Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I disagree with this. I know more than a few vegetarians and vegans that are obese. One dangerously so. Carbs are fattening. Being sedentary adds to the obesity epidemic.
I agree with you. It is easy to be a vegetarian and be fat. Skipping the burger at McDonalds and just eating a couple of bags of fries, you will get fat.
I think most associate being a vegetarian with being a healthy eater, but they are not inherently one and the same.
I'd say it's explanation enough that no one does actual "work" anymore, but people sit around staring at a screen, combined with flavor-enhanced, highly caloric food being readily available around the clock. No more complicated explanation needed.
If it were just that, then looking at pictures from the 50's, 60's, 70's, accountants and secretaries and telephone operators would be obese, but it is not the case, there was much less obesity then regardless of occupation.
Look at a picture of a beach from the 60's, and one from the same beach today. People didn't primarily have active occupations then anymore than now.
I agree...a lot has to do with our food and its additives, and high fructose corn syrup, plus the explosion in growth in fast foods (pizza is now many Americans favorite food!) and high calorie snacks.
We're being super-sized...portions are way out of control....and we are eating them!
At least we're keeping the cardiologists and the statin manufacturers happy and wealthy..
I agree with you. It is easy to be a vegetarian and be fat. Skipping the burger at McDonalds and just eating a couple of bags of fries, you will get fat.
I think most associate being a vegetarian with being a healthy eater, but they are not inherently one and the same.
I had a former boss, who was a really great boss, and she was a vegetarian for over 10 years, I believe, and definitely overweight.
Someone pointed out, like you mentioned, you can be a vegetarian and still eat a ton of fried/greasy food and junk food/candy (i.e. french fries, pizza, calzones, potato chips, cheese balls, candy bars, ice cream, etc.).
I'm younger than you and your husband, but in the 60s I remember my mother acting like your husband's parents. She'd say "There are starving children in Biafra, finish everything on your plate". The funny thing was, she wasn't overweight (5' 6" and fluctuated between 107-130 during the part of her life after she had me until she passed away) and she drove a number of people crazy with her slow eating (which she wisely knew was a good habit).
"Finish everything on your plate" is a remnant from the days when people sat down at tables with their families three times a day for meals of healthy real food and THAT WAS ALL THEY ATE ALL DAY (the rest of the day they were engaged in physical labor or play). Now I can confidently say that most people I know don't eat meals at tables with family, but just eat constantly; again, usually while driving or riding in a car going somewhere or while mindlessly staring at a screen of some sort. "Big" difference!
"Finish everything on your plate" is a remnant from the days when people sat down at tables with their families three times a day for meals of healthy real food and THAT WAS ALL THEY ATE ALL DAY (the rest of the day they were engaged in physical labor or play). Now I can confidently say that most people I know don't eat meals at tables with family, but just eat constantly; again, usually while driving or riding in a car going somewhere or while mindlessly staring at a screen of some sort. "Big" difference!
Yes. ALL parents said that back in the day. Wasting food was a no-no. I do think you're right though. I think we eat much more when we are sitting in front of TV than then we sat at a dinner table.
Again, this ain't rocket science folks. It ain't type of food, it's how MUCH of food.
And believe me, child, we as a society continue to bury our heads in the sand and deny it's about the total calories, and think cutting out certain foods or exercising more is the answer.
I'm seeing a lot of "reasons" given for obesity here, but the real reason is simply that people like eating. It's fun, and it tastes good. You can blame whatever/whoever you want, such as food manufacturers, buffets, sedentary jobs, driving more and walking less, eating while watching TV, etc., but if you put all that food in your mouth, it's your fault and yours alone. People don't want to think about the consequence of bad food choices; they simply want to eat whatever they want.
Self-discipline and thinking are the cures to obesity, and that's too much to ask for many people.
"People didn't primarily have active occupations then anymore than now."
But look at all the labor-saving devices we have now that we didn't have then. I remember my mother, a homemaker, never sitting down all day just to keep the house running!
Why is it when we see skinny people who eat a lot and poorly we say they must have a fast metabolism, see a person who is heavy and dieting, they are doing it wrong, cheating or just not trying?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.