What happened to healthy people without the gym?

nlhill79
nlhill79 Posts: 60 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Long, long ago there weren't gyms on every corner. There were women who stayed home each and every day just cleaning up the house. They were slim, and they didn't worry about a damn thing. So what happened? Those women weren't bench pressing a mule every other day and they were fit. What happened? (Those women still exist too.)

Replies

  • bethlaf
    bethlaf Posts: 954 Member
    umm, food became a product, and we all consumed the product,
    tv became 250 channels 24 hours a day...
    and please do not think ALL "50 eras and earlier" housewives were thin..

    FDA has a few words to say about it too..
    http://www.usda.gov/factbook/chapter2.pdf
  • LoraF83
    LoraF83 Posts: 15,694 Member
    Women also did a lot more physical labor at home, raising their TDEE.

    Most people didn't snack, which lowered their calorie intake.


    So, they ate less and moved more.


    Since we've adapted our lifestyles to not do a lot of the manual stuff and we make food available all the time, we've also adapted to using gyms for our movement.

    But also want to add that women of that era still had weight problems. And they didn't exactly deal with it effectively. My mom's version of a diet is to drink Pepsi and eat crackers for days on end until the weight is gone. She learned that diet secret from her mom. Not exactly healthy.
  • mistesh
    mistesh Posts: 243 Member
    They ate home-cooked meals. They biked. Soda and bagel sizes were smaller. No cell, no Internet, no texting!
  • dawningr
    dawningr Posts: 387 Member
    They cooked real food, played with their kids, walked and rode bicycles.
    No McDonald's, junk foods, etc.
  • olDave
    olDave Posts: 557 Member
    It's complicated.
  • Calliope610
    Calliope610 Posts: 3,783 Member
    Washing dishes by hand burns more cals than popping them in the dishwasher and punching a few buttons. Hanging clothes on the line burns more cals than tossing them in the dryer. Sweeping and mopping burns calories. Using a push mower to cut the lawn burns more cals than sitting on that riding lawnmower with a beer in hand.

    The advent of automation reduced the amount of manual/physical labor required by daily living.
  • RunHardBeStrong
    RunHardBeStrong Posts: 33,069 Member
    I echo all of the above. They were more active in their everyday lives and ate a lot more whole foods.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Wholesome living...more whole, natural foods...meals prepared using said whole, natural ingredients, less dining out...less overall availability of convenient foods...more walking and riding bicycles...less tv watching...etc, etc, etc

    Also, I wouldn't go so far as to say they were "fit"..and certainly not more fit than the sexy women of today that lift heavy things and put them down. Most of those 50s ladies were probably skinny fat :smile:
  • AllThatWeightlossJazz
    AllThatWeightlossJazz Posts: 21
    1. Physical Labor - Working in the fields and in the barn can be hard work

    2. Less processed foods in stores/Fast food restaurants

    3. Less technology to be lazy with


    Just to name a few.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    they did laundry, washed dished by hand, cooked dinner, walked to an from the grocery store/market, did yard work, etc...ahh the good old days...then the womans rights groups came out and ruined everything....

    kidding..kind of ...bahahahahahaha
  • soldiergrl_101
    soldiergrl_101 Posts: 2,205 Member
    Places like McDonald's and items like super-sized happened lol. Did you know that in Europe McDonald's uses our Medium size cup as there large, and no they do not offer a super-size. Our kiddy is there small...Americans are just glutens for punishment
  • hungryhobbit1
    hungryhobbit1 Posts: 259 Member
    Well, in my grandmother's generation they all smoked like chimneys from morning to night. Not saying home cooking and increased activity (particularly during their childhood years before things were so automated in the home) didn't contribute, but there were a lot of things about earlier generations that weren't so healthy, too.

    My grandmother grew up during the depression and I'm sure there wasn't a whole lot of overeating going on, but not so much good nutrition, either. I was raised eating canned vegetables, I just thought that was normal.
  • toaster6
    toaster6 Posts: 703 Member
    The average caloric intake during the 50s was around 1800. Today it's... not.
  • melindasuefritz
    melindasuefritz Posts: 3,509 Member
    Places like McDonald's and items like super-sized happened lol. Did you know that in Europe McDonald's uses our Medium size cup as there large, and no they do not offer a super-size. Our kiddy is there small...Americans are just glutens for punishment
  • Thorbjornn
    Thorbjornn Posts: 329 Member
    they did laundry, washed dished by hand, cooked dinner, walked to an from the grocery store/market, did yard work, etc...

