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People are obese due to our lifestyles... ever watch someone eat a big mac while driving through traffic? We are on the go all the time.. problem is.. we are on the go while sitting down in our cars and not getting any excercise. We work a lot of hours and therefore we do not cook for ourselves.. we let others cook for us.. and of course we demand that we get our monies worth when getting served so the plates are filled up to the brim.
I am thinking if we were to excercise more, cook our own food and cut down on the plate sizes a little.. we could all lose a little weight..
No one should be mean. We should all be respectful and caring.
But I'm not going to smile and act like an alcoholic or a drug addict or an obese person is living life right. I'm gonna say, "Dude! You're killing yourself and costing all the rest of us money!"
This isn't about judging someone or feeling high and mighty. This is about some seriously poor life choices that will lead to awful, costly problems and early death.
lack of self control imbedded in our culture. We eat too much, drink too much, exercise too little, and sit on our butts and watch too much TV (generalizations of course). You could point figures at parents, food makers, dining places, fast food, etc... but until the underlying culture changes, it's going to get worse
The point of THIS thread is not about meanness or being judgemental.
If "you" are happy being overweight....and many are....go for it.
Just don't blame the government, chemicals in the food or anything else.
A very small percentage have medical issues that keep one from losing, the rest simply eat more than they burn.
If I remember correctly, 3000 calories not used will add 1 pound.
GENERALLY speaking, a diet mainly constructed from fast and/or convenience foods will result in extra pounds, poorer health or both.
Lack of time,money,food additives, etc are excuses for obesity, not reasons.
Just don't expect to not be held responsible when 'you' give your children no choice and feed them the same way.
I hear your points and agree with them. I am more speaking of my right to have more healthy choices than unhealthy choices. Think about everything you go to the store to get - all of it (unless you buy 100% organic and even then you don't know) is added with chemicals. A portion of this is our own individual responsibility and there's a portion that we have no control over and maybe people's bodies react differently to different foods. Think about how differently one person reacts to one medication versus another. This is the same thing. Perhaps you stay skinny even though you eat a Big Mac b/c you have a high metabolism, perhaps I don't. Perhaps the chemicals give you cancer and perhaps I just become obese. The point is, WE DON'T KNOW. It's not blaming everything on everyone else, it's giving ourselves the best opportunity for healthy living....and I'm not just talking about fat.
I'm not saying it's THE problem, I'm saying we should make it easier to get our hands on healthy food, not the other way around. We should have that right as consumers. I cook healthy for my kids, so I have hopes that they will lead healthy lifestyles, but 1) I'm currently a SAHM and so have the time to do this and 2) even when I do pick broccoli, green beans, and skinless/boneless white chicken breast, all of it is likely filled with chemicals. Why must this be the case? Why is it default that my food will be filled with chemicals? If I'm feeding them healthy and keeping them from being obese, now I worry about chemicals that might cause cancer down the line.
I'm speaking of a right to healthy food (NO CHEMICALS) and not having to pay an arm and a leg to do it. Again, we are fortunate to have a nice salary and it would break our budget to buy all chemical free food (and again there's still no guarantee that it's all chemical free).
Shouldn't we all want our food to be as chemical free as possible? Why would anyone argue with that?
I hear your points and agree with them. I am more speaking of my right to have more healthy choices than unhealthy choices. Think about everything you go to the store to get - all of it (unless you buy 100% organic and even then you don't know) is added with chemicals.
You can't eat something that does not consist of chemicals. Every substance in the world, including your body, is some non-null set of chemicals.
What you need to pay attention to is what chemicals you're ingesting. Some are better to ingest than others. And some that have scary-sounding names on ingredients labels are fine to ingest. Things like "grapes" would have many scary-sounding chemical names if we listed the chemicals that comprise them.
I'm not sure I understand the chemical thing with every food in a store.
I shop regular supermarkets.
I choose broccoli and beets from the fresh food section rather than Bird's Eye Broccoli w/ cheese suace. A chicken rather than Purdue's frozen breaded chicken fingers.Plain applesauce rather than onion rings as a side dish.
If chemicals have been used in the raising of these things they haven't added one ounce of weight.
Organic food is a whole other subject.
