"The big fat calorie counting con"
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OK cute but back to subject.
Yesterday I saw a family, a very large family walking around the shopping centre together. Mum and dad were huge and wearing huge baggy clothing and their two children around 6 and 8 years of age were dressed the same. Horrible huge Tshirts and huge baggy shorts and all of them happily munching on donuts.
Now how can we get a family like that to count calories and exercise? Where do you even start? Tell them to weigh their donuts, lessen the amount of food they eat and to exercise? They would still remain unhealthy and pretty soon return to their old ways of eating and simply regain the lost weight. (I know for a fact this family buys seconds from the pie factory and uses them solely for their meals at night - no vegetables involved at all.)
Counting calories for the vast population will not work. Educating the public and children about nutrition will work.
LeenaGee I once felt the same way that you now feel. What I learned it was not a simple task. I remember when the warnings when on the packages of cigarettes in 1960's. Ads were band from TV and the public and children were educated about the dangers of smoking. If education worked to change personal habits there would be be next to no smoking today. KY just band smoking in all state owned/leased building this week which is 50 years after the education started in a serious way concerning smoking.
The cheapest and easiest to get food today is processed carbs the one food that is not required by humans to live well.
Guess what happens when the most craved for food is what is the worse to make you fat is handy and cheap and is in front of people?
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Well according to that research which he uses as a reference, obesity is a disease lol0
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oh, and the person who conducted the research has pretty poor sentence structure.0
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OK cute but back to subject.
Yesterday I saw a family, a very large family walking around the shopping centre together. Mum and dad were huge and wearing huge baggy clothing and their two children around 6 and 8 years of age were dressed the same. Horrible huge Tshirts and huge baggy shorts and all of them happily munching on donuts.
Now how can we get a family like that to count calories and exercise? Where do you even start? Tell them to weigh their donuts, lessen the amount of food they eat and to exercise? They would still remain unhealthy and pretty soon return to their old ways of eating and simply regain the lost weight. (I know for a fact this family buys seconds from the pie factory and uses them solely for their meals at night - no vegetables involved at all.)
Counting calories for the vast population will not work. Educating the public and children about nutrition will work.
Not always true. Just because someone is educated in nutrition does not mean they will follow sound nutritional advice.
Perhaps the adults in that family have studied nutrition but the just don't care.
Maybe they're all on diets but that day was their cheat day. Maybe they do count calories and decided they could allow themselves to eat donuts today.
Besides, it's not the donuts that made them fat, it's eating too much food in general.
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But, no one food makes a person fat. It's not the cookies or the cake or the candy that puts on pounds, it's the excess food in general that does that.GaleHawkins wrote: »OK cute but back to subject.
Yesterday I saw a family, a very large family walking around the shopping centre together. Mum and dad were huge and wearing huge baggy clothing and their two children around 6 and 8 years of age were dressed the same. Horrible huge Tshirts and huge baggy shorts and all of them happily munching on donuts.
Now how can we get a family like that to count calories and exercise? Where do you even start? Tell them to weigh their donuts, lessen the amount of food they eat and to exercise? They would still remain unhealthy and pretty soon return to their old ways of eating and simply regain the lost weight. (I know for a fact this family buys seconds from the pie factory and uses them solely for their meals at night - no vegetables involved at all.)
Counting calories for the vast population will not work. Educating the public and children about nutrition will work.
LeenaGee I once felt the same way that you now feel. What I learned it was not a simple task. I remember when the warnings when on the packages of cigarettes in 1960's. Ads were band from TV and the public and children were educated about the dangers of smoking. If education worked to change personal habits there would be be next to no smoking today. KY just band smoking in all state owned/leased building this week which is 50 years after the education started in a serious way concerning smoking.
The cheapest and easiest to get food today is processed carbs the one food that is not required by humans to live well.
Guess what happens when the most craved for food is what is the worse to make you fat is handy and cheap and is in front of people?
