Why we're so fat

In My Humble Opinion
1

In the course of the past forty-odd years, Americans have gotten a lot of advice about how to lose weight and eat healthier. First we needed to reduce fat, then cholesterol, then saturated fat, then sodium, then carbs, and now trans fats. Yet despite all this, the number of ballooning Americans is still ballooning.

Here’s what I think the problem is. All the advice that we get is good advice when it’s given, but quickly becomes bad advice because the food companies respond to it.

For example, let’s take the advice to reduce fat. Back in the 60’s and earlier, reducing fat was a good idea. That’s because most of the available low-fat food, such as fruits, vegetables, fish, and whole grains, was actually healthy. And most of the available high-fast food, such as red meat, eggs, and cheese, was actually unhealthy.

But once the word went out that people should reduce their fat intake, the food companies responded by churning out junk food that was “low fat”. The low fat junk food wasn’t actually healthier than the original versions of the same products, so now it was possible to eat a low fat diet that was unhealthy. Unfortunately, dietary advice never really changed to reflect that fact.

And the same process repeated for everything else. The food companies made junk food that was low cholesterol, low sodium, low sugar, and so forth. But none of these products were healthy. They were merely piggy-backing on the public perception of low cholesterol, low sodium, low sugar products as healthy.

2

It’s fairly easy for an individual to eat healthily. It’s very difficult for a large population to do so.

Take milk. I can choose to eat a low fat yogurt and drink skim milk. BUT. Those cows are making the same product. The fat from my milk is going to go somewhere. Dairy factories want to make a profit, so that milk fat is made into American Cheese, or sold to make milkshakes and ice cream richer and more creamy.

3

I’m curious why you think that red meat, eggs, and cheese are inherently unhealthy.

4

I thought this thread would be about the website http://thisiswhyyourefat.com/ :slight_smile:

Being more serious, I don’t really blame fast food or low fat cookies for the obesity epidemic.
Some people do suffer because of the confusing information out there on diet - especially since there are so many gimmicky diet plans out there that promote wildly different ways of eating. However, I think most people know that it would be better for them to eat veggies than a big mac. It’s just hard to put that knowledge into action.

I know quite a few people actually who have successfully lost weight over the short term.
The problem is that I know very few who can actually keep the lost weight off. That’s where the problem is for many folks. As time goes by, most who lose weight regain the lost weight, plus often a little extra. That is so discouraging and can make it really hard to want to even try to lose it again.
Plus our bodies are programmed to enjoy food, so we’re working against our nature by trying to limit our food intake. Even if you can manage a diet in the short term, it’s hard to fight your nature forever. Exercise is often inconvenient in modern society and it takes a commitment to work it into your schedule (I believe the one best thing that could combat obesity in our culture would be to redesign cities to be more friendly to activities like walking and biking).
Add into that that some people are genetically more prone to obesity than others are (going by some twin studies that have been done on the subject), plus the fact that some people have emotional or psychological reasons for overeating (I have heard of women who have been sexually abused purposely gaining weight because they do not want to deal with sexual attention).

If any companies deserve blame for obesity, I think it’s the shady companies that try to promote the idea that there is some simple answer to weight loss in the form of the aforementioned gimmicky diet plan or a weight loss pill.

5

Slightly OT, but it should be stated that there are one to three reasons a fat person is fat:

  1. They eat too much and/or
  2. they eat the wrong kinds of food and/or
  3. they don’t expend enough energy during the day.

By far, #1 is the most important variable. If a person eats less they will lose weight.

It’s so simple. Yet your typical fat person will claim eating less doesn’t work for them, or they have some kind of “disease” that prevents them from losing weight. In other words, they are in denial on why they’re fat.

6

Technically speaking, the answer is extremely simple. (See my post above.) The challenge is having enough self discipline to overcome urges - that’s difficult, obviously. Weight loss is more of a mental challenge than a physical challenge.

7

Have you read “In Defense of Food”? Talks a lot about the subject of you OP, and I’m convinced you’re largely right. Since reading it a few weeks ago, I’ve cut all processed foods and low fat foods out of my diet, and have lost 7lbs. It’s a great book, I really recommend it.

