So why are Americans fat?

[cantdrv55]

Some say it's the food we eat. Others say we don't get enough exercise because we have all the modern conveniences. So, what do I do? I cut back on carbs and try to walk more. But I got to thinking, Asians in Asia eat a lot of carbs (white rice at almost every meal) and you don't hear about how fat they are. You can't tell me the Japanese don't enjoy the same conveniences we do. I bet their kids spend as much time, if not more, than our kids on Gameboy, Nintendo, etc. I don't get it, why are we fat? It ain't genetics because I'm Asian American and I've got more chins than Chinatown.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Yep, really simplistically - if you burn more than you take in, your body will metabolize itself to make up the defecit (i.e. you lose body mass). If you take in more than you burn, your body will dump some (you'll dump excess overboard in your waste), but will also squirrel away a good amount in fat stores. In other words, you put on weight / fat.

The only way to lose weight is to burn more than you take in, preferably over an extended period of time. Healthy eating habits (have you looked at how many calories / grams of fat are in an average take-out meal?!?!) and exercise all ultimately serve this goal.

For starters, I'd say simply listen to your body. If you're hungry, have a LIGHT snack. Your appetite will shut up in a few minutes after having virtually anything - an apple, a granola bar, a bagel, whatever. If you're not hungry when "mealtime" (social convention) arrives, don't have anything! Or make it very little. And eliminate calories from beverages; these do nothing to alleviate your appetite and are jammed with calories. Drink water, it's better for you anyway. Three cans of coke a day represents over 600 calories - 1/3 of the recommended caloric intake of an adult. Obviously there are slight differences from person to person, but you get the point.

[tabs]

AHHHH...Toooo Many Buffets?

He11 it's just an effort to make it through the line....and on a day when I ain't Buffetin it, from the kitchen table to the Computer....

Hey all this talk of food is makin me hungry....Last nite I went out to Jerrys Nugget an had me the Regular Cut of Prime rib ($14.85) 28 oz of the most tenderist beef youd ever sink your choppers into.(the large cut is 48 oz). Start off with the Mexican Salad ummmm, then had the fried Calamari appetizer ahhhg then the Beef with Baked Carbs and to top it all off had the Fruit Delux which was Bavarian Cream topped with Strawberries, Peach, Rasberries and Pinapple...Oblllggoood ....I did have Ice Tea without anything in it so I was being health conscience....Hmmmm I wonder if the Pizza joint is still delivering...Large Pepperoni and Mushroom extra cheese sounds good right about now!

[rcm]

Think about how things are changing. Most used to work in factories and walked to work. WE took care of our own yards and painted our houses. Now most have sit down jobs and vinyl siding.

Remember walking to school, I'm sure you do, I have to drive by the local high school in the morining and it is a zoo because so many parents drive thier kids. That includes those that have a bus go by the end of thier street. Remember buying a Pepsi on school grounds because they sponsered your football field? Doubt it.

We just ain't burnin' calories like we used to.

Doc says I have to burn thirty pounds so....smaller portions, longer walks and a little wieght lifting.

This will also lighten my car.....

[84porsche]

Most jobs are cubicle jobs in desert areas so its kind of hot to go out and walk. Even was I was in high school. I lived a block from the school but it was the cool thing to drive. Except in my case with a Chevy Celebrity (old lady's car).

People are also under to many impressions from people that don't know much about weight and how it gets there. Especially this no-carb atkins crap. It spread faster than a disease. Basically in my opinion people eat too much and at the wrong times.

[vash]

portion sizes are messed up here in america.


national geographic has this topic as it's cover issue. havent read it yet.

This is a pretty interesting theory:

A food shortage gripped the nation in 1972 and agriculture secretary Earl "Rusty" Butz responded by freeing farmers from the restrictions of government regulation. They could grow what they wanted to grow and sell when they wanted to sell. Butz recommended corn and soybean. Plant it from "fencerow to fencerow," the fat man advised. Farmers responded and production soared.

As American farmers grew corn out their ears, a Japanese company developed a syrup six times sweeter than cane sugar. This new additive was derived from corn, high-fructose corn sweetener. It was a food industry wind-fall. Its potency meant that sugary food could be produced at considerbly lower cost. Its long shelf-life made it an ideal preservative. Fructose found its way into breads, rolls, etc., products which did not normally contain sugar.

Fructose was a gift for manufacturers but a bane for consumers. Unlike sucrose or dextrose which broke down prior to reaching the liver, fructose arrived at that organ intact. This aspect of fructose became known as "metabolic shunting." It triggered fat storage.