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Wheelhouse15 wrote: »You make a lot of assumptions for someone you just saw around the mall. I guess you start by avoiding assumptions that they don't know anything about diet and exercise -- perhaps they do. I've seen a lot of fat doctors, nurses, and even dietitians and you talk about them returning to their old habits but the reality is that it's a very safe bet since there is 90%+ chance of anyone returning to old habits after losing weight no matter what method they lost it by and no matter how much they educated themselves so I don't see your point nor your logic here.
Just for starters, I made no assumptions whatsoever. Not only did I see them in the mall but I KNOW the family but for the sake of the story, I shortened the whole version. Father works at the local café and cooks. Is lazy and hanging onto his job by a thread. Any food that is left over becomes their meal for the night - hot chips, fried food and absolutely NO vegetables ever. I KNOW THIS WITHOUT ANY IFs, WHYs or BUTs!! And I know the wife - she told me the kids refuse to drink anything but Coke. So before you tell me to "avoid assumptions that you don't know anything about" start my friend by doing the same and avoid assumptions about me!!!!
If you don't see my point nor my logic - think and wonder for one moment "Do I care!!"0 -
I think you would come across sounding less judgmental and intolerant if you left off the comments about their clothing and donuts.Yesterday I saw a family, a very large family walking around the shopping centre together. Mum and dad were huge and wearing huge baggy clothing and their two children around 6 and 8 years of age were dressed the same. Horrible huge Tshirts and huge baggy shorts and all of them happily munching on donuts.
I'm not sure education is the answer, though more rarely hurts. I think families that eat poorly know full well that it's not the best diet for general health, they just have other priorities. If you're worried about paying the heating bill or passing 6th grade or whatever other grim reality, your BMI can easily get shuttled to the 'who cares' column.
Maslow's hierarchy of needs
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"I think you would come across sounding less judgmental and intolerant if you left off the comments about their clothing and donuts."
WalkingAlong, You are also making assumptions about me - judgmental, intolerant - all so far from who I am. My choice of words regarding their clothes was only there to paint a picture, not to judge. My only reaction was sorrow to see the children travelling the same path as their parents, almost becoming clones and I felt a sense of despair as to how to help them. The children hug me when they see me and the parents consider me a friend. My story was not about judging them, it was about not knowing how to help them.0 -
No s*** Kanye.tennisdude2004 wrote: »
It's still akin to going on an Aston Martin appreciation site and bleating about how much better your Range Rover is at climbing hills.0 -
Who cares what they looked like. Ever wonder what people might think about the way you dress? That really has nothing to do with the subject. You're just attempting to paint a negative picture of them to make your point. It's unnecessary.
Of course I was attempting to make my point by painting a negative picture. What should I have said - "A family in the mall" riveting stuff with absolutely no point. As for how I dress - how is that relevant? Perhaps I am not the only one making "unnecessary" comments.0 -
Wheelhouse15 wrote: »You make a lot of assumptions for someone you just saw around the mall. I guess you start by avoiding assumptions that they don't know anything about diet and exercise -- perhaps they do. I've seen a lot of fat doctors, nurses, and even dietitians and you talk about them returning to their old habits but the reality is that it's a very safe bet since there is 90%+ chance of anyone returning to old habits after losing weight no matter what method they lost it by and no matter how much they educated themselves so I don't see your point nor your logic here.
Just for starters, I made no assumptions whatsoever. Not only did I see them in the mall but I KNOW the family but for the sake of the story, I shortened the whole version. Father works at the local café and cooks. Is lazy and hanging onto his job by a thread. Any food that is left over becomes their meal for the night - hot chips, fried food and absolutely NO vegetables ever. I KNOW THIS WITHOUT ANY IFs, WHYs or BUTs!! And I know the wife - she told me the kids refuse to drink anything but Coke. So before you tell me to "avoid assumptions that you don't know anything about" start my friend by doing the same and avoid assumptions about me!!!!
If you don't see my point nor my logic - think and wonder for one moment "Do I care!!"
You really do have an attitude issue and a superiority complex is just part of it.
