S/o why are we so fat?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why do people focus on weight rather than health? We've been told for so long that the BMI is indicative of something significant they lots of people believe it, and then when people express concern about the health problems of Americans, they focus on what is likely the wrong thing.

Studies show that weight loss is almost never maintained (yes, I know you did it, and how very awesome of you), but better health habits can be if they're detached from weight loss as a goal. So rather than talking about how to get people to lose weight, we should be talking about how to get better food to people, how to get people to be more active, how to make them better rested, and so on.

Maybe it would even make them lose weight.

Those of you who equate weight and health, why not focus on the activities you think will make people lose weight rather than focusing on the end result?

Because not all of us are worshipers at the altar of so-called health. I like being thin and looking good and prefer that to being fat while eating a lot of salads and exercising every morning.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:This. I go for years without working out and my BMI is usually 20-22. I just eat less.

If you don't work out at all, this may be your BMI based on your weight/height ratio, but your fat percentage is probably much higher.

I doubt it, but even it is - so what? She probably looks good and fits into nice clothes. If you want sculpted body, yes, you need to exercise. If you want to be merely thin and attractive, you don't.

Because it is about the health of your heart, not what you look like in nice clothes. Risk of health related diseases can be just as high for thin people with a very sedentary lifestyle.

Interesting. And you are going to live forever because you exercise?

Not sure where you got that idea. I'm thinking more about the quality of life while alive. Can you inform me as to how exactly a sedentary lifestyle is healthier than an active one?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do people focus on weight rather than health?

Because not all of us are worshipers at the altar of so-called health. I like being thin and looking good and prefer that to being fat while eating a lot of salads and exercising every morning.

Which seems like a strange choice, to me, but it's yours to make. I just don't think public policy should be used to back your ability to be thin when there's no benefit to the public in it.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:This. I go for years without working out and my BMI is usually 20-22. I just eat less.

If you don't work out at all, this may be your BMI based on your weight/height ratio, but your fat percentage is probably much higher.

I doubt it, but even it is - so what? She probably looks good and fits into nice clothes. If you want sculpted body, yes, you need to exercise. If you want to be merely thin and attractive, you don't.

Because it is about the health of your heart, not what you look like in nice clothes. Risk of health related diseases can be just as high for thin people with a very sedentary lifestyle.

Interesting. And you are going to live forever because you exercise?

Not sure where you got that idea. I'm thinking more about the quality of life while alive. Can you inform me as to how exactly a sedentary lifestyle is healthier than an active one?

It's not "healthier" but it can be more pleasurable. Quality of life is not all about one's results on medical tests. In fact, the very idea that one doesn't think about "health" all the time makes life infinitely richer, more purposeful yet calmer and more relaxed. Not everyone wants to sacrifice all the other values in order to obey the commands of the health gurus.

Personally, I hate going to gym and will never go again. It hurts and makes me feel dumb and boring. Nevertheless I like being thin because it makes my life better. Not necessarily healthier, mind you, merely better. And for me that is what matters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do people focus on weight rather than health?

Because not all of us are worshipers at the altar of so-called health. I like being thin and looking good and prefer that to being fat while eating a lot of salads and exercising every morning.

Which seems like a strange choice, to me, but it's yours to make. I just don't think public policy should be used to back your ability to be thin when there's no benefit to the public in it.

Who mentioned public policy? I don't really lose much by other people being fat - to the contrary, it makes me all the more special 8)

[Anonymous]

My husband's family cooks all their meals, eat healthy and mostly organic. They are all fat because they LOVE food and eat too much. I know quite a few SAHMs with fat children as well. It's a combination of bigger portion sizes, processed foods, and constant eating and snacking. In this country, every event or activity is an occasion to EAT. Soccer games -- you have to bring a snack. Movies, baseball games, sporting events, you eat. Every single holiday is an excuse to buy bags of candy and gorge. Food, especially bad food, is cheap and always available. In our home (with two working parents), we cook our meals from scratch, eschew processed food, and get lots of exercise, and it's still difficult not to eat crap -- it's everywhere you go.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:This. I go for years without working out and my BMI is usually 20-22. I just eat less.

