God damn the people I live around are fat

[maxiep]

I'm no featherweight. Clocked in this morning at 217. I once weighed 284. So maybe I'm like that annoying guy who quit smoking 6 weeks ago and is sanctimonious as hell.

But I took my son to a local amusement park-type bowling/lasertag place on Sunday. I felt like that kid in 6th Sense. "Everywhere I look I see fat people." The only skinny people seemed to be 16 year old boys (who can chew through 4000 calories a day like lawnmowers).

Dang, dude. This nation has really let itself go.

"Yup. Those tens of millions (hundreds of millions?) of Americans suck. When you see them as you go to your local grocery store/bowling alley/baseball game, don't you just want to punch them in the face for being lazy and stupid?" --mook

I think your own words apply pretty well to your sentiment. I think if someone wishes to overeat or be in poor health, it's their choice. It's not our job to nanny state them into wellness. People are smart enough to take care of themselves, or not take care of themselves, whatever the case.

 

[Denny Crane]

Definitely.

First, the food industry. Here's a great article in the NYT about the way the food industry has gotten more and more clever at making us eat shittier and shittier food.

I don't blame them, really. They are just trying to maximize profits. Anyway, FTA:



Second, the FDA. On one hand they are supposed to support American agrabusiness (which is mostly high carb product-based) and on the other they are supposed to promote good eating. So you get bullshit like the food pyramid, which calls for you to eat a ridiculous amount of bread and pasta and crackers, and doesn't put nearly the emphasis on vegetables, fruits and nuts.

Third, the anti-fat campaign. Lastly, we had a major push in the late 1970's to go away from fat. In the 80's everything became low-fat. Turns out that in order to make food taste good without adding fat you have to add a lot of carbohydrates. But carbs don't make you as full, so you tend to eat more. So we might think that three cups of rice is perfectly healthy. Nevermind that it has 720 calories, which is the equivalent of 18 strips of bacon.

Add it all up and we're much, much fatter than we've ever been before.

Well, I think they're breeding animals for different food traits. I know, for example, that pork is now considered a lean meat while it was not considered lean back then.

They're obviously breeding and feeding chickens for bigger white meat portions.

 

[mook]

"Yup. Those tens of millions (hundreds of millions?) of Americans suck. When you see them as you go to your local grocery store/bowling alley/baseball game, don't you just want to punch them in the face for being lazy and stupid?" --mook

I think your own words apply pretty well to your sentiment. I think if someone wishes to overeat or be in poor health, it's their choice. It's not our job to nanny state them into wellness. People are smart enough to take care of themselves, or not take care of themselves, whatever the case.

Hey, now! lol Yeah, I was thinking about my other post when I wrote that. Hypocrisy duly noted. Americans let us all down. Dickheads.

Personally, I think the personal responsibility drumbeat makes some sense. I didn't lose weight because of a federal regulation. I don't have a reasonably cushy job because of regulation either. I think a few people out there could really use a punch in the face.

But I also see that a lot of things suck for people like my brothers, several of my friends, one of my in-laws, and throwing up my hands and relying on personal responsibility and the magic of the free market just isn't going to solve them.

Meh, we both think the other is wrong, and we're both too hard headed. Not much point in continuing this. So it goes.

 

[mook]

Well, I think they're breeding animals for different food traits. I know, for example, that pork is now considered a lean meat while it was not considered lean back then.

They're obviously breeding and feeding chickens for bigger white meat portions.

True. But the overall levels of protein and fat in the American diet really have actually declined in the last 30 years. It's the carbs that are the big difference. You don't find carbs in chicken and pork.

http://healthydietsandscience.blogspot.com/2011/07/what-has-caused-rise-in-obesity.html

 

[Denny Crane]

It is true that lower fat intake is better for your heart. There's no reason to increase carb intake though. In fact, you're replacing one of the predictors (high cholesterol) for heart disease/stroke with another (obesity).

 

[RR7]

So fucking clueless.

The ramblings of self-important douche.

If it was so "simple" it wouldn't be the worldwide crisis it is.

If people were active and exercised more, it likely wouldn't be the issue it is. But I don't know too many people who exercise often who are fat, and I don't know too many fat people who exercise at all. Hmmmm.
I agree with Mick. I don't eat like complete shit, not out of a specific diet, I just don't like it. I eat relatively healthy generally, but I also tend to eat whatever the hell I want, as much as I want, when I want. I also run 15 or more miles per week. I'm sure I'd get fat if I stopped running.

Someone mentioned what changed in our country, I think a lot of it has to do with the dynamic of the home, and how we tend to have way more two working parent households nowadays. You have two people working, coming home tired, and it seems that the choices of what to eat get lazier. This is quick to heat up. This is something we can scarf down in front of the TV, etc. Obviously not the only culprit. But it doesn't help.

 

[mook]

Certainly there's a real-world reason to replace fat with carbs. If you manufacture processed foods or even just cook from scratch, and fat has a bad rap, what are your other options for making tasty food? Protein, which is expensive and doesn't taste as good. Carbs, which are cheap and tasty and can sit on shelves for months. Aaaaaaaand....that's about it.

