Were people thinner in the 60s & 70s or did the fashions of the time make it seem like they were?

[Anonymous]

There was also much less fresh fruit available. Fruit is good for you but high in calories.

[Anonymous]

We take not just snacks everywhere, but a drink everywhere. And often, that is a calorie-laden soda or smoothie or coffee. People didn't use to worry about being thirsty. Even water -- how did I use to survive without taking a bottle of water everywhere like I do now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We take not just snacks everywhere, but a drink everywhere. And often, that is a calorie-laden soda or smoothie or coffee. People didn't use to worry about being thirsty. Even water -- how did I use to survive without taking a bottle of water everywhere like I do now?

I think you are absolutely right. So many people see a smoothie or some type of chocolate/caramel/pumpkin spice coffee drink as a DAILY thing. Those places (smoothie shops, coffee places with the fancy drinks) just didn't exist on every corner back in the 60s

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We take not just snacks everywhere, but a drink everywhere. And often, that is a calorie-laden soda or smoothie or coffee. People didn't use to worry about being thirsty. Even water -- how did I use to survive without taking a bottle of water everywhere like I do now?

I already responded to this (agreeing with you, and saying that in the 60s there weren't smoothie shops on every corner) but re-reading it I also thought about the bottled water---I don't even remember individual bottled waters existing until the mid 80s--and then it was Evian! If there were individual bottled waters before that, they certainly weren't common in my "circle."

But I do remember often being in public, getting thirsty, and there was almost always a nearby public drinking fountain to use. I don't see public drinking fountains around as much now, I think.

[Anonymous]

I once read a study where they had participants add a certain number of calories to their diet in the form of either a sugary drink or pieces of candy. It wasn't high, maybe 100 calories/day. There were no restrictions on what else they could eat, although they did have to keep a diary.

They found that the drink people gained weight; the candy people did not. From the diaries, they found that the candy people had adjusted their diets down to compensate for the candy and eat about the same # of calories less. This was not on purpose, either. (I don't remember how they knew it was unconscious, but that point was made.) The drink people never adjusted their diets.

The theory was that our body will notice "food" and feel a little more full, whereas the beverage calories slip right past detection.

[Anonymous]

The explosion in packaged processed food happened around that time - resulting in an explosion in american waists.

[Anonymous]

Why would an adult woman want to be "pencil thin"? A woman that thin would be straight up and down, without any of the curves that make her a woman. She would just look like a teenage boy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most people only ate 1 meal a day back then

No we didn't! Where do younger your information? What we did dominant 3 meals a day and NO snacking between. If you were hungry, you waited till the next meal.

Absolutely no sense that we had to bring snacks and beverages when we left the house. Thirsty? Drink water. Hungry? Eat an apple.

+100! It boggles my mind when I see a mother and her kids in a museum or on the Metro carrying HUGE lunch boxes full of snacks (gummy snacks, Goldfish, etc) to tide them over until their next "big" meal. A bunch of my coworkers sit and munch other crunchy, less-than-healthy delicacies all day long at work and then complain about their waistline. Hmm, I wonder what could cause it all?

+10000

The obsession with snacks almost sounds like a drug addiction. Some kids ask for one, like they need a hit "I need a snack mom, I need one!" This snack-obsessed mom culture is insane.

It's perfectly fine, normal, and healthy to feel hunger sometimes. It's like they think they're going to die if they feel hunger pangs for an hour or two.

I mean an apple is a snack too. Just saying.

[Anonymous]

Was it Tab?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The ignorance on this thread is just STAGGERING.

The truth is that portion sizes were NORMAL back then.

A lot of truth to that.

And a big part of the difference. McDonald's was a treat and there weren't so many options.

What is now a kid's meal was an average portion. A big mac was a HUGE meal. There was no upsizing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Was it Tab?

[Anonymous]

im sad for this country. I'm sad for my kids. There was a ten year old boy at the pool today who had bigger boobs than I have. I'm sad for myself because the more I work out the bigger I get.

If it were socially acceptable to smoke and not be able to run a 5k, I would do it in a heartbeat. Now, women are expected to be skinny and fit (which is hard even though I run 25 miles a week) Kids live a sedentary life in between school and video games. Food is omnipresent and expected in every venue, time of day, and event. Men work longer and longer hours at a desk inside, losing the God given muscle tone testosterone makes possible.

It's high time for us to turn the tide on the obesity epidemic. I am an average sized adult woman and I can shop in the girls section at Target. It's a public health epidemic

[Anonymous]

There are also studies that prove the "open concept" kitchen makes you gain weight. Food and drink access has become the center of the modern day house.

[Anonymous]

Starbucks on every corner.

I work with so many overweight and obese people who go to Starbucks daily for a venti caramel coconut whatever and seriously wonder why they can't lose weight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Starbucks on every corner.

I work with so many overweight and obese people who go to Starbucks daily for a venti caramel coconut whatever and seriously wonder why they can't lose weight.

I think most people don't have any idea how much fat, sugar and how many calories are in many of these drinks. Starbucks isn't popular because customers are getting plain black coffee. It's basically milkshakes.