of glicemy and the result is 74, that is not that bad, the range is 70-99 ( mg/dl if i'm not wrong ) but i fear that diminushing the sugar may become too low, i will ask to the Dr. for be sure.

 

 

 

 

 



#44 Moonbread

Moonbread

    Playing With Psychos

  • Members
  • Pronouns:They / Them

Posted 13 February 2017 - 04:48 PM

I read an interesting piece on this some time back, and to be honest, a huge issue with not eating healthily has a lot to do with location.  I maintain a fairly healthy diet because I work at a restaurant that both pays me an okay wage (aka not minimum) and serves healthy food that I get a 70% discount on, making it very affordable, and I live near a grocery store that offers good deals on meat, fruits, vegetables, and all the other essentials; which I frequently take advantage of.  So sure, in my personal experience, you could say, "Well, just be like Amber!"  Well, I'm just lucky to live where I do, to be honest.  There's two major factors that factor into location: prices, and time.  For a lot of people, they don't live near a store like that, and not every store selling groceries does so cheaply (lookin' at you, Target).  But you know what's available everywhere?  A dollar menu at McDonald's or Wendy's, and convenience stores.  In a lot of places, junk food and fast food are just way more accessible and kind of thrown in your face.  When you're paying rent and bills, those feel like very good things to have in the moment.  The other issue is time, where you have plenty of people working long hours, especially those working two jobs.  Being able to do laundry and sleep become luxuries, much less having time for shopping.  If you don't have time every other week to go grocery shopping, suddenly it's appealing to just go over to Dairy Queen and take advantage of the $5 all-day lunch deal more and more frequently to tide you over.  Combine the two issues, and if you'd have to go way out of your way to go to a grocery store with cheap options while having little time to do it, you're not in a good spot.

 

And sure, there are people who are lazy, people who should spend less time at the computer, etc... but I think there's way stronger factors in accessibility causing a problem over that.


  • Jared, Aevin, Matthew and 1 other like this

#45 Dark Ice Dragon

Dark Ice Dragon

    Wizard

  • Members

Posted 13 February 2017 - 05:22 PM

I read an interesting piece on this some time back, and to be honest, a huge issue with not eating healthily has a lot to do with location.  I maintain a fairly healthy diet because I work at a restaurant that both pays me an okay wage (aka not minimum) and serves healthy food that I get a 70% discount on, making it very affordable, and I live near a grocery store that offers good deals on meat, fruits, vegetables, and all the other essentials; which I frequently take advantage of.  So sure, in my personal experience, you could say, "Well, just be like Amber!"  Well, I'm just lucky to live where I do, to be honest.  There's two major factors that factor into location: prices, and time.  For a lot of people, they don't live near a store like that, and not every store selling groceries does so cheaply (lookin' at you, Target).  But you know what's available everywhere?  A dollar menu at McDonald's or Wendy's, and convenience stores.  In a lot of places, junk food and fast food are just way more accessible and kind of thrown in your face.  When you're paying rent and bills, those feel like very good things to have in the moment.  The other issue is time, where you have plenty of people working long hours, especially those working two jobs.  Being able to do laundry and sleep become luxuries, much less having time for shopping.  If you don't have time every other week to go grocery shopping, suddenly it's appealing to just go over to Dairy Queen and take advantage of the $5 all-day lunch deal more and more frequently to tide you over.  Combine the two issues, and if you'd have to go way out of your way to go to a grocery store with cheap options while having little time to do it, you're not in a good spot.

 

And sure, there are people who are lazy, people who should spend less time at the computer, etc... but I think there's way stronger factors in accessibility causing a problem over that.

 

yeah, the price and time and also quality may be one of the causes.

As for the " people who are lazy..." i admit that around 11 am i often eat a snack or chocolate when i'm working at the desk, my boss don't complain 'cause for him is a good thing that i kept work even when i'm eating a snack instead of "lift the butt from the chair" and go take a coffee in the next room and talk a bit whit my co-workers for 5-10 minutes....




0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users