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[Woo-Fu]

That "eat however much" is calibration is clearly skewed for the majority. It's the food that is the problem for most people. There been a normalization of high calorie and size meals. When the cookie at your local coffee shop is 400 calories and the average coffee people consume seems to have 400 calories, no amount of exercise is going to compensate for that.

Again, what does it matter how big the meal is? Nobody is making you eat all of it.

People eat like pigs and exercise like sloths, end up fat, and then blame the unhealthy food? Sorry, it isn't the food.

Meal size is under your control. Don't make giant meals. Don't eat giant meals.

I also find it hilarious how many people are blaming fast food and eating out. Go to rural America where there is no fast food and no eating out. You'll still find plenty of fat people. Fat people who eat too much and exercise too little. I weighed less eating out for every single meal while living in NYC than I do here where I never eat out, never have fast food. The difference? I walked everywhere in NYC, I drive everywhere here.

 

[whatsinaname]

Again, what does it matter how big the meal is? Nobody is making you eat all of it.

People eat like pigs and exercise like sloths, end up fat, and then blame the unhealthy food? Sorry, it isn't the food.

Meal size is under your control. Don't make giant meals. Don't eat giant meals.

I am not saying it isn't under our control. Both food intake and activity level are under our control. I am refuting this point of yours.

It isn't the food, it is the sedentary lifestyle, at least from what I've seen.

Working on the food side of the problem will have a much much larger impact than the sedentary side.

 

[30yearsofhurt]

I still think, as far as the US is concerned, this is the #1 culprit. I'm not sure how much it's used outside of the US but I wouldn't be surprised if it's being sneaked in.

A lot of places use sucrose from sugar cane or pear juice as sweetener.

For people arguing about who's responsible here's an interesting video

 

[Aiustis]

People drive everywhere and eat all the wrong things.
Exercising is for people with money to burn.
Bad stuff tastes better and is more convenient (I won't say cheaper because it's not)
Obese adults have obese kids and doing better is a huge uphill battle for people with parents like that.

 

[Alienfan]

Body positivity movements are only perpetuating this sickness.

Not really, they do the opposite. It's been scientifically demonstrated time and time again that feeling pressured and shamed doesn't help people lose weight. People tend to eat to deal with stress, so people are actually more likely to lose weight when they feel confident. Fat shaming makes people less likely to lose weight.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25212272

 

[Mendrox]

Again, what does it matter how big the meal is? Nobody is making you eat all of it.

People eat like pigs and exercise like sloths, end up fat, and then blame the unhealthy food? Sorry, it isn't the food.

Meal size is under your control. Don't make giant meals. Don't eat giant meals.

I also find it hilarious how many people are blaming fast food and eating out. Go to rural America where there is no fast food and no eating out. You'll still find plenty of fat people. Fat people who eat too much and exercise too little.

America has a thing for "double that for just 1$!" thing going which I have rarely seen elsewhere. People think "good deal!" and overeat because junk food is tasty and addicting. Oh shit salt!!! gotta drink more soda and bam you start to get fat. They cant control themselves. Also people dont like to waste food and would rather eat up nowadays.

 

[SeanR1221]

I wish more people would spend 2-4 weeks counting all their calories and measuring their food properly, just to give them a slight idea.

Once you start measuring things like pasta and peanut butter it's really eye opening.

I'm 3 days away from measuring and tracking everything I eat for 2 years straight 👍

 

[Brinbe]

Dumb, poor and fat. This GOP-led future is gonna be glorious.

 

[nel e nel]

Sounds like a generalization to me. There is plenty of healthy food to be had. It doesn't matter how "good" the food is for you if you eat more than you burn. Caloric intake isn't exactly rocket science. In either case, though, it still comes down to lifestyle choice. Either as you think they're choosing to eat the wrong things or as I think they're eating too much while exercising too little, still a choice.

Yes, there is healthy food to be had, but it's not cheap, and is typically only readily available in wealthier neighborhoods. The way farm subsidies have worked, only cheap certain crops have been funded, and one result has been our current high fructose corn syrup industry. Another is large portions for cheap.

