Badmovies.org Forum

I was at my parents' house yesterday and my dad was channel surfing.  He stopped on Bill Maher's show and for some reason they were talking about weight.  They showed a photograph from the 1800s.  It was a picture of the "Fat Man" from Ringling Brothers circus.  Yeah, he was fat, but nowadays you probably see several equally fat (or fatter) men just about every day.  The point Maher was making was that about 100 years ago, people would pay money to see this unusual, astounding fat man who worked in the circus.  Today, there would be nothing really unusual about this guy . . . he certainly wouldn't be considered astoundingly fat.  It made me wonder what things will be like in another 50 - 100 years.  Will people, on average, continue to get fatter and fatter?  One of Maher's comments about the circus guy in the picture was, "He's a medium at Walmart."  I thought that was amusing.



 

I gotta admit, I really can't stand to see fat people sometimes.  I mean, a little love handle, gut hanging over the belt loop, a slight extra chin, that's okay.. but when you're 300+ pounds of NO MUSCLE, or you pant and wheeze from just moving around, or you can't bend over to pick something up off the ground, that's where I can't stand to look at you.  Then for a split second I might look back to see if you really WERE that fat, or I just imagined it.  Nope!  You really ARE that fat!  Eww!  (turns away again)

Don't get me started. There is a cultural reality going on in America. It's as if people see being fat as a matter of freedom, and also of status. We're not much good at anything else anymore except blowing s**t up and being fat. I saw a news article that I found amusing and disturbing. The U.S. military is not running into a problem with there not being enough qualified people to join the military because everyone's too fat. We've got 12-year-olds with diabetes, and it's commonplace. We've got schools that are serving pizza for breakfast to elementary school children on a regular basis. I love this country, but what the f**k is happening to us? We are the fattest, laziest country in the world, and you can believe that. I've done alot of travelling, and when I go to other countries, I do not see as many fat people as you see here. It's disgusting.

I don’t think the comparison to a circus in the 1800s is very fair.  There was no internet, television, or Walmart back in the 1800s for anyone to see how many really really fat people there were, and the fat guy at the circus is just the fat guy that decided to join the circus.  Other fat guys of the time probably didn’t get around much for people to see them and I don’t think they were lining up to have their pictures taken.  I’m not disagreeing that people are probably fatter now on average than they were years ago, but I don’t think fat people have ever been uncommon.  Especially considering that being fat is not always directly related to over-eating and under-activity, it can be genetic or due to a health condition.   I’m no historian, but wasn’t being fat considered a sign of health and wealth back around the 1500’s?

On the topic of circus freaks, I’ve seen several bearded ladies, I see about 2 a year.  That’s something that people would have paid to see in the 1800s too, but they’re everywhere now and probably were then.  They usually shave or remove the hair with treatments, but sometimes, you’ll find a gem that just don’t give a hoot!

To answer one of your points, yes, long ago, it was considered a sign of wealth and position to be overweight, simply because the wealthy few were the only ones with enough money to both eat well and be physically inactive. The majority of the world had to work their asses off plus didn't have the financial resources to overeat. Pretty simple equation there. The fact is the number of people who are overweight or obese in this country is staggeringly high. It's worse in some states than others. It's not easy to point the finger at any one source. Some of it are ignorant parents who take the easy route and feed their children cheap processed foods that actually cause or exascerbate many of the health problems you mention. There is an unprecedented number of children with type II diabetes, well beyond anything experienced before. Some of it is school lunch systems, who constantly push nothing but highly processed foods that are high-starch, high-fat, high-fructose, without offering other options. Plus, their kids. They don't know any better. If you give a 7-year-old kid a choice between regular milk or flavored milk saturated with high-fructose corn syrup, they're going to go with the unhealthy choice. If you give a child a choice between eggs and fruit for breakfast and pizza, what do you think they'll pick? Finally, people have easy access to cheap, fat-laden food on a constant basis. The entire culture is geared to obesity and health problems from the outset. It's extremely sad and, personally, extremely frustrating. I've travelled quite a bit and, even though the average Italian eats a fair amount of food (they do love to eat), if you travel the countrside you don't see alot of fat people. They eat alot, but they eat fresher, healthier food, and they exercise more. A walk after dinner is a common practice. In fact, walking to the restaurant and walking back is a common practice. I understand what you are saying, but the comparison the original poster made makes a valid and scary point. Our current culture conditions us into a fat and lazy lifestyle. It's what we've become, and it's a problem. It's one of the aspects of our culture of which other countries love to riducule us.

Look at Wall-E.

That's where we're going.

Growing up as a American on U.S. Military bases in Europe I was always baffled to see that many overweight American women. Most were outright FAT. We would always wonder where they buy pants that size.
The situation hasn't changed much over the years. They still roam the Commissaries with their slim/thin soldier husbands loading shopping carts with fatty junk food, or can be seen standing in line at Popeye's, BK or Charley's Grilled Subs. Scary.

I'm strangely reminded of that pro-fat group. While I agree that no one deserves to be made fun of because of their weight, I strongly disagree with the group's opinion that all sizes are healthy. A little fat is very healthy for most people, but when you're just plain obese it is extremely unhealthy and, frankly, unattractive. Okay, sure there are chubby chasers, but even most of them have their limits.

