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because foods taste awesome,,,,, and most of the great tasting stuff ,,,,,,isn't very healthy..
If you eat healthy enough for a while, a lot of the bad foods you like now won't taste as good anymore. Your body will start to crave the nutritious, filling foods more.
If you eat healthy enough for a while, a lot of the bad foods you like now won't taste as good anymore. Your body will start to crave the nutritious, filling foods more.
I disagree. Tastes can change, sure, but I don't think it's a universal experience. If it were, people following healthy diets would never go back to eating less nutritious food.
I didn't even read MickeyDickey's statement as necessarily being about who a person chooses to be with. Rather, it was just who people happened to be around. Do your parents/grandparents/siblings exercise regularly? Did you grow up with a focus on unhealthy food? Are you someone who grew up liking/participating in sports, or not? Do the people that you happen to meet (parents group, after-work group, whatever) talk about their athletic pursuits? If you didn't grow up close to someone who is really into that, it's probably not an ingrained part of your life. A person who spends a lot of time working out or obsessing about their perfect clean diet seems extreme by comparison.
It is actually a very good point; the people we surround ourselves with do tend to influence our own choices and habits, whether it's in a positive or a negative way.
I didn't even read MickeyDickey's statement as necessarily being about who a person chooses to be with. Rather, it was just who people happened to be around. Do your parents/grandparents/siblings exercise regularly? Did you grow up with a focus on unhealthy food? Are you someone who grew up liking/participating in sports, or not? Do the people that you happen to meet (parents group, after-work group, whatever) talk about their athletic pursuits? If you didn't grow up close to someone who is really into that, it's probably not an ingrained part of your life. A person who spends a lot of time working out or obsessing about their perfect clean diet seems extreme by comparison.
This is what I was getting at. Most fit people and most overweight people segregate themselves. It's great for fit people, but for the overweight it's the blind leading the blind. If an overweight person wants fit friends she has to take the initiative. Most of them don't due to a lack of self-esteem and a busy schedule.
Getting fit isn't pleasurable. Eating, especially, pizza, tacos, etc., is pleasurable. It's very convenient to be unfit. It involves little effort and a lot of pleasure.
I think this is the crux of it.
But also, American society pretty much encourages the worst in human habits in almost every possible way.
--Comfort and security are valued over being tough (physically and mentally). Once unhealthy habits become the norm, they become socially acceptable and spread like a virus.
--Everything is set up to be car-centric, which totally puts the kibbosh on walking and cycling as practical forms of transportation.
--The default "quick" food choices when you want a snack at work are almost always soda and junk food. It's usually more difficult to eat healthy on the run and very easy to eat junk food on the run. When was the last time you saw fruit being sold in a vending machine?
--Long commutes also encourage both of the above.
I think the whole idea of working out as a separate activity is part of the problem. Exercise should be a practical thing. Walking or cycling to run errands should be the norm. That way you're killing two birds with one stone, so to speak. But low density, suburban sprawl development discourages this healthier way of doing things.
I am too lazy to work out so I just eat healthy.. look at me I am still skinny
People here are confusing being at a healthy weight and being fit. They are not the same thing. I am fit but not at a healthy weight. You are at a healthy weight but you are not fit. I'm not sure why people think they are the same.
I think confusing the two is a reason people fail at fitness. If a person is significantly overweight they can make fitness gains long before they get to a healthy weight. All the folks like those in this thread still view those people as 'failures'. That feeling of failure contributes to som people abandoning their fitness goals simply because they aren't at a healthy weight.
I started at 235. I currently weigh 185 which is still in the obese range for my height. I'm very fit. Yet many of you would see me as a total fitness fail simply because my weight is still too high. Be careful. Weight and fitness are not the same thing.
I worked in a personal training studio for 3 years. The reason most people fail is because they view exercise as a repair to their fat gain as opposed to a way of life. Thats it. Nothing else. They dont exercise, they get fat, then they exercise as an attempt to lose the fat, then get frustrated that they arent getting skinny fast enough, then give up. This cycle repeats over and over again.