    This is all true. My mother used to walk a few blocks out to the main avenue to do grocery shopping every other day or so, in addition to the once a week trip for the staple items. Everything was fresh food. My father refused to eat anything frozen. He was constantly in the basement or garage doing something active, as well as using a manual push lawn mower, and hand clippers to edge, manual hedge clippers and a rake. No gas or electric lawn mower, weed-whacker, trimmer, leaf blower.
  • mistesh
    mistesh Posts: 243 Member
    The advent of automation reduced the amount of manual/physical labor required by daily living.
    they did laundry, washed dished by hand, cooked dinner, walked to an from the grocery store/market, did yard work, etc...ahh the good old days...then the womans rights groups came out and ruined everything....

    kidding..kind of ...bahahahahahaha

    Good points. Automation and specialization. Let people do what they're best at. Leave the cooking up to us, the food business said. And look what happened. We're up to our eyeballs in processed food. As for womans' rights, everyone, both men and women, need to to return to their kitchen. Much more on all of this in Michael Pollan's Cooked.
  • SoDamnHungry
    SoDamnHungry Posts: 6,998 Member
    The word "washboard" meant something besides abs back then.
  • RunHardBeStrong
    RunHardBeStrong Posts: 33,069 Member
    Wholesome living...more whole, natural foods...meals prepared using said whole, natural ingredients, less dining out...less overall availability of convenient foods...more walking and riding bicycles...less tv watching...etc, etc, etc

    Also, I wouldn't go so far as to say they were "fit"..and certainly not more fit than the sexy women of today that lift heavy things and put them down. Most of those 50s ladies were probably skinny fat :smile:

    Spot on.
  • nlhill79
    nlhill79 Posts: 60 Member
    In other words it boiled down simply to: calories.
  • auroranflash
    auroranflash Posts: 3,569 Member
    In other words it boiled down simply to: calories.

    Ding!
  • TheCollector69
    TheCollector69 Posts: 8
    Women did much more physical work at home inside and outside of the house.
    There was no processed food

    It was just easier to stay in better shape. IMO
  • TheCollector69
    TheCollector69 Posts: 8
    The word "washboard" meant something besides abs back then.

    awesome
  • madworld1
    madworld1 Posts: 524
    Portion sizes were much smaller. People ate mostly home cooked meals. And, they often raised and grew their own food. People didn't sit in front of the television all day. She was usually up doing A LOT of housework. That said, not all housewives were thin.
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
    I agree with everybody here. They moved their bodies for transportation and did manual labor, lifting and carrying, pushing and pulling. Ate less, Ate less snacks. And also the standards were probably a little bit lower (for many many reasons). There were small communities, no tv and magazines. They carried their babies and breastfed for longer time frames as well.

    And there are plenty of people now that remain fit, capable, active and attractive without a gym.
  • Etienne54
    Etienne54 Posts: 88 Member
    Back in the days, people danced all night and made love all day.. that's one hell of a workout.
  • Contrarian
    Contrarian Posts: 8,138 Member
    Lots of people used to have worms.
  • whierd
    whierd Posts: 14,025 Member
    This is why I support sandwich and pie making.
  • Saucy_lil_Minx
    Saucy_lil_Minx Posts: 3,302 Member
    We are talking about over 30 to 40 years ago. Going out to eat was a rare occasion, and meals had to be cooked ( not nuked). Foods were not genetically altered to increase production. Meals were smaller and less often. We moved a whole lot more! There are a ton of reasons why we are fatter!! We used to work fields, and not computers. We walked and did not drive as much. Less TV time! name it. Today is not even comparable to the lifestyle we lived as kids! I remember my butt was outside after school and ALL WEEKEND! Now, we are lucky if our kids see sun one day a week! We are turning into the blob people on WALL. E.
  • ddky
    ddky Posts: 381 Member
    Most families had one car (if any). Suzie homemaker cleaned the house, did the dishes, and then walked anywhere else she needed to go to. She walked to the neighborhood market, and carried home a few bags of groceries. She chiseled ice out of the freezer with a pick. She hung the rugs on a line and beat them with a wooden object of some kind. She hung the laundry on the line to dry. Then stood at the ironing board to iron them. She scrubbed the kitchen floor on her hands and knees with a stiff brush before putting down the wax. The old heating systems put deposits on the walls, so twice a year she scrubbed down all the walls in the house (and cleaned the windows). If she wanted to go shopping she walked "downtown" to the stores and then walked home with her packages. She did all this by herself, until her first daughter got old enough to help out. But then there were younger children in the home that had to be tended to. I wasn't the 50's suzie homemaker. I was that firstborn daughter that got to take over part of the chores and help with the younger children. No one in my house had a weight problem back then. There were very few overweight children at my school either.
  • Saucy_lil_Minx
    Saucy_lil_Minx Posts: 3,302 Member
    We have back tracked in our house for our health. No TV (save one hour before bed), Weekends we are out of the house. Meals are cooked (save one night out {MAYBE}, and none are pre-packaged {without really scrutinizing the ingredients}. Unplug on Sundays. Our kids do not have their own computer, or laptop, or TV, and only ONE video game system! the WII b/c we move with it! I will say we do splurge at least once a week, but we shoot for an 80/20 balance with all things! We have PJ days when it's cold (we just dance on the Wii), we go out for ice cream (Go out not keep it on hand). You got to have mac-n- cheese or I think my son would hold protest in my kitchen. Our goal is to have our children be conscience of what they eat, and understand food if just that! Enjoy it all, but don"t over indulge! A few bites is good, a pint is NOT! Balance is the word :tongue:

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