Why are there more overweight people today when we now have so much more knowledge about how to control over-eating, weight gain, etc. than, for example, in the 1970’s? I cannot recall one person in my classes that was overweight in the 1970’s. Also, looking at pictures from many, many years ago, the people were not overweight. I do realize though, they did a lot of hard work outside. In addition, we now have so many gyms, and there is an abundance of exercise equipment for us now, one would think that most folks would be slimmer. I realize some people are in great shape, but not all of us. My personal opinion is that having some fat (preferably good fats) satiates us, so that we do not have the desire to continue eating. Is it possible the no-fat craze was making us eat more?
Short Answer: Eating too much and exercising too little.
Most people are too busy/lazy/poor to go to a gym and even though walking briskly for 45 mins a day would burn a fair amount of calories, most people would rather sit and watch TV.
And don’t forget portion sizes. Go to any other country in the world and the first thing you will notice is how small their portion sizes are compared to the US…
There are a number of hypotheses including:
Increases in portion sizes
Increases in the amount of sugar and fat in everyday foods
Decreases in daily activity (esp. for kids)
More “irregular” eating–more snacks, fewer home-cooked meals
Walking 45 minutes a day is a great idea, but it doesn’t really burn a huge amount of calories. “Eating too much” is the answer. The wide availability and cheapness of high-calorie foods, and training yourself to get used to massive portions, is the primary culprit.
We also gave up smoking, which was horrible for us in many ways but also an appetite suppressant.
One guy claims it’s modern wheat. Of course, there is disagreement about this, and some inconsistency in his doctrine.
Food is very cheap in the contemporary United States. Modern Americans spend much less of their overall income on food than they did in the past or than what people in other countries spend.
http://visualeconomics.creditloan.com/100-years-of-consumer-spending/
Lots of food, a surplus for most Americans.
The American “fast food” diet, the only “diet” that Michael Pollan sez is bad for you, a diet targeted at your fat/salt/sugar natural cravings while at the same time not satiating you so that you eat more.
Altho “eating too much” is thus correct, it’s too simplistic. Why are we eating too much now? Fast food. For example- when I was a kid, a soda was 7oz or maybe 12. My Mother said “don’t drink soda before dinner as it will ruin your appetite”, and she was right. Sugar does do that, it satiates you. But HFCS has a much lower satiety factor, thus 64oz Super-Big Gulps, and you still have an appetite for a Double-bacon cheeseburger with large fries.
Snacking. Most snacks are very bad for you.
A more sedentary lifestyle.
I think a significant factor is the shift from manual/physical labor to desk-bound jobs. Most (living wage) jobs today involve minimal exercise, but we’re still eating as much or more as we did when we were exercising all day long at the job.
Pretty much what everybody else said, however I would like to throw a caveat out there. A lot of people simply don’t have the will power to make the changes necessary. I know this doesn’t count for everyone as conditions like Diabetes, Hyperthyroidism, etc… can make it much more difficult, but for the most part people can change if they like too.
This guy is a true inspiration. I followed his meal plans and lost 15 pounds with ease.
Supposedly most people haven’t gained much weight, maybe 10-15 pounds but people on the more extreme ends of obesity have seen their weight increase drastically.
Potential causes:
The food reward hypothesis. Our bodies use signals from the food we eat (intensity of flavor, ease of digestion, complexity of flavor, etc) to determine how easy food is to get. The easier food is to get, the higher the bodyweight set point goes because the body determines now is the time to pack on weight to prepare for famine (which never comes in today’s society). So the entire food industry has been moving towards foods that make us obese by triggering this system (inadvertently, they were just trying to capitalize on food reward without understanding the ties to obesity).
Also various environmental toxins could play a role. However obesity is catching on in almost every developed or developing country. There are far stricter environmental laws in many western european wealthy countries but obesity rates are roughly the same in many of them.
I think the biggest problem with HFCS is just that it’s so cheap. It’s not all that different from any other form of sugar, but because it’s cheap, it gets put into absolutely everything.
Yeah, I doubt people were going to the gym every day in the '60s and '70s. besides, exercise doesn’t burn that many calories. It has other health benefits, but expecting weight loss because you go to the gym for 1/2 hour is setting yourself up for disappointment.
I dislike the whole demonization of “fast food” as the cause of obesity. I realize it gives idiots in San Francisco a nicely packaged “evil corporation” to take out their “activist rage” on, but it’s not like the garbage in the frozen food aisles of the supermarket is any better. Probably worse, even.
the problem is, we don’t like it. Losing weight is not pleasant, because it’s not supposed to be. We’re built to be able to store energy in times of plenty so we can survive times of famine. Problem is, in our corner of the world, times of famine are almost unknown.
losing weight sucks. Starting a couple of years ago, I lost 38 lbs. So far, I’ve maintained that. You know how I did it? I ate drastically less than I was eating before. It was unpleasant, to say the least. constant hunger and irritability from the same. If your body’s drawing from its energy reserves, that means it knows it’s not getting enough to eat, and it makes damn well sure it lets you know about it.
That guy is trying to sell you things. Don’t hold him up as some sort of shining beacon of truth.
A little bit of anecdotal information regarding portion size: When I was a teen, the standard McDonalds meal was a single hamburger, a small fries and a small (I think it was even 8oz) coke. People ate that, and were happy with it as a meal.
