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The Obesity Era

aeonmagazine.com

31–40 of 96 posts

Re: The Obesity Era

#31
post #18

Interesting. My anecdote comes from a slightly different angle. I've always been in very good shape, lots of weightlifting and cardio my whole life, and been a very healthy eater. But, the "spare-tire" was always there, even with muscles bulging underneath. Just for kicks I decided to try Steve Gibson's recommendation to remove sugar and starch from the diet. ( https://www.grc.com/health/lowcarb.htm ) No knee-jerk he…

Bread now builds waistlines only because we eat too much of it. I would be surprised if a normal sized person gained weight eating mostly carbs but staying below 1500 calories per day.

[deleted]

Re: The Obesity Era

#32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You might try the link above given in my other comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5915794 The new info about sugars and starches is that the starches have the same effect on our bodies, they just work a bit more slowly. What does that mean? Well, we knew in the 90's that starches could rot our teeth just like sugar. But today we also know that grains (wheat, corn, rice, potatoes, oats, other empty carbs) r…

Yes, I've done Keto to various degrees (including Atkins), and had no success. Yet another fad diet with scientific backing that has no effect.

Atkins certainly does have an effect, though I don't recommend it.

Re: The Obesity Era

#33

The preponderance of evidence is that net caloric balance predicts weight. http://examine.com/faq/what-should-i-eat-for-weight-loss.htm... Given the choice between "astonishing phenomenon never before detected in history" and "record-keeping errors", I know which horse Occam is telling me to bet on. And it's not that HFCS has more Higgs bosons.

True. But what causes the overeating?

Re: The Obesity Era

#34
post #27

I saw on the news today that 70% of the US is a size 14 or larger now. Shocking. In addition to the need for sugar and starch reduction, a lot of grocery foods are not as natural as we think they are. Having lived in European and Asian countries I can say that the people there are less calorie conscious and sometimes eat more than Americans do but their food options and ingredients seem more wholesome and less proces…

An example of foods consumed in North America but banned in EU http://www.buzzfeed.com/ashleyperez/8-foods-we-eat-in-the-us...

Re: The Obesity Era

#35
post #18

Interesting. My anecdote comes from a slightly different angle. I've always been in very good shape, lots of weightlifting and cardio my whole life, and been a very healthy eater. But, the "spare-tire" was always there, even with muscles bulging underneath. Just for kicks I decided to try Steve Gibson's recommendation to remove sugar and starch from the diet. ( https://www.grc.com/health/lowcarb.htm ) No knee-jerk he…

Bread now builds waistlines only because we eat too much of it. I would be surprised if a normal sized person gained weight eating mostly carbs but staying below 1500 calories per day.

Yeah. I'm betting that once this is figured out, carbs will be listed with the 'addictive' stuff like sugar. Not necessarily bad for you, but something that tends to alter your behavior.

I feel like most of us seriously underestimate how delicious and engaging carbs are. Even adults will sometimes go overboard and fill up on bread before a real meal.

Re: The Obesity Era

#36
post #33

The preponderance of evidence is that net caloric balance predicts weight. http://examine.com/faq/what-should-i-eat-for-weight-loss.htm... Given the choice between "astonishing phenomenon never before detected in history" and "record-keeping errors", I know which horse Occam is telling me to bet on. And it's not that HFCS has more Higgs bosons.

True. But what causes the overeating?

Cheap, tasty food.

Re: The Obesity Era

#37
My friends, I have discovered a miracle cure for weight gain. It's simple, painless, and you don't have to cut out whole food groups. Best of all, I'll tell you what it is - here and now - at no charge! Here it is...

A SMALL PLATE.

That simple. Go out and buy a really individual side-plate, and make that what you always eat off. If you need seconds, OK - but after a few days you'll find that you can actually get by quite happily with one helping.

I'm sure we do eat too much sugar (way too much), but we eat too much everything. I started putting on weight when I was 40, and this is the thing that stopped it. It would be fascinating to measure our grandparent's plates, and what size meals they consumed. Despite a more active lifestyle, I bet they ate far less.

Re: The Obesity Era

#38
post #3

Interesting read; I've encountered many of the problems signaled out here. I'm overweight, and I've changed my life and my diet to try and fix it. When I took note of where I was, I was drinking between 4 and 8 mountain dews a day. I ate candy in prodigious amounts, and constantly ate until I was full. Since then, I altered my diet and eating habits to where I drink no pop, and rarely have any kind of sugary treat. I…

This is one of the most frustrating things about how we, as a society, talk about obesity - we act like you can know something meaningful about a person's lifestyle and health from a single glance. Not to mention the related assumption that a thin body is inherently desirable and worth striving for. A measurement like BMI, which is a great way of looking at a population, is a terrible way of understanding an individu…

I'd argue that most people - other than knowing they're overweight - know little about their lifestyle as well (or at least they don't know it as well as they'd like to think).

The prevalence of quantified self & self-tracking is starting to change this & when you're able to measure & track inputs better, you're better able to correlate the results with them as well.

Re: The Obesity Era

#39
post #3

Interesting read; I've encountered many of the problems signaled out here. I'm overweight, and I've changed my life and my diet to try and fix it. When I took note of where I was, I was drinking between 4 and 8 mountain dews a day. I ate candy in prodigious amounts, and constantly ate until I was full. Since then, I altered my diet and eating habits to where I drink no pop, and rarely have any kind of sugary treat. I…

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199212313272701

Thank you for insinuating that I'm lying. :)

Re: The Obesity Era

#40
post #37

My friends, I have discovered a miracle cure for weight gain. It's simple, painless, and you don't have to cut out whole food groups. Best of all, I'll tell you what it is - here and now - at no charge! Here it is... A SMALL PLATE. That simple. Go out and buy a really individual side-plate, and make that what you always eat off. If you need seconds, OK - but after a few days you'll find that you can actually get by q…

Thank-you for making a mockery of Hacker News and not directly addressing any of the points in the article.
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