Obesity: Why are we getting fat? :epizza:

[Racoon]

you don't want to be an asshoole? no problem, i can help you with that. First, take that predominant thought in your mind and contemplate life without ashoolishness....with me so far? good,

now, look at yourself and determine how you can modify that genetically engineered orifice. Unfortunately, eating less and exercise will not help, may i suggest surgery?:thumbs_up

 

See.

I am already making the world a better place.

Please listen to my explicit vidos that Buffy doesn't wan't you to

 

:D

[GAHD]

there is no excuse to be horrifically overweight.

 

A specific instance comes to mind, there was this cleaning lady working at this casino I worked on. Typical loud voiced whining that could be heard 20' away. While I was working I hear her complaining to her co-worker

 

"I can't believe that they expect me to push this vacuum all the way over there"

 

the casino wasn't that big, maby 400'*400' including the walled-off sections. This fat lady was a lazy sack, I have and had no qualms about telling such fat lazy people to shut their mouth before they stuff another cheeseburger in it or complain about having to walk around with a 30lb vacuum ON WHEELS.

 

I don't know why the hell those people think I or anyone should pity them. EVERYONE has problems, EVERYONE has a messed up family, an NO i will not pity your choice to eat and sit on your butt.

 

"poor people can't buy a workout machine or go to the gym" is faulty logic; manual labor PAYS you to work out and is something you need NO QUALIFICATIONS for. Walking instead of driving saves you money And gives you a workout (especially if you're carrying extra weight).

 

There is NO excuse. and frankly there should be NO PITY.

[mynah]

If you're over 35 and works hard at maintaining a well-proportioned body, congratulations. If, however, you're in your teens or twenties, no kudos - at that age, most people still have reasonably good figures without effort...

[pamela]

well, I do pity people who suffer from health conditions that have led to obesity. How hard it must be for them, when they are ridiculed by thin individuals .All too often, have I seen this and it is heartbreaking and not kind or respectful to others.

 

I do NOT pity lazy people who over eat and expect the world to kiss their rotunde derriere. Unless you know the difference, how would you judge between the two? fat looks like fat-it does not easily distinguish between a thyroid disorder and way too many Walmart donuts.

[modest]

In the great words of Jules Winnfield (Samuel Jackson):

 

I wouldn't go so far as to call the brother fat. He's got a weight problem. What's the nigga gonna do, he's Samoan.

 

~modest

[interval]

Why we are getting fat?

 

We know the best way to maintain a healthy body weight is to eat a diet with lots of fibre, vegetables and fruit as well as keeping portion sizes down, and being physically active.

 

But our body has some genes that fuel our addiction for sugar, drinks, fat meat and other. When we can manage our addiction, it's ok, when we cannot, we are getting fat

[Nitack]

well, I do pity people who suffer from health conditions that have led to obesity. How hard it must be for them, when they are ridiculed by thin individuals .All too often, have I seen this and it is heartbreaking and not kind or respectful to others.

 

I do NOT pity lazy people who over eat and expect the world to kiss their rotunde derriere. Unless you know the difference, how would you judge between the two? fat looks like fat-it does not easily distinguish between a thyroid disorder and way too many Walmart donuts.

 

I'm sorry, what health conditions are there that "led to obesity". The fact of the matter is that you can only gain fat when you have taken in more Calories (energy in) than you expended (energy out). It really is a very simple equation we are dealing with. You use more energy than you take in, and you lose weight, you take in more energy than you use, then you gain weight.

 

Lets say you have one of these "conditions". Those conditions can not spontaneously allow your body to ignore the laws of thermodynamics and create energy out of thin air. What those conditions do is to alter one side of the equation. If you have hypothyroidism, your body will naturally use less Calories in a day because of things like the reduced body temperature, etc. If your body requires less food to function shouldn't you alter how much food you are taking in accordingly? After all, we all control the amount of food we take in. Leptin resistance in obese people means that they don't necessarily receive the biological signal that says "you are full", but as an animal that has evolved to the point of being able to use logic and reason, are we not capable of determining what is the right amount of food with out those biological signals?