I'm not attacking people with gland problems because that's a different animal entirely. No, most people who are obese have become unhealthy through their own choices (with the exception of children; they don't have much control over what they eat and can be easily influenced by their parents to embrace a sedentary lifestyle). Too bad junk food that'll take years off your life is still cheaper and easier to get than real food.

@Flick James: My sister's in a dietician program, and guess what? They're doing research on the Mediterranean diet and are finding that it's one of the healthiest in the world. Well, if you get regular excercise of course. I hate seeing fad diets because they always neglect to mention that you need to excercise to both lose weight and keep it off. Hence why people who go on said diets without any change in their activity level gain back the weight they lost as soon as they go off it.

A generation or two ago, it was common to say a fat man was 'important'.  Only people with the means to eat that 'well'  and the lifestyle that allowed them to avoid physical exertion were that fat.

I get tired of grossly obese people telling me they are as fit as I am and that they probably eat less than I do.  You cannot make something out of nothing.   If you could, why is there a hunger problem in much of the world?  Sorry: I don't buy the metabolism/hormones/excuse-of-the-week.  Legitimate cases of that would be very very rare.  If you have a fuel-efficient car, you simply add less fuel - you don't stock up and carry extra.

Here's a paranoid thought: in quite a few animals, a high-fat diet keeps them calmer.  Have to wonder...if it works the same way with humans - wouldn't that make the popluation as a whole less prone to 'uppityness' and easier to manage? Who would have an interest in that? Hmm?

I've done a lot of travelling too and I totally agree.  In general, people I've seen in other countries (especially Spain, France, and Brazil) are not nearly as fat as Americans.  And many of the women in other countries are naturally thin . . . you don't see them obsessing over dieting and working out . . . they just seem to eat healthier than Americans.  One thing I believe is true outside the U.S. is people don't eat a lot of snack foods between meals.  You don't see a lot of potato chips and Doritos and stuff.  They also seem to eat more fish than Americans . . . and it isn't fried in batter either.

While we're on the subject:
"FAT" by "Weird Al" Yankovic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqz1ojIQTBk

But yeah.  I'm slightly overweight, but I'm not disgustingly obese.  But, I'm eating better, and working out when I can based around my work schedule and weather conditions.  I'm hoping by July to shed the 15 pounds or so.  My main thing is drinking: that's where I put on the weight.

I'm a fan of the Med diet. It's not about starving yourself, it's about eating the right things. There are plenty of people that are little heafty, and I'm fine with that. In fact, I can get very attractive to a girl who is a little chunky, but healthy. There is a difference there, and usually I think it's easy to discern a healthy chunky person from an unhealthy overweight person. The processed junk really is bad for you, it stores more easily as fat and has other issues as well. Don't even get me started on chicken nuggets. Those are made from all the parts of the chicken they throw away: skin, cartilege (sic?), etc. The growth hormones they feed to chicken, a small amount of it goes into the good meat, but most of it goes to all the parts they make nuggets out of.

Oh, and claws, I'm with you on the military wives. That is a strange phenomenon. I was in the Navy for six years, and I've personally witnessed the "cow crew" at the comissary. Blew my mind. And the sad thing is they're buying all that junk to feed not just to themselves, but to their children. I know that some may take offense to my comments, and I apologize, it's not very nice, I admit. I'm not a mean guy. But seriously, I care about Americans, I'd like to see us get healthier and stop being the laughing stock of the rest of the world. If that takes a few abrasive comments, so be it.

I'd like to point out though, in fairness a lot of people who aren't overweight are thin because they smoke like chimneys (Maher, for instance, is a big smoker).

Personally, I'm not sure if the obesity stuff is as bad as the media is making it out to be.  For instance, a lot of people on these "committees" that determine how unhealthy people are usually do NOT consist of doctors or nutritionists, they're often people in companies that sell weight loss products (a mutli-BILLION dollar industry).   Good book on the subject at http://www.amazon.com/Obesity-Myth-Americas-Obsession-Hazardous/dp/B0009S5AAS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272432935&sr=8-1 (http://www.amazon.com/Obesity-Myth-Americas-Obsession-Hazardous/dp/B0009S5AAS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1272432935&sr=8-1)

Now, that being said, yeah there's some unhealthy people in the country today.  (Although, personally, I look on the bright side, in a world where many are starving, our biggest problem is we're eating too much doesn't seem so bad.) 

Me, I've been heavy all my life.  I was heavy before it become a so-called "epidemic" (another term incorrectly used to describe the situation).  Not really happy about it, tried numerous times to lose weight and whatnot, and yeah, I'm probably one of the guys you look at in disgust as they waddle on by (but I'd like to think I'm not too bad... I don't use an automatic wheel chair to glide around the store when I go shopping).

I can't speak for anyone but myself, but I'm heavy for a variety of reasons.  (Well, yeah, there's the obvious, "I eat too much" explanation) but beyond that...  I was born to fat parents, so I've got a genetic predisposition to it.  My mom would constantly lecture me on the dangerous of being overweight, while at the same time, fixing us meals with macaroni and cheese and baking huge meals for holidays and special occasions, considering that to be a way of showing affection rather than, you know, stupid stuff like hugs and saying, "I love you."

