The men who made us fat

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Replies

  • stefjc
    stefjc Posts: 484 Member
    I'm sorry, but I find this topic and title especially ridiculous. It doesn't take a genus to figure out what's healthy and what's not. Also, eating in moderation doesn't make someone fat. Eating bad foods excessively and to the point you're full every time does. That can't be blamed on anyone other than each person who lives that way. Nobody is standing there with a gun to someone's head saying "eat all of this bad food, or else".

    You need to go back to the OP to work out what the original intention was. And if you haven't seen the programme it probably still won't make sense - as many of the responses show.
  • I was actually really surprised to find that the fruit-on-the-bottom yogurts and a lot of low-cal ice creams are actually just sugar bombs. Sure, they're often low cal and low fat but loaded with sugar. For yogurt, I switched to Chobani and, for ice cream, I switched to Halo Top ice cream. You do have to be really careful and read those labels! I learned the hard way.
  • Needachange84
    Needachange84 Posts: 310 Member
    I'm the one who got me to where I am and I take full responsibility for it.
  • I agree with you and I food shop for hours because i read labels on everything. I was addicted to equal and got out of that completely. My thoughts are if God didn't make it, I shouldn't eat it.
  • _crafty_
    _crafty_ Posts: 1,682 Member
    My eyes saw "The men who made us fart"

    I'll just be leaving now. Carry on.
  • MyM0wM0w
    MyM0wM0w Posts: 2,008 Member
    Nothing like absolving yourself of personal responsibility!


    hahahaha.

    Unfortunately the only person I have to blame for making me fat is me. Some people are so lucky! >.>

    And I'm also one of those cray cray people that believes that sugar doesn't make someone fat but that overeating does. But I guess I'm just a special snowflake like that :smile:

    All of this. The only excuse I had for being overweight was when I was a kid and it was put in front of me. Once I started buying my own food and shoveling it in my own mouth how can I blame anyone but myself?
  • skinnymalinkyscot
    skinnymalinkyscot Posts: 174 Member
    I have the same gripes about hidden salts. I have high blood pressure and have to keep my salt intake to under 6g a day if possible. I do appreciate that im probably in the minority and that food might taste bland without salt being added, but surely if that was the case the consumer could add salt at the table at home if they wanted, they would have the CHOICE to add salt.

    By food companies adding the salt to the food they take away MY choices and limit what I can eat, it is extremely annoying to discover salt has been added to yogurts amongst other things wtf, its also very unhealthy to consume so much salt., a little is needed for health but not the vast quantities being pumped into so many different types of food day after day
  • DenyseMarieL
    DenyseMarieL Posts: 673 Member
    I go by the assumption that all packaged foods are bad (high salt/high sugar). I eat as many fresh foods as I can, and we buy our meat from our brother who farms nearby. He's a small operation and doesn't inject his animals with all sorts of crazy stuff.

    I can't take the time to read too many labels. I never buy canned fruits or veggies. I always buy fresh or frozen.
  • seventwenty
    seventwenty Posts: 565 Member
    So many political fails in this thread.
  • pluckabee
    pluckabee Posts: 346 Member
    Thats the real question that needs to be answered



    Don't hold your breath waiting for an answer to that one. Even with the human genome fully mapped there is no one answer. It seems to be a huge and varied combination of nature and nurture.

    There is as much pfaff over that as the reason why once you are fat you have an almost overriding tendency to stay fat.

    If you can figure out why you got fat in the first place you then have the power to prevent it from happening again. Most people who lose weight do not maintain weight loss, so this is actually a very important question to ask.

    I think we could probably find out the answer if people were actually working towards it. But people aren't answering the right question. We ask 'why do we get fat' then people answer 'calories in calories out'. Why do we not ask why some people have the balance so wrong? Why do we stop at step 1?
  • AlabasterVerve
    AlabasterVerve Posts: 3,171 Member
    Just baffling


    Point: it isn't about blame when we look at entire populations as systems. The concept of responsibility on an individual level doesn't address what to do about creating a sustainable human existence for the community at large.


    Counterpoint: you have no one to blame but yourself for being fat.


