God Dayumm
Banned
Wasn't there a report that found there are less slightly overweight people than before but more obese? Maybe we are watching divergence of species in action as there will only be slim or morbidly obese in the future
Wasn't there a report that found there are less slightly overweight people than before but more obese? Maybe we are watching divergence of species in action
My wife and I, who are healthy 30 year olds thanks to going to the gym and so far having bodies that will let us eat whatever we want in reason, started trying to eat out less, eat more raw and home made foods. The Results? a DOUBLING of our monthly food expenditures. With dining out and simple grocery shopping we were spending around $600/month, switch to trying to eat more home made foods resulted in our average expenditures hitting $1100 a month, and thats shopping at Walmart and Kroger (We dont dare try going to Market Street or Central Market).
That was for kids. Childhood obesity is decreasing.
So.. I've been trying to figure out what us Asians are doing that is so different. We have our own health issues like increased diabetes from all the rice we eat but not obesity.. I guess we're generally a bit more well off financially which = better healthy food choices and options. Many are also thrifty (cheap), and at least for the east Asians I know our dishes seem to have more veggies than the average American foods. And our elderly are really into light exercise like taking walks, taichi and randomly stretching everywhere.The prevalence of obesity was lowest among Asians, who had a combined rate of about 12 percent.
I swear we just had a thread saying people were getting healthier.
-You need to learn how to cook and shop.
-You need a make time for exercise since most of have sedentary jobs.
-You need to exercise willpower daily to avoid office treats and sweets.
-You need to find activities that are fun to do so you can do them for life.
.
I'm sorry, I'm not American and I'm having trouble understanding what they're referring to as 'efforts'. I would've imagined efforts would include smaller portions in restaurants/fast food or promotion of healthy food and less sugars and syrups in foods and I haven't heard about any of these things being done.
Not trolling, serious question - what do they mean by efforts? What did they actually do?
There hasn't been any real efforts.
And any real efforts, like Bloomberg's large soda ban, get shutdown in court.
Seventeen percent of Americans ages 2 to 19 were obese, the same as in 2003 and 2004.
There hasn't been any real efforts.
And any real efforts, like Bloomberg's large soda ban, get shutdown in court.
There hasn't been any real efforts.
And any real efforts, like Bloomberg's large soda ban, get shutdown in court.
All efforts?
That's what, £200 a week?, holy shit batman, cut down on the gold plated carrots!
We do about £50 a week for a couple, and we "eat clean"
So.. I've been trying to figure out what us Asians are doing that is so different. We have our own health issues like increased diabetes from all the rice we eat but not obesity.. I guess we're generally a bit more well off financially which = better healthy food choices and options. Many are also thrifty (cheap), and at least for the east Asians I know our dishes seem to have more veggies than the average American foods. And our elderly are really into light exercise like taking walks, taichi and randomly stretching everywhere.
edit: and at least for the Chinese, we don't have the concept of eating dessert after a meal. It's usually eat a few slices of orange and go take a walk. Our sweets kinda suck anyways.
Yeah, it's about £200 a week. That's madness.
And yup, my weekly shop is around £25 when my gf isn't staying over and about £45/£55 when she is and there's a ton of fruit and veg in there as well as fresh meat and fish.
Time to get the big guns out.
Healthy lifestyles aren't getting any more common. Find up something to speed up people's metabolism or something - losing energy can't be that hard.
Its both, you can walk all you want, if you eat like crap it wont do a damn thing. Almond Butter is just an example of how much more expensive eating heathy can be.
My wife and I, who are healthy 30 year olds thanks to going to the gym and so far having bodies that will let us eat whatever we want in reason, started trying to eat out less, eat more raw and home made foods. The Results? a DOUBLING of our monthly food expenditures. With dining out and simple grocery shopping we were spending around $600/month, switch to trying to eat more home made foods resulted in our average expenditures hitting $1100 a month, and thats shopping at Walmart and Kroger (We dont dare try going to Market Street or Central Market).
There is some f'd up logic in our health world where our government has "tried everything" yet the price of eating healthy is still way more than eating junk. Money is the first tool the government should have turned to, its what it interferes with in all other instances! Its what it uses to do everything, yet in this one case the government doesn't even do a thing.
I'm in London and £60 is pretty much the bare minimum a week. Have easily gone to £200/week. BUT, I barely have time to cook, not to mention I can't cook for shit, so a lot of it is ready food or takeaways. At least London has some healthy options in that regard.
Make sugar a regulated substance like alcohol and you could make a big dent in this issue. Subsidize something other then corn would help too.
