Reply to Why were people so skinny in the 70s and 80s

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[quote=Anonymous]Aren't there any people on here who are in the opposite position? I am thinner and healthier than my parents were at my age, back in the 80s. My parents both started gaining weight in their 30s and never really got it under control again. My dad has had serious issues with his hear that have forced major diet and exercise changes for him, and thankfully he has followed those prescriptions and is much healthier. But still overweight (he benefits a lot from the medical advancement in medication and procedures for heart disease). My mom is seriously overweight and basically diets continuously and never really seems to improve. She is not active at all and I feel that's the big issue, but she's also trapped in that catch 22 of being so overweight that even very minor exercise is absolutely exhausting and hard on her joints, so she avoids it, which means she never loses weight, so it never gets any better.

I'm active and "naturally" thin in that I don't exercise (I eat more junk than I'd like to admit, though I probably don't have a very high caloric intake overall because I'm someone who feels full easily). My lifestyle is so much healthier than the home I was raised in -- hardly ever use a car, a huge focus on mental health and addressing stress, emphasis on basic health metrics like sleep and water consumption.

It's not a SES thing either -- my parents have a much higher SES than I do and I actually think it hurts their health in some ways. One reason I walk a lot and eat okay (despite the junk food) is that I am on a budget and can't realistically drive everywhere (gas and parking are expensive) or afford to eat take-out or in restaurants. I'm not cooking super healthy food at home but almost all home-cooked food is healthier than restaurant food because of the enormous amounts of butter, salt, and other fats they use in restaurants to make the food taste really good.

So I don't relate to this thread at all. I associate the 80s, at least, with very unhealthy lifestyles contributing to obesity, medical issues, and poor mental health. I feel like today there is a much better understanding of how to take care of your body in a reasonable way (not just fad exercise and crash diets). I did a barre class with my daughter this morning where the teacher spent most of the class talking about "functional movement". We'll meal plan for the week today using the internet, which is a cornucopia of healthy recipes and information. I'll use bikeshare to get around later this week. So many resources that just were not available to my parents in the 80s. I feel very fortunate to live in this time instead of back then.[/quote]

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