Couple that with insurance redlining so the only businesses able to set up shop in poor neighborhoods are crappy fried chicken and corner bodega spots and you have the workings of an epidemic. They've done heatmaps of obesity and diabetes in NYC, and they are mostly clustered around public housing projects.

 

[Madness]

My own observations. Sedentary lifestyle does not excuse the US for being so high compared to others. Look at the rates of South Korea and Japan. They also work in offices, transit or commute daily on trains or buses, elevators, escalators etc. It is a combination of things.

For example, Italy has a stereotypical perception of fatty pastas and pizzas. But most Italians probably home cook their meals. Fresh pasta sauce crafted from fresh ingredients free of artificial flavors, preservatives, sugars. The difference between a can of Chef Boyardee Ravioli and homemade pasta is big.

I also think inventions like the Microwave, the 'hoarding' of bulk and big size foods has also contributed. How many people would wait for parents to come home to cook food? Now how many make themselves 2 hot pockets as soon as they are home. Couple that with the crazy adoption of soda. What was once exclusive to restaurants, diners, shops and machines, is now readily available and consumed with every meal. How many people now have several glasses or cans of pop a day.

Finally, America has seen a drop in team sports participation. Less kids are joining football, baseball, basketball leagues. Less kids are actually playing outside or getting adequate exercise. Their lifestyle consists of being driven to and from school, where they come home, watch tv, eat oreos, doritos, junk food en masse. But this is again anecdotal generalization. Just crazy to me. Obesity needs to be looked at soon just like live cirrhosis is to alcoholism or lung cancer to smokers. Instead, we see things glamorizing obesity. The word fat is no longer used anywhere. It is plus size, curvy, voluptuous. Things like body positivity and fat acceptance I feel are even normalizing. Look how many are saying 5'10" and 210 or 215 pounds isn't so bad. However, Americans are easily eating 600-800 more calories per day now than they were in 1970. Portions are bigger, things like chicken or beef now consumed 2 or 3 times a day. BMI is still a very observable and easy to use method to gauge obesity on average. Because the average American isn't 6'5" or muscular like The Rock. It boggles my mind they are predicting in just 13 years, we will see over 50% of all American adults be considered obese. Not overweight but obese. Now imagine how many will move onto being severely or morbidly obese.

 

[H.Protagonist]

It is the portions in America. Friend of mine who lives there three years always complains about the big portion sizes and that it is difficult to buy more healthy food for cheap in America. As soon as she travels back to Germany she immediately slims down without even doing anything. Also all that Soda the people drink there and eating fast food for breakfast haha

People also dont know what being obese is anymore. They think it is having to buy two seats in a cinema etc but it is not. Surely they think not seeing your belly button is normal too

I'm not refuting that the portion sizes in the states are absurd, but having just moved from Australia and now living in the UK, I can say that they've been just as big here and there unless you go to a nicer placer. Give it a few more years and they'll be caught up with the US. Totally agree about the normalization of obesity, though. I see it in my own family, sadly.

 

[ArkhamFantasy]

I live in Oklahoma, it's more like 50% here.

I wish more people would spend 2-4 weeks counting all their calories and measuring their food properly, just to give them a slight idea.

Once you start measuring things like pasta and peanut butter it's really eye opening.

I'm 3 days away from measuring and tracking everything I eat for 2 years straight ��

Myfitnesspal should be mandatory install on all smart phone, it should lock you out of Instragram/twitter/facebook unless you log your meals for that day.

 

[Hoo-doo]

I wish more people would spend 2-4 weeks counting all their calories and measuring their food properly, just to give them a slight idea.

Once you start measuring things like pasta and peanut butter it's really eye opening.

I'm 3 days away from measuring and tracking everything I eat for 2 years straight 👍

This. Just do it for a few weeks and you will probably never look at some foods the same again.
Once you know how much you can eat of a single food item at a certain calorie intake, it gets rather easy to make small changes in your everyday diet that cut your calorie intake by a lot. People simply don't realize how much trash is inside the stuff they eat.

 

[Subpar Scrub]

Myfitnesspal should be mandatory install on all smart phone, it should lock you out of Instragram/twitter/facebook unless you log your meals for that day.

Surely nobody would lie 😒 Plus sometimes it's hard to track calories if you have dinner at a restaurant or something. Usually I just search for the type of meal I just had and select the option with the most kilojoules to be safe.