In addition, I suffer from severe depression have from as far back as I can remember.  Maybe if I felt I had something to live for it'd be easier to lose weight and keep going, but I've got no wife, no girlfriend, no kids, what few friends I have all moved away or just don't keep in touch for various reasons, sucky job, college degree that's, so far, not worth a damn, etc, etc.  In short, eating, jerking off and playing computer games are about the only joys left in my life. 

But, on the upside, I don't drink, don't smoke, and don't do drugs, or act out in other anti-social ways, so I'm not really hurting anyone else.

So, I guess it's a trade off. 

I agree that obesity is a problem, a serious one. But I want to bring up two things.

First, you have been bred over billions of years to preferentially choose high-fat, high-carbohydrate meals. It isn't a coincidence that a double-cheeseburger with bacon tastes so delicious. The thing is, for most of humanity's lifetime, these things were very hard to get. If you live in a first-world country, this is no longer the case. In fact, it's harder and more expensive to get food in the U.S. that isn't high-fat and high-carbohydrate. A salad at Jack-in-the-Box is almost $7, while you can get twice the caloric intake at the same restaurant for $1. A person has a choice, but if we're looking at broad social trends, it's no wonder people are getting fatter.

Second, while it is grossly unhealthy to be obese, it isn't necessarily better to be the thin, zero body-fat ideal that's pushed on us by the media. If you are otherwise healthy, it is far better for you to have 10-15 pounds of extra body fat on yourself. Those six-pack abs may look appealing, but you aren't necessarily better off for them. Obesity is bad, but a bit of pudge is probably better for you in the long run.

Really, your best bet is to go out and enjoy the great outdoors. But where's the money in that? Better for companies if you sit inside watching commercials all day; your life is their money.

Stay active. Eat what you want (but not too much!). Enjoy your actual, non-television life.

It's not just America - the UK and Australia are also very fat, and many other countries are becoming fatter at a more rapid pace than the US is now.  Basically playing catchup. 

However, I think the level of fatness is starting to level out.  I don't think it's going to get a lot worse. 

That's true, the rest of the world is catching up, partly because our fast food arm has infected the rest of the globe. Look, the point I'm trying to make has nothing to do with eating cheeseburgers. I love cheeseburgers. It's the level of processed food that is the big problem. Chicken nuggets, no matter how you slice them, are bad. Schools serving kids frozen pizza for breakfast (don't laugh, it's happening) is bad. Parents filling their shopping carts with almost nothing but processed food from the freezer is bad. Some people are just naturally chunky. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm also talking about so-called "diet" food here as well. Much of that is processed, and while it's low-calorie, low-carb, low-fat, it still has alot of the processing that they're finding is worse for you than the real thing it's supposed to be subtituting. I use real butter, because it's better for you than the processed butter substitutes. It's higher in fat, but I control the amount I use, or I just substitute with olive oil. Is it more expensive to eat better? Yes it is, but think of the healthcare costs you will save yourself. Whoever brought the mediterranean diet up was right on the money.

Here's a simple way to eat better that doesn't require a great deal of planning or effort. When you go to the grocery store, do most of your shopping around the perimeter of the store, and avoid the center aisles as much as possible. The outter walls of the every grocery store is mainly fresher options. The center aisles are mainly processed food. In other words, the stuff on the outside is closer to "living," the center aisles are closer to "dead."  The closer you get to the stuff that was recently alive, the better off you are. It will be a little more expensive, but if you stick with the stuff that's on sale, it's not that bad. When my family shops, we exhaust the perimeter before we move into the center aisles. As a result, we pick up less processed food.

Don't worry about losing weight. Don't worry about what I or anyone else thinks about you. Worry about your health. Eat to you heart's content, just eat better things, and get some exercise here and there. What I think about appearance doesn't matter.

What schools serve breakfast?  I never got any when I was in school....  Except sometimes at high school, when one of the teacher's would sometimes bring in bagels on her own dime.


This is one of those things that sounds like common sense, and I tend to agree with, but I'm not really sure why.  Can anyone actually prove "processed" food is worse?  In what way, exactly?  Other than the presence of corn syrup and high levels of sodium, which isn't true of all processed food.  When they're nutritionally near identical, how is the processed version worse?

However, if you buy the better brands of frozen foods, my experience is it isn't really much cheaper than making from scratch fresh produce/meats anyway.

Can anyone prove processed food is worse? In a word: yes. 5 minutes spent just googling pulled up several studies and articles about what processing does to food. Processed foods contain higher levels of trans-fatty-acids, which contribute to heart disease. Processed foods contains higher levels of high-fructose corn syrup, as cheaper substitute for sugar, which more readily stores as fat. Processed foods contain higher levels of glucose, which our brains need a constant supply of, but too much causes damage to tissues leading to diabetes. Processed foods contain many additives and preservatives. That is the one area that is more dubious, that is, the jury is still out on what alot of them do to you. Finally, chicken nuggets are the "perfect storm" of processed foods. They often contain all of the above, with the added benefit of higher levels of the artificial growth hormones they inject in the chickens. They are made out of all the part of the chicken would normally get thrown away. Those parts are where the growth hormones get stored in greater amounts than in the meat. Studies have shown the hormonal imbalances and side effects these cause have lead to premature puberty in girls, increasing the risk of breast cancer.