I think the more processed a good is the less healthy for you it is. It's one of those not really tried and true things, but the more processed it is the less work your body has to do to get the calories out and the more vitamins and minerals get broken down (not that they have calories, but might help biological efficiency). It works for me a bit, might be on track but might not...never know.
However, one thing I do know is all those big portions and a sedentary lifestyle will bone you either way. People around me order the biggest thing on the menu, or close to, because they are hungry and stressed. Then sit for most of the day in a cube and work on a computer. After working such long hours and having a hideous commute, most go out to have the food now instead of spending an hour cooking a meal. Then the menu choices are are a burger (7.95) a salad (10.95 for mostly lettuce) or broiled salmon with rice (14.95)....the cheapest is the worse for you
Once you get past that part, then look at the chemicals. There are a number, but I think (just hypothetical proof) it's more related to other diseases (like cancers) then obesity.
I hear your points and agree with them. I am more speaking of my right to have more healthy choices than unhealthy choices. Think about everything you go to the store to get - all of it (unless you buy 100% organic and even then you don't know) is added with chemicals. A portion of this is our own individual responsibility and there's a portion that we have no control over and maybe people's bodies react differently to different foods. Think about how differently one person reacts to one medication versus another. This is the same thing. Perhaps you stay skinny even though you eat a Big Mac b/c you have a high metabolism, perhaps I don't. Perhaps the chemicals give you cancer and perhaps I just become obese. The point is, WE DON'T KNOW. It's not blaming everything on everyone else, it's giving ourselves the best opportunity for healthy living....and I'm not just talking about fat.
I'm not saying it's THE problem, I'm saying we should make it easier to get our hands on healthy food, not the other way around. We should have that right as consumers. I cook healthy for my kids, so I have hopes that they will lead healthy lifestyles, but 1) I'm currently a SAHM and so have the time to do this and 2) even when I do pick broccoli, green beans, and skinless/boneless white chicken breast, all of it is likely filled with chemicals. Why must this be the case? Why is it default that my food will be filled with chemicals? If I'm feeding them healthy and keeping them from being obese, now I worry about chemicals that might cause cancer down the line.
I'm speaking of a right to healthy food (NO CHEMICALS) and not having to pay an arm and a leg to do it. Again, we are fortunate to have a nice salary and it would break our budget to buy all chemical free food (and again there's still no guarantee that it's all chemical free).
Shouldn't we all want our food to be as chemical free as possible? Why would anyone argue with that?
Again, what chemicals are you talk'n about? I'm affraid that you have read something on the net and believe that farmers put chemicals in your food just to cause you harm. Is this what you think?
Do you want to bite into an apple to find a dead worm? Same w/any food. What chemical(s) in our food is causing so much alarm for you? How does it lead to obesity?
I think you all are missing the point of shoes4birds post when she talks about chemicals. She is talking about the pesticides that are sprayed on our FRESH VEGETABLES AND FRUIT to keep those nasty little critters from destroying half the crops. Take the boll weevil for example. Before the great and destructive discovery of pesticides, boll weevil's could decimate an entire season of cotton. But after pesticides were introduced, the severity of the destruction was greatly reduced.
It's the same with our foods that are supposedly fresh. Why do you suppose we don't see apples that look as if a juicy worm has eaten its share? Because of pesticides people! They spray pesticides to kill the bugs, but the bugs evolve and adapt to the pesticides so they keep on having to make stronger pesticides. Sure they wash the foods off when they are ready to be shipped, but this fruits and vegetables have been sprayed over a series of month's to keep these bugs from destroying crops. You do the science. There is no way one day of spraying can remove months off daily to weekly to monthly sprayings (depending on the crop).
So "fresh fruit" might not have all the preservatives and other additives that canned or other types might have, but it has the same if not more amount of pesticides in it to keep that freshness going around.
I think we get the point kb09, but what does it have to do with obesity?
" I'm saying we should make it easier to get our hands on healthy food, not the other way around. I'm saying we should make it easier to get our hands on healthy food, not the other way around. "
It's not all that difficult to get your hands on them. You just don't want to pay the cost .
You have any ideas how to provide organic foodstuff in large enough quantities and at comparable prices?
I'd appreciate hearing them.
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