I'm surprised that, in skimming these posts, there isn't mention of moderate, gradual changes in dietary and exercise habits. What I have seen many times is that people jump into an extreme change in their habits, find it difficult to keep up, and totally give up because they can't maintain that ideal extreme change. Often people join a club and jump head-first into the big changes, lose weight, and find it unsustainable. They then give up the whole thing and gain the weight back. It's not laziness, just an approach that doesn't work for most people. Good for that company's business model, though. People keep coming back for more! Moderate, gradual change can be an excellent start to building a healthy lifestyle. And if you fail one day, get back on the wagon tomorrow.
Ill be the first to admit that I hate working out and love eating what I want. I got to a point where I refused to buy bigger clothes so I only had one option and that was to workout and diet. The workout along with the diet I am currently doing has allowed me to lose 30 pounds. In the past I got to where I like the way I look and I stop cold turkey until I get to big for my liking again and do it all over again. This time however, I enjoy the workout I am doing and my day does not feel complete without it. Dieting however sucks, plain and simple. I like food and to eat light healthy meals just isn't my thing, its like torture. I am motivated though so I stick with it during the week and let loose on the weekends. My diet has changed slightly throughout the course of my initial routine as I figure I cant be on a diet my whole life but because I continue to workout and eat light and healthy I am able to maintain my weight. I love the way I look and how my clothes fit too so I am very motivated to stick with it. It is so much easier, faster, and cheaper to eat unhealthy but looking good for me is far more rewarding than how food tastes. If you aren't motivated though, your not going to continue to workout and diet.
How many fit people want to be friends with someone fat?
How many fat friends do you have? Can you be friends with them without judgment? Without trying to "fix" them?
People gravitate towards those like themselves. This is not news and is not worthy of the disdain that you seem to have.
Mochamajesty, please lets not turn this otherwise helpful and informational thread into a "fat people vs. fit people" fight. Your line of semi off-topic questioning could very well steer this thread so far off topic it could lead to closure. Thanks.
Some informative info has been shared here and hopefully some of these "pitfalls" or "obstacles" that are identified here could help those on a path to bettering themselves by formulating a gameplan to overcome those obstacles that they may face while on their journey.
Quote:
Originally Posted by scatteredthunder
I didn't even read MickeyDickey's statement as necessarily being about who a person chooses to be with. Rather, it was just who people happened to be around. Do your parents/grandparents/siblings exercise regularly? Did you grow up with a focus on unhealthy food? Are you someone who grew up liking/participating in sports, or not? Do the people that you happen to meet (parents group, after-work group, whatever) talk about their athletic pursuits? If you didn't grow up close to someone who is really into that, it's probably not an ingrained part of your life. A person who spends a lot of time working out or obsessing about their perfect clean diet seems extreme by comparison.
I see where you are going with this, but I think in today's world, where all of the world's info readily at our fingertips (on the internet), there really isnt any excuse to go with the "same ol same ol" or "Its our family's custom to eat.....". Plus, the thread title kinda already indicates that a person has chosen to start the effort to better/improve themselves by starting the process of "getting in shape".
I dont think any family has a "focus on unhealthy food", if so, the parents should be investigated for child abuse, but my family, we didnt necessarily eat "healthy" growing up. We didnt have dessert all the time and sweets/candy was usually frowned upon. My brothers and sisters all played organized sports from very young ages all the way through high school and college (I was the only one who didnt as I was more of a book worm but was quite skilled athletically).
Still, in my many years of experience, it really does come down to nutrition/diet. Have any of you taken a look at the facebook feed of your overweight friends? You really will find a lot of likes and shares of unhealthy food related things.
Again, getting back to MickyDickey's comment, and relating to my own personal experience over the years training people, those who are overweight really do seem to make conscious choice to avoid being around/making friends with those who are fit. Its takes conscious effort by those who are fit to make friends with non-fit people as the non-fit (in my experience) tend to almost prefer to be around others who share their physical state.
Last edited by Kings Gambit; 12-15-2015 at 12:00 PM..
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Your line of semi off-topic questioning could very well steer this thread so far off topic it could lead to closure. Thanks. 