8

That’s not necessarily true, it is possible to gain weight because you eat too little (with a little bit of #3 thrown in), which is my problem. I maybe have a bowl of cereal a day, maybe some cheese if I’m really hungry, because of this my body is convinced I’m in a famine or something and is storing the energy up because it’s afraid I’m going to starve (at least, that’s how my doctor explained it to me).

9

Perhaps.

My post was not meant to be absolute; there are some extraordinary circumstances that are exceptions. There are some very rare diseases, for example, that cause a person to want to eat non-stop. My post was addressing the 99% of fat people, not 100%. I should have made that clear.

10

In March 2004, I weighed 215 pounds.

In June 2004, I weighed 178. (I’m a guy and I stand 5’11" tall.)

I’ve fluctuated as high as 190 (broken scale, honest!) but generally stay around 180-185. I’d like to see my college weight, 165.

How did I do it? Generally, if someone can make the food, I don’t eat it. No one can make a chicken leg, an apple, grapes. People make breads, chips, cookies, low-fat snacks. Also, exercise, lots of hard exercise and physical activity.

I learned that feeling hungry is not the end of the world. I learned that I’m not going to feel my blood sugar drop to unhealthy levels if I skip a meal. (I am not a doctor, of course.)

But avoid the “food industry” all together and you’ll do fine. I also solved my allergic rhinitis at the same time. (I can’t believe bad food was making me sneeze!) I am a little less rigid about all this now, but the framework of my dietary plan (not diet) is real foods.

But I was standing in front of the snack machine just before reading this and wondering “How can people eat this stuff?” Ack! And as a corollary, I’d say turn off the TV, or at least mute the food commercials. (Most of television is sponsored by food companies.)

Sorry if this is a hijack. But I still stand in awe of how much my life has changed and want to share my story as often as possible.

JK

11

What you’ve said sounds truthy. My (moderately-toned) gut tells me its true. But is it actually true?

I’m no nutritionist, but I know that by far the largest determiner of how much of your consumed food becomes fat is your metabolic rate. I also know that metabolism is related to quantity and type of food you intake. So it seems entirely possible to eat fewer calories but store more fat without substantially changing the kind of food you eat or your exercise regime. Indeed, since there are many factors that affect metabolism, including hormone levels (estrogen, isulin, etc.) some of which are themselves connected to diet, this scenario seems like it could happen under many different circumstances.

Is that wrong? Do you have a cite for your claim? Of course reducing calories and getting more exercise forms the core of any weight loss program, but the absolute notion that “if a person eats less they will lose weight” just seems like more nutrition “common sense” flying in the face of nutrition science.

12

We’re fat because on average we eat too much and do too little. The media scaring parents into not letting little Johnnie and Suzy play out doors so the kidnappers don’t get them and HFCS being in every damn thing don’t help, but we really do tend to consume too many calories and expend too few.

13

I thought it goes more like this, “if a person eats less calories than they burn they will lose weight.”

Simply eating less alone will not help if you don’t know what you’re burning. If burning 2500 a day, and you previously ate 3200 a day… and say you’re now eating less, but still consume 2600 a day, you’re not going to lose weight.

(don’t take my numbers alone seriously, they were an example)

That’s why I’m curious of Jragon situation. Is Jragon saying that he/she consumes less calories than what he/she burns and still gains weight? If that is the case, what is the body taking and converting into fat cells for that to happen?

14

Of course. I was quoting Crafter_Man.

As you’ve stated it, the proposition follows from simple thermodynamics, right? But the complications are all in that word “burning.” How many calories are burned is much more complicated than just the quantity of exercise. As I noted above, basal metabolism account for the vast majority of calories burned and it is largely independent of exercise. The simple assertion of “eat less, exercise more” is basically sound advice, but it belies the complexity of the matter. And it cannot be asserted that the question is just less food and more exercise.

[I had an overwhelming urge to change “but” to “butt” and “belies” to “bellies,” but I have resisted. You’re welcome.]

15

Only about 5% of people who succeed in losing weight are also successful in keeping it off over a period of time.

Actually, it’s a combination of factors. Studies have been shown, for instance, that it’s very difficult for normally thin people to gain weight and keep it on. The body has a set point, and it doesn’t like to stray from that set point. Various things can affect this set point, and we’re still discovering new triggers. For instance, not getting enough sleep can cause weight gain.

