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I will tell you because I already now. We have too much food.
Soy bean and grain production is industrialized not to feed people, but to feed cattle and produce a massive surplus in meat for people to eat every day.
Chocolate and sugary foods is mass produced. Mount Dew is worse than most drugs and yet its legal.
Unsaturated fat is applied to everything, portions are too big, and there is a massive advertisement industry to back it up. There is too much money to be made in the food business and there is to much money to be made in make people more sedentary.
Our military cannot even find new recruits.
Whats the answer? Lower food supplies by cutting down on the supply chain. Break up big corporations that monitor them, and leave grocery stores half empty.
That will force farmers to rely on local markets for their goods and adjust production to fit those needs. It means you can't walk in a grocery story anywhere in the country and find cheese from all over the world or fully stocked shelves. It means companies can't focus on unhealthy recipes because they wouldn't have access to the production methods, labor, or resources needed.
I don't drink soda, or anything besides water. I don't drink Coffee (which is harvested from poor southern countries). I can't believe other people do.
It is so easy to avoid the temptation when the option is not on the table. And guess what, once you stop having it, you no longer desire it. I don't have any temptation when I see table salt or a bottle of soda/fruit juice/alcohol/coffee. None.
And the answer is not to have a class of people splurge on expensive diets and gym memberships. Its about how we work, interact, and live. Its about how corporate America has modeled our consumption habit and how the media and the government enforce it.
Also mountain Dew executives need to be arrested, that drink is a hundred times worse than coke and pepsi. Doritos/Papa Johns, etc. also need to be jailed.
It is not related to food being too cheap. Making it more expensive will just make things worse.
Bad food is cheaper and more convenient than good food. As we shift from a production economy to a service economy, more and more people are in office jobs and sit all day (snacking throughout the day). When people did more physical work all day, there was no time for snacks. You could eat at lunch and that was it.
Fewer people really cook anymore. Prepared foods are cheaper and quicker, but loaded with sodium, corn syrup and carbohydrates. Fast food restaurants are also a quick easy and affordable solution to being hungry and too tired to cook. However what they serve is not even food.
It is less a problem of too much food available than a problem of bad food choices, and lack of exercise. If food prices being too low was the problem, then poor people would be skinnier - in general the opposite is true. Poor people cannot afford healthier food choices and lack the education of what is and is not healthy.
Healthy diet and weight loss isnt just about counting calories.
Having even lower calorie selections at McDonald's fried up and processed menu does have health implications.
As I age and life offers little extra time working a desk along with being diagnoses with prehypertension, I found that the only diet that has ever stuck is moderation. The stress over counting calories, monitoring intake and eating like a rabbit isn't going to foster behavioral changes for me. I cook more at home, easy because I enjoy doing so, and when we go out to eat I make a point to reduce certain ingredients and eat half of my meal. All meals I pay for in restaurants are worth two or more meals... So even expense is reduced.
I read somewhere that 100+ years ago, the average adult walked the equivalent of ten miles per day. I haven't fact checked that yet, so don't quote me. Bottom line, we are less active today, and many jobs require prolonged sitting in a cubicle and long commutes in our cars. Compound that with more restaurants today than ever, particularly fast food. Serving sizes are ridiculous today. Go to a movie theater and try ordering a small fountain beverage--it's about a quart at least! Yet there are people who still order the large which is like a half gallon of coke. I recently ordered a small ice cream cone and it was the size of a small pineapple.
It's all about portion control, moderation, and staying active. Get that 30 minutes per day of physical activity and watch the calorie intake. Simple formula for the average health adult.
Agree.
We go to Europe now and then and I noticed they are mostly not obese. They walk A LOT.
It is not related to food being too cheap. Making it more expensive will just make things worse.
Bad food is cheaper and more convenient than good food. As we shift from a production economy to a service economy, more and more people are in office jobs and sit all day (snacking throughout the day). When people did more physical work all day, there was no time for snacks. You could eat at lunch and that was it.
I mentioned that earlier. In the 60s through the 70s, that was the way of life for most people. Breakfast--nothing but water--lunch--nothing but water--dinner. People commonly went four to six hours with nothing but water, than ten or twelve hours in the evening with nothing much more than water.
That was true even if you worked in an office. There were no "break rooms" in the 60s. There was a water cooler in the hall. There were no vending machines on every floor, there was the cafeteria (if you were lucky) that was only open for lunch.
Quote:
Fewer people really cook anymore. Prepared foods are cheaper and quicker, but loaded with sodium, corn syrup and carbohydrates. Fast food restaurants are also a quick easy and affordable solution to being hungry and too tired to cook. However what they serve is not even food.
Back in the 60s, even "fast food" was real food that was merely informally prepared and served.
Healthy diet and weight loss isnt just about counting calories.
Having even lower calorie selections at McDonald's fried up and processed menu does have health implications.
As I age and life offers little extra time working a desk along with being diagnoses with prehypertension, I found that the only diet that has ever stuck is moderation. The stress over counting calories, monitoring intake and eating like a rabbit isn't going to foster behavioral changes for me. I cook more at home, easy because I enjoy doing so, and when we go out to eat I make a point to reduce certain ingredients and eat half of my meal. All meals I pay for in restaurants are worth two or more meals... So even expense is reduced.
True you do not have to count calories to lose weight or to be healthy but strictly from a fat loss perspective eating healthy does not automatically mean you will lose weight. Anyone can lose weight by purely eating processed foods, just doesn't mean you should be doing it. There is not one macronutrient or one class of food that makes you fat. Excess calories is what makes you fat.
Why does everybody forget that having a snack replaced smoking a ciggie? I clearly recall how normal-sized people became 40 lbs overweight when they quit smoking. Seen it a million times.
Then, there's the sedentary lifestyle. Very few people do physical work anymore. I remember working in a factory in summer when I was in college. I'd shed 20 lbs that I gained eating lush dormitory meals three times a day, and pizza and beer three times a week and sitting on my but in lectures and studying. Still did pizza & beer in summer but that was worked off at work and doing outdoor things.
Anybody remember when a lawn mower was pushed? Not ridden on? You used a snowshovel; not a plow?
It's obvious.
Last edited by TwinbrookNine; 12-04-2019 at 12:32 PM..
There are multiple contributing factors as to why there are so many fat bodies here in the US. Just a couple I'm aware of is hardly anyone gets out and does anything requiring physical activities anymore. Most people just sit around at the computer, ipad, smart phone all day long. Most modern day main stream hobbies also require little to no physical activities anymore.
Next contributing factor is the amount of junk food accessible at every corner. For example, go into 7-11 and look at all the hot junk food they have available. When I was a kid the only hot food available at say 7-11 was hot dogs on the metal spoke weenie turner. Now 7-11 has 8 to 10 different hot junk foods to choose from, not including $5.00 hot greasy pizzas. I go into 7-11 every so often just to purchase a lottery ticket and I see entire families going in there for dinner. Amazing and grotesque at the same time. Hell, go to Costco and get a few pounds of greasy stuffed processed meat breads for just a few bucks.
These are just two of the contributing factors as to why there are so many fat bodies in the US.
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