The obesity epidemic

**DanP** · Jan23-10, 08:44 AM

Originally Posted by Evo

I don't know what more we expect the government to do. There are clear labels on every item of processed food that we buy. There is a ton of information available about nutrition. Anyone in the US that doesn't know that eating more calories than you burn, is living under a rock.

I think it's time that people take responsibility for the lifestyle they choose. No one is to blame but themselves.

Evo, what I expect governments to do is education. An aggressive education towards healthy lifestyle.

Sure, no one is to blame but themselves for the lifestyles they have. However, lack of education is a major part of the issue IMO. In a word full of deceiving marketing, companies
which would do anything for profit, including killing millions (it may seem like an exaggeration, but take the case of smoking. I believe it accounts for killing a very big number of ppl yearly, and even the government benefits indirectly from this, because of the very large taxes on tobacco products), a minimal education would enable to end user to see through deception.

It's not the intelligent and rich who are most exposed to those issues, but the poor and uneducated .

**DanP** · Jan23-10, 08:47 AM

Originally Posted by jimmysnyder

Today I fell below 29 BMI. As we near the quarter pole, I am in the lead.

Awesome. Remember to always correlate your waist circumference with your BMI, though, for a better picture. For a male that would be the widest part of your abdomen.

**jimmysnyder** · Jan23-10, 09:14 AM

Originally Posted by DanP

Awesome. Remember to always correlate your waist circumference with your BMI, though, for a better picture. For a male that would be the widest part of your abdomen.

Just this morning my wife said there was visible improvement there. She said I no longer look pregnant.

**AverageJoe** · Jan23-10, 01:54 PM

Just grazing (lol) over the posts in this thread I haven't seen much about the addictiveness of fast food.
Time and time again from all the lower income people I've met, they all eat fast food and don't know why.
It's a combination of convenience and natural urge which I've found to be the primary reason that many people are overweight.
There was this one guy that I met when I was in welding school, he was addicted to cocaine, pot, cigarettes, alcohol and other stuff and managed to kick all of that, but he said that no matter how hard he's tried he can't kick fast food. The access is just far too overwhelming, "everywhere you go" he said "it's like cheap, legal crack shoved in your face, it's relentless."

I know personally that it feels addicting. But once I was able to control myself from going there and started eating healthier, then going back because of xyz, it just tasted awful...can't even finish the stuff.

**TheStatutoryApe** · Jan23-10, 11:18 PM

The only drive I have ever had to eat fast food is that it is easy. I have never really cared for the taste much it was always about being able to just stop somewhere for five minutes and have my meal ready for me when I get home so I can just relax. When I make food myself it always tastes better and I enjoy it more. I still like to go out for chinese, thai, or hawaiian food occasionally though.

**Evo** · Jan23-10, 11:42 PM

For me, fast food was a non-healthy "treat". I love the taste of fast food, but rarely eat it.

**MissSilvy** · Jan24-10, 12:13 AM

I have little sympathy for people who say they 'don't have time to cook and eat healthily'. What the HELL are you cooking every day that takes more than 20 minutes to prepare? I'm in classes from dawn till dusk, work out 4x a week, and work a job on top of that and I manage to cobble together a stir-fry, salad, wrap, or whatnot everyday. Sure, it takes more time than ripping open a box of mac and cheese but it's not like it's incredibly prohibitive.

If you keep eating too much, you will gain weight. Fact. Boohoo, you have a tendency to put on weight or you 'really don't eat that much'. Calories don't come from the air so it ultimately comes down to what you stick in your craw, no matter what people protest.

Sorry for the mean tone but jesus, I am tired of silly excuses!

**TheStatutoryApe** · Jan24-10, 12:40 AM

Originally Posted by MissSilvy

I have little sympathy for people who say they 'don't have time to cook and eat healthily'. What the HELL are you cooking every day that takes more than 20 minutes to prepare? I'm in classes from dawn till dusk, work out 4x a week, and work a job on top of that and I manage to cobble together a stir-fry, salad, wrap, or whatnot everyday. Sure, it takes more time than ripping open a box of mac and cheese but it's not like it's incredibly prohibitive.

