This gallery explains why millions of Americans are obese…
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There is way more to it than that. All you have to ask yourself is why Americans choose to eat larger portions. In many cases it is a matter of money.
Given a choice between $10 worth of healthy, filling food that only contains a portion of the calories you need to not starve to death versus $10 worth of unhealthy food with 3000 calories that you won't stop eating until it's gone, leaving you in a surplus, which will you choose?
If you're overweight and intent on losing weight despite the discomfort, you might choose to starve. Otherwise, you can't choose to starve so you will gain weight. The food won't be nutritious and may contain harmful ingredients that will shorten your life, but no one is going to choose to die in months due to starvation over maybe dying fat and sick some undetermined decade down the road.
WHAT???? My brain hurts just reading this...
Let me try another way. Do you think Americans decades ago maybe cooked more nutritious food at home and used little portions of unhealthy foods outside the home as treats?
Compared to now, when many people eat these foods as their main meals?
And which is cheaper? A homecooked meal of 1000 calories, or a giant soda?
so your saying people now a days substitute a big gulp for dinner?
Also, "home cooked" does not automatically default to "healthy" . If I take some lard and fry up some chicken and eat that every night, is it healthier because it is "home cooked"?
Yes, I know they do because I have done it. It's energy that keeps you going shortterm that makes you sick and fat longterm. And I am no fan of chicken (it doesn't agree with me) but I just fried up some beef in coconut oil and it was a damn sight healthier than Mac N Cheese and a coke. I lose weight on it, too. Because it fills me up, making me want less calories every day.
Just give up. You're not going to win this argument.
And by that statement you declare me the winner.
I really hate to tell you something but its not what you eat nor the quantites that cause weight loss and or gain it is a calorie deficit and or surplus. A deficit can be achieved by a variety of ways mainly by cosuming less calories than your Total Daily Expenditure.
I really hate to tell you this, but the foods we eat can affect some of us by altering how much we want to eat of it in a sitting or in a day. I love meat, it's tasty. I love ice cream. It is tasty. So what is the difference? I can eat at most 2000 calories of meat before I'm sick. I can eat double that in ice cream, then go back for cookies later.
And the ice cream and cookies? They're cheaper.0 -
No, I don't care to list you the ingredients because, well, I don't care. People are FAT because they consume too many calories. And IMO, the blame lies solely with them.
You can whine all you want about the quality of the food and the (gasp) processing, but the bottom line is you can get fat eating too much homemade Fried Chicken just like you can if you frequent KFC. Same result whether your food is "clean" or "processed".
Why do people consume too many calories?
Yes, but we overeat because the processed crap food we eat screws up our body chemistry and our brain no longer has the ability to tell us we're full before we've gone over the amount of calories we need every day.
Now that isn't true of everyone. Some people manage to adapt much better to a crap diet. Then there are the rest of us.
So says you. Have a few peer-reviewed scientific studies to back up your opinions?
Yes. How many would you like:
First on cost and lifestyle:
http://www.who.int/nutrition/publications/public_health_nut3.pdf
Abstract
Objective: To review the evidence on the diet and nutrition causes of obesity and to
recommend strategies to reduce obesity prevalence.
Design:The evidence for potential aetiological factors and strategies to reduce obesity
prevalence was reviewed, and recommendations for public health action, population
nutrition goals and further research were made.
Results: Protective factors against obesity were considered to be: regular physical
activity (convincing); a high intake of dietary non-starch polysaccharides (NSP)/fibre
(convincing); supportive home and school environments for children (probable); and
breastfeeding (probable). Risk factors for obesity were considered to be sedentary
lifestyles (convincing); a high intake of energy-dense, micronutrient-poor foods
(convincing); heavy marketing of energy-dense foods and fast food outlets
(probable); sugar-sweetened soft drinks and fruit juices (probable); adverse social
and economic conditions—developed countries, especially in women (probable).
A broad range of strategies were recommended to reduce obesity prevalence
including: influencing the food supply to make healthy choices easier; reducing the
marketing of energy dense foods and beverages to children; influencing urban
environments and transport systems to promote physical activity; developing
community-wide programmes in multiple settings; increased communications about
healthy eating and physical activity; and improved health services to promote
breastfeeding and manage currently overweight or obese people.
Conclusions: The increasing prevalence of obesity is a major health threat in both
low- and high income countries. Comprehensive programmes will be needed to turn
the epidemic around.
Here is the issue with eating out versus homecooked:
In the US, food prepared away from home is higher in
total energy, total fat, saturated fat, cholesterol and
sodium, but contains less fibre and calcium and is overall
of poorer nutritional quality than at-home food. Also, the
fat content of at-home food has fallen considerably from
41% of total energy in 1977 to 31.5%, but there has been no
change in the fat content of food prepared away from
home (37.6%)43.