Anyway, I'm from Australia and I'm overweight. Fucking sucks, but I'm trying to lose weight and be better. Mix of not moving much and high calorie, cheap, easily accessible food is probably what causes my country to be so high.

After I started counting sugar and calories, I've given up on sugary soft drinks and a bunch of my favourite lunches have become once a week treats with a light breakfast. It's really hard to break out of a bad cycle.

Also, lots of drinking contributes to the middle aged group's obesity I feel.

 

[The Greek Freak]

My own observations. Sedentary lifestyle does not excuse the US for being so high compared to others. Look at the rates of South Korea and Japan. They also work in offices, transit or commute daily on trains or buses, elevators, escalators etc. It is a combination of things.
.

Yup, it's incredibly hard to out exercise a shit diet unless you are working out HARD for long periods of time nearly every day.

I see this shit all the time "omg I spent 45 minutes on the treadmill!" yeah that's great for your heart etc but your coffee and muffin have three times more calories combined than what you just did.

I am horrible at consistently eating well and the only way I stay in shape is literally 3-6 hours on the treadmill every day + lifting hard 5 days a week.

If I didn't exercise like a fiend I would easily be morbidly obese within a year. I'm FUCKED when me knees/hips/whatever turn into dust when I'm 50ish. I'll probably end up eating myself to death within 2 years or something.

 

[Kayhan]

Truly bigly. The biggest waists.

 

[nephilimdj]

Obese people don't look like walle, or the guy in that chart. They look about like this guy.

39 inch belt weistline is scary

 

[Kerensky]

I still think, as far as the US is concerned, this is the #1 culprit. I'm not sure how much it's used outside of the US but I wouldn't be surprised if it's being sneaked in.

Aren't sugar clumps in corn syrup the new replacement for breakfast cereal?

 

[Skinpop]

How is Italy so low on the list?!? They eat unimaginable amounts of pasta every day.

japanese eat lots of rice and low-fat food every day. it's not as simple as carbs = bad.

 

[Madness]

Old gif by the CDC but to see it just change dramatically in such short years is crazy.

I think child obesity needs to be challenged harshly. Honestly if a child under 13 becomes morbidly obese, the state should honestly step in because it is clear the parents are dooming the child to a lifetime of likely obesity. Bad habits set in which are hard to reverse.

Remember this is also obese, so how many will be overweight. It will become probably rare to see women below 130 or men below 160 pounds average height anymore. Things like osteoporosis, arthritis, knee and back problems, fatty liver, kidney problems, insulin resistance, diabetes type 2, vision problems, depression, anxiety and low self esteem. Myriad of issues.

And look at the pushback. First Lady Michelle Obama was vilified for trying to promote healthier meals in school. It becomes an almost 2nd amendment style fight over simple taxes on junk food, but imagine if they went to more after school sports programs. Billions can be spent on military defense spending, but public schools cannot get fresh or healthy food.

People need to become aware. Calipers and weigh scales, coupled with a height check can give you a very accurate reading of your body fat and BMI. Use apps like MyFitnessPal. I was overweight/obese. It wasn't until the app was staring me in the face that I was actually eating 2700 calories a day, when naturally my body could only burn average 2200. So I was eating 500 more calories daily. This adds up which is why we see increases year over year. Some candy companies have even added traces of caffeine to chocolates or candies to get people slightly more addicted or get a little rush

 

[Lum1n3s]

Crazy to think that many people who don't care about their weight and health live in a country with expensive healthcare. Does that never cross your mind?

I see a lot of people not care how much they weigh, big is now beautiful from what I see in the Facebook comments on videos of obese people. I don't get it really, like I used to be morbidly obese and did something about it but when I see people like that not wanting to do anything about their health it just saddens me. Then you have people justifying their weight sepayingnthat they could be even healthier than a person who's normal sized.

 

[Pineapple]

You guys have way too many bad choices.

Like your pop tarts, here in the UK it's chocolate, apple or cinnamon to choose from.

But with you there's things like hot fudge sundae flavor, marshmallow hot chocolate, maple bacon, etc and that's just breakfast!

