Told to Eat Its Vegetables, America Orders Fries • Hacker News Board

Re: Told to Eat Its Vegetables, America Orders Fries

#21

Post by itistoday » Sun, Sep 26, 2010, 5:57 PM UTC

points wrote: post #19

itistoday wrote: post #10

I'm not afraid of zucchinis, but I just don't know how to cook them. This is just sad. So many people are failing at something as basic and fundamental as eating.

s/eating/cooking

No, I mean eating. Part of eating is knowing how and what to eat. As discussed in the article, they're not eating vegetables and are choosing to eat things like fries or potato chips instead. You don't even need to cook most vegetables to eat them. In fact, for many vegetables it's better (nutritionally) if you don't cook them.

Re: Told to Eat Its Vegetables, America Orders Fries

#22

Post by atomical » Sun, Sep 26, 2010, 6:00 PM UTC

points wrote: post #18

atomical wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The benefit is that you don't become overweight and obese. I lived in Korea for a year and those people know how to eat vegetables. They are filling and low calorie which makes it less likely for the sedentary person to put on weight.

It's not a direct link though. I can stuff my face with nothing but donuts for weeks on end and never put on an ounce of weight. Which is probably as irritating as someone who can't lose weight.

It is a direct link because I am talking about calories. There is a myth that there are people who can eat whatever they want and not gain weight. Everyone has a base amount of calories to work from and if you go over that amount you gain weight.

Re: Told to Eat Its Vegetables, America Orders Fries

#23

Post by points » Sun, Sep 26, 2010, 6:03 PM UTC

atomical wrote: post #22

points wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not a direct link though. I can stuff my face with nothing but donuts for weeks on end and never put on an ounce of weight. Which is probably as irritating as someone who can't lose weight.

It is a direct link because I am talking about calories. There is a myth that there are people who can eat whatever they want and not gain weight. Everyone has a base amount of calories to work from and if you go over that amount you gain weight.

As I just said, I CANNOT gain weight. It is simply impossible. I am not alone. I have been 9 1/2 stone for the last 10 years.

Re: Told to Eat Its Vegetables, America Orders Fries

#24

Post by Mz » Sun, Sep 26, 2010, 6:06 PM UTC

atomical wrote: post #22

points wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not a direct link though. I can stuff my face with nothing but donuts for weeks on end and never put on an ounce of weight. Which is probably as irritating as someone who can't lose weight.

It is a direct link because I am talking about calories. There is a myth that there are people who can eat whatever they want and not gain weight. Everyone has a base amount of calories to work from and if you go over that amount you gain weight.

I don't know how you can say that. Some medical conditions (like cystic fibrosis) are well known for typically causing people to be unable to adequately gain weight. My son was put on prescription enzymes and gained 20 pounds in a year after getting diagnosed. This was quite a large weight increase since he only weighed 103 pounds at the start.

Different bodies do different things with the same resources.

Peace.

Re: Told to Eat Its Vegetables, America Orders Fries

#25

Post by neilk » Sun, Sep 26, 2010, 6:12 PM UTC

How about looking at the cost? In America, grains, sugars, and meats are subsidized in myriad ways, directly and indirectly.

It seems to me, when I was a child, salads were less expensive than meat. But it's almost starting to become the opposite.

Re: Told to Eat Its Vegetables, America Orders Fries

#26

Post by zeteo » Sun, Sep 26, 2010, 6:18 PM UTC

twillerelator wrote: post #8

>People know that vegetables can improve health More like: we were cajoled and coerced into eating vegetables by our parents, who were in turn cajoled by their parents, etc. We then spend the rest of our lives rationalising this uncritical acceptance, which isn't the same thing as knowing something.

It's even arguable that vegetables were critical 100 years ago, but no longer in days when you can get your fiber from breakfast cereal and vitamins in the form of a pill.

Re: Told to Eat Its Vegetables, America Orders Fries

#27

Post by itistoday » Sun, Sep 26, 2010, 6:19 PM UTC

atomical wrote: post #22

points wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not a direct link though. I can stuff my face with nothing but donuts for weeks on end and never put on an ounce of weight. Which is probably as irritating as someone who can't lose weight.

It is a direct link because I am talking about calories. There is a myth that there are people who can eat whatever they want and not gain weight. Everyone has a base amount of calories to work from and if you go over that amount you gain weight.

It is not a myth at all. I am like points, I've been the same weight for several years, and while my diet has changed a whole lot, my weight has not.

I can eat a stick of butter and I won't gain a pound (unless the butter weighs a pound..). My body simply won't store the extra energy, it uses what it needs and the rest goes out the end. It is a tad frustrating because I am a bit underweight as well.

Re: Told to Eat Its Vegetables, America Orders Fries

#28

Post by atomical » Sun, Sep 26, 2010, 6:21 PM UTC

points wrote: post #23

atomical wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is a direct link because I am talking about calories. There is a myth that there are people who can eat whatever they want and not gain weight. Everyone has a base amount of calories to work from and if you go over that amount you gain weight.

As I just said, I CANNOT gain weight. It is simply impossible. I am not alone. I have been 9 1/2 stone for the last 10 years.

There have been studies that found people who were skinny thought they were eating more calories than they really were and that obese people thought they were eating less. I don't want to get into your specific issues here but it would be impossible for the average sedentary person not to gain weight eating the Michael Phelps diet. Calories matter.

EDIT: I guess the people that believe calories don't matter and weight gain/weight loss is genetic want to down vote this to hell. Oh well!

Re: Told to Eat Its Vegetables, America Orders Fries

#29

Post by Mz » Sun, Sep 26, 2010, 6:26 PM UTC

"Eating vegetables is a lot less fun than eating flavor-blasted Doritos," said Marcia Mogelonsly, a senior analyst for Mintel, a global marketing firm. "You will always have to fight that."

Just offer flavor-blasted veggies: Outback Bloomin' Onion. Hashbrowns with onion and red pepper. Etc. I eat more veggies these days than I used to and that is part of my approach. Veggies don't have to be bland.

Re: Told to Eat Its Vegetables, America Orders Fries

#30

Post by midnightmonster » Sun, Sep 26, 2010, 6:31 PM UTC

Obviously I'm not a controlled study, but I've found weight loss is easier since I made a habit of eating a large serving of vegetables at least once a day. And I don't worry about what I have to do to make them desirable--soy sauce, salad dressing, salt and butter--just so long as I'm mostly eating veggies at the time.