# Fat America **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 12, 2011, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-america/605914 "2011-12-12T15:36:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-america/605914/161 "2011-12-14T12:01:17Z")
> [@Bloodless\_Turnip](#): > > I’ve always been an extremely picky eater (Extremely) - and I never have any problem saying no to food. People get all kinds of bent out of shape about it, you’re right. I think it would be easier to lie, and say it’s a medical issue or an allergy or something like that. I have no problems saying no as well, and I have also had my fair share of people who get offended when I do say no. I just refuse to lie about it. I’m not saying no because I don’t like you; your potato salad/brownies/whatever look great and I’m sure they taste as good as they look. I just can’t lose weight if I eat it. And I leave it at that because I don’t owe you or anyone else an explanation beyond that. ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-america/605914/162 "2011-12-14T13:03:11Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > I work on a boat with about 50 other guys, who rotate in and out every week, so I probably see about 80-100 different guys in my 4 weeks out. And I can honestly say that only 4 or 5 of them would be considered a healthy weight. We are at about 80 to 90% overweight out here. It’s scary. > > On the other hand, it is nice to be one of the healthy looking guys 😃 Was it that “Rum, sodomy and the lash” slogan that attracted you to a seaman’s life? Which part have you scored yet? ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-america/605914/163 "2011-12-14T13:05:51Z")
Another idea: when food and eating becomes a big part of your life, you are in danger. And this is common in the USA-say you work at a boring job, and you are constantly stressed-…to the point where lunch is the only thing that allows you to relax. That’s where the overeating comes from, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-america/605914/164 "2011-12-14T13:43:29Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Another idea: when food and eating becomes a big part of your life, you are in danger. And this is common in the USA-say you work at a boring job, and you are constantly stressed-..to the point where lunch is the only thing that allows you to relax. That’s where the overeating comes from, IMHO. Yup, you guys should take up drinking at lunchtime like we do. ---
**Author:** ![perfectparanoia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a5b964/32.png) [@perfectparanoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/perfectparanoia)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-america/605914/165 "2011-12-14T15:04:29Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Yup, you guys should take up drinking at lunchtime like we do. \ ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-america/605914/166 "2011-12-14T15:12:07Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Oh, come on. I don’t have fat anger. > > Can I really tickle you? Sure, if it makes you smile! If that doesn’t work you can punch me in the face repeatedly while I say “I’m fat because I’m lazy!” I aim to please 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-america/605914/167 "2011-12-14T15:30:13Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Sure, if it makes you smile! > > If that doesn’t work you can punch me in the face repeatedly while I say “I’m fat because I’m lazy!” > > I aim to please 🙂 Um, wow. MOL, maybe this will be a good lesson for you. How Z is treating you in this thread is pretty much exactly how you treat me in threads where the race/IQ studies come up. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-america/605914/168 "2011-12-14T15:33:04Z")
I don’t know if this was already mentioned, but at least part of the problem with poorer people eating healthier is that many urban areas have little or no access to chain grocery stores (where healthy foods would be priced lower than at independent grocers). [From a 2008 study:](http://www.ij-healthgeographics.com/content/7/1/16) > [@](#): > > A growing body of research suggests that the suburbanization of food retailers in North America and the United Kingdom in recent decades has contributed to the emergence of urban ‘food deserts’, or disadvantaged areas of cities with relatively poor access to healthy and affordable food…The findings indicate that residents of inner-city neighbourhoods of low socioeconomic status have the poorest access to supermarkets. Furthermore, spatial inequalities in access to supermarkets have increased over time… For example, Farmer Jack left Detroit in 2007; this area of nearly a million people has been without a chain supermarket for four years now. A Whole Foods opened up recently, but they’re more expensive than the independents. It’s not hard to figure out why there’s such a prevalence of ‘dollar menu’ items (and advertising) at Wendy’s, McDonalds, and such. mmm ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-america/605914/169 "2011-12-14T16:40:23Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > Um, wow. > > MOL, maybe this will be a good lesson for you. How Z is treating you in this thread is pretty much exactly how you treat me in threads where the race/IQ studies come up. I’m not picking on her or anything. Just trying to get her to lighten up about fat people. Her saying that seeing all the fat people at Mall of America made her want to shoot herself (metaphorically) really creeped me out. Plus she’s one of the cool kids so if I get punched in the face by a cool kid that makes me cool, right? ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-america/605914/170 "2011-12-14T17:24:42Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > ??? > > Where do you live? In a NYC penthouse, or a cabin in the woods? Disney and Walmart ARE America. People everywhere save up to make the pilgramage to Disney. People everywhere take the kids to Walmart on a hot summer weekend to buy toilet paper and liters of Pepsi. The rich and the thin go skiing in Colorado. The rich and the thin buy artisan cheese at Trader Joe’s. Really? I went to Disney World in Florida back in 1973 mainly because we were on vacation and my parents dragged my brother and I there and I couldn’t escape the trip [being all of 12 …] and I went to Disneyland in California 21 years ago because the father-in-law took mrAru and I there with the rest of the family as it was a family reunion, and I couldn’t get out of going. I personally hate and detest roller coasters, and I dislike ‘park food’ and the only 2 things I liked about either trip were the custom perfume store and that New Orleans restaurant by the Pirates of the Carribean ride’s avocado shrimp salad. [I got a really lovely custom perfume from mrAru as an early birthday present and I love shrimp and avocado] ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-america/605914/171 "2011-12-14T18:19:50Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > Oh the ponytail holder. I have, literally, a gallon sized bag of the things. Different types, etc, some in their original (but opened) bags, some with only a few, some the value pack, some lose, some fancy, some just a band… but for the life of me can I remember to put one on when I go out for a walk? Of course not. And then the wind always pushes my hair RIGHT into my face. And our walks are usually neibhorhood or around the reservoir (trail through the woods) so even if I wanted to buy more (which I don’t–I have too many!!) I couldn’t do. One of these days I will learn. Maybe I should just put a ponytail holder in a pocket of every pair of pants I own and leave them there. They would probably stay through the wash…hmmm… I have most of a whole pack inthe drawer in the bathroom, I have 5 in the drawer on my hospital bed table, one looped around the handle on my canadian crutch, I know I have a couple around the stick shift on all 3 of the jettas, and since I have a cat, there are probably some under each piece of furniture in the house and probably at least one buried in the litter box. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-america/605914/172 "2011-12-14T18:32:11Z")
> [@voguevixen](#): > > Re: large portion sizes. I don’t think people actually EAT an entire large portion at once - they take some home in a to-go box. I really HOPE this is the expectation. I typically get 3-4 meals out of most restaurant entrees. This past weekend we went out for Chinese with a group of friends. I got vegetable egg foo young. They gave me three huge (bigger than my hand) patties. My husband got some kind of chicken thing, and we got an order of vegetable fried rice to share. We both ate some rice and some of our entree at dinner, and took the rest home. The next night we both had more rice, he finished his chicken, and I had the second EFY patty. The following night I had some more rice, the last EFY patty, and threw away probably another whole serving of rice (it was getting dried out and nobody was going to eat it by itself anyway). I can only ASSUME that this was the general plan of the restaurant when they served us the portion sizes they did. If people are expected (by the restaurant’s previous experience, I would assume) to actually eat all of that food while still in the restaurant… well… good god! That’s just a hell of a lot of food! ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-america/605914/173 "2011-12-14T18:40:10Z")
My sister inherited our grandmother’s good china (I got the silver). The plates are much smaller than what you find currently. Everything about food in the US is just much larger than it used to be. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-america/605914/174 "2011-12-14T19:38:18Z")
> [@gazpacho](#): > > My sister inherited our grandmother’s good china (I got the silver). The plates are much smaller than what you find currently. Everything about food in the US is just much larger than it used to be. Our dishes ([Corelle Shadow Iris](http://www.corelle.com/patterns/shadow-iris)) comes with dinner plates and “luncheon plates”… we almost always use the luncheon plates as the dinner plates are GINORMOUS. The cheapo Walmart dishes we had before had giant plates, too, plus bowls that could hold about four times as much soup or cereal as any one person should eat at a sitting. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-america/605914/175 "2011-12-14T19:38:23Z")
There was a show called [Frontier House](http://www.pbs.org/wnet/frontierhouse/project/index.html) where modern-day families were tasked with living in an 19th century frontier environment. They lived in cabins, had to chop their own wood, make their on food, etc. At one point one man starts to freak out because he’s getting so thin. Thinking he was sick, he called for a doctor. The doctor basically said he had nothing to worry about. He was actually at a proper weight. He had grown so accustomed to being and seeing overweight people that he thought proper weight was sickly. Too often people use a subjective judgment of “I look fine” to determine if they are at proper weight regardless of the medical recommendation. We see this all the time in the BMI threads here. People discount the BMI chart with reasonings like “I like the way I look” and “If I was at the recommended BMI, I would look like a stick.” Combine that with people’s ability to rationalize any bad decision and it’s no surprise so many people are overweight. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-america/605914/176 "2011-12-14T20:05:29Z")