Not getting enough sleep will cause the hormone that tells the body it’s had enough food to fall, and the hormone that triggers hunger to rise.

I know that I lost over 100 pounds, not primarily by diet and exercise*, but mostly because I switched from one medication to another. I doubt that I’ll ever get down to 120 again, but I am still dropping weight.

I used to need steroid shots regularly, too, and now that I don’t, I don’t have the feeding frenzies associated with them.

*I did feel enough better after switching my medication that I was able to control my diet a little better, and felt like exercising a bit more.

16

Presenting the Caveman diet. :smiley:

But Lynn has a good point. Until I was 29, I simply could not gain weight. I ate fattily - sometimes a pack of Mars Bars a day - didn’t exercise much, but I remained unhealthily thin.

17

We–those who are fat, anyway–are fat because of the notion you unintentionally articulate here so eloquently: "It’s not my fault."

In the case at hand, my obesity must be the fault of my genes/drugs/society…whatever.

If you are fat, you are fat because you eat more calories than you need.

It is quite true that various external factors make it easy to overeat, including the over-abundance of high-calorie poorly-nutritious foods. It is quite true that for some, staying slim is easier than it is for others. Nevertheless, over-eating is a personal choice, and no one on the planet would be fat without over-eating.

Here’s the best advice you will ever need for this–and many other–problems that you encounter: It is your fault. It is not someone else’s fault.

18

Have trans fats actually been implicated in obesity? All I have heard about them is that they are bad for heart health.

But their was not as much obesity in the 60s despite the fact that people ate a lot of red meat, eggs, and cheese.

What puzzles me about the rocketing obesity rates are that fast or junk food was widely consumed sine the 1970s. But the obesity paroblem only seems to have become serioud in the 90s.

19

Bingo.

I was once very overweight. About 15 years ago I decided to lose enough weight to be considered “fit.” I have kept the weight off.

Many people over the years have asked me for advice on how to permanently lose weight. After telling them, I invariably get the song-and-dance on how it’s not their fault they’re fat. I then say to them, “I can tell you right now that you will never lose weight. The first step in losing weight it to admit it is entirely your fault. If you’re incapable of doing that, it would be best for you to not even try to lose weight, since failure is assured.”

20

Crafter Man, I appreciate your experience, and yes, on an individual level, you have a point. However, individual fault isn’t the beginning and end of the causes of obesity. Clearly, if that were so, then obesity would be the same percentage over history (the number of people with poor will-power). As that’s not the case, there are causes why the population today has higher tendency towards obesity. Such factors include: many more jobs requiring sedentary activity levels during the workday, free availability of high-fat and high-carb foods, processed foods creating an abnormally (compared to natural foodstuffs) high amount of sweet and sugary foods, and so on.

Lack of knowledge is also a real problem. Jragon described a real problem which is that people will starve themselves and ultimately fail to lose weight. This is because of advice that starts and ends with “eat less”; the body compensates. The human body is more complicated than calories in, calories out; human metabolism fluctuates based on what you eat, when, how much muscle you have, your genetics, and so on. When you put such an individual in a system where the tendency is to gain weight based on available foods and lack of exercise, of course a person is more likely to gain weight.

This doesn’t mean an individual can’t lose weight! It simply means that an individual is more likely to be overweight in aggregate when the above factors occur, which is what the OP was asking about. An individual CAN lose weight in nearly any environment with willpower, but that does not mean that we cannot alter factors in society at large to encourage or discourage weight loss if we are so inclined.

Think of it like smoking: any individual CAN quit if they want to. However, the number of people who smoke is heavily influenced by factors like the cultural acceptance of cigarettes, available knowledge of health risks to smoking, and even the cost of cigarettes. Surely you don’t think that the number of people smoking today hasn’t been heavily influenced by factors outside willpower?

It always saddens me that nearly every discussion about the causes of obesity devolves into “people just need to eat less”. We can do things, as a society, to help people lose weight. Perhaps in order to have significant numbers of people losing large amounts of weight and keeping it off, we’ll need medical assistance as well as just education. That doesn’t mean there aren’t exceptions, or that an individual with enough willpower can’t overcome a disadvantage, but for example but there are known medical reasons why it’s harder to be thin if you’ve already been overweight (fat cells in the body don’t disappear, just shrink).