    Don't you guys get it? Personal responsibility is not the opposite of rational systems on the community level. They aren't at odds because its like arguing Newtonian concepts of gravity in terms of quantum physics. They only contradict each other if you suffer from failure of imagination or a really bad case of rationalism.


    I took responsibility for my condition. But I'm also all about evidence so I don't ignore everything that doesn't fit my notions.

    This. Don't they teach sociological imagination in schools any more? Great post, Pcastagner.
  • pluckabee
    pluckabee Posts: 346 Member
    Yes of course if you are eating an extra 1000 calories you are going to gain some weight,

    But my point is if you cant naturally regulate your caloric intake, something is wrong. And if it's HFCS that is screwing up your natural mechanisms to regulate your food then that is a contributing factor to making you fat.

    Not everyone who is thin actively tries to be thin and 'accounts' for their calories. They manage adjust their intake later without even thinking about it. So what is the different between them and the people that get fat? Why can some people naturally regulate caloric intake and therefore their body weight and others overeat and get fat?[/]

    Thats the real question that needs to be answered

    What does that even mean? Seriously.

    Some people are just naturally thin. They don't have to count calories or regulate their food intake. They manage to regulate their body weight without trying AT ALL.

    So, why (or how?), are some people overriding this natural caloric regulator?
  • BeachIron
    BeachIron Posts: 6,490 Member
    Yes of course if you are eating an extra 1000 calories you are going to gain some weight,

    But my point is if you cant naturally regulate your caloric intake, something is wrong. And if it's HFCS that is screwing up your natural mechanisms to regulate your food then that is a contributing factor to making you fat.

    Not everyone who is thin actively tries to be thin and 'accounts' for their calories. They manage adjust their intake later without even thinking about it. So what is the different between them and the people that get fat? Why can some people naturally regulate caloric intake and therefore their body weight and others overeat and get fat?[/]

    Thats the real question that needs to be answered

    What does that even mean? Seriously.

    Some people are just naturally thin. They don't have to count calories or regulate their food intake. They manage to regulate their body weight without trying AT ALL.

    So, why (or how?), are some people overriding this natural caloric regulator?

    I'm going with their parents forced them to learn self control
  • SkinnyMsFitness
    SkinnyMsFitness Posts: 389 Member
    Okay, you don't even want me to get started on the crap the FDA approves of..that's 'healthy' for us. Truth is, barely anything is! I've given up on worrying about it...since everything seems to be harmful nowadays - in one way or another. Food consumption is more about moderation, not what's consumed. Studies have been conducted to prove weight can be lost by eating nothing but candy and the like...merely by cutting cals.

    *** Not saying I agree with it, but it's fact. ***
  • stefjc
    stefjc Posts: 484 Member
    Thats the real question that needs to be answered



    Don't hold your breath waiting for an answer to that one. Even with the human genome fully mapped there is no one answer. It seems to be a huge and varied combination of nature and nurture.

    There is as much pfaff over that as the reason why once you are fat you have an almost overriding tendency to stay fat.

    If you can figure out why you got fat in the first place you then have the power to prevent it from happening again. Most people who lose weight do not maintain weight loss, so this is actually a very important question to ask.

    I think we could probably find out the answer if people were actually working towards it. But people aren't answering the right question. We ask 'why do we get fat' then people answer 'calories in calories out'. Why do we not ask why some people have the balance so wrong? Why do we stop at step 1?

    I can't agree with the first part - know what got you started gives you the power to prevent it happening again. There is some fairly aggressive physiology that prevents maintenance. Not saying you can't just that you have to spend a lot of time managing it or your body's systems will begin to make and store lipids - there are a quite a few studies on the hunger of empty fat cells and how they affect weight loss and gain.

    But having said that I wholly agree with your second para, why do people stop at step1 1. Yippee I have lost weight, now I can return to my old habits or at least stop managing them. Ooops!

    Then again, without all of that there would be a lot of people out of a job - the diet industry employs so very many people!
  • GabriellaMaria
    GabriellaMaria Posts: 150 Member
    blah blah blah.....
  • pluckabee
    pluckabee Posts: 346 Member
    Yes of course if you are eating an extra 1000 calories you are going to gain some weight,

    But my point is if you cant naturally regulate your caloric intake, something is wrong. And if it's HFCS that is screwing up your natural mechanisms to regulate your food then that is a contributing factor to making you fat.