 

Medical conditions, genetics, high fructose corn syrup, and every other excuse out there can only serve to alter one side of the equation. Everyone has the ability to make active choices that counter those alterations. Eat less food, your Calories in go down. Increase your activity, your Calories out goes up.

 

Obesity is about not making good choices. There is nothing that can MAKE you obese other than yourself.

[Moontanman]

I'm sorry, what health conditions are there that "led to obesity". The fact of the matter is that you can only gain fat when you have taken in more Calories (energy in) than you expended (energy out). It really is a very simple equation we are dealing with. You use more energy than you take in, and you lose weight, you take in more energy than you use, then you gain weight.

 

Lets say you have one of these "conditions". Those conditions can not spontaneously allow your body to ignore the laws of thermodynamics and create energy out of thin air. What those conditions do is to alter one side of the equation. If you have hypothyroidism, your body will naturally use less Calories in a day because of things like the reduced body temperature, etc. If your body requires less food to function shouldn't you alter how much food you are taking in accordingly? After all, we all control the amount of food we take in. Leptin resistance in obese people means that they don't necessarily receive the biological signal that says "you are full", but as an animal that has evolved to the point of being able to use logic and reason, are we not capable of determining what is the right amount of food with out those biological signals?

 

Medical conditions, genetics, high fructose corn syrup, and every other excuse out there can only serve to alter one side of the equation. Everyone has the ability to make active choices that counter those alterations. Eat less food, your Calories in go down. Increase your activity, your Calories out goes up.

 

Obesity is about not making good choices. There is nothing that can MAKE you obese other than yourself.

 

Nitack, if only it were that easy, besides the fact it's very difficult to judge how much we should eat. many eating disorders slow down the metabolism and cause the retention of fat in ways a healthy person would never do. When you are inactive for one reason or another eating less is so very easy to say and so very difficult to do. Once you start gaining weight it becomes a vicious circle of eating and slowing down and getting bigger. Once you get so to a certain size just maintaining your weight becomes a starvation diet compared to what an active healthy person can eat. Food becomes the only recreation you really have and the cycle repeats getting worse and worse. I truly hope you never have a weight problem but if you do you will eat the words you have allowed to run out of your mouth.

[Nitack]

Nitack, if only it were that easy, besides the fact it's very difficult to judge how much we should eat. many eating disorders slow down the metabolism and cause the retention of fat in ways a healthy person would never do. When you are inactive for one reason or another eating less is so very easy to say and so very difficult to do. Once you start gaining weight it becomes a vicious circle of eating and slowing down and getting bigger. Once you get so to a certain size just maintaining your weight becomes a starvation diet compared to what an active healthy person can eat. Food becomes the only recreation you really have and the cycle repeats getting worse and worse. I truly hope you never have a weight problem but if you do you will eat the words you have allowed to run out of your mouth.

 

August 19, 2008; San Francisco - A presentation at the annual meeting of the Endocrine Society.

Presenter - Dr. Daniel Bessesen, an endocrinologist and professor of medicine at University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver

Metabolism alone doesn't explain how thin people stay thin

 

Excerpts

It is unclear how some individuals remain thin in the current obesigenic environment that promotes significant weight gain in the majority of people. However, researchers with the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver say it is not because thin people have a faster metabolism or metabolize their food differently than obese people

 

“Overall, we found no evidence that thin people have a higher metabolic rate on a regular diet or that they burn more energy following a period of overfeeding,” Dr. Bessesen said. “The most important take-home message for clinicians is that people who are tending to gain weight may not be getting accurate information on how much they are eating through biologic mechanisms. So self-monitoring might be an important tool for them, such as keeping food diaries and food records, because they may be eating more than they think.”

 

This would seem to disagree with part of your premise that it is a metabolism issue.

[modest]

Nitack, and many people in this thread, seem to be missing the point.