Is all of this proven beyond a shadow of a doubt? Some yes, some no, and yes, some through means that have a political agenda. However, in the fifteen minutes it took me to research and write this response, I found all of the above. It all comes down to personal responsibility and choice. It always does. But it doesn't help matters when our culture makes these choices so easy and plentiful. It doesn't take a genius to know that society is experiencing rapid spikes in things like diabetes and heart disease and cancer, all coinciding with the age of processed food. I don't think the correlation can be reasonably argued.

All those bangers and mash had to catch up with the UK eventually . . .

Yeah, I'm aware of the tendency for processed foods to have worse nutritional content.  Thing is, they don't always.  Which is my point. 

I don't find it hard to believe most processed foods are bad for you, I just think general overeating, poor diet choices in general (lots of people also get fat off homecooking) and lack of exercise are far more important contributors to obesity and poor health than how food was manufactured. 

True. I don't totally disagree with you. However, less people get fat on lots of homecooking than eating lots of fast food and processed junk. Again, I'll bring up the mediterranean lifestyle. People in France, Italy, Greece, these people certainly do a good deal of eating. They love their food. But they also eat a lot more freshly prepared food, and true, they spend a higher percentage of their income on food than we do. I've been to all of those country's, and I'm telling you, I always see a smaller percentage of overweight people. You're right, it's not all about processed food vs. fresh food, but I think we agree it's a factor. We just differ on the size of the factor. It's all good. I have my opinions, and sometimes they're rather strong. Also, Americans tend to get defensive when something about our country is criticized. I'm not saying that's your beef, please don't take it that way. I'm a patriotic American, and this is a source of shame for me. We ARE the fattest country in the world, we're also the most unhealthy, a more important factor, I think. Hey, everyone makes their own choices, and I'm the last to try and control people's eating habits. That's insane. It's just, personally, I would really like to see the people of the USA healthier. I love my peeps.

A major part of it is also a difference in lifestyle. They tend to get far more excercise because they walk or bike pretty well everywhere unless they're in a rush or the distance is just too great.

Once again, the most reliable and effective diet in the world rears its head: fresher, healthier foods and regular excercise for life.

Exactly. This is not really a "fat" or "weight" thing with me. Different people have different healthy weights. For one person, a healthy weight means they are quite thin. For another, a healthy weight means they are a bit chunky. I think most people can just tell a person is healthy or unhealthy. If it's an attraction thing anyone is interested in, hey, I've been physically attracted to women with a little meat on their bones plenty of times. This is my opinion, but I think you can kind of intrinsically see a person who is at a healthy weight for them. A healthy person, to me, tends to have a certain glow about them that an unhealthy person doesn't have. Sometimes a person is unhealthy due to circumstances out of their control. My heart goes out to them. I feel, however, that the majority of people who have health problems have made choices in life that led to that condition. My heart goes out to them as well, just to a lesser degree and for different reasons. I feel particularly sorry for the kids whose parents feed them crap on a regular basis. Kids don't know any better, they're busy learning about life and are in many ways a blank canvas. They trust their parents to do the right thing. When I see obesity in children it makes me sad and angry, because I know that, except for some glandular problems here and there, the majority of them are that way because their parents let or made it happen.

I'm not a health nut. I don't always eat the way I should. I could stand to lose a few pounds, and should get a little more exercise than I do. But for the most part I do control many things that I eat, and it's not that hard to do. Do I always feed my kids healthy food? No, not always, they eat some junk here and there too. Finding the balance between being healthy and happy is not always easy, sometimes indulging in unhealthy food is part of being happy. I'm all good with that. But I have a hard time believing that people who are grossly overweight can honestly call themselves happy.

Samoa and Kiribati are fatter - well, depending on how you measure (there are a number of countries that have more overweight people but fewer obese people as a percentage).  Not trying to argue just to argue (especially since the combined population of the two is less than St. Louis), I just thought it was interesting. 

http://www.eatsmartagesmart.com/10-fattest-countries-in-the-world/ (http://www.eatsmartagesmart.com/10-fattest-countries-in-the-world/)

Obesity percentages.

I found it particularly interesting how close many countries are to America.  It's something I've pointed out to a number of British people on other forums, who seem to think calling Americans fat is some brilliant observation and something that is not at all a problem for their own nation(s). 

Sure you're trying to argue. So am I. In the end it's been an interesting thread, so no worries.  :thumbup:

Maybe it's just that part of the UK, but every time I go to Northern Ireland (3 times now), I don't see many fat people. The last two times I went I actually made a concerted effort to spot some. If there's a lot of them, they must stay inside all the time. Another thing I never see there either that you see here all the time, people that are probably capable of walking doing their shopping on motorized carts. Let's not burn any calories shopping for our fat-food, let's do our shopping from a motorized cart. Brilliant. Even our fat security guards don't walk anymore.

Not sure if I mentioned it before, but I saw a news story where the US military is having a hard time recruiting now because so many applicants are overweight.

Maybe the rest of the world is catching up, but we're still number one (wave the flag). We continue to blaze the trail for other nations.

Side note, if any of my fellow Americans are getting p**sed off, good.

