Obesity

[jumbopackage]

BMI is a ******* joke.

How so? If you compare BMI, to electrical impedance, to caliper skin fold, they all come to the same conclusion for about 95% of the population. If you are an NFL linebacker, of course is doesn't apply. You can't point to how BMI fails for fringe users and say it is a joke.

I find that most people who say it is a joke simply don't like the results and are in a state of denial.

BMI was designed to measure large populations, not individuals. The fact that it's being used to measure individuals is a lazy way of seeing where you fit in that population statistic, not necessarily a measure of health.

One of the biggest problems with BMI is that it makes simplistic assumptions about how people's bodies are shaped, and tall people tend to get the short end of it.

People want to dismiss it because it's not always accurate in all cases.

In general, though, BMI is a good measure of population statistics, but nothing you should really pay attention to for people who are taller or athletic. Just remember you're in that 5% group that BMI doesn't really work for

Body fat % is a better number to look at (preferably with skinfold or a tank).

 

[bpmcconn]

I have recently lost 40 lbs over the last 3.5 months by simply eating less and walking 3 miles 3-4 times per week. I didn't really change what I ate, just ate less of it.

 

[CykoAGR]

IMO, there are a number of causes to the increase in obesity in America:

Sedentary lifestyles.
Increased reliance on processed foods (yes, including HFCS, but not *solely* HFCS).
Increased portion sizes.
Lack of accountability.

It's much easier to be fat than fit. It's a hassle to come home from working 8 hours and cook a relatively healthy meal. It's much easier to just drive through McDonald's or pick up a frozen meal at the store. It's easier to sit on the couch and watch TV than to go out on a walk. It's easier to blame X instead of looking at your (general you) habits that are causing obesity.

I've BTDT. It's a complete mental and lifestyle overhaul that takes time, effort and patience, and many people just do not want to put in the work - at least not right now. I've had two kids and I'm probably more fit now than I was when I graduated HS. It's taken a long time, and I've had some setbacks, but I'm getting to where I want to be, and teaching my kids better habits in the process.

This is one of my biggest life goals. I dont want my son/daughter to have to struggle with their weight their entire life. I have and it is no fun. My wife's dad would give her a hard time about her weight when she was growing up. Yeah he sort of seemed like a jerk but in actuality I think this was his way of trying to persuade her to controll what she ate. To this day she can eat very small meals and maintain her weight much easier than me. My parents did not do this for me, (I'm not blaming them BTW) so I never learned to stop eating when I had enough, I cleaned my plate and went back for more. Its just bad habits that I hope to not let my kids create.

I dont have any kids yet but when I do I hope that I can teach them (and learn along the way as well) to be active and eat healthy to avoid creating bad habits that are so hard to break once established.

 

[VeloClone]

You know the people I love. The ones who park as close as possible to the exercise facility in June to go walk on a track. I will give them a pass in the winter, I do the same thing.

My buddy and I used to laugh our ***** off at the people who would spend 15 minutes circling the lot year round to find a parking spot closer to the door at the gym. They also had a shuttle that would take people from the overflow lot across the street to the gym so people didn't have to walk.

 

[CykoAGR]

I have a co-worker who complains about being overweight but she rides the elevator everyday to the 3rd floor. So many little things like this if changed could make a difference. She also says that she is too tired to do anything but watch TV an night. It just goes to show that alot of people are not willing to put in the extra effort to really make a change.

 

[MoreCowbell]

Not all processed foods/frozen meals are inherently bad. There are many options that are low in calories/fat, people just need to learn how to read a nutrition facts panel.

I recently lost about 15 pounds in 6 weeks by eating a healthy frozen meal for lunch every day, controlling my portion sizes at dinner, and exercising a little bit.

Just because something is low in calories and/or fat doesn't necessarily mean it's *good* for you. Ever see the sodium information on those things? Or some of the other preservative ingredients?

I've eaten low-cal frozen meals in the past (and will have one occasionally if I'm in a hurry), and they are helpful and convenient, but they're not meant to be long-term solutions.

ETA: some of them are definitely better than others, but still...

 

[CycloneChris]

edit: i'm not trying to be a ****.

So it just comes naturally?

 

[twistedredbird]

you know what scares me is the kids that are fat. I got fat as an adult, just imagine what life is like and will be like down the road for these kids. Sad. The worst diet problem in the US is the school lunch.

 

[MoreCowbell]

This is one of my biggest life goals. I dont want my son/daughter to have to struggle with their weight their entire life. I have and it is no fun. My wife's dad would give her a hard time about her weight when she was growing up. Yeah he sort of seemed like a jerk but in actuality I think this was his way of trying to persuade her to controll what she ate. To this day she can eat very small meals and maintain her weight much easier than me. My parents did not do this for me, (I'm not blaming them BTW) so I never learned to stop eating when I had enough, I cleaned my plate and went back for more. Its just bad habits that I hope to not let my kids create.

