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[Kayhan]

What you think the future will look like:

What the future will look like:

 

[30yearsofhurt]

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.

I'm pretty sure those weren't average grocery purchases just one off examples from a bunch of different countries.

 

[slit]

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.

If you are physically pushing yourself into the grave is there supposed to be a difference?

 

[Jasup]

Obesity is a societal problem, it's what our living environment creates. It's not a choise for many, but almost an inevitability. How else could you explain the rise in obesity levels in the past decades when it wasn't that big of a problem before? Something has changed and it's not the people.

It's easy to blame the individuals, and I agree that there is an individual factor at play. However the question is why is it so much harder to stay in shape now than in the 70's? The thing is there has never been so much nutritional information available to people nor has there ever been so many exercise options as now, yet people on average keep getting bigger.

 

[entremet]

HFCS is kinda a boogie man. I mean, it's still bad.

Want a clearer culprit?

Vegetable oils.

This from a vegan doctor, with research cited:

https://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2007nl/aug/oils.htm

Another link:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/food-and-drink/news/vegetable-oil-making-us-fat/

And these things are everywhere! Eating out, in convenience foods and so on. And they are horrible AF.

Get rid of them ASAP, not matter your weight.

 

[Kayhan]

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 sheer amount of sugary highly processed food in the US and UK tells you all you need to know.

 

[ClosingADoor]

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.

You might want to talk to a specialist and go through your diet and possible other causes if you have problems with weight, because what you are doing now is also not healthy.

 

[kunonabi]

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.

That's some nice pie in the sky thinking but plenty of people use the movement as an excuse to stay fat and use it as a shield from any sort of criticism including from their doctors. The people I've known who have changed their lives and lost a significant amount of weight, including myself, didn't do it because we were comfortable with our obesity.

 

[Madness]

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.

The real goal isn't confidence. The goal is to prevent early death, the myriad of lifetime health effects like diabetes type 2, depression, joint, knee and back problems, mobility issues, kidney and liver diseases. There is even increasing research that obesity is contributing to rising cancer rates.

Why would I be for something that wants to treat obesity as 'normal'. It isn't. This is also an entirely new epidemic. Unseen on this scale in human history. In 1980, less than 12% of Americans were obese. In 2030, they are now projecting 50% or more WILL be obese.

With regards to the above of failure rates for long term weight loss, this is why it needs to be tackled in childhood. So that the bad habits don't set in. So that the 10 year old who sits around all day eating junk food doesn't become the 30 year old sitting around all day eating junk food.

 

[The Greek Freak]

You might want to talk to a specialist and go through your diet and possible other causes if you have problems with weight, because what you are doing now is also not healthy.

Already do, my diet used to be worse.

If you are physically pushing yourself into the grave is there supposed to be a difference?

Honestly I physically feel better than I have since my football career ended. This isn't a long term solution (been at it like this for about 18 months). If I'm still having to do this in 2 years? I'd rather push myself into a grave doing this than covered in 100's of pounds of fat.

 

[1st Course]

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.

A 6'2/220lb person is still under 30 BMI.

 

[entremet]

That's some nice pie in the sky thinking but plenty of people use the movement as an excuse to stay fat and use it as a shield from any sort of criticism including from their doctors. The people I've known who have changed their lives and lost a significant amount of weight, including myself, didn't do it because we were comfortable with our obesity.

Fat shaming doesn't work but also fat acceptance should not exist from a medical point of view either.

There is no healthy at any size. Being overweight predisposes to many ailments--sleep apnea, joint paint, diabetes, gout, heart diseases, some cancers, and so on.

But fat acceptance was never a medical thing. I've never heard of doctors promoting it. It's a purely ideological movement that was pushed on by beauty marketers, specifically toward women. It has no scientific basis or backing.

 

[Malvolio]

Eat ingredients that you prepare into meals instead of living off of "food" that requires only the opening of a package or some time in a microwave. Convenience is the death of good health.

