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As obesity keeps rising, more Americans are just giving up

latimes.com

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Re: As obesity keeps rising, more Americans are just giving up

#21

Post by minikites »

BadassFractal wrote: post #13

I haven't really paid attention to men's physiques, but there's a stark difference between the silhouettes of women in many cities of Europe and those in even the most "superficial" US states such as California. I know the PC police will eat me for lunch for saying this, but the dating pool, at least in the 20s and 30s range, shrinks considerably in the US for anybody used to European body image standards. Whatever's…

One of the more plausible (to an uneducated person like me) theories I've seen in a few places is that we've bred food (both plants and animals) for size and pest/disease/shipping durability at the direct expense of flavor. Flavor is a key signal for nutrition, so our brain goes "not enough nutrients, eat more to get them!"

Here's a Vox review/summary of a book: http://www.vox.com/2015/7/30/9070255/dorito-effect

> Flavor technology got very powerful in the early 1960s, and it wasn't long after that that we began to see the startling increases in body mass index.

> All the good stuff we grow — tomatoes, strawberries, lettuce — has gotten continually more bland. This has been measured. They have become diluted of nutrients, as well. As we selected crops for agronomic traits like yield, shelf life and disease resistant, we never selected for flavor. And we lost flavor as a result. It's reverse evolutionary pressure.

Re: As obesity keeps rising, more Americans are just giving up

#22

Post by lacampbell »

DoodleBuggy wrote: post #14
wavefunction wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're of course leaving out the complexity in how "Calories in" and "calories out" are derived for individuals. Some people consume too much calorically as a mental-health coping mechanism. Some people consume too much calorically because the food culture they were raised in promotes that. Some people consume too much calorically because they have a lack of real options to purchase fresh whole foods. Some people don…

Every complexity you posted still comes down to consuming more calories than is needed. The reality is the vast majority of people eat way too much, and the dietary guidelines for caloric intake are far too high for a largely sedentary society.

That's one of the things you really have to accept if you want to lose weight - yes you will have to eat less, and yes you will feel hungry a lot.

Re: As obesity keeps rising, more Americans are just giving up

#23

Post by wccrawford »

brohoolio wrote: post #3
minikites wrote: post #2

> Replicated by other studies, that research helps explain the discouraging finding that within five years of having lost weight, 95% of dieters will regain all the weight they lost. And most will gain a few extra pounds as well. I'm part of that privileged 5%. I lost around 60 pounds in 2009-2010 and I've kept it off. It really is a lifestyle change. You have to be constantly aware of the portions you choose and rem…

Do you still have to actively manage your calorie intake?

I'm not who you asked, but...

I lost 55 lbs and have kept it off for a year now.

It's a constant struggle. If I stop watching what I'm eating, I'll start overeating immediately and start gaining weight. I went to a wedding a week or 2 ago and gained 5-7 lbs. Watching my diet since then, I've dropped most of it again. If I hadn't watched it immediately, it would have stuck and I'd have a hard time losing it again.

I'm very careful about what I eat for breakfast and lunch, to the point of almost always having the same thing. Dinner is very varied, but I still have to watch things or I'll go overboard.

I eat burgers, Mexican food, Italian, pizza, etc etc... But I do not eat dessert. I've found that there's no way to avoid gaining weight if I eat any dessert at all.

To deal with my sweets craving, I drink diet sodas (they've improved a lot lately) and Tic Tacs.

If I really need a snack, it'll be peanuts and pretzels. They're high in calories, but no sugar.

Re: As obesity keeps rising, more Americans are just giving up

#24

Post by DoodleBuggy »

Neliquat wrote: post #4

Until this is treated like the public epidemic it is, and promote education, this will only get worse. Calories in - calories out = fat accumulation. It is literally that simple.

> Calories in - calories out = fat accumulation. It is literally that simple.

It's literally the first law of thermodynamics.

Everyone tries to over complicate things, but the reality is if you eat more calories than you burn, you will become fat.

Re: As obesity keeps rising, more Americans are just giving up

#25

Post by minikites »

lacampbell wrote: post #17
quotemstr wrote: post #8

Is it really in the best interest of society to allow food makers to advertise superstimuli-level [1] food products that we know in aggregate make is less happy and likely to die earlier? Why? We regulate all sorts of substances that we know are harmful when ingested. We shouldn't make exceptions for things that happen to be called food. Even if we don't want to enact anything as drastic as a "soda tax" or a ban on r…

At what point do people take responsibility for their own bodies and their own lives? We all know the secret to not being obese. Asking the government to step in and help us just seems... childish. Are we not adults? Do we have no agency?