These food composition differences and the increasing
portion sizes, are likely contributors to the rising
prevalence of obesity in the US44. Those who eat out
more, on average, have a higher BMI than those who eat
more at home46. The evidence implicating the increasing
use of food prepared outside the home as a risk for obesity
is largely limited to the US but this may be extrapolated to
other western countries. It is unknown whether a high
frequency of eating out is associated with obesity or
weight gain in other populations, for example, in Asian
countries, where eating outside the home may not be a
risk for weight gain.
I believe this is peer reviewed, feel free to verbally smack me if I'm wrong:
http://www.nutritionj.com/content/pdf/1475-2891-12-105.pdf
Results: The participants were equally satiated on both diets. The Paleolithic diet resulted in greater satiety quotients
for energy per meal (p = 0.004), energy density per meal (p = 0.01) and glycemic load per meal (p = 0.02). The
distribution of positive and negative comments from the survey did not differ between the two diets, and the
comments were mostly positive. Among comments relating to recurring topics, there was no difference in distribution
between the two diets for comments relating to tastelessness, but there was a trend towards more comments on the
Paleolithic diet being satiating and improving blood sugar values, and significantly more comments on weight loss
and difficulty adhering to the Paleolithic diet.
Thank you and I will read these. However, one issue remains: are people being forced to consume fat food? I'm pretty sure "eat 3 times a week at McDonalds" has not joined death and taxes as they things we can't avoid. People are fat because they CHOOSE to eat too many calories.0 -
No one is holding a gun to your head forcing you to eat unhealthy food. Quit making excuses and stop being so passive about your health.
That is all :flowerforyou:0 -
Thank you and I will read these. However, one issue remains: are people being forced to consume fat food? I'm pretty sure "eat 3 times a week at McDonalds" has not joined death and taxes as they things we can't avoid. People are fat because they CHOOSE to eat too many calories.
Those with the income and time to cook do choose it, and many are overweight. But those without the income and time to cook (especially those living in areas with no real grocery stores nearby) aren't choosing. It's what they're forced to do.0 -
No one is holding a gun to your head forcing you to eat unhealthy food. Quit making excuses and stop being so passive about your health.
That is all :flowerforyou:
True. But if I had even twenty dollars less every week to use at the store I would not be able to afford healthy foods in sufficient calories to meet my daily needs.0 -
Thank you and I will read these. However, one issue remains: are people being forced to consume fat food? I'm pretty sure "eat 3 times a week at McDonalds" has not joined death and taxes as they things we can't avoid. People are fat because they CHOOSE to eat too many calories.
Those with the income and time to cook do choose it, and many are overweight. But those without the income and time to cook (especially those living in areas with no real grocery stores nearby) aren't choosing. It's what they're forced to do.
Eating McDonald's doesn't make people fat any more than eating potatoes makes people fat. There are plenty of filling, lower-calorie choices at McD's and elsewhere.0 -
No, I don't care to list you the ingredients because, well, I don't care. People are FAT because they consume too many calories. And IMO, the blame lies solely with them.
You can whine all you want about the quality of the food and the (gasp) processing, but the bottom line is you can get fat eating too much homemade Fried Chicken just like you can if you frequent KFC. Same result whether your food is "clean" or "processed".
Why do people consume too many calories?
Yes, but we overeat because the processed crap food we eat screws up our body chemistry and our brain no longer has the ability to tell us we're full before we've gone over the amount of calories we need every day.
Now that isn't true of everyone. Some people manage to adapt much better to a crap diet. Then there are the rest of us.
Our brains have never had the ability to tell us we're full before we've gone over the amount of calories we need every day. There's no calorie limit checkpoint.
The availability of high calorie food has increased and our overall activity has decreased. Unless you happen to be someone that loves noshing on low to moderate calorie stuff, if you don't educate yourself and make smart choices, you're likely to consume too many calories. Period. Has nothing to do with whether the food is processed or not.
Science AND logic in the same post. I feel better now about humanity. Thank You!
Well it's nice to know I'm a mutant. If I try to eat 3000 calories of meat, cheese, and oil, I will be barfing. I can easily eat double that of cookies, ice cream, and soda and be perfectly fine. Just fat!
You're not a mutant, but you are just one person with anecdotal evidence based on your unique physiology. Where you're going wrong is attempting to parlay your experiences into what others should or should not do.0 -
This.Fried chicken (without a cheap breading of cornflakes or similar): Contains chicken. With a coating of whatever it was fried in, which is hopefully real butter, lard, or coconut oil and not some processed vegetable oil.