 

[Alienfan]

That's some nice pie in the sky thinking but plenty of people use the movement as an excuse to stay fat and use it as a shield from any sort of criticism including from their doctors. The people I've known who have changed their lives and lost a significant amount of weight, including myself, didn't do it because we were comfortable with our obesity.

The thing is what worked for you, has been proven to not work with most. Fat-acceptance doesn't cause people to want to stay fat, it helps them decide to lose weight on the own, for their own reasons. For most, you can't get improve your weight situation unless you love yourself enough to think you deserve to get better.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25212272

It's not really a matter of opinion

 

[slit]

Already do, my diet used to be worse.



Honestly I feel fantastic. This isn't a long term solution (been at it like this for about 18 months). If I'm still having to do this in 2 years? I'd rather push myself into a grave doing this than covered in 100's of pounds of fat.

You just said if you stop doing it you will eat yourself into a coma. How will you stop in 2 years? Also, feeling great doesn't necessarily mean anything if you are damaging your heart beyond repair. Sure you increase your chances of surviving a heart attack but you are also increasing your chances of having one and then being stuck in a sedentary lifestyle.

 

[TyrantII]

Obesity is a societal problem, it's what our living environment creates. It's not a choise for many, but almost an inevitability. How else could you explain the rise in obesity levels in the past decades when it wasn't that big of a problem before? Something has changed and it's not the people.

It's easy to blame the individuals, and I agree that there is an individual factor at play. However the question is why is it so much harder to stay in shape now than in the 70's? The thing is there has never been so much nutritional information available to people nor has there ever been so many exercise options as now, yet people on average keep getting bigger.

Every few days on GAF there's a PR thread made on a new fast food item. Pretty easy to understand.

 

[Days like these...]

I'm American a little overweight and I would like to eat healthier. I'm wondering how much did high fructose corn syrup contribute to people being overweight? It's literally almost in everything.

 

[Hoo-doo]

Also, weight isn't the only factor that decides whether you are healthy or not. If you want to be healthy, you got to be active as well as keep your weight in check.

An active overweight (BMI 25-30) person is healthier and has a higher life expectancy than a thin (BMI<20) person with a completely sedentary lifestyle.

Every few days on GAF there's a PR thread made on a new fast food item. Pretty easy to understand.

Dude, there are OT's of new flavors of Mountain fucking Dew on GAF. I don't get that kind of lifestyle at all. Who gives a shit.

 

[Plum]

With regards to the above of failure rates for long term weight loss, this is why it needs to be tackled in childhood. So that the bad habits don't set in. So that the 10 year old who sits around all day eating junk food doesn't become the 30 year old sitting around all day eating junk food.

As someone who is obese and trying desperately hard each and every day to not be obese this kind of talk doesn't really help at all. I know it comes from good intentions but, as someone who is obese, I get the idea from many people wanting to 'tackle' obesity that, if you're obese at 15, you'll be obese at 51. If we focus all our attention on preventing child obesity we'll still be leaving whole swathes of adults who are essentially being told "do it yourself, you probably won't succeed anyway though, good luck!" whilst hurtling towards diabetes, heart problems and more.

 

[entremet]

I'm American a little overweight and I would like to eat healthier. I'm wondering how much did high fructose corn syrup contribute to people being overweight? It's literally almost in everything.

It's in tons of packaged food. If you cook a lot of your meals, it's rather easy to avoid.

There's been a strong correlation between Americans eating more fast and packaged foods and less cooking.

If you want to lose weight, cook more. You can control your ingredients.

 

[Kerensky]

Every few days on GAF there's a PR thread made on a new fast food item. Pretty easy to understand.

Same thing with the articles about rising Precariat membership and debt followed by "You won't believe how much this reserve card is worth!!" and "oh i have 12 card that i transfer the debt around with, this is good for my credit score too!!!"