I saw this on the news, too.  Boot camp is a good way to lose weight . . . I lost 20 pounds and 3 inches off my waist in 9 weeks at Fort Dix in 1982.  I weighed under 150 pounds when I finished boot camp.  Of course, I wasn't fat when I went in, so that helped . . .

I served as well. Boot camp is a great way to lose weight. I was actually one of those odd-balls that gained a couple of pounds. I was pretty thin when I went in so I gained muscle weight.

I hope so.  Hell...walking around the Philly area...I got much love for my city but DAMN!

Granted...I used to be really heavy.  At 13 I was 5'3'' and almost 200 pounds.  That summer I worked my ass off and dropped down to like, 115, a weight I maintained til last Christmas at the age of 25.

But between the Tastykake's, Wawa hoagies, beer, etc., as well as physical limitations, I gained a bunch of weight back. :bluesad:  But it always fluctuated.  Between 15 and 25 I went from 115 to 130 back to 120 up to 125 back to 115, etc.

Well, now you're being a devil's advocate.  Processed food not only contains more sodium and fat, but also lacks fiber.  Don't forget enzymes available in "live" fresh foods that are processed out of "dead" foods; and vitamin components sprinkled over frozen pizzas or boxed cereal is an illusion manufacturers tout in order to promote the notion such foods are as healthy as fresh foods, and contain as substantial a nutritive value. 

As MofoRising suggested, we evolved to develop a taste for fatty foods.  For the longest part of human history, when we were "hunter/gatherers" (but as RICHARD LEAKEY points out in his book People of the Lake, "gatherer/hunters" is more accurate) humans benefited from a taste for fatty foods over eons of simply trying to scrape together enough calories to survive.  At a time when lifespans were short compared with modern times, fat was a benefit. 

Now, we are simply privileged and inactive.  Seriously, and excepting the serious or energetic, who wouldn't rather eat fatty cheeseburgers, french fries, and chocolate ice cream while lounging on the sofa watching horribly entertaining bad movies, hmmm? 

A couple of years ago I went to a two-day conference on obesity (as part of medical education hours to keep up my license).  Two interesting points that I remember:

1.  One study we reviewed looked at self-estimation of food intake.  A study was done that basically asked people with a normal BMI and people with BMI >30 to self-rate how thoroughly they clean their plates, and how large their portion sizes were.  The result?  You guessed it.  Both groups reported the same portion sizes and intake -- the groups were not possible to tell apart statistically.      I can tell you from my work that it's probably an accurate reflection of how it works in the real world, for at least some significant portion of people who are obese in this country -- they self-report that they don't eat much.  If you count the calories though, well, thermodynamics don't lie.     There is only one hormonal problem that changes human thermodynamics, by the way (thyroid disorders).  The rest is all made up.

2.   Obesity is probably the last bastion of discrimination.  Studies measuring attitudes and assumptions made about obese people do tend to confirm that the obese are regarded as stupid, weak, immoral, etc. 

Speaking for myself, I can affirm that I've seen #1 bear out true in real cases.   And examining my own attitude at times, i can agree that I do make assumptions about obese people that I would not allow myself to make about (insert race here).   Partially in my defense -- most doctors will admit that they don't feel effectual in helping obese people correct the problem, and out of frustration a certain amount of countertransference happens.

Fat people are the only people where, as a group, it's okay to make fun of them and you can essentially get away with it.  Can't make fun of anyone cause it's politically incorrect...but make fun of the fatties, cause they have no feelings at all! :buggedout:

In defense of doctors, though, there have been cases where they've tried to warn their patients that their lifestyle was probably going to kill them and nearly got sued for it because it hurt the patient's feelings. Nevermind that a doctor's job is to help you with your health and obesity is extremely unhealthy. There's also the fact that it takes a lot of work and willpower to completely change your lifestyle like. Am I saying that obese people are too lazy? No. What I am saying is that in many cases they start excecising more and eating better, don't see dramatic results right away, get discouraged, and go right back to their bad habits. It's not just the obese, either; I've seen people who are only a bit overweight (or even at their ideal weight; damn their metabolism!) struggle with the same thing.

It's a difficult issue, to be sure. You can't force people to excercise everyday and you can't force them to eat well, but it absolutely can be frustrating to be limited only to giving advice that they choose not to listen to.

I remember watching some of the commentary on "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" where Benicio del Toro discussed gaining weight for a role.

Paraphrased: "People always make a big deal about an actor gaining weight. It's very easy to gain weight. Do nothing and eat about 12 or so donuts a day."

It is very difficult to lose weight. There is a sure-fire way to lose weight, which is eat less and exercise more. That is literally all there is to it, but that is not easy in the slightest. It's not a coincidence that billions are made every year selling people lose-weight-fast schemes as an easy way out.

Look at it as a numbers game. A pound of fat is about 3500 calories. If you want to get rid of that, you will have to burn that same amount. Your average fast-food cheeseburger is more than 1000 calories, at a minimum. Add in fries and a soda, you can easily bump that amount to more than 2000 calories. You could wake up and eat that. You probably do.

Now look at the average energy burned when you jog for an hour. It's about 600 calories. You would have to jog for over three hours just to burn off the calories you ingested as breakfast!

That's a bit simplified. Just being alive, you have to burn about 2000 calories a day.