If you don't work out at all, this may be your BMI based on your weight/height ratio, but your fat percentage is probably much higher.

I doubt it, but even it is - so what? She probably looks good and fits into nice clothes. If you want sculpted body, yes, you need to exercise. If you want to be merely thin and attractive, you don't.

Because it is about the health of your heart, not what you look like in nice clothes. Risk of health related diseases can be just as high for thin people with a very sedentary lifestyle.

Interesting. And you are going to live forever because you exercise?

Not sure where you got that idea. I'm thinking more about the quality of life while alive. Can you inform me as to how exactly a sedentary lifestyle is healthier than an active one?

It's not "healthier" but it can be more pleasurable. Quality of life is not all about one's results on medical tests. In fact, the very idea that one doesn't think about "health" all the time makes life infinitely richer, more purposeful yet calmer and more relaxed. Not everyone wants to sacrifice all the other values in order to obey the commands of the health gurus.

Personally, I hate going to gym and will never go again. It hurts and makes me feel dumb and boring. Nevertheless I like being thin because it makes my life better. Not necessarily healthier, mind you, merely better. And for me that is what matters.

Some of us like exercising! It makes me feel good, and good about myself. It helps curb my anxiety and gives me a healthy hobby aside from happy hour. I don't feel like I sacrifice all the time for my health, I just know that taking care of my body makes me feel good (mentally, physically, emotionally).

[Anonymous]

And I just ate like three servings of spinach! The other thing about food is I just don't *feel* right after eating processed, dairy laden or white carbs food.

[Anonymous]

wait, are you saying that because you are not fitting into size 2 clothes or adhere to the emaciated images portrayed in fashion/movies/TV you then must be unhealthy? Well, here is the news for you, some people who nowadays might be called fat are in fact very healthy and well and might even be very athletic and flexible, in fact more so than some coked up stick figure models.

There is a big line that needs to be drawn between someone who is slightly chubby and someone who is obese. The problem is that if you don't fit into at least size 6 nowadays you are just considered fat, if you carry a bit of saddlebags around your thighs or your stomach has a bit of flab you are fat. Because you don't look good in a tiny bikini does not mean you are not healthy! And cooking home made meals doesn't mean you are going to stay skinny, especially if you are cooking fattening foods and serve large portions, or simply because of genetics. some people are just big boned and a little bit of flab on their bodies makes them look fat, they are not obese or unhealthy in any way. They just don't look like the ideal lanky tall bodies we worship these days and never will, even if you starve them.

[Anonymous]

And, many athletic women have bigger thighs and butts (muscle) that prohibit them (us) from wearing tiny pants and bikinis!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My husband's family cooks all their meals, eat healthy and mostly organic. They are all fat because they LOVE food and eat too much. I know quite a few SAHMs with fat children as well. It's a combination of bigger portion sizes, processed foods, and constant eating and snacking. In this country, every event or activity is an occasion to EAT. Soccer games -- you have to bring a snack. Movies, baseball games, sporting events, you eat. Every single holiday is an excuse to buy bags of candy and gorge. Food, especially bad food, is cheap and always available. In our home (with two working parents), we cook our meals from scratch, eschew processed food, and get lots of exercise, and it's still difficult not to eat crap -- it's everywhere you go.

An immigrant from Eastern Europe here. This totally strikes a chord. Why people eat in cinemas and baseball games? Native-born ab2011$Americans behave like they are going to die if they don't eat for 4-5 hours.

When I was in graduate school, we would often get an email about some free food event. In fact, almost every academic event (lectures, student meetings..) was marketed as a place where you get "free food". In most cases, food was total crap (and I say that as someone who likes McDonald's!). Yet tenured professors were running through hallways to get a bite. Unbelievable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This. I go for years without working out and my BMI is usually 20-22. I just eat less.

If you don't work out at all, this may be your BMI based on your weight/height ratio, but your fat percentage is probably much higher.

I doubt it, but even it is - so what? She probably looks good and fits into nice clothes. If you want sculpted body, yes, you need to exercise. If you want to be merely thin and attractive, you don't.