 

[ArkhamFantasy]

I'm American a little overweight and I would like to eat healthier. I'm wondering how much did high fructose corn syrup contribute to people being overweight? It's literally almost in everything.

It's not one thing.

1.Americans eat way too many calories, twice as many as they need
2.The food they're eating is garbage.
3.No weight lifting or cardio
4.Stressed as hell

 

[Lexxism]

Americans can't help it because of their $1 fastfood

 

[Madness]

I'm American a little overweight and I would like to eat healthier. I'm wondering how much did high fructose corn syrup contribute to people being overweight? It's literally almost in everything.

If you are overweight the easiest determination is that you are consuming more calories per day than your body burns off. Get calipers, check your height, weight, get a rudimentary measure of how many calories someone your age should be burning with those statistics ie. Sedentary, moderate or axtive lifestyle. Then for one weke use myfitnesspal to track everything. A food scale helps weigh. You might find you overeat by 400 calories a day etc. High fructose corn syrup is cheap substance for sugar. Inherently by itself it didn't cause obesity. The fact it is in everything though shows how the average american diet is now high in added sugars.

Vegetables: 87% have intakes below the goal;
Fruits: 75% have intakes below the goal;
Total Grains: 44% have intakes below the goal;
Dairy: 86% have intakes below the goal;
Protein Foods: 42% have intakes below the goal;
Oils: 72% have intakes below the goal;
Added sugars: 70% have intakes above the limit;
Saturated fats: 71% have intakes above the limit;
Sodium: 89% have intakes above the limit.

US Government look at average yearly american diet intake of certain foods. Notice how vegetables, fruits and grains and now even dairy is below the goal, but added sugars and sodium and saturated fats is massively above?

Since the 1970's, the average daily American diet has added almost 600-800 calories more per day. you are literally seeing people eat 1/3rd more food per day, while exercising far less than their counterparts just a few decades ago.

 

[nasax]

It's not one thing.

1.Americans eat way too many calories, twice as many as they need
2.The food they're eating is garbage.
3.No weight lifting or cardio
4.Stressed as hell/unhappy

I fixed number four for you.

 

[Souldriver]

Yeah, not trying to shame a group if neogaf users, but the fast food threads are something remarkable. The idea that every new burger or soda flavor gets a thread, as well as every fast food promotion, is kinda weird if you are not... American (? I think).

Q: for fast food gaf. Is it something you discuss with your friends in real life as well, or is it strictly an Internet forum thing? If it's the former, there's definitely a culture difference about fast food between America en continental Europe.

 

[slit]

Americans can't help it because of their $1 fastfood

This isn't a problem that is specific to the U.S. America leads the pack but when you are getting into the 25% total population range and it's rising in your country you know this is a problem that has very global consequences.

 

[Alienfan]

The real goal isn't confidence. The goal is to prevent early death, the myriad of lifetime health effects like diabetes type 2, depression, joint, knee and back problems, mobility issues, kidney and liver diseases. There is even increasing research that obesity is contributing to rising cancer rates.

Why would I be for something that wants to treat obesity as 'normal'. It isn't. This is also an entirely new epidemic. Unseen on this scale in human history. In 1980, less than 12% of Americans were obese. In 2030, they are now projecting 50% or more WILL be obese.

But that's people saying that, not the body positivity movement.

The Body Positive Movement is a movement that encourages people to adopt more forgiving and affirming attitudes towards their bodies, with the goal of improving overall health and well-being. Whether people are nurturing their bodies and maintaining their weight, or finding a place in life where they are comfortable through working out, or changing their lifestyles to find a better attitude, the body positive movement focuses on building self-esteem through improving one's self-image. The body positive movement targets all body shapes and sizes.[1] The movement is not only about working out and striving to be positive and creating a better lifestyle for oneself, but deals with health as well.