If you keep eating too much, you will gain weight. Fact. Boohoo, you have a tendency to put on weight or you 'really don't eat that much'. Calories don't come from the air so it ultimately comes down to what you stick in your craw, no matter what people protest.

Sorry for the mean tone but jesus, I am tired of silly excuses!

Three days out of the week I work 12 hour shifts. Currently my car is dead and I need to get a new one so I have to take the bus for now. On these particular days I wake up three hours before work and have about half an hour to get ready before I need to get out to the bus stop. It takes a minimum of two hours to get to work, I work a 12 hour shift, it takes another 2 hours to get home. So by the time I get home I have less than eight hours before I have to wake up and get ready to do it all over again. Fortunately for me I don't have kids. I usually make a big pot of spaghetti and portion it out for lunches on those three days before hand but it does get tiresome eating the same thing and that does not take care of the rest of my meals. I usually just have cereal when I get home or maybe some cottage cheese and celery sticks with peanut butter because its quick and easy. But that gets tiresome too.

**DanP** · Jan24-10, 07:15 AM

Originally Posted by MissSilvy

Sorry for the mean tone but jesus, I am tired of silly excuses!

While I do agree with what you say, just wait until you have your own household , 2 kids and a stressful job. Life will be suddenly a little bit more complicated than having classes all day. Especially if you are a women.

**Count Iblis** · Jan24-10, 08:31 AM

Why not eat at work? If there are many people with the same problem, you could arrange for affordable catering at work.

**MissSilvy** · Jan24-10, 10:19 AM

While I do agree with what you say, just wait until you have your own household , 2 kids and a stressful job. Life will be suddenly a little bit more complicated than having classes all day. Especially if you are a women.

Yet many people have a career, kids, and a house and still find time to sit and marinate on the couch watching garbage. Almost everyone HAS time, they just don't make health big enough of a priority to turn off America's Next Top Model and actually do something about it. Still no sympathy.

**DanP** · Jan24-10, 10:30 AM

Originally Posted by MissSilvy

Yet many people have a career, kids, and a house and still find time to sit and marinate on the couch watching garbage. Almost everyone HAS time, they just don't make health big enough of a priority to turn off America's Next Top Model and actually do something about it. Still no sympathy.

Like I said, talk to ya in 20 years :P

**Klockan3** · Jan24-10, 02:06 PM

Originally Posted by MissSilvy

Yet many people have a career, kids, and a house and still find time to sit and marinate on the couch watching garbage. Almost everyone HAS time, they just don't make health big enough of a priority to turn off America's Next Top Model and actually do something about it. Still no sympathy.

Psychology is not trivial, "time" do not always refer to the physical quantity measured by atomic clocks but instead in layman terms it often refers to "mental energy".

When people say "I don't have the time to do that" they mean "My mental energy is not sufficient to do that task plus all tasks of higher priority order".

Things like watching dumb TV shows are basically free in terms of mental energy and as such can be seen as the psychological variant of sleeping. You can't just scratch that time and add a demanding activity instead.

Also personal differences are huge here and not much is known about this at all.

**jimmysnyder** · Feb3-10, 05:56 AM

Today I weighed in at 28 BMI. The contest is to see who will lose the most weight by percentage by May 27. I am belly and belly with another fellow who started out at a BMI of close to 35, while I had been close to 31. Since then I have been eating less and exercising more. Eating less naturally entails eating better since even though I wanted to cut out the crudites, I knew that I had to cut out the twinkies instead. In April, I will be in Aruba, looking much better in my swim suit than I have in years past.

**DanP** · Feb3-10, 12:15 PM

Originally Posted by jimmysnyder

Today I weighed in at 28 BMI. The contest is to see who will lose the most weight by percentage by May 27. I am belly and belly with another fellow who started out at a BMI of close to 35, while I had been close to 31. Since then I have been eating less and exercising more. Eating less naturally entails eating better since even though I wanted to cut out the crudites, I knew that I had to cut out the twinkies instead. In April, I will be in Aruba, looking much better in my swim suit than I have in years past.

Congratulations man. Get in shape, stay in shape, and don't look back ! The best thing besides the health benefits of being in shape is the immediate improvement in the quality of life. It just gets better and better at a pretty fast pace, as you become a fit man.

Enjoy the Caribbean !

P.S
And yeah, do tell what happens at contest end !