That really has nothing to do with it. Pop Tarts are about 200 calories each, regardless of flavor. Blueberry is about 200 calories per pastry. Confetti Cupcake is 190 calories per pastry. Doesn't matter...a lot of the flavoring comes from artificial ingredients anyway.

The problem is people deciding to have things like Pop Tarts every morning for breakfast instead of something like a bowl of oatmeal or some fruit.

 

[7DollarHagane]

Get people on a minimum 3hrs a week strength training routine and this will turn around.

There are two things that will solve almost anyone's weight problem if stuck to and obeyed.

Strength training.

Calorie tracking and restriction.

Even if "strength training" for you means body weight exercises and stretches to start out with to prepare yourself for weights and building muscle, it's essential.

I really believe our bodies were made to operate best when building muscle. I'm not talking bodybuilder, just a base of muscle maintained through training and diet.

 

[Alienfan]

My own observations. Sedentary lifestyle does not excuse the US for being so high compared to others. Look at the rates of South Korea and Japan. They also work in offices, transit or commute daily on trains or buses, elevators, escalators etc. It is a combination of things.

For example, Italy has a stereotypical perception of fatty pastas and pizzas. But most Italians probably home cook their meals. Fresh pasta sauce crafted from fresh ingredients free of artificial flavors, preservatives, sugars. The difference between a can of Chef Boyardee Ravioli and homemade pasta is big.

I also think inventions like the Microwave, the 'hoarding' of bulk and big size foods has also contributed. How many people would wait for parents to come home to cook food? Now how many make themselves 2 hot pockets as soon as they are home. Couple that with the crazy adoption of soda. What was once exclusive to restaurants, diners, shops and machines, is now readily available and consumed with every meal. How many people now have several glasses or cans of pop a day.

Finally, America has seen a drop in team sports participation. Less kids are joining football, baseball, basketball leagues. Less kids are actually playing outside or getting adequate exercise. Their lifestyle consists of being driven to and from school, where they come home, watch tv, eat oreos, doritos, junk food en masse. But this is again anecdotal generalization. Just crazy to me. Obesity needs to be looked at soon just like live cirrhosis is to alcoholism or lung cancer to smokers. Instead, we see things glamorizing obesity. The word fat is no longer used anywhere. It is plus size, curvy, voluptuous. Things like body positivity and fat acceptance I feel are even normalizing. Look how many are saying 5'10" and 210 or 215 pounds isn't so bad. However, Americans are easily eating 600-800 more calories per day now than they were in 1970. Portions are bigger, things like chicken or beef now consumed 2 or 3 times a day. BMI is still a very observable and easy to use method to gauge obesity on average. Because the average American isn't 6'5" or muscular like The Rock. It boggles my mind they are predicting in just 13 years, we will see over 50% of all American adults be considered obese. Not overweight but obese. Now imagine how many will move onto being severely or morbidly obese.

You don't fix alcoholism by shaming alcoholics, you don't fix drug addiction by making fun of drug addicts, and you don't fix depression by shaming. Why should obesity be treated differently? The body positivity movement has nothing to do with normalizing obesity, it has everything to do with making people who are already obese or skinny feel confident. You don't think people who are fat don't already know it? People who are fat are fully aware of it. From the way it affects their day to day lives, the clothes they buy, what activities they can partake in and the people they date. They're often already depressed and full of self-loathing, and will made no attempt to change their lives because they don't give a shit. Shaming isn't going to change anything as it's been scientifically proven again and again to make people less likely to lose weight. The body positivity movement is a movement designed to bring out confidence in people who aren't, in their current state of mind, going to make changes.

Being confident doesn't mean thinking you're perfect, that your body is fine the way it is, it means thinking you're worth spending love and energy on yourself. Confidence is key for changing. Confident people make changes in their lives constantly, from taking new hobbies, switching careers, getting married, learning new languages etc.

 

[Skinpop]

I'm surprised Sweden was so high up, over 12%, I rarely see big people here. Eating out is horribly expensive imo, it's cheaper to make food at home so that helps a lot in eating healthy.

come to skåne, people here are so fat here compared with the north.

 

[Kerensky]

And look at the pushback. First Lady Michelle Obama was vilified for trying to promote healthier meals in school. It becomes an almost 2nd amendment style fight over simple taxes on junk food, but imagine if they went to more after school sports programs. Billions can be spent on military defense spending, but public schools cannot get fresh or healthy food.