The movement is accepting of fat people but not necessarily accepting or encouraging people to be fat. It's encouraging people to have a positive attitude and feel comfortable with their body than it is about accepting an unhealthy body and not changing it. One thing that makes many people have trouble changing is the normalization of fat shaming - for instance it's harder to go to a gym when you're out of shape. It's key to combat shame because it often pushes people further in the obesity direction. Confidence is key to getting people to change and thus not suffer those health effects you mentioned. Most people are emotionally hurt by messaging that treats obesity as abnormal, and turn back to their substance of choice (food) for comfort. This increases the problem rather than decreases it. This applies to any addiction really.

 

[Silent Chief]

I can't download the report right now. What does it classify as obese? The standard bmi classification of obese for instance is deeply flawed. It just seems dubious that more than 1/3 of the population is obese. 38% being overweight sure I can definitely believe that, but obese brings to mind mobile scooters,two seats in economy class, and people out of breathe walking up a short flight of stairs.

I don't know. Maybe morbidly obese is what you would consider obese?

I'm 6' 1", 235lbs and that's obese. Weight keeps creeping up every year...
At 15, I was under 130lbs. At 25, I was 185lbs with a 30" waist.
I started losing control during my graduate studies when I no longer had time to exercise 15 hours a week.

 

[RM8]

You can enjoy fast food occasionally without going obese. I'm not American myself (and I'm a bit underweight), but I enjoy the fast food threads, lol.

 

[crimzonflame]

Tax the shit out of fast food and soda, use it for subsidies for fruit and vegetables. It isn't that hard. Put people will probably start a riot over it.

GAF hates fruits. Fruits are just as bad as fast food and soda.

 

[Madness]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ght-childhood-obesity/?utm_term=.3994c4acaf0a

After only six days on the job, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue moved to stall one of former first lady Michelle Obama’s signature accomplishments: stricter nutritional standards for school breakfasts and lunches, which feed more than 31 million children. Perdue announced that his department would be slowing the implementation of aggressive standards on sodium, whole grains and sweetened milks that passed under the Obama administration.

The changes will likely be cheered by conservatives, who have long cited the previous restrictions as examples of gross federal overreach. “We’re not unwinding or winding back any nutrition standards at all,” Perdue said. “We're giving school food professionals the flexibility they need.”

And this was just 3 weeks ago. Trump's administration already started the dismantling and rollback of former first lady Michelle Obama's efforts to counteract childhood obesity under the guise of it being federal overreach. Soon 50% of the adult population will be obese with children at most risk, but we don't want to overreach now would we.

 

[L4DANathan]

Eat while you can, the Republicans won't let you soon.

 

[Silent Chief]

It's in tons of packaged food. If you cook a lot of your meals, it's rather easy to avoid.

There's been a strong correlation between Americans eating more fast and packaged foods and less cooking.

If you want to lose weight, cook more. You can control your ingredients.

It's lot easier when you're single. My wife will only eat healthy food if the idea originated from her. I cooked low calories meal one year and lost about 30 pounds in 4 months, but the rest of the household wouldn't eat it. That and I wasn't able to maintain my productivity at work.

 

[ItIsOkBro]

the calorie intake vs. feeling of fullness is out of wack in america food

 

[Sillverrr]

I have been both overweight and underweight (yay eating disorders). As I currently struggle with binge eating in anorexia recovery, I obviously have strong feelings on the subject.

We should be sending POSITIVE messages about exercise and healthy eating - fat shaming is horrible. When I see an obviously overweight person jogging down the street, I don't laugh at them. I think, "good for you". The attitudes of some people make me sick.

 

[entremet]

the calorie intake vs. feeling of fullness is out of wack in america food

It's because food has been engineered to do this.

This is where the profit motive has really messed us up.

 

[Raiden]

America, land of the fat.

Belgium slowly getting there.