Today fructose in widely available. It is a listed ingrediant in almost all pre-packaged or ready-to-eat food items. By the 1980s fructose was a major ingrediant in all commercial softdrinks, second only to carbonated water. One of the single most important predictors of a child's future girth is his current fructose intake. Soda consumption in children was studied for a period of nineteen months. One extra softdrink a day gave a child a sixty percent greater chance of becoming obese. Each daily soda added .18 points to a child's BMI.

http://blogdayafternoon.com/articles/03/06/22/9208021/

[Leader]

Eat less and exercise more is the answer, but it's always easier said than done. As a former fat person, who's managed to stay at 180 for about 20 years now, I think America's fascination with the "diet du jour" (low carb anything currently) is counterproductive.
If you truly want to lose weight, you need to remember that the older you get (and this starts at about age 30), the slower your metabolism runs, which inhibits your ability to burn calories without real exercise. If you can keep your meal portions about the size of your fist (smaller than we're used to), and if you can find some form of physical activity that you can do every day (bicycling, dog walking, jogging, gardening) which you enjoy, then you can lose and keep off weight.
I've also found that any "diet" that denys you any kind of food (no dairy, no carbs, no pizza, no cake, no bread) is almost impossible to stick with. I eat anything I want...I just don't eat as much of it as I used to.

[techweenie]

Playstations.

[tabs]

Ummmm..Just finishing up the left over Pizza from last night....didja ever notice that pizza just doesn't taste as good when reheated....Now Soups and stew and pasta sauces all taste better when aged.... ever wonder why that is?

[Moses]

Originally posted by tabs
Ummmm..Just finishing up the left over Pizza from last night....didja ever notice that pizza just doesn't taste as good when reheated....Now Soups and stew and pasta sauces all taste better when aged.... ever wonder why that is?

Soggy crust.

[widebody911]

Originally posted by vash


national geographic has this topic as it's cover issue.

That's one NG centerfold on which I think I'll pass...

[LeeH]

Originally posted by Moses
Soggy crust.

Easy fix... heat it up in the microwave until the toppings are reasonably hot... then drop it in the non-stick skillet that's been warming on the stove. Last leftover pizza I had was better two days later than when it was delivered.

[350HP930]

I thought it was the result of our superior culture that we are attempting to spread to the rest of the world?

[dd74]

Americans are so fat because we've been trained from childhood to believe in large portions. Over the weekend we ate at a Cheesecake Factory, and I swear, the Shepard's Pie dish they brought us could be split between four people.

The simple fact is this: American used to labor manually. Now everything is automated and computerized, and is conducted from behind a desk. Nonetheless, we still eat portions as if we were lived on a farm. Addtionally, fifty years ago, there was never talk of exercise because Americans were too tired from working on the farm to exercise; it just wasn't a concept then, especially in rural areas.

Manual labor necessitated large meals - eggs, bacon, hash browns, toast - any Denny's-type offering - would go through us like water. Now it simply sticks inside us because we don't "labor."

You're always safer calorically when preparing your own meals. But that's often as expensive as going out to eat. So if you go out to eat, take a friend or two and split up the meal - and the bill. I bet someone could get away from a place like the Cheesecake factory with spending $10 (including drink and tip), if the meal was split up.

Oh, and yeah: exercise helps. But exercise is better than picking lettuce in the field like our ancestors used to do.

[Alan Cottrill]

don't re-heat day old pizza...eat it cold. it's ok to eat until the edges curl, usually about 2 days left on the counter, 3 days in the fridge.

oh, yeah...I think it has a lot to due with the development of High fructose corn syrup and our nations obsession with consuming softdrinks. That and supersize meals. And our sedintary life styles.

Now we're fat razy americans...soooo fat....soooo razy.

[350HP930]

Originally posted by dd74
You're always safer calorically when preparing your own meals. But that's often as expensive as going out to eat.

I dunno where you buy your groceries or where you go out to eat but I can make any meal at home for a fraction of what it would cost to have someone else make it for me.

[LeeH]

We eat a healthy diet and consistantly spend $1000/month on groceries. There's a few non-food items in there, but not a lot.

[tabs]

Originally posted by LeeH
We eat a healthy diet and consistantly spend $1000/month on groceries.

My Gawd how do U get away so CHEAP....He11 I must spend that on Buffets every month...and LV was supposed to be so cheap...I wana live where U live , now that is cheap...

[dd74]

Originally posted by 350HP930
I dunno where you buy your groceries or where you go out to eat but I can make any meal at home for a fraction of what it would cost to have someone else make it for me.

How many people are you cooking for down in Tampa, where I bet food prices are cheaper anyway?

BTW: I'm not talking about Rice o Roni or Top Ramen, either.