umd

Mainstram politics are making people fat. I'm fine with not being mainstream.

JeffS

You know, I'm not surprised. I saw part of this movie and was wondering at the time how overweight people would take it.

I, however, thought the target was consumerism and laziness, with fat just being a side-effect.

DavidLee

Interesting look, One Week's Worth of Food Around Our Planet.

caloso

I loves me a good burger. That's why I won't eat one from McWendyCarlKingInaBox. Because they suck.

Roody

What about Obama? He's pretty skinny. He's also gotten in some trouble for liking arugula and other non-mainstream foods. I don't think he eats many burgers.

kuan

I like the Germans with their beer holding a prominent position at the front of the pile.

telebianchi

I think in America there is a misconception about what is overweight and how to address it. When I hit up around 205 (I'm 5'8"), nobody - and I mean family, friends, coworkers - said anything to me. Now that I've dipped below 170 I still feel that I can safely and healthily drop another 10 lbs of fat (with weights and resistance training that might mean I never actually get down to 160) -- but when I mention this to people they give me a funny look like why would I even want to do that.

Being a little overweight has become an accepted norm and I think that makes it easy for somebody who is 15 lbs overweight to add on another 5 or 10.

There are absolutely people who have medical conditions that are the root cause of excessive weight and just as with any condition it can suck to have to deal with and manage. But sometimes even the medical advice for these are to eat less and exercise more.

umd

And also some people exercise and then eat even more, because you know, they exercised. They go for a 20 minute walk and have a powerbar. or two.

SSP

At my gym, they stock special "high protein" snacks near the door.

Checking the label on the "High Protein Chocolate Chip Cookie" revealed that it did have nearly 30 grams of protein...but, it also had over 300 calories!

sharptailhunter

There are two things that bother me about our society. One, we misuse the word overweight. Most "overweight" people are actually OVERFAT. Plenty of people can be overweight but have a body fat of 10-12%. That leads to number two. We are so tolerant and forgiving to fat people. In fact we fear them. We are afraid that we might offend them if we tell them what they and everybody else already knows... they are FAT! We hide behind such phrases like "plus sizes". I work in health care and I have to be "sensitive" to their differences. I get sick of fat women wondering why it takes longer for me to do an epidural on them, yet I can't say, "It's beacause you're fat lady" or I would lose my job. How rediculous is that. There's nothing elitist about me thinking this way. Just like an ever increasing number of Americans choose to be fat, I choose to not and I choose to think this way.

Oh and for what it's worth, I do LOVE a big ole backyard grilled burger

Neurodoc

There's a chain around here called Fatburger. They make absolutely heavenly burgers. Their signature burger is 550 calories. Not too horrible, right? But the fries are ~700 calories and the chocolate shake is 800.

So I just eat the burger. No fries, no shake. It's the best part of the meal. The other stuff is just filler. Then I go home and have a half cup of ice cream (~150 calories). I've been losing weight eating this way (8 pounds in two weeks).

People are fat because their calorie consumption exceeds expenditure. Full stop.

umd

Unless you are exremely overweight, losing weight that quickly is a recipie for losing muscle mass rather than fat.

stonecrd

Burgers I can live without, just don't take away my pizza.

SSP

Is it just me, or are female "health care workers" fatter than average?

It seems like every time I have to go to a doctor's office or hospital, the majority of nurses I see look like role models for unhealthy lifestyles.

C Law

Right outside my office window is a dialysis center.

Anecdotal evidence: 9 out of ten of the ladies that work there are obese. And at least 5 of them smoke. I don't get it.

J.W.

Compassion? Why would i have compassion or EMPATHY for someone who has ate their self to morbid obesity? If they dont want to help themself, why should anyone else? No, i dont have any compassion for the waste of oxygen that they are. Its called natural selection.

They have the mind set of "its not my fault". Well, its not the govt's. fault, its not the company who manufacture the food fault, its not my fault. IT IS THEIR FAULT. They need to HTFU and do something about it....if they dont....too bad, so sad.

Neurodoc

So you're saying I should eat MORE burgers and ice cream?

I realize that two pounds per week is the conventional wisdom. But I've lost this weight eating a reasonable amount of food and exercising; and I don't feel tired or weak, so I think I'm okay.

umd

The conventional wisdom is 1 pound per week. If it is all truly fat, that is a deficit of 500 calories per day, which is a lot. 2 pounds per week and you are running a deficit of 1000 calories per day. You said 8 pounds in 2 weeks, so that's 4 pounds per week, which would require you to eat 2000 less calories per day than you consume. The body won't let you do that, it will burn your muscles before it gives up that much fat that quickly. You may not feel tired or weak now, but its the kind of thing that will catch up with you eventually. Unless some of the weight was water, in which case its not really sustainable anyway.

SSP

Many folks lose a lot of water weight quickly when they first start a diet. This especially happens with low carb diets.

It's unlikely that the poster lost 8 lbs of fat...2-3 lbs is much more likely with the rest being water weight and/or the natural variability that occurs between any two weight measurements (I've "lost" and "gained" as much as 4 lbs in one day).

Neurodoc

Whether or not I'm losing weight "properly" is OT for the thread, I think.

My point was that it is possible to maintain weight or even lose it while eating tasty food, even so-called "junk food." The key is moderation and portion control.

umd

That's why I said it would be unsustainable Anyway I've "lost" and "gained" nearly 10 pounds in a weekend.

I don't think it is necessarily OT. Yo-Yo dieting is also a big problem in the realm of "why are we fat?". I'm not saying that you are yo-yo dieting, but losing too much weight to quickly is certainly heading down that path.

SSP

For some people, this may be true.

Unfortunately, many of us have "substance abuse" foods that cannot be indulged, or that must be rigorously controlled if we're to be successful at weight loss.


For my girlfriend, it's salted mixed nuts.

I have no problem with nuts, but find it difficult to resist cookies/cakes/chocolate (the Three C's).

For others, it's pizza and beer.


Ultimately, it comes down to calories in vs. calories out. But, for many of us, it takes more work than simple "moderation" and "portion control".

sharptailhunter

Try working with said fat people. If I make a comment about a patient being fat, then I have offended the fat nurse as well. My point is that we are fat because we allow it, we tolerate it, we protect it, and certain companies promote it. IMO, we should be able to bill people for their commodities, such as food and fuel by their weight. Fat people use more fuel in their cars, their health care is incredibly more difficult to manage, they take up more space on airplanes and subways, they even use more water to shower.

Az B

Last I checked, chicken and fish are meat! I kid, I kid!

I know what you mean though. Still, a nice steak or lean burger once in a while is kind of tasty.

Nothing on the McD's menu is tasty. Blech...

Az

Neurodoc

For me, the key to happiness has been a measuring cup. I calculate how many calories of a "crack" food I want to eat, and then measure it out precisely. And then put the rest of it away, out of sight.

This may work better if you're a little bit OCD...

UMD, I can't believe you, a roadie, are haranguing me about losing too much weight too quickly. I mean, I've SEEN the height-weight thread over in the road cycling forums. Y'all are a bunch of anorexics.

Or liars.

But the reason, conventional wisdom notwithstanding, that I think I'm not crash dieting or doing anything particularly unhealthy is that I really haven't changed my diet all that much. I've cut out the afternoon snacking on candy bars and quit drinking wine in the evenings (both because alcohol is empty calories and because people tend to eat more when they're drinking). Also more fruit and vegetables and less cheese and nuts. And lots more exercise. I feel stronger and have more energy.

Damn. This thread's making me hungry...