 

The question is "why are we getting fat" (as a nation—or a society). Neither of Nitack's "sides of the equation" address this.

 

I will give a specific example so as to focus the issue. You can read here:

Migration, Social Change, and Health ... - Google Book Search

about Samoan immigrants who move from western agricultural Samoa to more modernized areas in California and Hawaii. When living in western Samoa, they have typical body forms (they are not typically obese nor prone to having adiposity)

 

When modernizing, Samoans (on average) become obese with serious health consequences. There are studies relating energy expenditure before and after modernization as well as dietary differences. Different studies suggest different things. But, the point is, we are getting fat (speaking as a resident of the U.S.).

 

Both our diet and our daily activities have changed over the past couple hundred years and now over 70 percent of Americans are overweight. What exactly is the cause of this? What exactly is the cause of a Polynesia immigrant to a modern, urban community gaining an average of some 30 odd pounds?

 

Is there a scientifically supportable answer to this?

 

~modest

[Nitack]

Nitack, and many people in this thread, seem to be missing the point.

<snip>

Both our diet and our daily activities have changed over the past couple hundred years and now over 70 percent of Americans are overweight. What exactly is the cause of this? What exactly is the cause of a Polynesia immigrant to a modern, urban community gaining an average of some 30 odd pounds?

 

Is there a scientifically supportable answer to this?

 

~modest

 

My point does address the questions you are getting at. Our diet has changed (much more readily available calories) and our daily activities have changed (the vast majority of people are much more sedentary). Take your pick for causes from these two (in my opinion after reading of the research):

1. We have increased the amount of Calories consumed daily, and not increased our daily activities (energy usage) to match
   
2. We have decreased our daily activity level, and have not decreased our daily Calorie intake to match
   

Either answer is supported by the facts and would explain the epidemic. Both answers can be true at the same time, and are according to the current literature, and would create the perfect storm for an epidemic of obese proportions.:Bump2:

[Nitack]

In addition, the idea that there is some sort of cause beyond increased Calorie consumption and decreased activity I find silly. 50% of the population (latest estimate from the CDC for overweight Americans do not have some condition or disease that affects their metabolism. Even if they did, it would not longer be a condition, but the norm. The answer to why is pretty simple and right in front of us. The solution is not so simple because each person has to take charge of their own life, and exercise some self control and discipline.

[Moontanman]

In addition, the idea that there is some sort of cause beyond increased Calorie consumption and decreased activity I find silly. 50% of the population (latest estimate from the CDC for overweight Americans do not have some condition or disease that affects their metabolism. Even if they did, it would not longer be a condition, but the norm. The answer to why is pretty simple and right in front of us. The solution is not so simple because each person has to take charge of their own life, and exercise some self control and discipline.

 

Oh I agree with you, lack of exercise and lack of control of eating is the main cause of obesity. That doesn't make it easy to control. I've gained 50 lbs in the last two years, personal problems , financial problems along with some health issues have slowed me down considerably from what i used to do, it's reflected in my weight, but I do not eat like a pig, I eat good food with very little junk, I almost never eat fast food, but my lack of exercise dictates that i gain weight. to loose weight I would almost have to quit eating. changing from the type of activity I used to have to another activity i do not enjoy to keep from gaining weight is much easier to say than to do. so as I said before i hope you never have to worry about weight but if you do you will find that you remarks here are not in touch with the reality of the situation. I've seen many people who thought the way you do get fat when they get older. it's oh so easy to do and oh so hard to correct.

[Nitack]

Oh I agree with you, lack of exercise and lack of control of eating is the main cause of obesity. That doesn't make it easy to control. I've gained 50 lbs in the last two years, personal problems , financial problems along with some health issues have slowed me down considerably from what i used to do, it's reflected in my weight, but I do not eat like a pig, I eat good food with very little junk, I almost never eat fast food, but my lack of exercise dictates that i gain weight. to loose weight I would almost have to quit eating. changing from the type of activity I used to have to another activity i do not enjoy to keep from gaining weight is much easier to say than to do. so as I said before i hope you never have to worry about weight but if you do you will find that you remarks here are not in touch with the reality of the situation. I've seen many people who thought the way you do get fat when they get older. it's oh so easy to do and oh so hard to correct.

