Obesity affecting Californians

[miloblithe]

Fruits, veggies, wine, walking. That ought to do it.

When I was visiting my wife's midwestern town, her parents were out with the car when I suggested renting a movie. She said sure, but we'd have to wait until they got back with the car. I asked, "why not just walk?" She was a little stunned and admitted that it never occurred to her that she could walk there, because in the midwest everyone drives everywhere. It was like a five minute walk.

In DC though, she and I walk everywhere. The problem is the set-up, to be sure, for many places (distance, no public transport). But also there is a great need for a mentality adjustment.

 

[billyboy]

Yeah, I don't consider my time=money since I do have time to cook. It's actually nice to take time to cook since I rarely take breaks throughout the day.

And my old diet was a lot cheaper than eating fast food. I used to live off of 7-11 hotdogs and coke. Then I wised up and bought my own pack of hot dogs, and a case of coke -- saved a ton of money since 8 hot dogs cost about 25¢ when you buy them at the grocery store, compared to ~$2 at 7-11.

Fishes,
narco.

LMAO. Dont tell me - you bought hi fibre hotdogs and vitamin c-rich coke which worked out cheaper and more healthy than 7-11!

 

[narco]

LMAO. Dont tell me - you bought hi fibre hotdogs and vitamin c-rich coke which worked out cheaper and more healthy than 7-11!

It definitely was a lot cheaper, but I didn't say ANYTHING about being healthy!

Fishes,
narco.

 

[caveman_uk]

Yes, obesity is a mystery. Here's what we do know:

1. People eat way more than they should, cramming just one more huge 800 cal portion down their bloated gullets without questioning why they feel "stuffed" afterwards, and

2. They don't get their fat asses off the sofa even once a week for even light exercise.

Then they constantly ask me how i stay so 'thin' or even better, call me anorexic. can't go through a day at work without at least 2 people mentioning how I "look too thin" even as they bitch about how their latest fad diet hasn't worked after 3 weeks.

As a non-US lardy who's actually on a diet (and losing weight ) I do have to agree with you - obesity isn't a mystery. If you eat more calories than you burn you get fat. To lose a pound of fat a week you have to eat 500 calories A DAY less than you need to maintain your current weight. I'm currently eating more every day than I used to but it's low energy density food like fruit, veg, cereals, lean meat, fish - that sort of stuff. I'm losing about 2-3 pounds a week.

Oh yeah...Fact number 3....

3) Chew your food properly. You'll eat less as your body has time to realise you've had enough and you won't get bloated. You might even taste your food

 

[Lacero]

Oh yeah...Fact number 3....

3) Chew your food properly. You'll eat less as your body has time to realise you've had enough and you won't get bloated. You might even taste your food

I'll drink a beer to that. Eat food slowly makes you feel fuller than if you just wolf your food down, like how I sometimes do. Good tip. Always need to be reminded.

 

[mcadam]

Why single out Californian's? This is a global issue, but prominent in my area sadly. I admit, I could shed a few.

Global? Don't think the problem is so big in Africa, Asia and most of Latin America yet... there you'll find lots of great examples on how to stay below your ideal wheight - Lots of hard manual labour and a bowl of rice a day...

But for the rest of the world - yes, it's a pretty international issue. And as we know from the reason is a gruelling lack of options to choose from.

As in so many other fields California is in the forefront of innovation, one step ahead and, in this case, possibly even groundbreaking.

A

 

[Lacero]

Most of the obesity stems from our reliance on processed foods and mass consumption of oil and fossil fuel energy. Why bike to work when we can just ride our cars?

 

[Koodauw]

Personally I don't have a problem with obseise people. One of the best people I know weighs over 300 lbs. As far as eating, I love to do it. Life shorts, enjoy the time you have.

 

[Experiment13]

Jobs and lifestyle

I personally believe a big reason for the increase of obesity is our lifestyle--most of which is our job. We in the US work more than almost any other nation on earth. We get less vacation, sit in front of a screen starring all day, play virtual games rather than real active games, have no time to produce great low cal dinners, and sit in our transportation devices doing absolutely nothing while stuck in traffic on our way to the job site.

