Guys, stop with the orthorexia already!

Paleo and gluten-free seem to being getting out of hand. Fructose-free is just plain stupid - seriously, you're NEVER going to eat fruit again?

Yes! I also noticed this amongst my IRL friends and sometimes overhear people in public chatting (or what seems like bragging) about their "awesome new way of eating that everyone should try". This is usually followed by a comment about GMO's, the evil food industry and how the unenlightened are "sheeple".

I am definitely sick of everything getting slapped with "gluten free" labels now. Very few people have a gluten intolerance anyway. But I can't help but laugh when I see a carbonated energy drink labeled "gluten free". It's basically just the "low fat!" / "no carbs!" of this decade.

Ugh, do we hang out with the same people? Haha[/quote]

Creepy, isn't it! It's like a hive-mind type thing going on.

I've never hears anyone use sheeple but sadly my Facebook is filled with people going gluten free, pills, detoxes, cleanses, squat challenges (for weightloss? Sure it might help a bit but it isn't going to melt the fat off f them), and one I saw a few days ago said just don't drink milk, eat bread, orange juice and something else...but I often feel bad for these people because I'm assuming they just don't know that it is all about cals in vs out and/or are desperate.

Guess what. In order to not be overweight or obese and avoid related risks, you have to be a little weird, at least in our society. It is not exactly psychologically normal to count calories for a lifetime, yet that is what many will have to do to keep it off long-term.

It's an adjustment related to disorder, yes, except it's society that's disordered.

("Our" society = English-speaking countries, like the ones MFP users belong to, and some others.)

this table

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/obesity_adult_09_10/obesity_adult_09_10.htm#table2

% obese in 1962: 13
% obese in in 2010: 36.1

herrspoons wrote: »

tomatoey wrote: »

herrspoons wrote: »

tomatoey wrote: »

Guess what. In order to not be overweight or obese and avoid related risks, you have to be a little weird, at least in our society. It is not exactly psychologically normal to count calories for a lifetime, yet that is what many will have to do to keep it off long-term.

It's an adjustment related to disorder, yes, except it's society that's disordered.

("Our" society = English-speaking countries, like the ones MFP users belong to, and some others.)

Explain please. Weight control is the obligation of the individual, not society. In addition, if there's a body image Western society promotes, it sure isn't a fat one. Quite the reverse actually.

Percent of adults age 20 years and over who are overweight, including obesity: 69.0% (2011-2012)
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/obesity-overweight.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/obesity_adult_09_10/obesity_adult_09_10.htm#x2013;1962 Through 2009–2010 </a>

Charts over time, since 1968 - sharpest rise is in obesity, #s overweight mostly steady

There's no way all of them decided, individually, to have too many cheeseburgers. But it's UP to the individual to fix it, yeah. At least it is until food manufacturers have to start facing some appropriate regulation, which I hope happens

Unfortunately, it was precisely because they all decided to have too many cheeseburgers or pizzas or donuts. The food may have been more available and come in bigger portions, but we still had to eat it.

Also, in the UK it has been a legal requirement for some years now for all packaged food to show calorie and nutritional content clearly on the packaging. It has not made any people any thinner. In fact, obesity rates have risen.

It's not the food manufacturers. It's us. There are some other factors, but those are more to do with the outdated and averaged calorie requirements used, poor advice from health agencies, and falling activity levels.

Bolded is one spin on things, it's a question of emphasis. Ordinary participation in society means working 8-10 hours a day, dealing with long commutes, being tired from all that and so struggling to negotiate food choices when tasty, convenient meals are hard to pass up. It's a lot of work to cook and eat well, it takes knowledge and planning and effort. That's why MFP exists. You can see how hard it is for people.

Only the individual can answer to her or his own body most directly, but there are multiple factors. I think it's good to change some of them if it helps people

What I mean is, yes people are choosing cheeseburgers, but in what context, and why?

herrspoons wrote: »

tomatoey wrote: »

herrspoons wrote: »

tomatoey wrote: »

Guess what. In order to not be overweight or obese and avoid related risks, you have to be a little weird, at least in our society. It is not exactly psychologically normal to count calories for a lifetime, yet that is what many will have to do to keep it off long-term.

It's an adjustment related to disorder, yes, except it's society that's disordered.

("Our" society = English-speaking countries, like the ones MFP users belong to, and some others.)

Explain please. Weight control is the obligation of the individual, not society. In addition, if there's a body image Western society promotes, it sure isn't a fat one. Quite the reverse actually.