    Not everyone who is thin actively tries to be thin and 'accounts' for their calories. They manage adjust their intake later without even thinking about it. So what is the different between them and the people that get fat? Why can some people naturally regulate caloric intake and therefore their body weight and others overeat and get fat?[/]

    Thats the real question that needs to be answered

    What does that even mean? Seriously.

    Some people are just naturally thin. They don't have to count calories or regulate their food intake. They manage to regulate their body weight without trying AT ALL.

    So, why (or how?), are some people overriding this natural caloric regulator?

    I'm going with their parents forced them to learn self control

    So, you are saying you don't know?

    Maybe we should find out for sure instead of throwing out a random guess
  • SailorKnightWing
    SailorKnightWing Posts: 875 Member
    While I don't believe high fructose corn syrup is screwing with our systems in any way other than it's a sugar that's really hard to escape, I just want to find a decent unsweetened iced tea in the stop and shop across the street from the theater that isn't "diet" and tastes like it was sweetened with battery acid! Sometimes I forget to bring my own and need a drink after dancing for hours.
  • Sheakat
    Sheakat Posts: 29 Member
    Apple Juice
  • rachseby
    rachseby Posts: 285 Member
    Unfortunately there is this pesky thing called REALITY. And she's a *****.

    Reality is that you're never going to solve obesity until you force people to acknowledge that it is the result of poor lifestyle choices. It's not genetics. It's not the food supply. It is straight up lack of willingness to accept responsibility for your own decisions. The only sustainable way to "fix" obesity from a societal standpoint is to stop telling people that someone else is to blame for it.

    You're talking about a fantasy land of unicorns and rainbows where we solve obesity by holding hands and singing songs while we dance around a campfire.
    There are more factors that play into the obesity factor in America than willingness to accept responsibility for one's own decisions. We have a culture that chooses quantity over quality. It is easier to be thin in a country that makes good collective decisions, and makes you feel accountable to someone besides yourself. I lived in Italy for 5 years, and easily lost weight and kept it off. As soon as I returned to America the pounds just flew back on. There are many reasons for this, and one is that I am less active. However, I also feel that I became less accountable to myself because I was not expected to follow certain culinary/dietary rules. In Italy you used to be hard pressed to find clothes larger than a 10 in women's (this is changing). People eat together a lot more, and make healthier choices. I think that you tend to overeat less if you are with others as well. People generally go home to eat lunch during the workday, which I believe promotes healthier eating. Eating out is more of a treat than a habit. Overeating is not a daily event, and typically if you have one large meal, you make sure that the next one is smaller. I know that people are going to get ticked off about this comment, but they also make many healthier choices, and do not treat fast food and sodas as diet staples. Their sugar consumption is tiny compared to ours--our size small ice cream from DQ would be a size large there. These are all things that we could do in America, but I think that we've fallen into a vicious cycle. My husband works 12-13 hour days, and sometimes barely has time to choke down lunch. I think that the stressful lifestyle that we have adapted produces cortisol, and makes us crave less healthy foods. There are lots of other things that I could mention, or hypothesize about, but I don't want to make this into a dissertation.
    I believe in personal responsibility. Today, with the internet, it is much easier to become and stay informed. When I was younger this was not as true. There is a saying in Italian "Volere e' potere" (to want is to do) but sometimes it is difficult to even know where to start, and we can have many misconceptions that we hold as facts that ultimately derail us. We all need to take a hard look at what we eat, and try to make the best decisions for ourselves. And while the Colonel is not stuffing chicken down our throats, it would be nice if society made health a priority as well, instead of just screaming about the obesity epidemic.
  • jwdieter
    jwdieter Posts: 2,582 Member
    Would be fascinating to see an alternate reality where this thread had the title "Why we should read food labels".
  • GabriellaMaria
    GabriellaMaria Posts: 150 Member
    :laugh:
    My eyes saw "The men who made us fart"

    I'll just be leaving now. Carry on.
    omfg...sooo bloomin funny...:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
  • GabriellaMaria
    GabriellaMaria Posts: 150 Member
    Unfortunately there is this pesky thing called REALITY. And she's a *****.