 

[TyrantII]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ght-childhood-obesity/?utm_term=.3994c4acaf0a



And this was just 3 weeks ago. Trump's administration already started the dismantling and rollback of former first lady Michelle Obama's efforts to counteract childhood obesity under the guise of it being federal overreach. Soon 50% of the adult population will be obese with children at most risk, but we don't want to overreach now would we.

TBF, liberal solutions are just as absurd: Keeping corn subsidies around on one end and taxing sugar on the other for example. At this point it's more politically obtainable.

Can't step on those corporations and large farmers.

Eat while you can, the Republicans won't let you soon.

That's the Democrats solution, isn't it? The GOP will give you (the illusion of) choice, but your&#8203; broke ass only affording crackers is your own fault.

 

[AgentOtaku]

Crazy how pasta and pizza are considered unhealthy food these days.
Yes, Domino pizza and pasta made with crappy Bolognese sauce you would find in supermarkets are probably bad for you.
Actual Italian pizza, with quality ingredients, and proper pasta made with homemade traditional sauces are great, healthy meals. Eaten in moderation of course, like anything else.

Yup

 

[RSP]

Restaurant portions are ridiculous in the US. I gain 10lbs each time I visit.

 

[SeanR1221]

If you are overweight the easiest determination is that you are consuming more calories per day than your body burns off. Get calipers, check your height, weight, get a rudimentary measure of how many calories someone your age should be burning with those statistics ie. Sedentary, moderate or axtive lifestyle. Then for one weke use myfitnesspal to track everything. A food scale helps weigh. You might find you overeat by 400 calories a day etc. High fructose corn syrup is cheap substance for sugar. Inherently by itself it didn't cause obesity. The fact it is in everything though shows how the average american diet is now high in added sugars.

Vegetables: 87% have intakes below the goal;
Fruits: 75% have intakes below the goal;
Total Grains: 44% have intakes below the goal;
Dairy: 86% have intakes below the goal;
Protein Foods: 42% have intakes below the goal;
Oils: 72% have intakes below the goal;
Added sugars: 70% have intakes above the limit;
Saturated fats: 71% have intakes above the limit;
Sodium: 89% have intakes above the limit.

US Government look at average yearly american diet intake of certain foods. Notice how vegetables, fruits and grains and now even dairy is below the goal, but added sugars and sodium and saturated fats is massively above?

Since the 1970's, the average daily American diet has added almost 600-800 calories more per day. you are literally seeing people eat 1/3rd more food per day, while exercising far less than their counterparts just a few decades ago.

This chart is pretty telling. Eat your vegetables, people.

I love eating 6-8 cups of vegetables a day.

 

[Days like these...]

It's in tons of packaged food. If you cook a lot of your meals, it's rather easy to avoid.

There's been a strong correlation between Americans eating more fast and packaged foods and less cooking.

If you want to lose weight, cook more. You can control your ingredients.

Yeah, I know but almost everything has it. Bread, spaghetti sauce, juice. It is really hard to avoid unless u make everything from scratch.

 

[Blastoise]

Disgusting.

 

[Escape Goat]

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.

Why do UKers eat dog?

 

[Infinite]

I like how most people in this thread are suggesting individual based solutions to a problem that's clearly systemic.

 

[spekkeh]

They also eat very little sugar, comparatively, which probably compensates. Extreme fructose intake is what builds up insulin resistance, basically, so if you're not suffering from that then your body is going to do a much better job at not getting fat from carbs. (Obviously this is a big simplification, there are lots of other factors, but insulin resistance is probably the main one when it comes to obesity.)

For example here they say the average Italian eats 57 grams of sugar a day. Japan is roughly around that too. Americans eat 126 grams.

.

Americans eat an unholy amount of ultraprocessed foods, with added salt sugar and carbs. And the average bread tastes like a brioche. Staying healthy is "easy". Stop buying processed vegetables and sauces. Only get fresh produce. Make your own sauce from tomatoes you chop yourself. Italians sure ain't getting their pesto premade. They make their own, no added starch.