But if you compare these values, if you worked out a little bit each day, you may burn 500 more calories than you take in. At that rate, you'd be lucky to lost one pound a week. One tiny pound, and you would really have to work for that pound.

So, if you want to be healthy, you would have to work very, very hard to hope to lose one pound per week. If you tried.

In the meantime, that delicious burger is 3500 calories of fatty goodness.

Woh, what fast food place serves those?  They're probably delicious.  Burger King and McDonald's cheeseburgers are in the 300 range, you have to get those giant ones (or get several smaller ones) to reach that level.

The BK quad stacker, with 4 beef patties, 4 slices of cheese, and a pile of bacon almost makes it.  930 calories. 

Actually, looking it up, turns out Hardee's is the place to go to get burgers that exceed the 1000 calorie threshold.  The 2/3 monster has 1350 calories if you get it at default - and 95 grams of fat! 

Impressive, huh?

Yeah, Mofo was exaggerating a bit there, 1000 calories is well above the average fast food cheeseburger, it's more like 300-500 calories, but that's okay, the fries often bring the total up quite a bit. Further, just about everything you eat at a fast food place is dead food, that is, processed and no longer containing the enzymes and amino acids that you get from eating fresh food. These things are important for your body to break down all those calories and do the right things with them. Someone who eats 3000 calories a day of fast food burgers, fries, nuggets, pizza, etc., is going to store more fat than someone who eats 3000 calories a day of a more fresh food diet, assuming both have the same level of physical activity a day. I eat fast food here and there, but I also mix in fresh food and supplements that contain alot of those enzymes and amino acids that I'm missing because I don't eat fresh all the time. I'm not a terribly active person, but I manage to keep my weight under control, but I could stand to lose 15 pounds or so.

The point is this, Mofo was right about his main point, there's no mystery here. Eat a little less, exercise a little more, and you will lose weight. The only thing I would add is try to tip the intake balance a little more to the fresh side, and maybe mix in some anti-oxidant fruits or veggies (you don't have to go overboard). 

Heh. Good point. I should have modified that to say the fast-food cheeseburgers that I would bother eating are more than 1000 calories.

That probably says more about my eating habits than anything else.

You should see the new additions to the menu at the restaurant I work in.  We used to have two fry options: regular and Cheese.  Not anymore:
Cheese-steak Fries- a very large basket of french fries, completely covered not only in STEAK, but Cheese.
Texas Tommy Fries- Again, large fries.  But this time, with cheese, as well as taking two hot dogs that are wrapped in bacon, fried, cut up and dispensed among the fries.
Spicy Chicken Fries- Fries with breaded chicken nuggets cut up and put in said fries. 

Calories have to be off the charts, fat content too.

Actually, it's not that hard if you work it into your routine. It only takes about 100 minutes of walking to burn off around 500 calories. Now, that's 100 cumulative minutes throughout your day; one decent walk (at least 40 minutes) a day on top of an average workday routine can just about clear it. So yes, it is possible to burn off around 500 calories in a day without breaking a sweat. The trouble is, of course, making yourself do it long enough for it to become a habit. Going from an unhealthy lifestyle to a healthy (or at least healthier) one is a test of will, although getting support from the people around you will greatly increase your odds of success.

Over the last month I was able to lose 15 pounds by just changing my diet. Cut out the fast food entirely,no more soda,started drinking massive amounts of juice and water.Stopped eating the "husky man" breakfast and switched to cereal. Started to work outside more. This kind of diet really sucks, but for me it works.the worst part was, I had to cut out the beer.

I've done everything you mentioned, with the exception of this last sentence.  I still like to drink.  I may have to cut it out though. :bluesad:

Well, it's more than just that.  Also, when you cut back on your calorie intake, your stupid body gets all, "I'm hungry!  I'm hungry!!  Feed me more!  Feed me more!!!"  Because it thinks you're starving yourself, because in many ways your body is stupid and doesn't know what's best for it.

:bluesad:

Helping prior service Marines to get fit and lose weight is something I do often these days, because of my present billet. 

Starving yourself just makes your body cut down your metabolism.  You should eat your 2000 calories a day unless there is a medical reason not to, and increase your activity.  Also, it matters when you get your calories.  If you eat 1000 calories right before bed your body can't do anything with it besides make fat.  Eat a healthy breakfast, eat a solid lunch, eat a good dinner at least 3-4 hours before bedtime, and then don't eat anything after dinner.  No soda or beer either, just water.  If you have to eat something, try eating a food that will make you feel full, like something with pectin.  Peaches, citrus fruits, apricots, apples, cherries, and blueberries are your friends.  Heck, while we're at it, cucumbers have almost 0 calories.

If you eat a dessert, try to do it with lunch.  Give your body time to burn off the calories.

You also need to get a handle on how many calories you are taking in.  Keep a diary of everything you eat and drink, except for water.  You might be surprised how many calories are coming from something you didn't think to worry about.

The best way to lose weight is to build muscle either mass or tone, as muscle burns calories.  You should do aerobic exercise 5 days a week, for at least 20 minutes.  Running, biking, swimming - anything like that.  And you can't just do it, you have to EXERCISE.  You have to push it, get your heart up, get those muscles working.  Don't kill yourself until your body gets used to the exercise, but you build strength and endurance by challenging your body.  No challenge = no change.  High intensity can make up for shorter duration.

