More than half of Ventura County is overweight/Obese (buy, costs)

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

Originally Posted by user_id

There is nothing problematic, in itself, about a 1,200 calorie meal. I eat meals with that many calories all the time...

Nothing with doing it once in a while unless you are burning off all that stuff. The big problem with the meal I mentioned is that it is mostly made up of high fats, lots of sugar, hardly any fiber. Another problem with what I mentioned is that you will be hungry soon and need to eat again. It is a lot of calories for the low food content. Try eating 1,200 calories of fruit and vegetables.

The real deal here is that I doubt you can find many fit and trim people drinking a 40+ ounce fountain drink, eating a candy bar, a bag of chips, and a burrito all in one sitting. I bet you could find plenty of heavy people that will eat a similar meal though. I also believe that you won't find a lot of heavy people that are eating 1,200 calories of fruits and vegetables in a day while forgoing the above kinds of foods.

[user_id]

Originally Posted by Radical347

I know of plenty of poor people that go to McDonalds or other fast food restaurants all the time because they're too lazy too cook.

Poor people, because well....they are poor, can't afford to go to fast food "all the time". The poverty level for a family of 4 is $22,000/year....

Now poor people are poor because they spend their money on fast-food, gee, all this time I thought poverty due to a lack of income and hence inability to consume goods/services considered standard....

[Radical347]

Originally Posted by user_id

Not missing any point, you are comparing apples to oranges. When you eat out you are paying for the food, labor and dining environment. If you made those "value meals" at home they would be dramatically cheaper.

And also less riddled with preservatives, additives, broken-apart fats (the oil used for deep frying), etc.

I'm not sure how healthy eating has anything to do with eating out or at home. There are plenty of healthy options when eating out, even McDonalds has them. And there is plenty of junk at grocery stores, indeed most of the store is filled with it.

If you can muster the willpower to cook at home, it's much easier to eat healthy for cheap. But many people are lazy and lack this willpower and would rather go through the drive-thru than spend about 30 minutes or less total slicing vegetables and steaming or stir-frying them -- this laziness is one reason why poverty & obesity go hand in hand.

If you require going out to eat, then most fast food is usually going to be cheaper than restaurants that serve real food; that being said, a) you pay for that down the road and b) nobody's entitled to go out to eat.

[Radical347]

Originally Posted by user_id

Now poor people are poor because they spend their money on fast-food, gee, all this time I thought poverty due to a lack of income and hence inability to consume goods/services considered standard....

Then I'm glad I could help you finally see the light.

[user_id]

Originally Posted by SOON2BNSURPRISE

The real deal here is that I doubt you can find many fit and trim people drinking a 40+ ounce fountain drink, eating a candy bar, a bag of chips, and a burrito all in one sitting. I bet you could find plenty of heavy people that will eat a similar meal though.

I'm sure you can find a lot of "fit and trim" people eating a meal like that, there is nothing particular problematic about the meal you mentioned. Its not that many calories and the primary problem is the lack of nutritional value, not the sugar and fat. There is nothing wrong with sugar and fat, indeed, if you ate 1,200 calories in fruits and vegetables the calorie content would be similar, namely sugar, fat and starch.

[user_id]

Originally Posted by Radical347

If you can muster the willpower to cook at home, it's much easier to eat healthy for cheap. But many people are lazy and lack this willpower and would rather go through the drive-thru than spend about 30 minutes or less total slicing vegetables and steaming or stir-frying them --

Cooking at home is cheaper than eating out regardless of the nature of the food you are making. One should compare apples-to-apples and eating healthy when eating out is just as easy as eating healthy at home. Eating healthy while eating out doesn't cost more, often less as you can often exclude meat.

You'd have to stream, etc a lot of vegetables to get enough calories to fill you up..... Of course you can always soak them in butter....yum.

Originally Posted by Radical347

this laziness is one reason why poverty & obesity go hand in hand.

Oh yes, laziness, the poor are all lazy that is why they are fat! Nevermind that the correlation only exists for women and children.....and that the middle-class has a huge obesity problem as well.

[Radical347]

"Calories" are not the only thing that fills people up; in fact, sometimes you can eat many calories and not be filled up. Fiber fills people up and fruits and veggies are loaded with this.

Originally Posted by user_id

Oh yes, laziness, the poor are all lazy that is why they are fat! Nevermind that the correlation only exists for women and children.....and that the middle-class has a huge obesity problem as well.

It's not just women and children. That was based on one article.

I agree that the middle-class also has a huge obesity problem, and they suffer from many of the same issues the poor suffer from.

[user_id]

Originally Posted by Radical347

"Calories" are not the only thing that fills people up; in fact, sometimes you can eat many calories and not be filled up. Fiber fills people up and fruits and veggies are loaded with this.

I'm not talking about your stomach, rather your bodies energy needs and there calories are the only thing that matters. The vast majority of vegetables are are low calorie, they are not in themselves going to provide enough calories for your body unless you eat a rather large amount of them.

Originally Posted by Radical347

It's not just women and children. That was based on one article.

The article was citing research, free free to post some research that suggest otherwise.

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

Originally Posted by user_id

I'm sure you can find a lot of "fit and trim" people eating a meal like that, there is nothing particular problematic about the meal you mentioned. Its not that many calories and the primary problem is the lack of nutritional value, not the sugar and fat. There is nothing wrong with sugar and fat, indeed, if you ate 1,200 calories in fruits and vegetables the calorie content would be similar, namely sugar, fat and starch.

For me that would be a tad more than half of the calories I eat in a day. Could you post some evidence that shows a high fat, high sugar diet is not a bad thing. All the evidence that I see points just the opposite. I am willing to see some hard evidence though. I would bet that most people would love to have diets made up of sugars and fats.

As far as fit and trim people eating like that I don't see it. That much sugar would make my head explode. LOL

[user_id]

Originally Posted by SOON2BNSURPRISE

Could you post some evidence that shows a high fat, high sugar diet is not a bad thing. All the evidence that I see points just the opposite.

Firstly, I never suggested that "high fat, high sugar diet" is not bad, instead I suggested that eating 1,200 calories in fruits and vegetables is going to, in most cases, result in a lot of sugar intake just like the example you gave. Secondly, there is plenty of research that shows that fat (in particular saturated) isn't bad for you:

Higher-fat diets may be OK for the obese - Los Angeles Times

Sugar, or more generally simple carbs, in large numbers on the other hand can result in all sorts of problems. That is true whether its from fruit or a soda though which was my point....

Originally Posted by SOON2BNSURPRISE

I would bet that most people would love to have diets made up of sugars and fats.

On a calorie basis they already do, sugars and fats are the primary source of calories.