Didn't Kennedy got his head blown from his shoulders for telling people that they should walk 50 miles every year?

 

[Greddleok]

I really believe our bodies were made to operate best when building muscle. I'm not talking bodybuilder, just a base of muscle maintained through training and diet.

Then you're wrong. Our bodies weren't "made" they've adapted to be in constant motion - think searching for food, or chasing down prey, and they've adapted to deal with periods of less food.
Our current lifestyle is of constant sitting and constant input of food.

 

[Hoo-doo]

Get people on a minimum 3hrs a week strength training routine and this will turn around.

There are two things that will solve almost anyone's weight problem if stuck to and obeyed.

Strength training.

Calorie tracking and restriction.

Even if "strength training" for you means body weight exercises and stretches to start out with to prepare yourself for weights and building muscle, it's essential.

I really believe our bodies were made to operate best when building muscle. I'm not talking bodybuilder, just a base of muscle maintained through training and diet.

Weight loss happens in the kitchen. 3 hours of strength training a week won't do shit if people are still eating 3000+kcal of trash food every single day.

 

[le.phat]

It's mindboggeling what people in the US consider a home-cooked meal. The standard for food there is just rock bottom.

 

[HowardRoark]

Yup, it's incredibly hard to out exercise a shit diet unless you are working out HARD for long periods of time nearly every day.

I see this shit all the time "omg I spent 45 minutes on the treadmill!" yeah that's great for your heart etc but your coffee and muffin have three times more calories combined than what you just did.

I am horrible at consistently eating well and the only way I stay in shape is literally 3-6 hours on the treadmill every day + lifting hard 5 days a week.

If I didn't exercise like a fiend I would easily be morbidly obese within a year. I'm FUCKED when me knees/hips/whatever turn into dust when I'm 50ish. I'll probably end up eating myself to death within 2 years or something.

WHAT. When do you have time to do anything else? Do you work while on the treadmill or something?

 

[le.phat]

Get people on a minimum 3hrs a week strength training routine and this will turn around.

There are two things that will solve almost anyone's weight problem if stuck to and obeyed.

Strength training.

Calorie tracking and restriction.

Even if "strength training" for you means body weight exercises and stretches to start out with to prepare yourself for weights and building muscle, it's essential.

I really believe our bodies were made to operate best when building muscle. I'm not talking bodybuilder, just a base of muscle maintained through training and diet.

Nope.

Spend a fraction of that time in the kitchen instead and learn how to prepare a fucking meal. It's rediculous to even suggest that a 3 hour routine is needed in order to stay fit. Stop eating trash.

 

[UtterlyPerplexed]

It's hardwired into everyday life to have fast food corporations blast you 24/7 with ads of their latest products. The moment you walk into a supermarket you're usually met with mountains of sugary cereals, chocolate, crisps and other kinds of confectionery snacks at half price or whatever slap bang right towards the entrance, enticing any prospective buyer within seconds. The aversion to taking the time to prepare home-cooked meals when one can simply opt for easy convenience with something that can be thrown into a microwave or the oven absolutely does not help either. Endemically, there's also the fact that fast food is generally the financially viable route for low-income families precisely because they're cheap. Why bother to scout around for salmon fillets, fresh fruits & veg and quality ingredients for home-made sauces when it's so much more friendly to the wallet? Fewer portions and more work while spending more money when you're so used to massive portions of cheap high-carb and high calories?

Touting the need for more physical activity is good and all, but unless diets change, realistically it's going to require a level of lengthy commitment to burn away more calories than what you ingest on a daily basis. For people confined to a very local area, there's little need to travel very far on foot to get anywhere when there's easy access to a road vehicle. Gym membership costs aren't on the table when you're barely making by and running isn't exactly a popular pastime unless you're self-disciplined enough to make it a daily ritual to have tangible effect. That stigma of obesity and motivation to tackle the problem would wane in the face of normalcy when whole neighbourhoods become increasingly fat.