Would you care for me to list the ingredients in a soda, a fast food biscuit, and some fast food fries? Not to mention whatever crap they put on the chicken before they fry it and the crap nasty oil it is fried in.
List all the ingredients you want. Food doesn't become unhealthy, bad, or fattening because of a couple of preservatives or flavor enhancers.
Just because it has a scary-sounding name doesn't mean it's bad for you. Get past it.0 -
20 years ago McDonald's was making a KILLING selling Supersized french fries and sodas. I find it amazing that you are not aware of this. 20 years ago Dunkin Donuts was selling plenty of flavored coffees and iced coffees in various sizes (I bought them all the time when in high school.) Apparently you aren't aware of that either.
None of what you posted is relevant. These things really haven't changed like you think they have.
McDonalds didn’t add supersized food to its menu until 1994. Dunkin Donuts didn’t sell flavored coffee until 1995 http://www.fastcompany.com/75485/dunkin-donuts-reinventing-americas-cup-coffee.
So you are correct, I was not aware of these items 20 years ago, because they did not exist 20 years ago.
So the answer is "millions of Americans are obese because they choose to eat more."
It's not like McDonald's is making anyone choose a 900-calorie Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese over a 300-calorie hamburger. The person ordering makes that choice.
And you know why they choose to eat like that? Because it's so easy and cheap. 60 years ago, 8 ounces of beef cooked to order was kind of a lot of money to blow on lunch. Today it's cheap enough that the cost is basically insignificant.
When you can get an enormous and delicious meal handed to you in 30 seconds flat for an insignificant amount of money, people can and will do it.
So it's not that fast food and coffee shops are evil because they're shoving a million calories down our throats. It's that they manage to make it so cheap and convenient that it enables people to gorge themselves.
What's the answer? Dunno. The only thing that'll really have an effect, I think, is to make calories less convenient and/or more expensive. The convenience won't change - but it's entirely possible the nature of the economy will change in the long term to make it less economically feasible to eat that way.
I don’t blame corporations - they are only responsible for giving consumers what they want and are willing to pay for. If McDonald's offers burgers that are 5% larger and sells more Big Macs, what does Burger King do to compete? Make their Whoppers larger, make it a double or triple, put more cheese or bacon on them, offer more fries, bigger drinks, etc.
And with these two replies, answers is what I believe was the point made in the original OP.0 -
What matters is the calories.... for weight control. People still fail to grasp this very basic concept.
Thank you and I will read these. However, one issue remains: are people being forced to consume fat food? I'm pretty sure "eat 3 times a week at McDonalds" has not joined death and taxes as they things we can't avoid. People are fat because they CHOOSE to eat too many calories.
Those with the income and time to cook do choose it, and many are overweight. But those without the income and time to cook (especially those living in areas with no real grocery stores nearby) aren't choosing. It's what they're forced to do.
Eating McDonald's doesn't make people fat any more than eating potatoes makes people fat. There are plenty of filling, lower-calorie choices at McD's and elsewhere.0 -
Thank you and I will read these. However, one issue remains: are people being forced to consume fat food? I'm pretty sure "eat 3 times a week at McDonalds" has not joined death and taxes as they things we can't avoid. People are fat because they CHOOSE to eat too many calories.
Those with the income and time to cook do choose it, and many are overweight. But those without the income and time to cook (especially those living in areas with no real grocery stores nearby) aren't choosing. It's what they're forced to do.
OMG! I was totally unaware that McDonalds and other fast food outlets are FORCING poor people to buy Big Mac's and to supersize the fries and the drink. I guess they have some sort of means test to determine who can buy salads.0 -
Thank you and I will read these. However, one issue remains: are people being forced to consume fat food? I'm pretty sure "eat 3 times a week at McDonalds" has not joined death and taxes as they things we can't avoid. People are fat because they CHOOSE to eat too many calories.
Those with the income and time to cook do choose it, and many are overweight. But those without the income and time to cook (especially those living in areas with no real grocery stores nearby) aren't choosing. It's what they're forced to do.
Eating McDonald's doesn't make people fat any more than eating potatoes makes people fat. There are plenty of filling, lower-calorie choices at McD's and elsewhere.
Actually if you do well as a vegetarian (but maybe not vegan) it is much easier to find healthy foods outside the home than it is for me. Try it as someone who does best on a low carb diet and you'll see just how expensive and difficult it is.
Also, pink slime, although I think many places have stopped using it due to the uproar. I used to wonder why my McBurger sometimes smelled like someone urinated on it.0 -
Thank you and I will read these. However, one issue remains: are people being forced to consume fat food? I'm pretty sure "eat 3 times a week at McDonalds" has not joined death and taxes as they things we can't avoid. People are fat because they CHOOSE to eat too many calories.