The problem is the consensus was, "You should cut fat." So we just replaced the fat with carbs.

We should have said, "You should cut calories. Keep the ratio of fat/carb/protein the same. If you cut something, cut the carbs."

Also, it's not necessarily true that lower fat intake is better for your heart. Certainly hydrogenated fat is bad for the ticker. But other types of fat are perfectly fine. Our bodies evolved around the very idea of eating fat.

 

[BLAZINGGIANTS]

Certainly there's a real-world reason to replace fat with carbs. If you manufacture processed foods or even just cook from scratch, and fat has a bad rap, what are your other options for making tasty food? Protein, which is expensive and doesn't taste as good. Carbs, which are cheap and tasty and can sit on shelves for months. Aaaaaaaand....that's about it.

The problem is the consensus was, "You should cut fat." So we just replaced the fat with carbs.

We should have said, "You should cut calories. Keep the ratio of fat/carb/protein the same. If you cut something, cut the carbs."

Also, it's not necessarily true that lower fat intake is better for your heart. Certainly lower hydrogenated fat is bad for the ticker. But other types of fat are perfectly fine. Our bodies evolved around the very idea of eating fat.

I assume this is a typo? Hydrogenated fats are terrible for you. Absolutely terrible. So less hydrogenated fats would be good for the ticker.

I eat a lot of cashews, mixed nuts, etc. Unsalted. I find these to be a good snack. My doctor encourages it - says that people hear the word "fat" and they freak out. He says avoid certain fats, avoid certain carbs, etc. But people lump all fats together, all carbs together, etc. It's actually pretty interesting researching balanced diets and what should and shouldn't be in. Truly figuring out a balanced diet is difficult, but when you do, it's somewhat shocking how much you can eat and not gain weight, with minimal exercise. Which is further proof that the unbalanced diets and other crap we eat, IMO, are the big cause for people being fat.

 

[THE HCP]

You have to go cold turkey on soda, that's what i did and i very rarely drink it anymore. It's addicting, and just stopping actually makes you feel better when you have broken that addiction. I was drinking 3 or more cans a day.

WHen was this? Did you feel better and how much weight did you lose, if any?

 

[mook]

I assume this is a typo? Hydrogenated fats are terrible for you. Absolutely terrible. So less hydrogenated fats would be good for the ticker.

yeah, major typo! Hydrogenated fat is terrible.

 

[maxiep]

Hey, now! lol Yeah, I was thinking about my other post when I wrote that. Hypocrisy duly noted. Americans let us all down. Dickheads.

Personally, I think the personal responsibility drumbeat makes some sense. I didn't lose weight because of a federal regulation. I don't have a reasonably cushy job because of regulation either. I think a few people out there could really use a punch in the face.

But I also see that a lot of things suck for people like my brothers, several of my friends, one of my in-laws, and throwing up my hands and relying on personal responsibility and the magic of the free market just isn't going to solve them.

Meh, we both think the other is wrong, and we're both too hard headed. Not much point in continuing this. So it goes.

I don't wish to live in a Hobbesian society. I want a social safety net, but I want it as a last resort, for those who have noplace else to go. I'm also willing to pay for it, as long as it gives people a hand up, rather than a hand out. What has happened is that our first instinct is to have government fix things rather than looking to ourselves, our families, our churches, our charities and our communities. I very much believe in the idea that a government that can do anything for you can do anything to you.

 

[maxiep]

Well, I think they're breeding animals for different food traits. I know, for example, that pork is now considered a lean meat while it was not considered lean back then.

They're obviously breeding and feeding chickens for bigger white meat portions.

Wouldn't it be awesome to use the knowledge we gained in making chicken breasts larger and apply it to women?

 

[Sinobas]

Check out the film "Fat Head" on NetFlix. It's a good intro into the issue of diet, and how so many have been mislead into thinking "animal products" and fat is bad for you. The tons of sugar and processed carbs we eat make us fat.

Also, do weight training, it's a great way to lose weight. You build muscle, and it burns calories throughout the day.

 

[Denny Crane]

Check out the film "Fat Head" on NetFlix. It's a good intro into the issue of diet, and how so many have been mislead into thinking "animal products" and fat is bad for you. The tons of sugar and processed carbs we eat make us fat.

Also, do weight training, it's a great way to lose weight. You build muscle, and it burns calories throughout the day.

Muscle weighs more than fat

 

[MickZagger]

So fucking clueless.

The ramblings of self-important douche.

If it was so "simple" it wouldn't be the worldwide crisis it is.

Explain what I said in that quoted material that would make me "fucking clueless"?

There's a lot of lazy people in this world these days that don't follow the simple tips that I just gave.

 

[jlprk]

Problem is too many fat teenagers. They drive the average weight up for all of us. I'm willing to support them but not if they eat any of my food. In my day teens were thin and got no sex. Now they're ugly and receiving propositions all evening on their private cell phones.

