random thought regarding obesity

I was always amused by the little bottles of soda in the vending machine that were 2.5 servings per bottle.

I concur with this statement.

Why are people obese? Because math is hard. Case in point: product labeling. Who the heck eats 3/4 cup of chocolate strawberry cereal (not me obviously). Let's have real people serving sizes and see what the result is. Most won't stand there and do the math (...well I want more than that and two servings fills my bowl with room for milk so one serving is 145 calories, plus 145 is..aww crap, let me get my phone, it has a calculator...ooh I got a text...3 servings later said person hates themself for eating too much...)

Obviously not the ONLY reason, but perhaps it is a contributing factor. Thoughts? Discuss.

Oh please. No one gets fat because they're measuring their food and the portion sizes are labeled improperly.

No but as per consumer course of ignorance, no one knows what serving sizes are. And companies do well to conceal it. (Putting multiple servings into a single food item, such as Ramen, soda, or the ever delicious Pop Tarts which are - you guessed it - two servings per bag.)

Why are people obese? Because math is hard. Case in point: product labeling. Who the heck eats 3/4 cup of chocolate strawberry cereal (not me obviously). Let's have real people serving sizes and see what the result is. Most won't stand there and do the math (...well I want more than that and two servings fills my bowl with room for milk so one serving is 145 calories, plus 145 is..aww crap, let me get my phone, it has a calculator...ooh I got a text...3 servings later said person hates themself for eating too much...)

Obviously not the ONLY reason, but perhaps it is a contributing factor. Thoughts? Discuss.

Oh please. No one gets fat because they're measuring their food and the portion sizes are labeled improperly.

No but as per consumer course of ignorance, no one knows what serving sizes are. And companies do well to conceal it. (Putting multiple servings into a single food item, such as Ramen, soda, or the ever delicious Pop Tarts which are - you guessed it - two servings per bag.)

People who get fat aren't paying much attention to the calories they consume. The nutrition labels could be in Swahili and it wouldn't make a difference.

How many obese people are reading labels or worrying about serving sizes? None that I know. You don't get to be obese by worrying about your calorie intake.

Absolutely correct. However, let's hypothesize said obese person is trying to lose weight & eat better. Couldn't the ridiculous portion sizes be a factor in weight loss failure? I obviously don't think labels make people fat. Unless they are eating them too.

I don't think so, no. If you're reading the label you're seeing the serving size.

If portion size isn't a factor, why do people have kitchen scales and weight their food?

Also take into consideration foods where the serving is in grams. For spaghetti/pasta, a serving is something like 56 grams. I didn't buy a food scale until several months into weight loss – it made an enormous difference. Until I really put some serious thought into my diet, it hadn't crossed my mind that 56 grams was so little. Very few people that aren't seriously committed are going to take the time out to invest in a food scale and weigh their food in grams. It makes a huge difference, and it's easy to assume that 1/2 cup = 56 grams, because the food label says so! It doesn't take into account over/under measuring and the huge difference that can make in calorie intake.

How many obese people are reading labels or worrying about serving sizes? None that I know. You don't get to be obese by worrying about your calorie intake.

Absolutely correct. However, let's hypothesize said obese person is trying to lose weight & eat better. Couldn't the ridiculous portion sizes be a factor in weight loss failure? I obviously don't think labels make people fat. Unless they are eating them too.

I don't think so, no. If you're reading the label you're seeing the serving size.

Generally speaking though, a person will read the calories and go no further, eat what they want, and move on. Sorry, but your argument has no argument. Just because a person sees a serving size does not mean they comprehend the serving size, hence my hypothesis that portion size is misleading and can contribute to weight loss failure. Obviously, a hypothesis needs testing to progress to theory.

Holy *kitten* that sounds like a dissertation title. It would be a perfect follow-up to my master's thesis, which clearly indicated that the presence of a mirror effected quantity and quality of an individual's food choices. Ooh someone find me a pencil.

This assumes that these people are keeping track of their calories in some way at all. They're not. I've spoken to dozens of people who have lost weight or tried to lose weight, and not a single one of them has kept track of calories but done so wildly incorrectly because they ignored serving size.

Love my scale. Recently wanted jello. Made it and went to portion it out: 22 grams! WTF am I supposed to do with 22 grams?? 80 calories in that thimble of jello. Yes, sugar free only has 10 calories per serving, but it also has aspartame. So I have all this jello in my fridge cuz the calories are ridiculous for the amount you eat. But, it turns out that its really sweet and I don't love it like I thought.

...Generally speaking though, a person will read the calories and go no further, eat what they want, and move on. Sorry, but your argument has no argument. Just because a person sees a serving size does not mean they comprehend the serving size...

Generally speaking then, basic thinking skills must be lacking...I guess then that people are just too stupid to care for themselves. I never thought I was that much smarter than the general population, but if the above argument is true, I must be a freaking genius among morons. I assumed people didn't care. Now I find out they are just really dumb. That's sad.

For me, 3/4 of a cup is a serving size. I eat 20g or 1/4cup of oatmeal for breakfast (often in conjunction with eggs, cheese, toast, etc...) which is half a serving. So, what are you suggesting? Quaker should say that a serving of oatmeal is a cup and a half (or more) because obese people sometimes eat outrageous portions?

Is your suggestion really that people become overweight or obese because they are too moronic to read the "servings per container" label that is usually right next to the "calories" line? Isn't it more possible that people just don't care and don't bother to read any of it? Or maybe that they eat places where the nutrition information isn't readily available?

When I was more overweight (and didn't count my calories) I would pick up one of those small bags of Chex mix, read the part of the label that says 200 cal/serving, see the part that says 2 servings think okay 400 calories, eat it and carry on with my day. Did I think about the fact that I had eaten 400 calories of chex mix later when I was making decisions about what to eat? No. That was my problem.

It doesn't have anything to do with labels it's what you're eating. Eat real food and cut way back on the sugars and starches. If you do that you can eat when you're hungry until you're satisfied. You won't need to portion your food or count calories.

No but as per consumer course of ignorance, no one knows what serving sizes are. And companies do well to conceal it. (Putting multiple servings into a single food item, such as Ramen, soda, or the ever delicious Pop Tarts which are - you guessed it - two servings per bag.)

Agree with this. I have heard people say "Oh there's only 150 calories in this bag of potato chips!" Because they bought (what they think) is a single serve bag at the 7-11 that actually contains 3.5 servings. So, yeah, that's over 500 calories for a snack right there.

If your serious about losing weight and being healthier, then why are you even eating potato chips, or for that fact grabbing snacks at a 7-11. That's crazy for 2 reasons. 1. 90% of the food is crap 2. Its way overpriced crap. Wouldn't sound advice be to grab a piece of fruit and be on your way.

It amazes me how people who have never been obese view people who are. Astounding, really.