Those with the income and time to cook do choose it, and many are overweight. But those without the income and time to cook (especially those living in areas with no real grocery stores nearby) aren't choosing. It's what they're forced to do.
They're forced to buy the big burger, fries, and drink for 7$ Vs the grilled chicken salad for 5.50$? Cause I eat a southwest salad once or twice a week for about 400 calories, for less than my husband spends on his bacon quarter pounder meal.
Or do people choose the higher calorie/higher cost meal because...personal choice is personal?0 -
Well....I think it's more people's choices whether they choose to overeat things or not and that's why millions of people are obese. Don't knock the deliciousness!!!!!
Exactly!! I went from ordering 2 cheeseburgers and a medium fry at mcd's to 1 cheeseburger and a small fry. I think it's made a big difference. It's all about choices, just like you said!!!
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It absolutely is. Great point. And how each of us creates a deficit is up to us. How each of us finds it easiest to create that deficit is up to us. And, when we're done losing weight, how each of us chooses to eat the right calories to maintain is up to us.
What matters is the calories.... for weight control. People still fail to grasp this very basic concept.
Thank you and I will read these. However, one issue remains: are people being forced to consume fat food? I'm pretty sure "eat 3 times a week at McDonalds" has not joined death and taxes as they things we can't avoid. People are fat because they CHOOSE to eat too many calories.
Those with the income and time to cook do choose it, and many are overweight. But those without the income and time to cook (especially those living in areas with no real grocery stores nearby) aren't choosing. It's what they're forced to do.
Eating McDonald's doesn't make people fat any more than eating potatoes makes people fat. There are plenty of filling, lower-calorie choices at McD's and elsewhere.0 -
Thank you and I will read these. However, one issue remains: are people being forced to consume fat food? I'm pretty sure "eat 3 times a week at McDonalds" has not joined death and taxes as they things we can't avoid. People are fat because they CHOOSE to eat too many calories.
Those with the income and time to cook do choose it, and many are overweight. But those without the income and time to cook (especially those living in areas with no real grocery stores nearby) aren't choosing. It's what they're forced to do.
OMG! I was totally unaware that McDonalds and other fast food outlets are FORCING poor people to buy Big Mac's and to supersize the fries and the drink. I guess they have some sort of means test to determine who can buy salads.
McDonald's isn't, income and time allotment is.
The kneejerk reaction to anyone pointing out systemic, societal reasons for obesity is ridiculous on this forum.0 -
We're obese because we eat too much and sit on our butts all day.0
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Thank you and I will read these. However, one issue remains: are people being forced to consume fat food? I'm pretty sure "eat 3 times a week at McDonalds" has not joined death and taxes as they things we can't avoid. People are fat because they CHOOSE to eat too many calories.
Those with the income and time to cook do choose it, and many are overweight. But those without the income and time to cook (especially those living in areas with no real grocery stores nearby) aren't choosing. It's what they're forced to do.
OMG! I was totally unaware that McDonalds and other fast food outlets are FORCING poor people to buy Big Mac's and to supersize the fries and the drink. I guess they have some sort of means test to determine who can buy salads.
McDonald's isn't, income and time allotment is.
The kneejerk reaction to anyone pointing out systemic, societal reasons for obesity is ridiculous on this forum.
It takes longer to roll up to the Mickey D's and get a salad than a Big Mac? Who knew.0 -
Thank you and I will read these. However, one issue remains: are people being forced to consume fat food? I'm pretty sure "eat 3 times a week at McDonalds" has not joined death and taxes as they things we can't avoid. People are fat because they CHOOSE to eat too many calories.
Those with the income and time to cook do choose it, and many are overweight. But those without the income and time to cook (especially those living in areas with no real grocery stores nearby) aren't choosing. It's what they're forced to do.
They're forced to buy the big burger, fries, and drink for 7$ Vs the grilled chicken salad for 5.50$? Cause I eat a southwest salad once or twice a week for about 400 calories, for less than my husband spends on his bacon quarter pounder meal.
Or do people choose the higher calorie/higher cost meal because...personal choice is personal?
You eat salad? I've always found it disgusting and it turns my stomach. Same with chicken, these days. But you also prove my point for me: 400 calories? How many are in the fries, burger and drink? I could get more than a day's worth of calories for $7, and you want me to get less than a quarter of my daily allotment for $5.50?
Sure I'll do that if I'm dieting or have the money to buy three or four more meals, but what if I don't? If I'm broke, I'm going with the surplus calories at $7.0 -
We're obese because we eat too much and sit on our butts all day.
Personal responsibility for our health? Whaaaaat?!0
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