 

I actually am quite familiar with weight issues having been 180 lbs in fifth grade (age 11), being a "diet recruit" in Marine Corps boot camp and almost being thrown into the "Pork Chop Platoon" for weight loss, and until I started recently really focusing on my health and weighing 247 lbs. at a height of 5'10" (making me officially obese and near the morbidly obese line. I actually despute their classification scale for obese because although I was carrying A LOT of extra weight, I also carry a lot of muscle and could still easily run a 5k at any time I chose. I am happy to say that in the last two months I have dropped 20 lbs through strict portion control/food recording and building more activity into my normal routine.

 

I have a suggestion that you may find interesting to get some exercise with out having to exercise just for the sake of exercising. A WALKING DESK!

 

The Men's Health article that inspired me. Diet Strategies: Increase Metabolism - Men's Health

 

The desk I built with a used treadmill off of craigslist and less than $50 of lumber.

 

 

I walk while surfing the web, researching my latest mad scientist experiment and even while playing World of Warcraft. Oh yeah, you can also work while walking too . The idea is not to sweat, but instead to turn the activities that you may do that are more sedentary and increase the activity level through long term, low impact walking.

[modest]

My point does address the questions you are getting at. Our diet has changed (much more readily available calories) and our daily activities have changed (the vast majority of people are much more sedentary). Take your pick for causes from these two (in my opinion after reading of the research):

1. We have increased the amount of Calories consumed daily, and not increased our daily activities (energy usage) to match
   
2. We have decreased our daily activity level, and have not decreased our daily Calorie intake to match
   

Either answer is supported by the facts and would explain the epidemic. Both answers can be true at the same time, and are according to the current literature, and would create the perfect storm for an epidemic of obese proportions.:hihi:

 

I agree completely. I wonder if there might be sociological reasons for obesity. Have you considered why people living in urban Japan are some much less likely to be obese than people living in urban America.

 

On paper both are as sedentary and have the same "readily available" access to food. Obesity being a public problem (it costs medicare all kinds of money), I think it would be good to know the social causes so we can do something about it in an intelligent way.

 

For example, you wouldn't fix crime by saying people are stupid and violent as you wouldn't fix obesity by saying people are glutinous and lazy. Identifying sociological (and biological) reasons for crime is useful as it should be with obesity.

 

~modest

[Nitack]

I agree completely. I wonder if there might be sociological reasons for obesity. Have you considered why people living in urban Japan are some much less likely to be obese than people living in urban America.

 

On paper both are as sedentary and have the same "readily available" access to food. Obesity being a public problem (it costs medicare all kinds of money), I think it would be good to know the social causes so we can do something about it in an intelligent way.

 

For example, you wouldn't fix crime by saying people are stupid and violent as you wouldn't fix obesity by saying people are glutinous and lazy. Identifying sociological (and biological) reasons for crime is useful as it should be with obesity.

 

~modest

 

The Japanese as a culture also have a drastically different diet than your typical American diet. They may have access to readily available calories, but do not necessary chose to eat in the same manner. They eat a lot more fish, a lot more seaweed, and drink quite a lot more green tea (which numerous studies have linked to lower body weight. Additionally, exercise is a mandatory part of many Japanese office environments. I think a comparative examination of the two cultures (American and Japanese) side by side would reveal something we already know. They move more and eat fewer Calories. We move less and eat more Calories.

[interval]

Obesity is not always a personal option. Researchers have discovered three new genetic variations that increase the risk of obesity, giving new insight into the reasons why some people become fat and others don't.

 

They suggest that if each acted independently, these variants could be responsible for up to 50 percent of cases of severe obesity.

 

According to researchers, the new findings should ultimately provide the tools to predict which young children are at risk of becoming obese.

 

Obesity in adults and children; Why some people become fat and others don't