Obesity in America

[keiko]

Here's a fascinating artical from a British magazine about obesity in America--I was shocked at the increased in portion sizes!

I'm not posting this for fat bashing purposes. Read and learn---

http://www.spectator.co.uk/article.php3?table=old&section=current&issue=2001-08-18&id=999

 

[gymtime]

Very interesting article. I don't think you need to go real far to see evidence of it.

I'm 33yo, and I contract for a cell phone company, doing IT work in their call center. There are about 150 people or so there working the phones, most in their early 20s. You'd think that just by benefit of their ages, they'd be in better shape; not the case. I've never seen so many fat "kids" in my life. I was talking to the only other lifter in our office. He said it seemed we were hiring by the pound.

One more funny headline I saw (from The Onion), "Surgeion Generals Report: Americans Have Huge, Gigantic, Fat Asses."

 

[booger]

Survival of the Fittest...

has been replaced by 'Survival of the Fattest'.

 

[Distortion]

i bet that if all of thoes obese fuckers stopped eating so much the us could feed the rest of the world

 

[bonapart]

You don't have to read any articles. Just walk around walmart or your shopping mall and you'll see that some 60-70% of the people are chubby as all heck!

bonapart

 

[Murman]

I hate to agree with you guys on this because I still am one of those people. But i must say now that i'm working out and starting to lose alot of fat that i see more fat people now then ever before.

 

[bonapart]

Murman, good for you!

It all should be put in perspective though. Being in shape doesn't solve all of life's problems - just as money doesn't solve all of life's problems.

Today I'm 33, 6' 2", 185lbs and have a semi-hard body. Is it that different than when I was 26 and 295lbs?

Well, sort of, but not as much as you might think.
And I don't make fun of the fat people either, because I was once one of them too. Most of us were at one time or another...

bonapart

 

[gymtime]

I'm right with you guys. Was fat in my teens and early twenties also. I'm no marathon runner now, but I've lost the majority of it over the years.

I swore I would never make fun of fat people. But it's been so long that I catch myself doing it now and then. Not good.

Anyway, keep up the good work Murman. You'll be an arrogant prick like me in no time! (j/k)

 

[Advaik]

I use to be fat, when I was 11 or 12 I weighed 230lbs and was the tallest + fattest kid in my school. I never noticed anything wrong with it nor did I pay mind to what other people said. Now I weigh 172 and when I look back I can't see how I was so ignorant. I mean drink diet coke instead of coke, stop eatting snickers and ice cream, damn all it takes is eatting 500 less calories a day to lose weight. How can we let ourselves get fat? I guess it is ignorance of your personal diet. We grow up with "King Sized Snickers" and "Super Sized French Fries" and never take the time of day to think what we are really eatting. Now that I have learned much about personal health I'll never go the fat road again. I really wish there was something to help everyone else out there.

As for being normal weight apposed to over weight in relationship to personal feeling - I feel no different than I did. Actually I have alot more problems then I did before such as hateing people because I remember how my friends always picked on me and I am now shy to finding new friends. You won't feel different like all the infomerrcials say, but you will live better, longer, and harder. You won't have people calling you fat ass, or people staring at you. You won't have to worry about if that chair will break if you sit on it. You don't have to worry about taking your shirt off to swim. You don't have to worry about passing out from running or being in the sun too long. You don't have to worry about sweating and smelling like a pig. You don't have to worry about having a heart attack. Its just so much better, even if you don't feel different.

 

[The mann]

 

[wavywoman]

obesity in america...

In my experience, although we're supposedly a society that favors lean/thin/fit people, it's really difficult to remain dedicated to fitness day to day...
I mean, I have family members who react as if I'm the Ultimate Bitch if I pass up on dessert in a restaurant, or say "no" to a bowl of ice cream offered to me, or give me dirty looks if I don't finish my whole meal. They give me hell for going to the gym, let alone even caring about my health... It's like there's an American anti-fitness counterculture out there that says "supersize me!" and "everyone who works out and eats healthy is buying into the unfair societal beauty ideal!". The more physically fit I get, the more negative reactions I get from the people closest to me. The worst reactions, actually, are from my most obese relatives.
When I went to the UK last summer, I was shocked at how small and lean the meals were in general, and how thin/lean the people were. It made me realize how it's impossible to eat out in the US without being served mammoth sized portions of food-- or food totally fried or smothered with butter or cheese.