I dont have any kids yet but when I do I hope that I can teach them (and learn along the way as well) to be active and eat healthy to avoid creating bad habits that are so hard to break once established.

My husband frequently tells our son that he has to "clean his plate" in order to get dessert/be done with supper. I have to remind him that no, our son doesn't have to clean his plate, but he does have to try everything on it. Dessert (or any after-dinner treat, food or non-food) is not guaranteed. That mindset is part of the reason my husband has a tendency to struggle with portion control.

 

[jdoggivjc]

Just because something is low in calories and/or fat doesn't necessarily mean it's *good* for you. Ever see the sodium information on those things? Or some of the other preservative ingredients?

I've eaten low-cal frozen meals in the past (and will have one occasionally if I'm in a hurry), and they are helpful and convenient, but they're not meant to be long-term solutions.

This. If it's a convenience food, it's going to have a lot of at least one of:

-bad fats (not all fats are bad, especially fish and olive oils)
-sugars (particularly HFCS, which is the worst, although too much of any sugar isn't good)
-salt

A lot of convenience foods are high in all three. If they weren't food producers couldn't get convenience foods to taste good, and they wouldn't be nearly as addictive.

 

[ISUKyro]

you know what scares me is the kids that are fat. I got fat as an adult, just imagine what life is like and will be like down the road for these kids. Sad. The worst diet problem in the US is the school lunch.

I'll agree to this one big time. While the school I work at does offer several items which would be pretty good...... well let's just say they don't sell as kids have the option to buy tons of other junk.
I can't tell you how many students I have that love to have Fire Hot Cheetos, usually some other crap like fries, and a Monster drink for lunch.... daily.

 

[jdoggivjc]

you know what scares me is the kids that are fat. I got fat as an adult, just imagine what life is like and will be like down the road for these kids. Sad. The worst diet problem in the US is the school lunch.

What scares me most is I'm going to be a horrible example to my daughter (and my future kids). That's why I really need to get myself into gear and get myself into shape. My daughter is naturally active and the last thing I want to do is be a bad example to her and she just stops doing that.

 

[ISUAgronomist]

Has anybody else noticed that t-shirt sizes have gotten fat??? A normal large shirt is soooo fat. I'm a tall and skinny guy so it just bugs me when there is all that extra fabric hanging at my sides. As sizes get larger, they don't get equally longer, an XL is usually like an inch longer and 6-9 inches more chest.

I feel like they ruined what the normal sizes were!

Do what I do. Shop at western (cowboy) stores. I'm 6'5" and thin. Western stores tend to carry clothes for thin people because it fits their market share. I wear pants 29"x36" (or 38" depending on cut). Western stores are the only place I can find pants to fit. I will buy shirts there too and a large fits like it should. Not all of their clothes are western style either, which is important to me because I'm not a "cowboy" type.

 

[CarolinaCy]

Just because something is low in calories and/or fat doesn't necessarily mean it's *good* for you. Ever see the sodium information on those things? Or some of the other preservative ingredients?

I've eaten low-cal frozen meals in the past (and will have one occasionally if I'm in a hurry), and they are helpful and convenient, but they're not meant to be long-term solutions.

Just like there are many options that are low cal and low fat, there are just as many that are low sodium and all-natural. There are also plenty of shelf-stable meals that meet all of these criteria as well.

I'm just saying for those people who feel like they can't give up the convenience of pre-packaged foods, there are options out there. You don't have to eat organic or become a vegan to eat "healthy".

 

[superfan]

Because I only have a couple of minutes, I wanted to throw in a thought. The talk about outdoors being free, sidewalks, etc. bugs me a bit.

Not everybody lives in the nice, temperate climate like Iowa. It must be nice to have 78 degree weather (heat index 81) like in Ames right now. Have most of you ragging on the "deep south" (granted, the food is horrible for you) ever even been there, much less in the summer? It's 94 with a heat index of 111 in Houston right now (pretty mild humidity for July today, as well), and even after the sun goes down, it's gonna be 90's out. It's been like that since early June, with the exception of the few days that Hurricane Alex soaked us, and will be like that until October.

That's big-time heat exaustion/stroke territory, especially for the obese. I walked out to my car to get a book an hour ago, and my shirt's still not dry. Do you go outside and walk in the winter when the wind chill is -5 out every day? Probably not, you go to a gym (like I do when it's this hot out - and before you label, I run 3-5 times a week when I'm not exhausted from work and night classes), or you're SOL.

Moreover, news flash, not everywhere is as safe as Iowa. There are areas in Houston (as in every big city), that I wouldn't feel safe walking out at night in if I had an assault rifle with me. Come on down and take a stroll in the 5th Ward at night here and let me know if you'd want to walk there every night. On top of that, those areas are population dense and usually poor - the same people who can't afford a gym membership.