 

[Madness]

You don't fix alcoholism by shaming alcoholics, you don't fix drug addiction by making fun of drug addicts, and you don't fix depression by shaming. Why should obesity be treated differently? The body positivity movement has nothing to do with normalizing obesity, it has everything to do with making people who are already obese or skinny feel confident. You don't think people who are fat don't already know it? People who are fat are fully aware of it. From the way it affects their day to day lives, the clothes they buy, what activities they can partake in and the people they date. They're often already depressed and full of self-loathing, and will made no attempt to change their lives because they don't give a shit. Shaming isn't going to change anything as it's been scientifically proven again and again to make people less likely to lose weight. The body positivity movement is a movement designed to bring out confidence in people who aren't, in their current state of mind, going to make changes.

Being confident doesn't mean thinking you're perfect, that your body is fine the way it is, it means thinking you're worth spending love and energy on yourself. Confidence is key for changing. Confident people make changes in their lives constantly, from taking new hobbies, switching careers, getting married, learning new languages etc.

Your entire post completely mischaracterizes what I wrote and is a PRIME example of what I meant. Where did I write we should shame anyone? Not make them feel confident? I said obesity should be looked at the way lung cancer or liver cirrhosis is looked at. As an affliction due to bad vices/personal choices and looked at for treatment, help, not seen as normal.

There was a series of photos that showed average weekly groceries for people in the US vs France vs UK vs India vs Japan etc. It showed primarily the weekly American grocery purchase is massove bulk sizes and almost all processed. Very few fruits, veggies, even lean cuts of meat.

 

[entremet]

I really hate analysis on obesity that places an emphasis on willpower.

Yes, willpower is great in losing weight.

But several generations ago, people didn't get fat just by living like we do now. They didn't have gym memberships, organic food, vegan restaurants, count calories, or anything like that. They rarely did any structured exercise. They remained slim.

Why is that?

Today we have calorie counters galore available on our phones, gyms everywhere, organic supermarkets, tons of diet books and programs, but it's getting worse.

Simply put, we created a toxic food environment. Calories are not only easy to get, but food makers have made them addictive.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/23/health/23well.html?mcubz=0

Yes, many escape via education and willpower. I did. But when the default is to get fat, you've fucked up society wise.

 

[Skinpop]

Yes, many escape via education and willpower. I did. But when the default is to get fat, you've fucked up society wise.

mot many, very few in fact.

short term almost any diet will show great result, but long term(5 years) it's exceedingly rare to be successful with weight loss.

from a big meta study:

"Five years after completing structured weight-loss programs, the average individual maintained a weight loss of >3% of initial body weight."

http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/74/5/579.full

counting calories is not a solution.

 

[7DollarHagane]

Nope.

Spend a fraction of that time in the kitchen instead and learn how to prepare a fucking meal. It's rediculous to even suggest that a 3 hour routine is needed in order to stay fit. Stop eating trash.

3 hours a week is not ridiculous.

Also note calorie restriction. You can overeat on healthy foods too.

 

[entremet]

mot many, very few in fact.

short term almost any diet will show great result, but long term it's exceedingly rare to be successful with weight loss.


http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/74/5/579.full

counting calories is not a solution.

Yeah. I agree. But if the environment remains the same, it's gonna take a lot of overcome it.

I love Stephan Guyenet's work on food reward.

http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2011/10/case-for-food-reward-hypothesis-of.html

It explains too much on why we're fat as a society and getting fatter.

 

[Madness]

Average week of US food/grocery

Average week of France food/grocery

Average week of Italy food/grocery

Average week of UK food/grocery

This is somewhat generalized. You can easily find the reverse. But there were more pictures of other countries. It does show how much of the US and UK diets are entirely processed or packaged foods.

 

[The Greek Freak]

WHAT. When do you have time to do anything else? Do you work while on the treadmill or something?

Yup, usually lift 5-6ish and then work on the treadmill until 11ish. Eat/clean/errands/yard work/pickup basketball/etc then hop back on to do work around 3pm until I'm either done with work or too tired to keep doing it while on the treadmill.

 

[Octavia]

I'm not really downplaying it, but the expectation of 40% americans are Wall-E look a likes isn't true.

Obese doesn't mean 300lb+ blobs. You can be 6ft 220lb and be "obese." BMI is sorta terrible at labeling people, especially tall muscular people.