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Yeah pretty much that. But I guess since we don't actually know how "lazy" the family is and how terrible they all are we can't understand that the poster superiority complex is actually justified. Because we all know she's perfect. Because only perfect people end up on MFP.Wheelhouse15 wrote: »Wheelhouse15 wrote: »You make a lot of assumptions for someone you just saw around the mall. I guess you start by avoiding assumptions that they don't know anything about diet and exercise -- perhaps they do. I've seen a lot of fat doctors, nurses, and even dietitians and you talk about them returning to their old habits but the reality is that it's a very safe bet since there is 90%+ chance of anyone returning to old habits after losing weight no matter what method they lost it by and no matter how much they educated themselves so I don't see your point nor your logic here.
Just for starters, I made no assumptions whatsoever. Not only did I see them in the mall but I KNOW the family but for the sake of the story, I shortened the whole version. Father works at the local café and cooks. Is lazy and hanging onto his job by a thread. Any food that is left over becomes their meal for the night - hot chips, fried food and absolutely NO vegetables ever. I KNOW THIS WITHOUT ANY IFs, WHYs or BUTs!! And I know the wife - she told me the kids refuse to drink anything but Coke. So before you tell me to "avoid assumptions that you don't know anything about" start my friend by doing the same and avoid assumptions about me!!!!
If you don't see my point nor my logic - think and wonder for one moment "Do I care!!"
You really do have an attitude issue and a superiority complex is just part of it.
Agreed.
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No s*** Kanye.tennisdude2004 wrote: »
It's still akin to going on an Aston Martin appreciation site and bleating about how much better your Range Rover is at climbing hills.
Well, except no it's not.
This isn't a calorie counting forum. This a forum dedicated to a wide variety of topics, attached to a website that has a calorie counting app, among several other features. One can find plenty reason to be here without that one app.
Just because you use it primarily to count your calories doesn't mean the site is designed just for your purposes, or is any more your site than anybody who is here to utilize one of the other features.0 -
Clearly, education is not the whole answer, as can be seen right here on MFP. There are tons of people on here who know exactly how to go about losing weight, how to put together a nutritious meal, and plenty of strategies for avoiding pitfalls. Knowing all this doesn't mean that they actually do it. Hence having people return after having gained the weight back. If education was all that was needed, people would never need to lose weight again. And again. And sometimes a third or fourth time before they're either able to keep it off or else give up because it's difficult and they have other priorities.0
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I honestly don't think the US overweight and obesity rates will ever significantly fall unless some type of wonder drug is introduced.
Our culture has become more and more focused on a brazen "I do whatever the hell I want" attitude, and sensitivities around weight and food are so oppressive that not even stigmatization n is likely to reverse the trend, as it has done with smoking.
Imagine if the US government tried enforcing maximum waist measurements, such as in Japan? The uproar would be legendary. There are a few nations who are actively working to fight the rise of obesity, and obesity related illnesses and societal ills, but the climate here is such that we'd never be able to do so here.
I'm a hopeful person, but on this I'm quite pessimistic.0 -
My story was not about judging them, it was about not knowing how to help them. Seeing two beautiful children aged 6 & 8 dressed in massive clothes simply because they cannot fit into "normal" children's clothes is very sad.
MrM27said
"What's the point of trashing the way they dress? You say how is it relevant how you dress, it works the same in reverse. What does their clothes have to do with how they eat?"
Of course it is relevant and I wasn't trashing the way they dress. I was stating a fact.
Wheelhouse15 said
"You really do have an attitude issue and a superiority complex is just part of it.
MrM27 said
"Yeah pretty much that. But I guess since we don't actually know how "lazy" the family is and how terrible they all are we can't understand that the poster superiority complex is actually justified. Because we all know she's perfect. Because only perfect people end up on MFP.
Wheelhouse15 agreed
I never said the family was "terrible" nor did I say the whole family were lazy, these are your words, not mine MrM27. And as for your statement "...................Because we all know she's perfect. Because only perfect people end up on MFP."
Are you suggesting that people who end up on MFP are flawed???
My concern is for the family? I would help them if I could find a way - would either of you do the same?0 -
As to all those you contributed to the discussion without personal attacks - I did read your comments and found them extremely interesting and worthwhile.
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