Just food for thought. Call them excuses if you want. You can go back to telling us lazy, worthless, unintelligent eyesore "fatties" how to live, what to eat, where we can live, and how to spend our money. Thanks, comrades.

 

[MoreCowbell]

Just like there are many options that are low cal and low fat, there are just as many that are low sodium and all-natural. There are also plenty of shelf-stable meals that meet all of these criteria as well.

I'm just saying for those people who feel like they can't give up the convenience of pre-packaged foods, there are options out there. You don't have to eat organic or become a vegan to eat "healthy".

And if you'll note my ETA, I added that some are definitely better than others. But the individual has to be aware of those better alternatives. Many are not.

 

[Bardman]

Depends on what brand you buy in t-shirts. I have t-shirts that are M-L-XL and they all fit the same, just cut differently. When I was a clothing buyer, buying t-shirts was a nightmare, because you picked sizes, but you never knew how they were going to run. I had a couple companies that always ran on the small side, thus forcing people to buy bigger sizes, where some companies ran big, thus people bought smaller. It has to do with how the manufacturer treats the shirt before you get it. Do they pre-shrink the shirt, what is the weight of the fabric, who is the manufacturer they buy the shirt from, etc. Also, how you care the shirt, how do you/wash dry, etc. As for normal sizes, there is no consistency from brand to brand. I can buy clothes from the Gap and Old Navy (same company) in the same size, and they fit differently.

I'm saying in general, cheap t-shirts from events, organizations, and things like that, not what you buy at a dept store. Just seems like over time, across all brands, they have made them bigger in the chests without changing the length, IMO due to the obesity epidemic and the average size of an adult.

 

[CarolinaCy]

This. If it's a convenience food, it's going to have a lot of at least one of:

-bad fats (not all fats are bad, especially fish and olive oils)
-sugars (particularly HFCS, which is the worst, although too much of any sugar isn't good)
-salt

A lot of convenience foods are high in all three. If they weren't food producers couldn't get convenience foods to taste good, and they wouldn't be nearly as addictive.

Yes, many convenience foods are terrible for you, but there's just as many that have reasonable to low amounts of all three items you listed above. So many people have been conditioned to think that processed = bad, and that just isn't true. And it's also possible for food companies to make meals that taste good and are healthy options, I've personally eaten dozens of them.

 

[ISUKyro]

Superfan - the first year I was in Texas almost killed me as I do like to jog and cycle every now and again. By the 2nd year and now well into my 4th year down here it doesn't even bother me to jog outside in the 90+ temps. It took some conditioning and yeah I gotta be more careful about dehydration but I have gotten used to it.
That being said I can no longer stand the temps of 60 or below - that's just too cold to do anything for me now lol

 

[CykoAGR]

Because I only have a couple of minutes, I wanted to throw in a thought. The talk about outdoors being free, sidewalks, etc. bugs me a bit.

Not everybody lives in the nice, temperate climate like Iowa. It must be nice to have 78 degree weather (heat index 81) like in Ames right now. Have most of you ragging on the "deep south" (granted, the food is horrible for you) ever even been there, much less in the summer? It's 94 with a heat index of 111 in Houston right now (pretty mild humidity for July today, as well), and even after the sun goes down, it's gonna be 90's out. It's been like that since early June, with the exception of the few days that Hurricane Alex soaked us, and will be like that until October.

That's big-time heat exaustion/stroke territory, especially for the obese. I walked out to my car to get a book an hour ago, and my shirt's still not dry. Do you go outside and walk in the winter when the wind chill is -5 out every day? Probably not, you go to a gym (like I do when it's this hot out - and before you label, I run 3-5 times a week when I'm not exhausted from work and night classes), or you're SOL.

Moreover, news flash, not everywhere is as safe as Iowa. There are areas in Houston (as in every big city), that I wouldn't feel safe walking out at night in if I had an assault rifle with me. Come on down and take a stroll in the 5th Ward at night here and let me know if you'd want to walk there every night. On top of that, those areas are population dense and usually poor - the same people who can't afford a gym membership.

Just food for thought. Call them excuses if you want. You can go back to telling us lazy, worthless, unintelligent eyesore "fatties" how to live, what to eat, where we can live, and how to spend our money. Thanks, comrades.

I will give you the safety point that you bring up. Exercising in those situations would not be good.

The heat issue is relative. Iowa has more than their share of days that are hot and very humid. Granted it may not be like Houston but still hot and Humid. I tend to find time on these days to go for a run. I am headed to Dallas/Ft Worth on Wed and you can be sure that I will still work out while I'm down there. I will soak through everything that I have on but still I will manage. If you live there I would think that you would be somewhat used to the heat and somekind of physical activity during the cooler part of the day would be possible.