It has got to change.

Bob

PS I forgot the boob tube, the non-consumer of calories for 2-4 hours a day.

 

[narco]

I'll drink a beer to that. Eat food slowly makes you feel fuller than if you just wolf your food down, like how I sometimes do. Good tip. Always need to be reminded.

Chewing my food properly is my biggest problem. I work under strict deadlines, so a lot of times I am forced to woof down my food; but even when I'm not in a hurry I still am stuck in that habit. I guess it's karma for always using the word "masticate" in the wrong context.

Fishes,
narco.

 

[Drgnhntr]

Personally I don't have a problem with obseise people. One of the best people I know weighs over 300 lbs. As far as eating, I love to do it. Life shorts, enjoy the time you have.

Life can be a lot shorter if you don't take care of yourself. I don't mean to offend, but obesity is a serious issue. My uncle died in his 30's as a direct result of his obesity. My family and I sat around and made excuses for his weight: job, genetics, sweet tooth, life is short, etc. Well, it worked.

Obesity is as bad or worse than smoking and drinking problems (Sturm R, Wells KB, Public Health. 2001 May;115(3):229-35), but a lot of people don't seem to think that it is.

 

[Koodauw]

Life can be a lot shorter if you don't take care of yourself. I don't mean to offend, but obesity is a serious issue. My uncle died in his 30's as a direct result of his obesity. My family and I sat around and made excuses for his weight: job, genetics, sweet tooth, life is short, etc. Well, it worked.

Everyone seems to equate a longer life with a better one. Some people may find eating as one of their favorite activities. (Such as me.) It's alright to be overweight if eating is what you enjoy.

I'm not doubting that as a country, we are rather unfit, and unhealthy, but its not always a bad thing for everyone.

 

[Lacero]

Everyone seems to equate a longer life with a better one. Some people may find eating as one of their favorite activities. (Such as me.) It's alright to be overweight if eating is what you enjoy.

I'm not doubting that as a country, we are rather unfit, and unhealthy, but its not always a bad thing for everyone.

I can't think of anyone who doesn't enjoy eating or eating out. What's your point? If you think being obese is a sign to others that you enjoy eating, you're just fooling yourself.

 

[narco]

Obesity is as bad or worse than smoking and drinking problems (Sturm R, Wells KB, Public Health. 2001 May;115(3):229-35), but a lot of people don't seem to think that it is.

I can't remember what documentary I saw off the top of my head, but there was a doctor who was talking about how obesity can be worse than smoking. He said it's socially acceptable to tell smokers that it's bad for you, and you can die; but you can't say the same thing to an obese person because it's "mean."

Fishes,
narco.

 

[Drgnhntr]

I can't remember what documentary I saw off the top of my head, but there was a doctor who was talking about how obesity can be worse than smoking. He said it's socially acceptable to tell smokers that it's bad for you, and you can die; but you can't say the same thing to an obese person because it's "mean."

Fishes,
narco.

That sounds familiar, was that in Super Size Me?

It took a long time for society to recognize the dangers of smoking. I hope it doesn't take that long for people to realize that obesity is just as bad. It will be much harder though because while smoking is always bad for you, food is a necessity.

Koodauw, Why wouldn't longer life be better? My uncle didn't see anything wrong with being overweight until he met the woman he wanted to marry. His life wasn't great up to that point and was just getting good when he died. So longer life may not be better, but how can you know if you don't live to see the whole show?

Speaking of extremes (obesity and anorexia), it isn't alright. I admit there is a lot of grey areas, which usually all go back to "in moderation".

 

[ziwi]

They singled out California because everyone knows 'Plastic weighs more than fat"

Seriously, we create most of our own problems here. We eat too much so we are fat, we exercise less, we added things to the food whether meat or produce that there are so many people allergic to things - we have been poisoning our food supply for decades. Sugar substitutes are a big issue as well refined sugar is difficult to process for us and we make it worse by chemicalizing it (high frutcose coryn syrup, etc.)