 

[constantstatic]

I can't download the report right now. What does it classify as obese? The standard bmi classification of obese for instance is deeply flawed. It just seems dubious that more than 1/3 of the population is obese. 38% being overweight sure I can definitely believe that, but obese brings to mind mobile scooters,two seats in economy class, and people out of breathe walking up a short flight of stairs.

BMI is stupid and pointless as a short stocky guy I'm always considered obese because of the that stupid BMI scale because I carry more muscle than the average male and I'm not super tall. I also have no desire to be built like a twig not that I could if I wanted to anyways. I can't believe BMI is still used today it always seemed useless to me.


I'm 5'7 and can bench 300 pounds and weigh around 210 or so and apparently I'm obese. Doctor in highschool tried to tell me that bullshit and I was trying to put a few more pounds on for football.

 

[Clawww]

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.

Stephan is great. One of the most scientific, least biased, and focused dudes in the game. (Although he did start pimp his book a lot). His blog moved to his website http://www.stephanguyenet.com/)

BMI is stupid and pointless as a short stocky guy I'm always considered obese because of the that stupid BMI scale because I carry more muscle than the average male and I'm not super tall. I also have no desire to be built like a twig not that I could if I wanted to anyways. I can't believe BMI is still used today it always seemed useless to me.


I'm 5'7 and can bench 300 pounds and weigh around 210 or so and apparently I'm obese. Doctor in highschool tried to tell me that bullshit and I was trying to put a few more pounds on for football.

What's dumber than BMI is you not realizing that it's a broad metric. In terms of tracking public health and things like that, it's perfectly suitable. It's like you're taking it personally that you're considered obese? Which doesn't really make sense. I don't understand what benching has to do with determinig if someone is obese or not, either.

 

[Neoweee]

If you are overweight the easiest determination is that you are consuming more calories per day than your body burns off. Get calipers, check your height, weight, get a rudimentary measure of how many calories someone your age should be burning with those statistics ie. Sedentary, moderate or axtive lifestyle. Then for one weke use myfitnesspal to track everything. A food scale helps weigh. You might find you overeat by 400 calories a day etc. High fructose corn syrup is cheap substance for sugar. Inherently by itself it didn't cause obesity. The fact it is in everything though shows how the average american diet is now high in added sugars.

Vegetables: 87% have intakes below the goal;
Fruits: 75% have intakes below the goal;
Total Grains: 44% have intakes below the goal;
Dairy: 86% have intakes below the goal;
Protein Foods: 42% have intakes below the goal;
Oils: 72% have intakes below the goal;
Added sugars: 70% have intakes above the limit;
Saturated fats: 71% have intakes above the limit;
Sodium: 89% have intakes above the limit.

US Government look at average yearly american diet intake of certain foods. Notice how vegetables, fruits and grains and now even dairy is below the goal, but added sugars and sodium and saturated fats is massively above?

Since the 1970's, the average daily American diet has added almost 600-800 calories more per day. you are literally seeing people eat 1/3rd more food per day, while exercising far less than their counterparts just a few decades ago.

Yeah, a food scale helps a ton. I've also found I suffer from mental food creep, where if I go long without measuring, my portion size increases little by little.

It can be really difficult to draw the line between different activity levels, and anything that can build muscle can lead to difficulty in trying to estimate fat loss. It can take a fair bit of effort to figure out what works and what doesn't.

Fortunately, if somebody is really obese, it is pretty easy to get a large calorie deficit and start losing 1~2 pounds per week. Work out, eat lean meat & vegetables, don't have anything with added sugar, and walk a lot or do some cardio.

And, this being a videogame forum, play videogames while doing cardio. 3DS/Switch/Vita while on an exercise bike is awesome.

I like how most people in this thread are suggesting individual based solutions to a problem that's clearly systemic.

What's the difference between systemic and cultural? Good food is there. Outlets for activity are there. People need to see the light and be encouraged to actually use them.