The more muscle you have, the more calories you burn.  Work that core!  Do pull-ups, push-ups, bicycle crunches, and squats.  You should be doing this at least 3 days a week.  Check out Crossfit for ideas.  www.crossfit.com is the site, with demos if you need them.  One of my favorite workouts is 10 pull-ups, 20 push-ups, 40 abdominal exercises - repeat that between 8-10 times sets.

For center I often do bicycle crunches, leg lift triple threats (leg lifts, hello Dolly's, and alternating leg lifts), full-range situps, obliques, back raises and superman lower back.

The first 2-4 weeks you start an exercise program you are going to be sore.  Your body has to get used to recovering from what you do to it, and what you put it through.  Get through that period, and you'll see a world of difference. 

Sorry. I tend to be glib.

It is a numbers game. If you burn more calories than you take in, you will lose weight. That's just the way the universe works. But that's pretty detached, and we all know it's more difficult than that.

Andrew's advice is great. It's more important to turn your life from mostly sedentary to active, whatever form that takes.

It's pretty well established that having extra fat on yourself is much healthier than the zero body fat ideal we're led to believe is optimal. Unfortunately, appearance always seems to trump health. A bad way to look at things. If you make physical activity a part of your life, you don't need to worry about fitting into the pants you wore in high school.

Health is the important thing, and if you can put some physical activity that you enjoy into your everyday routine, you're pretty much set. You'll have more energy, and it will literally make you smarter. (It will.)

Go have fun. Enjoy finding out what your body can do. Health and weight loss will follow.

So this thread has risen from the depths yet again. Probably has something to do with all those burger threads. Mmmmmm, burgers.

Andrew's post is perhaps the best so far. It's becoming well known that eating frequently, preferrably earlier in the day, is the best way to increase your metabolism and keep your body from saying "I'm starving. Feed me!" When your body says that, it natually slows down metabolism in response, anticipating starvation. It's funny how the old school way of thinking was to eat less frequently, not to snack between meals. Now we know better. I wish I was better at following that advice. It's not easy for me.

  I think part of the problem is a lack of responsibility for one's own health. I know when I was younger I didn't have to really think much about being healthy, I was an active young kid running around at a time when there was a lot less junk food marketed to kids and families. But as an adult, I became less active, my metabolism slowed and it seems junk and fast food is much more available. So now I have to think about it, and sometimes it can be...not fun... to have to make the choices necessary for good health. The thing is, poor health will make its presence felt if you just ignore it.   You may not like it, but it's the truth and I think that most people would rather avoid an unpleasant truth until they are forced to deal with it.

  I think when it's all said and done what it comes down to is the fact that everyone is responsible for their own health. Someone said if you don't make time to be healthy, you will have to find time to be sick.

Eating healthy is expensive compared to cheap calories like fast food.  With the kids, it's not unusual for us to go to the local produce market and spend $50 on fruits and vegetables that last about a week.  That's in addition to the other costs, like yogurt, eggs, lean meats (and poultry, and fish), and avoiding cheap sugary calories.  We have very little junk food in the house.  Part of the very little is to keep it from becoming forbidden fruit, and something that the kids will feel the need to gorge on later in life since it was denied when they were kids.

As a result, we have three very active kids who absolutely run amok.  We've also been blessed with them being very healthy, so I think that it is working.

Of all things, Katie probably eats the worst out of all of us.  She has a difficult time not going after the junk food snack foods, but has been making attempts at eating more fruit and vegetables in their place.

Resurrecting this thread because I recently started an exercise program with the specific idea to lose some of this ridiculous weight I've packed on myself.

So what I did is start keeping track of all the calories I ingest. I also started exercising, mostly biking with a bit of running. Here are my notes.

Dieting is useless in itself. If you're a sedentary sort, your body burns up about 2000 calories a day. So if you want to lose weight, you would have to eat less than that every day. 2000 calories is nothing! It is so easy to eat 2000 calories before you even make it halfway through your day.

Dieting is useless without exercise. You have to exercise to lose weight. So I started exercising again, which was a quick wake-me-up. I was recalling my young self who had a body that could do anything I told it to do. I would take an hour run, and then my body was pretty much useless for exercise for several days. I wanted to run again, but I simply could not do it. It wasn't a matter of mental fortitude, my body could not do it.

But I kept at it, and I am now in a very good place regarding extended exercise. I've recently started going on long bike rides to local mountains which I then hike. 20 mile bike rides punctuated by a hike up a mountain, and I love doing it.

So when I started, I was a 5'8" guy who weighed about 185 pounds. Do you know how much weight I've lost through three solid months of this exercise. About 8 pounds. Now that's better than nothing, and I'm in a good to go sort of athletic shape, but as far as losing weight it is very disappointing.

Burning fat is very difficult. Much harder than I would have expected.

My once chubby niece lost 33 lbs in three months this summer, thanks to the Dukan Diet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dukan_Diet).
I'm still impressed.

As part of my present duties, I help Marines who want to return to the Corps with this often.

The rule of thumb is that you need a 3500 calorie deficit to burn 1 pound of fat.  That's taking in 500 calories less per day than you use for a week for a pound of loss.  This isn't exact, so for some people the number is lower or higher, and also it matters when you take in your calories.  Count your calories by writing everything you eat and drink down.  The only thing you don't have to keep track of is water.