Two reasons:
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Food is cheaper than ever before.
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Food is more available than ever before.
I lost about the same 4 years ago (actually a little more) and kept it off. I didn’t even find it that difficult. There was one factor that made it possible however that most people are not willing to do. I changed my entire diet permanently all at once based on what I knew about nutrition at the time and modified that over time. I got rid of everything that might be a contributor and replaced it with a known safe alternative. Some of it was easy to figure out. That meant no sodas with meals (replaced with water or unsweetened iced tea), no desserts, and massive portions of vegetables usually heavily spiced and sauteed in small amounts of olive oil and heavily spiced. Daily meat is usually boneless, skinless chicken breasts or fish cooked in a spicy sauce. I will still eat anything very occasionally but you adapt quickly to your new diet and lose your taste for the old one.
There are plenty of variations on the same idea that will work but the basic idea is to abandon your current diet almost completely if you are overweight because you know for a fact that isn’t working and replace it completely with a known good diet that work for millions of people around the world. The problem with dieting is that temporary or incremental changes will only bring the equivalent results.
You had to switch to a new diet permanently and stick with it. That doesn’t mean you need to starve yourself however. You can stuff yourself with vegetables all day long if you don’t cook them in heavy oils or add calorie laden dressings and never feel truly hungry. Spices won’t cause you to gain weight and can add just as much flavor.
Your body is like a bank account when it comes to energy storage except the problem most people have is too many deposits rather than enough withdrawals. Every little thing you eat has to be burned off or you will gain weight and modern living has made that difficult especially with the typical American style diet. You can beat that easily by looking at the cookbooks that people like your great-grandparents used and follow their eating pattern. The genes haven’t changed since then. You can be even healthier than they even hoped of being by following something like a modern Mediterranean diet or one of the variants.
The most important part isn’t exactly what the specific diet is. The critical part is that you stop eating the calorie dense foods that that are making you overweight and switch them to something that is nutritionally sound and lets you burn off those past balances while not making you too uncomfortable in the process.
so did I. I’m glad you didn’t find it that difficult, but throughout I felt like shit. In fact, I still do; even being ~11 lbs over my “target” weight according to BMI and I’m still flabby and doughy. and that’s why people don’t lose weight. If you’re going to say “all it takes is willpower,” then it’s doomed to fail. if a person is to endure a hardship, there had better be one hell of a reward waiting for them at the end. I honestly don’t feel any different at 146 lbs than I did at 184. I guess I perceive less animosity towards me from shithead kids because I’m a bit less of a fat ass, but I don’t feel any different about myself. Being in better physical shape hasn’t improved my self image.
Some people say:
“Big bones!”
“Genetics!”
“My hypothighroidism!”
“My (self-inflicted type-2) diabeetus!”
“Big Agriculture! Frankenwheat! Monsanto! Fluoridation! It’s a conspiracy!”
“Fat? These are mah curves! Health at er’ry size, bones are for dogs, y’all!”
“I’ve tried everything! Look at all these diet books and exercise machines! Oh, I’m supposed to actually stick with it? Opps, teehee!”
Others say:
“Consuming more calories than your body uses.”
Decide for yourself which is correct.
Technology.
We are a far more sedentary society today. Just about everyone has a car, and everyone drives or rides everywhere. When I was a kid, I walked a few blocks to grade school, and then walked a few blocks to the bus stop for middle school. I also walked to the grocery store to pick up odds and ends that my mother needed for dinner. So just during the normal course of my daily life, I was walking or trotting a couple of miles a week. I was also walking or biking to my friend’s houses…and most kids my age were allowed to go much greater distances than I was. My husband, who was raised in the same city, was pretty much allowed to run wherever he wanted to, as long as he got home when the streetlights came on. Today, kids have playdates, and get driven wherever they need to go. We’re afraid to turn them loose by themselves, though some parents seem to think it’s OK to let kids do whatever they want if the kids are in eyesight. But that’s a subject for the Pit.
Adults also are a lot less physically active. When I was a young adult, I hiked all over the college campus, usually covering several miles a day. I had to, if I moved my car then I lost that parking spot! Later still, I’d walk down to the minimart or laundromat, and carry a baby and a load of groceries or a load of laundry.
Cities today are usually not designed with the pedestrian or bicycle rider in mind, they’re only designed for cars and trucks. It’s downright dangerous to walk in some places, even as an adult, because there’s no sidewalk. And our recreations tend to be more sedentary, too. Just look at the market for home theaters and entertainment centers and home computers…
Serving sizes are much bigger. Snack chips come in bags that say “Serves two”, but very few people are going to read that label. Restaurant portions, unless the place is pretty high class, are going to be three or four times the recommended serving size. My husband and I usually split an entree when we go out. Maybe we’ll get an extra side dish. But we’re supposed to eat about 2-4 ounces of meat at dinner (depending on what we ate for lunch) and when have you ever seen a steak or chop that’s less than 6 ounces on a menu? Usually the smallest size is 8 ounces…which is as much meat as we’re supposed to eat all day! The restaurant portions are sized for a hungry, active, skinny teenage boy.
Then there’s the HFCS and oil that’s hidden in many foods. Sugar and fat are cheap, easy ways to add flavor to food without needing much knowledge of cooking. I like the flavor of sugar and fat, but I have to beware of it.