Percent of adults age 20 years and over who are overweight, including obesity: 69.0% (2011-2012)
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/obesity-overweight.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/obesity_adult_09_10/obesity_adult_09_10.htm#x2013;1962 Through 2009–2010 </a>

Charts over time, since 1968 - sharpest rise is in obesity, #s overweight mostly steady

There's no way all of them decided, individually, to have too many cheeseburgers. But it's UP to the individual to fix it, yeah. At least it is until food manufacturers have to start facing some appropriate regulation, which I hope happens

Unfortunately, it was precisely because they all decided to have too many cheeseburgers or pizzas or donuts. The food may have been more available and come in bigger portions, but we still had to eat it.

Also, in the UK it has been a legal requirement for some years now for all packaged food to show calorie and nutritional content clearly on the packaging. It has not made any people any thinner. In fact, obesity rates have risen.

It's not the food manufacturers. It's us. There are some other factors, but those are more to do with the outdated and averaged calorie requirements used, poor advice from health agencies, and falling activity levels.

Just to add, I live in a home-cooking culture where people only eat out occasionally (unless you're a college student), yet obesity is rising. I remember as a child everyone walked everywhere unless the trip needed more than an hour of walking. Now everyone has a car, and drives it everywhere.. even if the destination is less than a mile away. I remember noticing this in the 90s, when my parents would drive my sister to school.. the same exact school I used to walk to and from every day (30 minutes of walking in each direction).

I also remember everyone being slightly poorer (or maybe just did not give their kids a big allowance). My daily allowance as a child was enough to only get me a single serving pack of chips, a small 1 oz serving of chocolate, or a 200ml bottle of juice and this was the case for every other kid I knew. We had to chose what we wanted to have that day because we could not have all three. Now the kids are taking allowances that can buy 10 times the sweets we used to be able to have. Literally.

It's really not hard to notice that people are eating more and moving less because modern life is more convenient. Just try to remember your childhood if you were born early 80s or before.

Now you have home delivery, cars are easier to acquire, food is more readily available and generally cheaper in comparison, stores that sell food can be easily accessed... and so on. It's not the manufacturer's fault that people would rather take the easy way then blame it on the manufacturer than take responsibility for what they put in their mouths.

It seems kind of like mass delusion in a way. No one wants to stop and address the fact that it takes time and effort to be the healthiest version of yourself that you can be. Instead it's easier to just latch onto a fad and be part of the herd rather than give yourself the attention you deserve.

I doubt if the majority of people on MFP could honestly say they have never tried the latest "diet" trend at some point. I've tried the master cleanse (my poor teeth), pills (my poor bank balance), starving (my poor hair), slim fast (my poor taste buds), cabbage soup diet (poor anyone that came near me) - the list goes on. It just took the objective intelligent bit of my brain a minute to catch up with the bit that decided I needed to sort my weight out.

And if anyone wants to give up gluten, they can give theirs to me. *nom*

jennifershoo wrote: »

Totally agree! I was borderline orthorexic (not sure if it's a word) at one point. I had a meltdown over a non-organic avocado. It's not a way to live.

Sorry but your post made me laugh out loud... in other news i am now wiping latte of my monitor

I really don't believe that the problem is so much about what we eat, unless you know for sure that; you have sensitivities to it but rather what we're doing/not doing, while eating & the time that it takes to consume it. 1st a lot of people blame a lack of physical activity, which I tend to find to be true; not because of the lack of activity itself but instead what goes along with it. We don't see soccer players, eating a bag of chips & drinking soda while playing, as we see with those; just watching a show/movie. This is why, I only allow myself to watch something; if I am exercising and/or folding laundry, etc. Exercising while watching something, is like playing soccer because it'd be too messy to eat/drink, while moving around; like that & folding laundry, when I am not exercising; gives my hands something else to do instead of grabbing chips/holding a can of soda. Basically if your doing something very sedentary, multitask by also doing something that isn't; besides eating/drinking. 2nd it takes about 20 Minutes, for us to feel full; while eating. If one is dieting, they're consuming less; thus it takes less time to consume. Eat slowly, taste every bite; it'll better help with feeling satisfied. I bought tasting forks/spoons, so that I don't consume so much so fast; it literally takes me twice as long to eat. I cut up my food, like steak as I eat it not before; it takes me longer to eat it this way. I even cut up food, that one normally wouldn't; like pizza. Think back to when we saw family pictures, home videos, even shows & commercials, of (our) families eating tons of butter, sweets, etc. They also didn't eat the entire time, that it takes to start to feel full; why is that? They spent much of the time at breakfast, lunch, dinner (some even had a 4th meal a day, supper), engaged in conversation; in between bites. I even recently saw a Nutella commercial, which illiterates today's problem. Wife hands husband toast, as he's rushing out the door; to work. However I read/hear most state, that they don't have time to sit down & eat yet they have the time to do additional exercising; that doesn't include the daily grind of life. Basically if one has the time to go to the gym, to work off what they ate; they have the same time to dedicate instead to eating slower/so that they then don't have to workout, just to maintain a healthy weight.

Couldn't resist:

mmm gluten free