Fat Acceptance (recipes, salt, to the gym, nutrition)
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I agree that no one is making you eat all the food you are given, but there is something to this. My everyday dishes are a set that my parents bought in the 60s, and the space for food on the plates is tiny in comparison to the huge plates and bowls and mugs that a lot of people have that are made recently. If I make chili or soup, one ladle fills up one of my bowls, whereas in a newer set of dishes, you might need two or three or four ladles full to fill the bowl. The plate sizes are similar. If someone's not being mindful of portion sizes, they could be eating three times as much food as is healthy.
OH MY GOSH!!! I was just going to say this as it was just on the news a minute ago. The health reporter said that this is part of the reason why we are getting bigge; our plates are bigger as are our glasses! He just said that a 12" plate compared to the old 10" one, lets us eat 23% more food per setting as we in America tend to "eat" using our eyes, more so than our stomachs!
We knew what "supersizing " has done, but this is something that more people need to look at, perhaps.
I know, when I go out to eat, the first thing I ask for is a doggie bag, and I cut the food in half and put that in the doggie bag...for me, not the dog, for lunch the next day...but probably other people don't do that...
If someone's not being mindful of portion sizes, they could be eating three times as much food as is healthy.
If they are unhealthy or overweight, then it is their responsibility to be mindful of portion sizes. It isn't a restaurant's job to decide which of their customers needs to cut back on their meals.
I agree that portions have become larger, but my point is that this shouldn't be a surprise to any adult of even modest intelligence. We all KNOW portion sizes have become larger. And therefore, we can't use that as an excuse to overeat. We can't say "oh - I didn't realize I was eating 4 pounds of food at Outback Steakhouse today, and that eating that much food at least three times per week, every week, for the past 10 years, might have contributed to my current state of blubber and ill health."
We KNOW that portion size is huge these days. And we KNOW that we, as a general population, are experiencing weight issues. We have no excuse to eat enormous portions. That's why all these restaurants have to-go boxes and lovely extra-thick paper bags with plastic handles and their logo plastered on the front. They -expect- you to not be able to eat it all in one sitting.
If you pig out at the diner, you have no one to blame for your weight problem but yourself, for choosing to pig out. Unless you're a kid. Then, you can blame your parents for a) letting you pig out and b) not explaining that it's a stupid thing to do.
Here is the excuse I hear a lot in reference to being ignorant to proper portions:
"Jane eats the same and she is thin as a rail. Must be my metabolism."
Totally ignoring the fact that jane may of only had light meals earlier that day and also did a workout.
I thought the metabolism thing was true because its what all the fat family members said. And then I got curious and found out its BS. Its not the metabolism. Its the balance of intake/output or lack of it.
Their metabolisms and mine were just fine.
We KNOW that portion size is huge these days. And we KNOW that we, as a general population, are experiencing weight issues. We have no excuse to eat enormous portions. That's why all these restaurants have to-go boxes and lovely extra-thick paper bags with plastic handles and their logo plastered on the front. They -expect- you to not be able to eat it all in one sitting.
If you pig out at the diner, you have no one to blame for your weight problem but yourself, for choosing to pig out. Unless you're a kid. Then, you can blame your parents for a) letting you pig out and b) not explaining that it's a stupid thing to do.
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Weight Watchers suggests that at the beginning of a restaurant meal you measure out what you are going to eat, and put aside the rest. They also tend to suggest avoiding buffets - and if you MUST go to a buffet, fill up on salad at the begining.
WW accepts that humans are weak, and that temptation is real, and helps you find strategies to deal with it. Food is tasty, and its normal to eat whats in front of you, and lots of people can't tell when they are sated.
If WW spent time talking about people having no excuses and who is to blame, I expect they would not be as successful as they are.
Weight loss is not all that easy - and lots of things in our society make it harder. Difficult, but doable. Thats my philosophy. Not "you have no excuse, you pig". Thats not only unfair, its not effective.
If they are unhealthy or overweight, then it is their responsibility to be mindful of portion sizes. It isn't a restaurant's job to decide which of their customers needs to cut back on their meals.
Its a restaurant execs job to make money for shareholders, even if that means making portinon sizes bigger than are healthy for 99% of their customers, and pushing those in their advertising, and in the point of sale approach. Its our job as activists for health, to push back against that, including shaming the largest, most successful chains into changing their behavior, including by making protest documentaries, etc.
Being addicted to deference to the corporate status quo is no excuse
Here is the excuse I hear a lot in reference to being ignorant to proper portions:
"Jane eats the same and she is thin as a rail. Must be my metabolism."
Totally ignoring the fact that jane may of only had light meals earlier that day and also did a workout.
I thought the metabolism thing was true because its what all the fat family members said. And then I got curious and found out its BS. Its not the metabolism. Its the balance of intake/output or lack of it.
Their metabolisms and mine were just fine.
No, it's genetic. I know people who do not work out, eat all kinds of crap and are still slender.
Its a restaurant execs job to make money for shareholders, even if that means making portinon sizes bigger than are healthy for 99% of their customers, and pushing those in their advertising, and in the point of sale approach. Its our job as activists for health, to push back against that, including shaming the largest, most successful chains into changing their behavior, including by making protest documentaries, etc.
Being addicted to deference to the corporate status quo is no excuse
A counterpoint is that those of us who seem to have no problem with our weight, going to the same restaurants and grocery stores as everyone else, could chose to shame those who have no willpower, make no attempt to burn calories, or simply say "no."
Fat acceptance is unacceptable to me. Except for the very few people who have a physiological problem, maintaining a healthy weight is not difficult. Don't eat too much, and exercise a little bit. One non-diet Coke each weekday is worth about 11 lbs per year. Add a candy bar, another 11 lbs. It just isn't that hard to avoid gaining 22 lbs per year.
No, it's genetic. I know people who do not work out, eat all kinds of crap and are still slender.
That's a bit of an over generalization. While some people (very, very few) have those great genetics, the more likely culprit is the fat person vastly UNDERESTIMATING the amount they eat. That phenomenon has actually been witnessed in several scientific studies.
That's a bit of an over generalization. While some people (very, very few) have those great genetics, the more likely culprit is the fat person vastly UNDERESTIMATING the amount they eat. That phenomenon has actually been witnessed in several scientific studies.
Agreed. Know a person, very much overweight, who will eat her meal which always includes homemade bread of some type. As she cleans up the table, she finishes what her children didn't eat. She scrapes the last of the mashed potatoes out of the bowl - and eats that. Oops, there's a biscuit/roll/breadstick left. Must finish that. (It needs butter). Dishes are done now, let's have coffee and a piece of cake.
She whines that she "doesn't eat that much - just had a normal dinner". Totally excludes the dab of this and the smidge of that which in reality are the culprits. I often wonder if she knows how much she eats and just doesn't admit it or if she really doesn't think those extras count.
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