    Reality is that you're never going to solve obesity until you force people to acknowledge that it is the result of poor lifestyle choices. It's not genetics. It's not the food supply. It is straight up lack of willingness to accept responsibility for your own decisions. The only sustainable way to "fix" obesity from a societal standpoint is to stop telling people that someone else is to blame for it.

    You're talking about a fantasy land of unicorns and rainbows where we solve obesity by holding hands and singing songs while we dance around a campfire.
    There are more factors that play into the obesity factor in America than willingness to accept responsibility for one's own decisions. We have a culture that chooses quantity over quality. It is easier to be thin in a country that makes good collective decisions, and makes you feel accountable to someone besides yourself. I lived in Italy for 5 years, and easily lost weight and kept it off. As soon as I returned to America the pounds just flew back on. There are many reasons for this, and one is that I am less active. However, I also feel that I became less accountable to myself because I was not expected to follow certain culinary/dietary rules. In Italy you used to be hard pressed to find clothes larger than a 10 in women's (this is changing). People eat together a lot more, and make healthier choices. I think that you tend to overeat less if you are with others as well. People generally go home to eat lunch during the workday, which I believe promotes healthier eating. Eating out is more of a treat than a habit. Overeating is not a daily event, and typically if you have one large meal, you make sure that the next one is smaller. I know that people are going to get ticked off about this comment, but they also make many healthier choices, and do not treat fast food and sodas as diet staples. Their sugar consumption is tiny compared to ours--our size small ice cream from DQ would be a size large there. These are all things that we could do in America, but I think that we've fallen into a vicious cycle. My husband works 12-13 hour days, and sometimes barely has time to choke down lunch. I think that the stressful lifestyle that we have adapted produces cortisol, and makes us crave less healthy foods. There are lots of other things that I could mention, or hypothesize about, but I don't want to make this into a dissertation.
    I believe in personal responsibility. Today, with the internet, it is much easier to become and stay informed. When I was younger this was not as true. There is a saying in Italian "Volere e' potere" (to want is to do) but sometimes it is difficult to even know where to start, and we can have many misconceptions that we hold as facts that ultimately derail us. We all need to take a hard look at what we eat, and try to make the best decisions for ourselves. And while the Colonel is not stuffing chicken down our throats, it would be nice if society made health a priority as well, instead of just screaming about the obesity epidemic.
    very interesesting and true...
    just read about the insulin response aiding us to crave, and eat fatty carbs...best book i ever read...worth reading it as she is a professor in food and nutrition, and also had soo many health/ food related problems....so she has been ther and done that..made so much more sense than most diet book i have read.....
    zoe harcombe if you are interested in having a look
  • wolverine66
    wolverine66 Posts: 3,779 Member
    there are multiple people in this thread that i want for my Sarcastaball team
  • rachseby
    rachseby Posts: 285 Member
    Unfortunately there is this pesky thing called REALITY. And she's a *****.

    Reality is that you're never going to solve obesity until you force people to acknowledge that it is the result of poor lifestyle choices. It's not genetics. It's not the food supply. It is straight up lack of willingness to accept responsibility for your own decisions. The only sustainable way to "fix" obesity from a societal standpoint is to stop telling people that someone else is to blame for it.