Still need to work on reducing sugary junk though, especially soda. Sugared soda should be illegal imo. It's just pure death.

 

[nasax]

Take for example my sister and her husband (we live in the US), who are both teachers. Instead of going home and cooking their dinners, they rather stop by a drive thru and pick up something quick to eat. They're both like 50 lbs overweight because of it (sure diet isn't the only culprit but to me, it's like 75% of the blame). The kicker to me is how much they spend grocery shopping every week and needing to throw food away because it's gone bad or expired. The convenience factor in picking up drive thru is huge for some people.

And looking at the numbers in the OP, it seems Mediterranean countries have it good when it comes to obesity.

 

[CHC]

How is Italy so low on the list?!? They eat unimaginable amounts of pasta every day.

lol the Italian pasta portion is like 3-4 oz at most, in America it's usually 6+. And this isn't even getting into the sauces they use.....

 

[Alienfan]

Your entire post completely mischaracterizes what I wrote and is a PRIME example of what I meant. Where did I write we should shame anyone? Not make them feel confident? I said obesity should be looked at the way lung cancer or liver cirrhosis is looked at. As an affliction due to bad vices/personal choices and looked at for treatment, help, not seen as normal.

There was a series of photos that showed average weekly groceries for people in the US vs France vs UK vs India vs Japan etc. It showed primarily the weekly American grocery purchase is massove bulk sizes and almost all processed. Very few fruits, veggies, even lean cuts of meat.

Then you should be for the body positivity and fat acceptance movements, not against them. I don't think treating obesity as a disease is really the way to go about aspiring confidence and change. But I agree with the rest of your points, diets comprising of vegetables and fruits should be readily available and promoted, red meat shouldn't be subsidized and instead be treated as a luxury. A sugar tax is a must, but food industry lobbying and incompetent western governments make this unlikely.

 

[BearPawB]

Yup, usually lift 5-6ish and then work on the treadmill until 11ish. Eat/clean/errands/etc then hop back on to do work around 3pm until I'm either done with work or too tired to keep doing it.

This is not healthy/normal behavior.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exercise_bulimia

 

[CadetMahoney]

ctrl+f mexico

ahh there it is.

 

[Crazyorloco]

I understand Hungary because of the name, but the rest I don't.


Counting calories helps a lot.

 

[CHC]

Pasta discussions aside this problem here is caused like 99% by cars and sugar intake.

 

[slit]

Yup, usually lift 5-6ish and then work on the treadmill until 11ish. Eat/clean/errands/yard work/pickup basketball/etc then hop back on to do work around 3pm until I'm either done with work or too tired to keep doing it while on the treadmill.

I hope your point in doing all of that isn't to be healthy.

 

[Madness]

I'm not really downplaying it, but the expectation of 40% americans are Wall-E look a likes isn't true.

Obese doesn't mean 300lb+ blobs. You can be 6ft 220lb and be "obese." BMI is sorta terrible at labeling people, especially tall muscular people.

Still need to work on reducing sugary junk though, especially soda. Sugared soda should be illegal imo. It's just pure death.

Except it is an accepted standard worldwide for the average population. The average american male is 5'9". And so if they have BMI over 30, they are visibly obese at that height. Someone who is 6'2" and 220 pound may be obese but he is an outlier not the norm. The reality is, most people are just obese. They aren't muscular like the Rock and they aren't LeBron's height, etc.

The people of Wall-E were cartoonishly obese. Super morbidly obese. But if a population reaches 50% clinical obesity or higher. How many will be morbidly obese?

 

[The Greek Freak]

This is not healthy/normal behavior.

Oh I 100% agree!

My point was that if you eat like a human trash monster, you have to ALSO be a workout monster if you don't want to eat yourself into morbid obesity.

It would be much much smarter to eat less/eat healthier.

I wouldn't suggest ANYONE follows my insane path unless it's the only way you can manage to not eat yourself into the grave.

Edit:

I know you linked to exercise bulimia.

Despite all of what I do, I'm not in crazy good shape. No 6 pack, still have flab on my arms.

This is 100% a tourniquet to counter act my horrible eating while I slowly but surely improve it. (Been working with a nutritionist/chef friend for almost a year, my diet is already significantly less trashy).