Eat natural, walk, live

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

Chewing my food properly is my biggest problem. I work under strict deadlines, so a lot of times I am forced to woof down my food; but even when I'm not in a hurry I still am stuck in that habit. I guess it's karma for always using the word "masticate" in the wrong context.

Fishes,
narco.

So true. It is a shame of the work place that so many only give us 1/2 hour for lunch. And with family life being the way it is, what ever happened to the family dinner hour?

 

[Lacero]

So true. It is a shame of the work place that so many only give us 1/2 hour for lunch. And with family life being the way it is, what ever happened to the family dinner hour?

You can eat really small meals throughout the day. Doesn't always have to be bunched up at noon and 6pm. As a species, we are hunter/gatherers, and we tend to eat throughout the day.

 

[Chip NoVaMac]

You can eat really small meals throughout the day. Doesn't always have to be bunched up at noon and 6pm. As a species, we are hunter/gatherers, and we tend to eat throughout the day.

Well I guess on where you work. At my job, they require you to take a 1/2 hour. And breaks are limited to grabbing a swig of your soda or whatever.

Though good idea overall.

 

[wdlove]

You can eat really small meals throughout the day. Doesn't always have to be bunched up at noon and 6pm. As a species, we are hunter/gatherers, and we tend to eat throughout the day.

Eating six small measla day is a good idea for overall health. Many diseases are helped by eating this way such as digestive disorders. Have encuraged patients to eat this way.



http://www.fitfaq.com/six-meals-a-day.html

 

[Makosuke]

Everyone seems to equate a longer life with a better one. Some people may find eating as one of their favorite activities. (Such as me.) It's alright to be overweight if eating is what you enjoy.

Not to sound bigoted, but if you love eating (as both my wife and I personally do), which is better: 40 years of eating good food and being unhealthy, or 80 years of eating good food and being healthy?

Implying that enjoying eating and/or good food = being fat isn't just wrong, it's downright insulting.

A) Enjoying food doesn't mean you have to glut yourself at every single meal. Stopping a bit short of being painfully stuffed can actually be a more pleasureable eating experience, as is chewing your food more slowly and savoring the taste.

B) Eating tasty food has nothing to do with getting fat--so long as you use more calories than you take in, you do not get fat.

Personally, I manage to eat delicious--and frequently high-calorie (pasta with bacon, olive oil, and Camembert cheese... mmm)--food on a daily basis, all of which is home cooked (my wife has the time, and cooking is her main job, one she enjoys), and yet we're both at a perfectly healthy weight because neither of us stuff ourselves to overfull on a regular basis and we walk instead of driving whenever possible. I could be in better shape since I sit in front of a computer most of the day, but at least my weight isn't a problem.

In fact, a friend of mine who is severely overweight, is quite the opposite--he basically eats nothing but fast food and meat, and he's already suffering for it in his 20s. I really do feel sorry for him, but at least he knows it's an issue and has been trying hard to do something about it.

If you've made a decision that your weight and health doesn't matter (by health I'm talking about morbidly obese, not just hefty based on the stupid standard of "thin" that the US media sells), that's fine, but don't imply that enjoying food equates to being fat when they're entirely unrelated.

 

[Eevee]

Careful there buddy!

As a person that loves Mongolian BBQ, I fit your profile. I have gotten better at watching what I eat, but there are multiple reasons for overeating. And the lack of will power is not the sole reason.

Whoa, are there mongolian BBQs in your place?

Yeah, you're right, there are multiple reasons. Sorry to jump the gun.

 

[Eevee]

Haven't boeing created new jets for this crises.

I believe they charge "double" for large people. Please correct me if i'm wrong.

 

[Eevee]

People eat because they are bored, sometimes. And other times, as we know, they eat because it fills them up emotionally. So that's why for fat women, it's a vicious circle.

Do you think this is the reason why some men eat so much?


By the way, cool smilie faces in MR!

 

[woodsey]

Obesity?

I thought California was suffering an anorexia epidemic, not obesity.

Well, thats the impression i get from watching The OC!