It's an environmental problem:
--People are stressed and time starved, working mostly sedentary jobs, making it harder to get in exercise.
--Car culture is killing us. Literally. Again, that's more reduced activity.
--Stranger danger and helicopter parenting has decreased activity for families.
--Fast food is easy to obtain and caters to time starved individuals.
--Food deserts are abound in low income neighborhoods, while fast food places do well in those areas.
--Increased wealth gap is also not helping. There's a strong correlation to household income and BMI. The wealthy are less time starved, can afford healthier food, and have access to nicer neighborhoods that are conducive to more outdoor activity. Can afford activities for their children--soocer, gymnastics, etc.
Our grandparents stayed slim without fad diets, gym memberships, and the like because they lived in an environment that was more conducive to having a healthy weight.
Of course, it doesn't mean losing weight is impossible.
It just means Americans need to enforce more willpower, which is a finite resource, than previous generations to remain slim.
-You need to learn how to cook and shop.
-You need a make time for exercise since most of have sedentary jobs.
-You need to exercise willpower daily to avoid office treats and sweets.
-You need to find activities that are fun to do so you can do them for life.
We will continue to have this crisis until we look at the macro issues--urban planning, food subsidies, work life balance, and poverty.
I made a threat where doctors were recommended 1 to 2 hours a exercise daily for overall health, and that suggestion got laughed at. People are stressed and starved for time.
"All efforts" LOL
People talk about "sedentary jobs" but I actually LOST weight when I went from being unemployed to working in an office. The schedule of the day helped regulate my food intake a bit better. During the day I was trying to eat substantial foods to keep my energy up, because it just felt better to do that. Yeah, someone brings donuts and coffee into work and I'll grab some coffee but the donut is just filler.
I like to indulge but not at work, typically.
Didn't even have to go to the gym and I lost weight just on that sort of regulation. But, of course, once I got a gym membership I lost even more. Naturally, from sitting down all day, I started to feel like crap even though I was of normal weight (if not below, for my height) and thus I made the effort to get moving. I turned my lunch break into a mid-day walk and went to the gym after work.
I feel like weight is one of the few things where you can take half-measures and still see desirable results. Cutting out certain foods and drinks (or cutting back on them), spacing out meals and snacks, getting just a little bit of activity each day, and doing little things to increase metabolism seems to be a good start.
I often wonder if people overthink it to the point of never trying or giving up on maintaining a lower weight. It's not particularly complex. A couple of lifestyle changes and food shopping habit changes can be the difference. People get so caught up on specific dieting programs and "gym culture" which can both be kind of daunting. You don't have to flip a switch and become a pro athlete to see positive change. The little things count, and more folks need to understand that.
I generally agree with your list of environmental factors. But just in our own lifetimes (without invoking grandparents), like 25 years ago when all the above factors were true, obesity rates were still lower back then, and has really accelerated since the 80s.
I'm unsure the ratio of sedentary office workers is higher today than in then 80s, that car culture has changed, or that conditions leading to food deserts have changed.
I'm also surprised you didn't mention:
-- Food portions are way bigger. Big gulps, giant frappicinos, and supersized meals basically define 90s food culture.
-- Modern day household conveniences, especially tech like the Internet and video games, which will also inspire kids from non-helicopter families to stay indoors. Same applies to adults in general.
-- Elimination of busywork since the 80s, related to tech advances. I'd say we're less time-starved than before. Having to hop into a car to buy stamps at a post office, rent a VHS, or buy something at a book store, these activities took you out of the house away from munchies. Not to mention time wasted on hold to call your bank or check up on jury duty status, while stuck on your corded phone without speakerphone, tethered away from the fridge. Chores also influenced your meal schedule, parents running errands before coming home have less time to snack before preparing dinner.
Remove subsidies on soy and corn would help.
Where the hell do you live, Hawaii? I know the cost of living is lower in Texas, but a single guy like me shopping at Krogers and HEB comes out to around $130ish a month.. You eating caviar and truffles every day?With dining out and simple grocery shopping we were spending around $600/month, switch to trying to eat more home made foods resulted in our average expenditures hitting $1100 a month, and thats shopping at Walmart and Kroger (We dont dare try going to Market Street or Central Market).
Problem with this is, food stables like tortillas and soy milk also become more expensive, while healthy food costs remain unchanged. Eliminating HFCS from drinks have to be more nuanced than just eliminating subsidies.
How tall are you? I'm 175, but I'm also 6ft, I intentionally gianed weight to get to this because when I was 155 I was wayyy to skiny, glad those dark ugly days are behind me.