Putting on weight also really sneaks up on you. Somewhat recently I put on 20-30lbs in just over a month from a medication I was put on (he didn’t warn me that weight gain was a possible side effect, or I would have paid more attention to what I was eating and maybe could have prevented it) and I totally didn’t notice it happening until I realized I was just alternating between wearing two pair of pants because none of the others would fit. It took me over 6 months to get that weight off that went on so fast and sneaky. And after my pregnancy (during which I gained, too), when I gained a LOT of weight (all the way up to a BMI of 43) I knew I was gaining, in a sort of vague way, but I put on weight in my butt, legs, and stomach long before I put on a lot of weight in my face and arms. I mean my face did round out, but it took longer for my face to look actually _fat_ than it did the rest of my body, and people often judge their looks by looking at their face in a mirror. When it starts to get hard to ignore, the mind is great at denial and deflection, too, so you still don’t believe you’re as big as you really are. By the time I reached obese level weight, I sort of felt lost and didn’t know what to do. Instead of going out and exercising I hid in my house and didn’t go anywhere. Eventually I did get a gym membership and tried to lose weight, but the exercises were very painful on my joints because of the weight. Except the water aerobics. I also tried Jenny Craig and a few other things… eventually ended up having [duodenal switch](http://www.duodenalswitch.com/) surgery to lose the weight. Some people have it in them to lose massive amounts of weight through diet an exercise, but I wasn’t one of them. I could lose a little, but it would come back. And honestly, once I was that fat, I really wasn’t eating all that much. I was watching my portion sizes… but my metabolism had changed so much that it was very efficient at using those portions to maintain my size. I’m now just under half that size and an appropriate weight for my height, btw. I think that if people saw the trend they were on when they were much, much earlier on the path, they’d be a lot more likely to have success with things like lifestyle changes in diet and exercise. By the time you get really big, those things have become exponentially harder to make work. ---
**Author:** ![Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-america/605914/177 "2011-12-14T20:40:41Z")
I’m maintaining a significant weight loss (wow, nearly 7 years) and it takes some effort. I cook healthy dinners almost every night and take a healthy breakfast/lunch/snack to work. Shopping, chopping, planning, packing…it can get tedious, but it’s worth it. Today is a very typical day, I brought: breakfast (icelandic yogurt, super high protein, 100 calories), lunch (salad - made 5 of them on Monday, tons of greens, carrots, grape tomatoes, red cabbage, crumbled boca burger, 2 tbs of crunchy fried onions, fat free caesar dressing), snack (3 clementines). I’ll also have a tall non fat latte from the coffee shop for a snack this afternoon. Dinner will be a small steak and steamed broccoli crown. I splurge a little on the weekends (nice dinner, glass of wine, split a dessert), but this is pretty much the way I eat everyday. I always plan (since I find that I can’t eat well by accident) and I watch portion size (and estimate my calories every day - very ballpark, round to the nearest 100). I should work out more, but like someone said above - it’s priority setting. I hate to work out so it’s hard for me to make it a priority. I spend a lot of time on various diet forums where people loudly lament that they can’t just eat “like normal people.” I have accepted that I just can’t eat whatever I want, whenever. A lot of normal people are fat. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-america/605914/178 "2011-12-14T20:58:37Z")
> [@Capitaine\_Zombie](#): > > Was it that “Rum, sodomy and the lash” slogan that attracted you to a seaman’s life? Which part have you scored yet? Alcohol is prohibited out here on the boat, sadly, so no rum. Sodomy happens when I’m back onshore with my boyfriend. Lash… hmm, thanks for the suggestion. I’ll mention it to him 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-america/605914/179 "2011-12-14T21:02:55Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > If? When one starves oneself to lose weight (required if one is losing weight by simply reducing the amount of food one eats, vs. what kind), hnger is the natural result. Since some degree of starvation will be necessary forever to maintain the reduced weight, such a person will have to cope with hunger pretty much constantly. > > Does this seem like a reasonable expectation to you? Absolutely it’s reasonable. If you are so pressed for time that you can’t exercise at all, then eating less and staying hungry is your only option. When I need to lose weight, and I feel hungry, I live with it “pretty much constantly” or eat something that has negligible calories (a can of spinach for example). A small degree of starvation is not at all unreasonable as a way to lose weight, as long as you are still getting proper vitamins and proteins necessary to be healthy. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-america/605914/180 "2011-12-14T21:27:26Z")
I think most people gain weight through calorie creep. They didn’t always eat 3000 calories a day. Likely they ate normally at one point and then slowly upped their daily calorie count. If you can get to a good weight it’s not hard to maintain it. You just have to fight the calorie creep. One thing about losing weight–it is much easier if you combine it with exercise. If you just try to lose weight through diet alone, your body will complain when it has to go to your fat stores. It will make you feel hungry, sluggish and grumpy. Your body is a fat hoarder and will do anything it can to hang onto its fat. It panics when it has to burn fat for no good reason. However, if you are exercising your body doesn’t mind burning fat. It doesn’t complain. It doesn’t worry that it is starving to death. It just burns the fat for fuel. When you’re done working out, your body forgets it had that fat and doesn’t compel you to replace it. And after exercise it will ramp up your metabolism. It repairs any damage and makes sure your body is energetic for any upcoming activity. Diet alone will be a test of willpower over your hunger. Exercise alone will just take off a few pounds. But diet and exercise will produce consistent change to your weight over the long term. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-america/605914.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fat-america/605914.md?page=10)