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It's very simply too much food (whether that's because of cheap food or fast food or larger portion sizes) plus too little movement (whether that's because of cars or technology or labor-saving devices). It's always just the two basic elements, usually combined.
Yup. Problem is America is now addicted to this food, and it’s going to cost taxpayers a crap load of money in healthcare costs.
Welcome to America: we rather eat ourselves to death than go to the gym.
If I eat a very low-fat/high-carb diet, I can eat a lot and not get fat.
Ditto if I eat a very low-carb/high-fat diet.
The difference is I physically feel much better doing a very low-carb diet.
I actually feel terrible on both. Low fat makes me feel terrible health wise. My overall body feel blech! Low carb makes me feel terrible mentally, my brain chemistry goes sideways somehow and I'm off my rocker crazy (and the carb cravings are out of this world).
I moderate both - along the lines of IIFYM (if it fits your macros).
I actually feel terrible on both. Low fat makes me feel terrible health wise. My overall body feel blech! Low carb makes me feel terrible mentally, my brain chemistry goes sideways somehow and I'm off my rocker crazy (and the carb cravings are out of this world).
I moderate both - along the lines of IIFYM (if it fits your macros).
Thumbs up, wish that would work for me. My blood-sugar does a march upwards if I eat a moderate diet.
I put myself on an extreme low carb diet for about 18 months and dropped from 173lbs down to 127lbs. The last couple of weeks I reintroduced some additional carbs and I am back up to 133lbs over the last two weeks. Now everyone including my primary care physician had been saying that I got too skinny. According to my doctor my BMI was down to 19.6 and he didn't like that. Like you the higher carb intake makes me feel worse than the low carb diet. The last couple of weeks I have felt noticeably less energetic and less able to concentrate on things when compared to the time I was eating very little carbs.
For some people, including me, adding additional carbs to a very low-carb diet, makes them feel worse physically and mentally.
I came across an interesting article in Psychology Today, that brings up the idea that for some people moderation is the key, and for some, abstaining is the better strategy:
I'm firmly a moderator Abstaining just promotes bingeing for me, which is no bueno. The takeaway is the tailor your diet to your individual tendencies and run with that.
Low carb absolutely doesn't work for me and produces crap results activity wise. Maybe people who aren't active can rely on that, and I can see carb cycling, but I need fuel or I get diminishing returns. Low energy, can't lift a dang thing.
I came across an interesting article in Psychology Today, that brings up the idea that for some people moderation is the key, and for some, abstaining is the better strategy:
I for one can’t do moderation. If I have ice cream in my house, I’ll eat the whole thing. So I can’t buy it. I can buy water ice and eat it in moderation, so that’s what I do.
I think the overall mental health of Americans plays a role too. Many, many people overeat due to depression. We have almost all been soothed with a cookie when kids. Food is comfort, food is escape, food is all kinds of things aside from sustenance.
I for one can’t do moderation. If I have ice cream in my house, I’ll eat the whole thing. So I can’t buy it. I can buy water ice and eat it in moderation, so that’s what I do.
I think the overall mental health of Americans plays a role too. Many, many people overeat due to depression. We have almost all been soothed with a cookie when kids. Food is comfort, food is escape, food is all kinds of things aside from sustenance.
I agree; increasing levels of isolation, boredom, loneliness, lack of a sense of purpose and uselessness (no one really has to work anymore except at a paid job, and many not even that) lead to overeating as a form of, if nothing else, entertainment. And, again, it's not like the old days when you had to spend half the day preparing whatever it was you were going to eat unless it was an apple.
Not everyone was meant to be slim, plain and simple.
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Abstaining just promotes bingeing for me, which is no bueno. The takeaway is the tailor your diet to your individual tendencies and run with that.
