Interesting stuff I found today.



Duh...we know we are getting 'bigger'.
But take a look at this chart...



huh. So where are all the calories coming from ?



Interesting.
Complete article http://www.medscape.com/infosite/hood/article-calories

That is interesting! Though it could be confusing as well. Carbs include fruits and vegetables. I think there are a lot more vegetarians now than there were in the 60s.

Is there a chart for protein?

I was born in 62, and we did eat a lot of fat in the 60s and 70s. We had bacon and eggs for breakfast, and deep fried fish for dinner, and pepperoni pizza on the weekends. Mom said she used to use a whole quart of oil every week in the 70s We also ate lots of veggies, and we only snacked on Saturday nights. We were all SO skinny back then! The whole family super thin, despite our fatty meals. We all started gaining weight in the 80s, when dieting and health foods started to become popular.

After carefully looking at our lifestyle over the decades, I attribute our gradual weight gains not as much to our eating habits, since we didn't start gaining until after we started eating less fat and overall calories, but to our activity levels. Before the 80s, we were extremely active. We walked to school or to our friends houses. We played outside when little. When older, we worked outside tending the garden, raking leaves, etc. Plus we didn't have cable tv until the 80s. Even then, we got up to turn the channels and spent less time watching tv until the decade progressed. We weren't home in front of the tv or computer all night. We ate more before the 80s, but we burned it off. Once our activity levels slowed down, that's when we started gaining weight, despite eating healthier.

Maybe they need a chart for activity levels through the decades

We also moved more.

To think it's just food is misleading. We used to walk to school, go to gym, get up to change the channel on the TV. It's not just the food... it's our lifestyles!

But obesity rates are rising even in places that haven't had significant lifestyle changes. New York City has been built up for over a hundred years. No one's driving there. The subway and bus system has been largely the same for fifty years or more. And the recent increase in obesity and diabetes there was worth a front-page series of articles in the NY Times.

I'm not sure where the confusion comes in. When we cut fat out of our diets, we replaced it with carbs (mostly simple carbs like white flour/sugar). Calorie for calorie, simple carbs are not nearly as filling as fat, therefore you tend to eat more total calories on a high-carb/low-fat diet. Ergo the weight gain.