The #2 problem is Costco. Massive bags of chocolate and nuts used to be too expensive, but now we all keep a stash secret from the rest of the household. Mine's right here in the closet under all the old shoes.

 

[MickZagger]

My younger brother has put on a lot of weight since high school. Its fairly simple why he has put the weight on. He gets stoned every night and eats a shitload of food before he goes to bed.

 

[jlprk]

It's the government cheese from Lyndon Johnson. They're like round mice. When I was a teenager, we were hungry. All the time. French Fries were a luxury. We held our little radios to our ears. We dodged traffic. Now, they walk across without looking up for cars. Think they own the street. They may be fat, but they'll be splat.

They've gotten taller. They pass me when I'm walking fast. The world has reversed.

 

[Boob-No-More]

Obesity really is an epidemic in this country. A lot of it comes down to life style choices. To be healthy, you need to make eating right and being active priorities in your life. That sounds simple, but so many people don't have a clue how to eat healthy. Health and PE classes in high school are a joke. This is a true failure of our education system. Sure, doing well in math and science can help you get a better job, but knowing how to eat right and get enough exercise will impact both the length and quality of your life.

I know Masbee got blasted for his recommendation to avoid hanging out with fat people, but there is some truth to what he wrote. If you hang out with people who have poor nutritional habits that are inactive, those habits will rub off on you. Where I grew up, people eat a VERY unhealthy diet, and have ever since I was a kid, and probably before that. Thank god I got out of there when I did. People there just don't know how to eat right.

I went to a reunion a couple years ago, and I was absolutely shocked by how obese most of my former classmates had become. Were talking most guys over 300 pounds and most women over 200. I didn't recognize many of the girls I used to date - girls that were cheerleaders and gymnasts in high school. I know there is a genetic component involved, but I knew these kids' parents and most of them were not obese. Of course, many of them were farmers who burned a lot of calories working the land. After so many family farms were foreclosed in the late 70s and early 80s, creating today's industrial agricultural conglomerates, my former hometown has become more of a bedroom community of folks who have desk jobs in the nearby cities.

They are much less active than their parents, but eat even worse - thanks to the proliferation of fast food. The first McDonalds within 20 miles of my house didn't open until I was in high school. Now, they are on every corner, along with all the other fast food chains.

It takes a lot of will power, dedication and hard work to stay healthy these days. It helps a lot that my girlfriend is also very active and eats a very healthy diet. We both make our health a priority. Her sister is very obese and smokes. My brother had his first heart attack at 53 less than a year ago and had quintuple bypass surgery in September. He also suffers from type 2 diabetes. He weighed over 350 pounds for 10 years and was down to 330 when he had the heart attack. He's now down to 265 and headed in the right direction. I try to be supportive, but I live over 2000 miles away. So, I can't be there with him to make sure he's eating right and exercising. This is where personal responsibility comes in. After the heart attack, he realized he needed to make serious changes to his lifestyle and take his health seriously. Too bad it took such a traumatic event to initiate the positive changes, I just hope he sticks with it.

I could go on for hours, but no amount of preaching here is going to change anything. The key is education. We need to start teaching kids how to eat right, and give them good tasting, healthy choices, from a very early age. We also need to make physical education a higher priority.

This doesn't just effect people's health, it impacts all of us economically. As our nation becomes increasingly obese, the cost of health insurance and medical care skyrockets. We all share these costs. It is so much more cost effective to educate and prevent these lifestyle related illnesses than to ignore them until expensive surgical procedures and medications are required. An ounce of prevention, and all that...

My girlfriend is a nurse. So, she sees first hand on a daily basis how poor diet and lack of exercise impacts the health of her patients. It is shocking how many people 5 - 10 years younger than me, people in their 40s need hip and knee replacement surgery simply because their lower body can't support their massive weight - and they just accept this like it's a natural part of the aging process. Being in your 40s isn't old. Your body shouldn't be completely failing at that age, but for so many people it is, and that's just sad, and so preventable.

BNM

 

[drexlersdad]

I know Masbee got blasted for his recommendation to avoid hanging out with fat people, but there is some truth to what he wrote.

BNM

sure there is, in some instances

but the way he put it was "if you see fat people, run screaming"

i just thought it was funny

 

[Masbee]

sure there is, in some instances

but the way he put it was "if you see fat people, run screaming"

i just thought it was funny

Funny, because it was humour.

 

[jlprk]

People used to go to fat farms for forced diets. You might give a gift to someone, of a week or two at the fat farm. Are there any fat farms left?

 

[Nate Dogg]

For one thing, I have tried to kill Fast Food joints, such as McBarf (McDonalds) and others. Have you seen this on Facebook?
The "Ye Old Egg McMuffin" in the search engine? That should make you barf.
I have banned McDonalds after seeing his post on facebook and this video of him eating it just tops it off.
[video=youtube;sF-FSoNlFMc]
Since then I mainly stick with home cooked meals.

 

[Nate Dogg]

Fast food has killed this country with all the McDonald commercials glamorizing their food as healthy and the norm. Fish bites? Seriously?
This is why America is fat.