Taking in a lot of calories shortly before bed means your body has 1 thing to do with them:  store them.  Try to eat a good breakfast, good lunch, sensible dinner that is at least 3 hours prior to bedtime, and nothing but water after dinner.  If you have to snack after dinner, then go for something like fruit.

Allow yourself a luxury once a week though, so you don't feel trapped by the dieting.  You know, something you like that you shouldn't eat or eating at a time you normally wouldn't.

For exercise, the mantra is "no challenge, no change."  You can get your exercise by doing it for a longer period of time (or more reps) or increase the intensity.  You want to do at least 30 minutes of cardio (walk, run, bike, swim, etc.) at least 5 days a week.  Change up your cardio so your body doesn't get too used to it, and push yourself so you feel it.  You also want to do core exercise (check crossfit and P90x) for at least 30 minutes at least 3 days a week.  Get more than just your legs burning calories for you.

I highly recommend these exercises:

Lunges
Squats
Bicycle crunch
Oblique crunch
Pull-ups (or pull-down machine)
Push-ups
Dips
Military press with a dumbbell or barbell.

Actually, there are LOTS of exercises you can do with a set of dumbbells.  Dumbbells and resistance bands will give you a lot of options for working out.  While dumbbells can get expensive if you are not using a gym, resistance bands are cheap.

Katie got serious about exercise and losing weight around the spring.  She lost 17 lbs in 3 months doing cardio 6 days a week and a crossfit style workout 3 days a week.

I have to agree with that. Dumbbells are one of the most versatile exercise aids there are. Of course, there are plenty of exercises one can do without ANY aids whatsoever.

I am currently looking for a standalone punching bag. I used to have a punching bag and talk about a great way to burn energy and frustration at the same time. I used to walk away from an intense session with the bag feeling magnificent. My wife and I are both dealing with a good deal of stress lately and I told her "we need to get a punching bag."

I'm telling you, if you want to get some good exercise and get rid of some stress at the same time, get a punching bag.

  I hear you FJ and I totally agree. It's amazing how something so simple can do you so much good. What kind pf punching bag do you use.? Right now I drop by a friend's house and work on his heavy bag. I'd like to try a speed bag to some time too. I could never get the hang of it though.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3757881/Worlds-fattest-mum-vows-I-want-to-weigh-one-ton.html (http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3757881/Worlds-fattest-mum-vows-I-want-to-weigh-one-ton.html)

Why!?  :buggedout:

Oh, I'm in the process of looking for one locally on craigslist. I don't know if I'm going to go for a standalone or a hanging heavy bag.

I never thought about that before but its really interesting now that I think of it. How did we go from a society where seeing someone that fat was an oddity to a society where its normal? Its very disturbing and disheartening when you think of it. Oh well when the zombies start eating people all the fat people will die first and then there will be just really slow fat zombies.

I have a heavy bag in the basement.  Either need to get a stand for it or else get a plate to mount it to the ceiling.  Prefer the stand, but most of the time you need some weights or sandbags to get decent stability.

How did the bag feel?  :buggedout: :wink:

Absolutely.  I bought the Bowflex Selectech dumbells (90 lbs each, adjustable to lower weights simply by turning dials on the ends of the bars).  When I work out at home rather than the gym, I spend most of my non-cardio time using these dumbbells.  A typical non-cardio workout for me would be about 2/3 dumbbell work, 1/6 Bowflex resistance work, and 1/6 Total Gym work.  Stationary bike and/or treadmill would be in addition to this.  The Selectech weights come with a DVD that has an impressive number of exercises (some using a bench, some with no bench required).   

You probably thought about it, but I'd say it's likely you also gained significant amounts of muscle.  Keep it up though - it's worth noting that even maintaining muscles burns calories, much more so than maintaining fat.

Oh I think that's what's happening. I can see the difference, but the numbers on the scale don't decrease. I'm not really focusing on the weight, more on being able be athletic again. Getting back into running was a real wake-me-up. It was stumble and go for a while. Now I'm at a point where I can really enjoy just being able to run, and I really enjoy running.

Here's a trick that has really worked for me. I now keep track of all the calories I take in, but I don't think of it as something like "If I eat this I will have to exercise so much to burn it off." It's rather the opposite point, where if I work out during the day, I earn myself more calories I can eat. I also make it a point to eat after I go on an extended work out. I've pretty much burned off all my body's available energy, and I think it's a good idea to replenish that, just as a day to day thing.

Other than that, I just try to make exercise fun. The main reason I focused on biking is that it is one of the few exercises you can do in Phoenix during the summer. Biking has a built in breeze, and you can do it for miles. Keeping cool in Phoenix is a pretty legitimate concern, and it's not something you can do easily by running. Biking you can do, but it still requires extra steps.

Also, it is a lot of fun. The sensation of speed is a sort of pretty universal fun thing. I bought a stationary bike with idea that I would peddle while watching TV or reading a book. It's a chore, and no fun. But if you are out there in the world it is incredibly fun. I've been going on long bike rides that bring me to the base of a good hiking trail. I ride the bike out, climb a mountain, and ride the bike out. Great way to spend a day off.