Wow. This really hit the nail on the head in terms of how society makes it difficult to lose weight and keep it off. Ever since getting my food intake under control I've noticed a LOT of things about how modern American culture is making us fat, yet making us feel bad for being fat at the same time!
A lot of us tout that planning ahead is essential—and it is. But why do we have to? I was out with my fiance the other day at an outlet mall. I was stunned at the amount of vending machines everywhere, but I was also taken aback at the kinds of vending machines present every few feet (and no, I'm not kidding): ice cream and candy machines! I did manage to find one or two different ones with fiber one bars in them. Not the best choice but better than a candy bar! One of the food courts also had nothing but fast food. I walked in, saw what was there and refused to buy anything. Luckily the other food court had some healthy food, but it was very difficult to find! It was incredibly easy to get unhealthy, high calorie food, but near impossible to find healthy, nourishing food! If we ever go there again, I will bring my own food.
I plan ahead a lot, but life would be a lot easier if I could walk up to a vending machine and get an apple, or if more places had healthier choices. Things are getting better—I like that if I'm out with my friends and hungry that just about any full fast food joint has healthier options—but we still have a ways to go.
I'm just glad that I drilled planning ahead into my head a long time ago. I've been making my own lunches and bringing them since high school because of the lack of healthy options available everywhere. It's not a big deal to me anymore because of this.
I think that documentary Val posted the link to is related to that study - looks like the same people. I really don't have an answer either way, just thought it was an interesting discussion.
For some reason the name Gary Taubes rubs me the wrong way but it is interesting that he would note a German physician's comments because have you seen German food?
There are many truths in that we seem to be a less active nation as a whole. We are also known for our fast food restaurants. Now I'm someone who grew up obese with very limited exposure to fast food restaurants and with a good amount of activity, yet I was still obese.
I don't think there is a single answer for everyone but I do think added sugars are an issue. I think refined carbs are an issue. Lack of natural activity is also an issue.
Hard to attain from an overweight, obese or morbidly obese weight? Absolutely. Overhauling your lifestyle and training yourself to like different foods is HARD.
Also, 'The End of Overeating' is really a good book discussing the fat, sugar, salt trinity and the fact that your brain chemistry can change due to eating foods (such as potato chips) that contain those three things. It isn't just hard to retrain yourself, but you have to fight established neural connections. I also agree that it isn't impossible.
Definitely a minefield of obstacles! We've talked plenty about the genetically thin who simply don't obsess with food and are naturally geared to active lifestyles. For the rest of us, it's not impossible ... but without a lot of good education and determination it would be awfully difficult to achieve. I don't think anyone who's overweight has accidentally stumbled their way back to normal weight.
I think the biggest obstacle in American culture is the pressure to conform to what everyone else is doing. We're supposed to somehow lose weight and keep it off WHILE not deviating too far from the norm.
The problem is that many of us have to drastically deviate from the norm in order to lose weight, all the while people who love us are constantly trying to push food upon us (and worse if we refuse we hurt feelings because in our culture food is love).
You have to become hardhearted to the cultural pressures, and must constantly swim upstream.
Doable, but you need to know from the getgo that success means refusing to be normal, because being normal is often what got you in trouble in the first place.
Yeah, this is my life's question lately when it comes to my health, eating & body image concerns:
If, in a society that promotes obesity, even while wringing its hands over it, I plan all my meals, eschew most of what's offered, spend an inordinate time cooking or researching food, and restrict & modify my intake, am I prey to a kind of eating disorder?
Or is it the larger society that has a kind of eating disorder, and my actions are an individual's sane protest against the normalizing of unhealthy behavior?
And to put it another way, after a huge weight loss effort, to maintain a healthy weight in a largely unhealthy society, am I going to have to nurture a lifelong borderline eating disorder?
I am from the UK so the problem Americans face with food choices/lifestyle etc isn't totally relevant to me-But we are definitely heading in a similar direction.
I find it very easy to not eat fast food as I'm vegetarian which eliminates a lot of the food, and I hardly ate any when I was growing up. I also find it very expensive and generally doesn't suit my lifestyle.
I do wonder how different America in particular would be if all these fast food places/vending machines were all replaced with healthy fresh alternatives though.
Whilst I do believe we're all responsible for our own food and health-Having watched shows about Americas obesity problem I was astounded at the amount of junk food available/portions (This in particular!) and just wondered what it would be like if the government did a 360 on the food types/portions served. I feel very lucky I wasn't raised on fast food and huge portions, as I think the struggle must be awful when trying to become healthier-And I don't think it would be that hard if the mind set towards fresh healthy food was more positive.
I come from a country that although has an abundance of healthy, fresh produce available, they are the second "fattest" country on Earth, Australia.
I do have to say though, around here where I now live in NC, good, fresh produce is hard to find. We have to drive 45 minutes to Trader Joe's as it's the only place I can find a lot of the things I like.
I have always eaten healthy food growing up. My mother raised us a vegetarians, she is now a vegan and has never had a weight problem. I was always thin until my 20's.
But I fell into the trap of working long hours and then eating convenient junk food. But I had all the fresh, healthy food available to me. So ultimately it was my choice.
But I do know there are people who don't have that access or education about food.
I really think that one of the keys of my current unprecedented success (I've never lost this much weight and have never maintained successful weight loss for this long a period of time - even though my rate of weight loss is much slower) is that I've come to strongly believe that
Quote:
Originally Posted by saef
... my actions are an individual's sane protest against the normalizing of unhealthy behavior?
Although I tend to think that our culture's unhealthy behaviors aren't so much inherently unhealthy as healthy instinct run amok. In a natural world, it actually makes sense to be as lazy as possible and to eat as many calories as possible.
Food resources were scarce, so burning as few calories as possible, while eating as much as possible is what often kept you alive - but it was also impossible to be immobile because you had to move in order to get your food (and avoid being some other critter's food) and even if you ate as much as you could, you probably wouldn't get fat, because in a natural world overpopulation tends to occur long before widespread obesity (and obesity is self-limiting, because if you get too fat to hunt/gather or too fat to avoid predators, you were removed from the gene pool).
It's important for me to remember that my desire to eat and to avoid moving is normal and even healthy (in the right environment), but I don't live in the right environment, so I either have to change my environment or my response to it (and ideally both).
Knowing these things makes it much easier to fight the battles. When I just thought I was defective for not adapting better to the environment, I thought I was just lazy, crazy, or stupid (which is how our culture tends to view people who are unacceptably fat).
When I realized it was our culture and not me that was broken, I found the problem easier to address (because my attempts to fix myself hadn't worked).
I used to berate myself for not being normal, and then I realized being normal isn't all it's cracked up to be. I have to learn to be abnormal and be darned proud of it.
I'm a freak, and that's ok. In fact, it's pretty fantabulous.
I think the biggest obstacle in American culture is the pressure to conform to what everyone else is doing. We're supposed to somehow lose weight and keep it off WHILE not deviating too far from the norm...
Yes !!! You really have to do a 180 turn around to get healthy. Body, mind and spirit. It is difficult but not impossible.
Interesting, I'll definitely come back to this later to comment. I think a lot of the initiatives will help but I still think it could go a lot further (like getting rid of the corn syrup subsidies!!!!!).
Is healthy weight impossible for many Americans?