It's not childish, it's how a society works. It's the same concept behind seatbelt laws. Not wearing a seatbelt "should" be an individual choice but individuals not wearing a seatbelt in aggregate is a net negative for society so we legislate their use.

Re: As obesity keeps rising, more Americans are just giving up

#26

Post by lacampbell »

minikites wrote: post #2

> Replicated by other studies, that research helps explain the discouraging finding that within five years of having lost weight, 95% of dieters will regain all the weight they lost. And most will gain a few extra pounds as well. I'm part of that privileged 5%. I lost around 60 pounds in 2009-2010 and I've kept it off. It really is a lifestyle change. You have to be constantly aware of the portions you choose and rem…

I lost around the same amount about 2012, then gained 10kg/22lbs back as soon as I started earning enough to not worry about rent and medical costs every single time I went grocery shopping. Good for you - wish I could have been so disciplined (though 40lbs still isn't that bad when everything is said and done)

Re: As obesity keeps rising, more Americans are just giving up

#27

Post by yourapostasy »

BadassFractal wrote: post #13

I haven't really paid attention to men's physiques, but there's a stark difference between the silhouettes of women in many cities of Europe and those in even the most "superficial" US states such as California. I know the PC police will eat me for lunch for saying this, but the dating pool, at least in the 20s and 30s range, shrinks considerably in the US for anybody used to European body image standards. Whatever's…

It is slowly happening elsewhere in the world, anywhere the diet is leaking in a preponderance of food from packages with nutrition labels on them, roughly speaking. Was in the PRC relatively recently, and was shocked at the levels of obesity I noticed while entering the country at the airport. Still not anywhere close to US levels, but very noticeable.

Once I got to their grocery stores and strolled around noticing the explosion of restaurants that served an increasingly sugar-laden menu, it clicked together for me.

Re: As obesity keeps rising, more Americans are just giving up

#28

Post by DoodleBuggy »

bijection wrote: post #15
DoodleBuggy wrote: post #9

Is this really different from smoking or another harmful unhealthy lifestyle choice? It's abusing food, and it has negative consequences. The cost of health care to manage obesity and related issues is staggering and will only increase. Maybe the USA should start having a BMI tax?

It may be that that lower income means lower quality food means higher BMI, in which case a BMI tax would exacerbate the problem. Food for thought.

OK, so tax garbage food and tax BMI.

Really, it should be no different than any other sin tax. It's behavior you want to discourage, so tax it.

Re: As obesity keeps rising, more Americans are just giving up

#29

Post by krisroadruck »

lacampbell wrote: post #17
quotemstr wrote: post #8

Is it really in the best interest of society to allow food makers to advertise superstimuli-level [1] food products that we know in aggregate make is less happy and likely to die earlier? Why? We regulate all sorts of substances that we know are harmful when ingested. We shouldn't make exceptions for things that happen to be called food. Even if we don't want to enact anything as drastic as a "soda tax" or a ban on r…

At what point do people take responsibility for their own bodies and their own lives? We all know the secret to not being obese. Asking the government to step in and help us just seems... childish. Are we not adults? Do we have no agency?

Do we all know? I currently weigh 270lbs (and climbing) and I

  * Don't consume soda or sugary drinks of any kind
  * Go on 3 mile walks 3-4x weekly
  * Have switched to soylent 100% of meals to make calorie counting dead simple
  * Recently cut out alcohol too
And yet pounds are adding on not coming off. I've been gaining about 10-15lbs a year every year since I hit 30 after being at a stable weight of 170lbs for all of my teens and 20s and none of the adjustments I've made have had ANY impact on it what-so-ever. So maybe its not just "eat less, fatty". Maybe there is something else going on?

Re: As obesity keeps rising, more Americans are just giving up

#30

Post by revelation »

wavefunction wrote: post #7
Neliquat wrote: post #4

Until this is treated like the public epidemic it is, and promote education, this will only get worse. Calories in - calories out = fat accumulation. It is literally that simple.

You're of course leaving out the complexity in how "Calories in" and "calories out" are derived for individuals. Some people consume too much calorically as a mental-health coping mechanism. Some people consume too much calorically because the food culture they were raised in promotes that. Some people consume too much calorically because they have a lack of real options to purchase fresh whole foods. Some people don…

I don't understand, the equation doesn't change at all.
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