Because it is about the health of your heart, not what you look like in nice clothes. Risk of health related diseases can be just as high for thin people with a very sedentary lifestyle.

Interesting. And you are going to live forever because you exercise?

Not sure where you got that idea. I'm thinking more about the quality of life while alive. Can you inform me as to how exactly a sedentary lifestyle is healthier than an active one?

It's not "healthier" but it can be more pleasurable. Quality of life is not all about one's results on medical tests. In fact, the very idea that one doesn't think about "health" all the time makes life infinitely richer, more purposeful yet calmer and more relaxed. Not everyone wants to sacrifice all the other values in order to obey the commands of the health gurus.

Personally, I hate going to gym and will never go again. It hurts and makes me feel dumb and boring. Nevertheless I like being thin because it makes my life better. Not necessarily healthier, mind you, merely better. And for me that is what matters.

Really? Ask those diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Yes, by all means ignore "health" until you get that cancer diagnosis. If you don't think about health, why bother going to the doctor at all for check-ups? Ignorance truly is bliss, isn't it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Really? Ask those diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Yes, by all means ignore "health" until you get that cancer diagnosis. If you don't think about health, why bother going to the doctor at all for check-ups? Ignorance truly is bliss, isn't it?

Yes, sometimes it is. You should give it a shot instead of deluding yourself that you have more than a minor control over what happens within your body.

On a related topic and since you are so well-informed about your own health, I am curious to know what you are going to die from? Because you do understand that you will die one day, just like me and other bozos, and regardless of how much you exercise and how much water you drink.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:"So schools are supposed to prevent children from being fat, as well as educate them in academic subjects? Isn't anything the parents' job nowadays? You'd like the schools to serve as fat camps as well?

No it is not the job of the schools."

Of course it is. Why do you think we adopted universal free education in this country? It wasn't just to educate people in academic subjects; it was to form good citizens to benefit our society and shore up our democracy.

In any event, I'll throw in another culprit, which is how our food is grown and processed in this country. It isn't easy to eat really clean food - food that hasn't been genetically modified, hasn't been processed with chemicals. Think about cooking oil - the molecular structure changes when it is made through a warm pressed vs. cold pressed method, which is the cheapest and most common way to do it. So even people cooking from scratch made be using oil that has been processed in a way that our bodies are not used to. Same with so many other ingredients. Grain fed vs. grass fed beef differ nutritionally. My theory is that we're not getting the nutrients we need, which makes us crave more/eat more food in general. Couple that with the wide-scale availability of foods that we know are not good for us but we want anyway, and it is really hard to maintain a normal weight.

Schools can serve healthy food, talk about nutrition, and run kids for hours, but when the kid comes to school with a Coke in one hand a bag of Cheetos in the other (bought by a parent at the hot dog stand down the street), the whole "healthy food" message is diluted.

I don't get it why American schools serve any food to begin with. It really amazes me. I am an immigrant and went to school in Europe. There was no kitchen in my school. Some students ate snacks during recess (that they brought from home or purchased in neighboring stores) but most children didn't eat anything. You ate before you go to school and then when you get home. It's not like you anybody starved though there were very few (like 1 per 30) overweight children.

My kids get on the school bus at 8:30 am and off about 4 pm. I can't imagine not feeding them for 7.5 hours...

But why? What would happen if they didn't eat for 8 hours?

Low blood sugar, inability to concentrate, irritability. Get a clue. I teach Pre-K and can't imagine my kids not eating for eight hours. What a nightmare.

Well, sure, that's because they are eating Cheerios and frozen waffles for breakfast. Even the "healthy" varieties of these foods seriously lack good nutrition.

My kids eat eggs, sausage, tomato and homemade bread with lots of real butter for breakfast. Washed down with a huge cup of full-fat raw milk. They are sturdy and healthy and run hard all day long. No blood sugar crashes. Not irritable. And they often don't eat anything again until mid afternoon, and sometimes nothing until dinner.

So what's your point? That your kids are better fed and therefore more fortunate than other children? How does that add anything to the conversation other than making you look smug?