The fat nation

[Paul T]

Originally Posted by NYNick

There are a lot of causes. Take a look at the size of those plates you inherited from your parents. A dinner plate used to be 9 inches in diameter. They are now 11" and even 12".

Portions have grown. I owned a franchised restaurant and the portions we were forced to serve people were huge. I would hire Mexicans who began their employment thin and healthy who would wind up fat in a year or two eating the great American fat full, sugar full diet.

Not to mention the government subsidizing corn syrup, which resulted in inexpensive, ready to eat unhealthy foods that lower income people are almost forced to consume through convenience and price. It takes time, effort and money to eat healthy. Given the choice, they choose the easy and cheap way out.

This then teaches their children how to eat improperly. It's a vicious circle.

All true, and you are right, it costs $$ to eat healthy, and in many low income areas you can't even find real food available, not to mention that most folks couldn't afford it. It definitely is a vicious cycle..

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Forget what people today are putting in their mouths, what they are putting in their brains is far worse.

[NYNick]

Originally Posted by Shaun @ Tru6

Forget what people today are putting in their mouths, what they are putting in their brains is far worse.

That would be funny, if not true.
Unfortunately, you can't fix stupid. People believe what they see, hear and read.

Personally, I blame the media. Rupert Murdoch poisoned it decades ago. Today, they flood the masses with inflammatory, devisive, angry topics that are designed to get and keep people watching or listening. Ratings and advertising drive everything.

It's a pandemic of misinformation that feeds upon itself.

[Bugsinrugs]

I’m sitting on a lounge chair in Jamaica as I type this. Traveled here with my friend that just retired as a Cardiologist. He is mildly obese. He loves wine and drinks nightly. He also loves food. I’m thinking, everything in moderation. Oh… there are some hideous bodies here. I’d post pictures but that wouldn’t be right.

[flipper35]

Originally Posted by jcommin

Flat, if you look back on what people looked like, 15, 20, 30, 40 and earlier, Americans were much leaner. We have no one to blame but ourselves. We live in a supersize, high fat/high carb, fast food, large portion world. And there are industries that feed on that enabling that culture. There is no universal solution.

And everything is sweetened to excess with hfcs. That's why I like home made bread or higher end breads that are made like grandma made.

Unless it is something like cinnamon raisin bread. That can be sweeter.

[flipper35]

I eat more than 3 meals, but they are all small. 200 to 250 calories for breakfast, salad with protein for lunch, and so on.

[Flatbutt1]

Originally Posted by flipper35

I eat more than 3 meals, but they are all small. 200 to 250 calories for breakfast, salad with protein for lunch, and so on.

I have one major meal a day that is usually lunch. Breakfast is never more than 250 calories. Dinner is often chicken/fish, veggie and a carb. Lunch is most often a platter of olives, tomatoes, crackers and cheese.

I do snack but never a big honkin' serving.

[flipper35]

Dropped 20 pounds going more often but less per serving.

[VINMAN]

Its also laziness. We shop from home sitting our butts in a chair our couch. We no longer have to move to turn on a light. We ask Alexa to so everything for us.

Instead of going out, to shop or eat. Food gets delivered to us while we wallow away in our easy chairs.

Need I continue?....

.

[Rusty Heap]

It's called Beer Gut for a reason.

[cgarr]

Although eating and drinking for pleasure is not seen as sinful, eating or drinking to excess beyond reason is a sin.

[Crowbob]

So I'm hearing the consensus seems to be that people are fat because of the unhealthy food they eat.

How come the consensus isn't that people are fat because they eat too much, unhealthy food or not?

IMO, what people eat isn't the problem. The problem is how much they eat.

[stevej37]

Shouldn't it be 'weight challenged' instead of fat people?

[Alan A]

Originally Posted by stevej37

Shouldn't it be 'weight challenged' instead of fat people?

Thinness challenged. They don’t seem to find weight to be much of a challenge at all - they are rather good at it.

[Alan A]

Originally Posted by Crowbob

So I'm hearing the consensus seems to be that people are fat because of the unhealthy food they eat.

How come the consensus isn't that people are fat because they eat too much, unhealthy food or not?

IMO, what people eat isn't the problem. The problem is how much they eat.

I lived abroad. When I moved here I couldn’t fathom how cheap processed food and meat was vs vegetables. Even now I can buy pork by the lb for less than onions. And I picked onions because they are one of the cheapest vegetables. Steak is close in price to broccoli.

A Ghirardelli’s brownie mix was $3 last week - cheaper than a pound of broccoli. I can’t imagine why people are fat…

[masraum]

Originally Posted by Crowbob

So I'm hearing the consensus seems to be that people are fat because of the unhealthy food they eat.

How come the consensus isn't that people are fat because they eat too much, unhealthy food or not?

IMO, what people eat isn't the problem. The problem is how much they eat.

It's both, but I think the main reason for the differentiation is as follows.

If you eat healthy food, the amount of healthy food required to become grossly, morbidly obese is A LOT OF FOOD. I think the average person would have a really hard time getting morbidly obese eating healthy food.

The problem is that most folks eat crap food, and most crap food has tons of sugar which greatly increases calories, which leads to obesity.

I guess you could say "sure, go ahead and eat ding dongs and ho-hos and wash them all down with syrup from Starbucks" as long as you don't eat too much of that. But if you eat a normal volume of that food, it's probably got 3-10x the calories of a healthy meal.

So yes, eating in moderation is also key, but the (IMO) bigger factor is the quality of food that you eat.

Agreed, quality of food AND quantity of food should both be considered.

[1990C4S]

Originally Posted by Crowbob

So I'm hearing the consensus seems to be that people are fat because of the unhealthy food they eat.

How come the consensus isn't that people are fat because they eat too much, unhealthy food or not?

IMO, what people eat isn't the problem. The problem is how much they eat.

If you fill yourself with high calorie food (and drinks), and do not burn off those calories, you're going to gain weight.

There is no single problem, but the number of calories you consume to feel full matter.

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by Dantilla

Have them play hockey instead of video games.

I think that is excellent advice. But it seems less than easy to play sports now. Too many pay to play leagues.

[Tobra]

Originally Posted by Shaun @ Tru6

Forget what people today are putting in their mouths, what they are putting in their brains is far worse.

While true, completely off topic

Like so many things, it is a failure in parenting. Fat kids with poor eating habits, people without money management skills and so on, parents taught them wrong

[CurtEgerer]