    You're talking about a fantasy land of unicorns and rainbows where we solve obesity by holding hands and singing songs while we dance around a campfire.
    There are more factors that play into the obesity factor in America than willingness to accept responsibility for one's own decisions. We have a culture that chooses quantity over quality. It is easier to be thin in a country that makes good collective decisions, and makes you feel accountable to someone besides yourself. I lived in Italy for 5 years, and easily lost weight and kept it off. As soon as I returned to America the pounds just flew back on. There are many reasons for this, and one is that I am less active. However, I also feel that I became less accountable to myself because I was not expected to follow certain culinary/dietary rules. In Italy you used to be hard pressed to find clothes larger than a 10 in women's (this is changing). People eat together a lot more, and make healthier choices. I think that you tend to overeat less if you are with others as well. People generally go home to eat lunch during the workday, which I believe promotes healthier eating. Eating out is more of a treat than a habit. Overeating is not a daily event, and typically if you have one large meal, you make sure that the next one is smaller. I know that people are going to get ticked off about this comment, but they also make many healthier choices, and do not treat fast food and sodas as diet staples. Their sugar consumption is tiny compared to ours--our size small ice cream from DQ would be a size large there. These are all things that we could do in America, but I think that we've fallen into a vicious cycle. My husband works 12-13 hour days, and sometimes barely has time to choke down lunch. I think that the stressful lifestyle that we have adapted produces cortisol, and makes us crave less healthy foods. There are lots of other things that I could mention, or hypothesize about, but I don't want to make this into a dissertation.
    I believe in personal responsibility. Today, with the internet, it is much easier to become and stay informed. When I was younger this was not as true. There is a saying in Italian "Volere e' potere" (to want is to do) but sometimes it is difficult to even know where to start, and we can have many misconceptions that we hold as facts that ultimately derail us. We all need to take a hard look at what we eat, and try to make the best decisions for ourselves. And while the Colonel is not stuffing chicken down our throats, it would be nice if society made health a priority as well, instead of just screaming about the obesity epidemic.
    very interesesting and true...
    just read about the insulin response aiding us to crave, and eat fatty carbs...best book i ever read...worth reading it as she is a professor in food and nutrition, and also had soo many health/ food related problems....so she has been ther and done that..made so much more sense than most diet book i have read.....
    zoe harcombe if you are interested in having a look
    Thanks I will!
  • GabriellaMaria
    GabriellaMaria Posts: 150 Member
    Apple Juice
    cider...yum
  • ArroganceInStep
    ArroganceInStep Posts: 6,239 Member
    Just watching a fascinating 3part documentary about the Foodindustry on UK television (BBC2).
    Part 1 about the US and the introduction of Cornsyrup and the wide range foods it's added to. Very good and highly informative. Watch it if you can.

    It's terrifying how the US industry totally ignores the impact Sugar (in various forms and artificial Sweeteners) has on the increase in Obesity.

    Who on here really checks all the food labels?

    What has been winding me up for years is when I discovered that most of the available varieties of smoked Salmon (which i love and eat a lot of) have got sugar added to it! Why on earth? Totally unnecessary for the flavour. The same with Bacon! Good news is there are some without added sugar or any other form of sweetener.

    Which are the foods you've discovered have sugars added to it and surprised you the most?

    It's not yer fault. It's the guv'ment.
  • I'm sorry, but I find this topic and title especially ridiculous. It doesn't take a genus to figure out what's healthy and what's not. Also, eating in moderation doesn't make someone fat. Eating bad foods excessively and to the point you're full every time does. That can't be blamed on anyone other than each person who lives that way. Nobody is standing there with a gun to someone's head saying "eat all of this bad food, or else".

    ridiculous or not .. the thread title is the title of the documentary I was watching last night. The Topic itself however has taken on a life of it's own lol
  • maegmez
    maegmez Posts: 341 Member
    The topic says it all. Yes, we put the food in our mouths but this program shows so much deception and keeping polititians in the food industry's pockets. Threats to to the WHO organisation were made to withdraw funding if they published their bad sugar report. And this program specifically states that HFCS blocks the hormone leptin.

    I made myself fat but these companies need to take resposibilty for what is put in our foods and stop trying to deceive the public that they are ok for you.

    Bottom line is, it's cheaper to farm corn in the us, Nixon made the farmers go from rags to riches over this and it saved other companies money so greed takes over any human compassion in the food industry.
  • MireyGal76
    MireyGal76 Posts: 7,334 Member
    The only man who ever made me fat was my ex, when he got me pregnant.

    I love my babies dearly, and am thankful for them.

    As for any extra padding I have or may still carry - that's all my own fault.


    If anything, maybe we can blame our parents a small bit, if they didn't teach us proper eating habits growing up, but even then... at some point we have to realize that none of us have ever listened to EVERYTHING they taught us, and our health and eating habits can change too.

    My ex's mom serves all her meals with soda pop and cheesecake. Sometimes there is more cheesecake than there is other food. Everyone in that family is obese. I drank water and skipped dessert. I am not.