Fat Americans

[easyrider]

Only the strong will survive and stand the test of time. Obese people will not.

I don't think it's as simple as that. As DoingKermit observed, I, too, think there are different types of obesity. While it's possible to become obese in Europe, the person is getting fat from healthy foods (maybe not so much now thanks to globalization). While becoming obese in America usually entails getting fat from unhealthy foods. Just think of all those plump physiotypes in the history of European aristocracies; I'd bet a large sum that they became obese through the intake of quality, healthy foods. Granted, inherited somatotypes play a role in this as well. I think it is possible for a person to be healthy and obese. The real issue here is the quality of food. Being obese doesn't help overall, but it's better to be obese through healthy foods rather than unhealthy foods in my opinion. It's just unfortunate that it's easier to become obese through unhealthy foods in contemporary America.

 

[Ice House]

I think it is possible for a person to be healthy and obese.

I disagree completely. It is not possible for a person to be healthy and obese.

Regardless of how the person got there the end result is the same.

Obese and healthy dont go together. An obese person is carrying around more fat stores than is healthy for the human physiology. Fat doesnt just deposit itself around the waist and on the ass. Fat builds up in the arteries and in the digestive track. The weight of that extra fat takes its toll on a persons ability to breath properly and it causes sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is linked to heart issues.

Obeses people are not healthy I dont care how you got obese.

being obese takes its toll on the musculoskeletel system, resulting in knee, leg, and hip problems.

Obese are 100x more likely to have high blood pressure which if left on treated can lead to stroke.

 

[easyrider]

I guess that was a poor statement. I don't believe an obese person is living the optimal model in regard to health. I will have to retain the belief that there are different forms of obesity, though. Good and bad fats exist, and that is fact. Either way, I'd have to disagree with your initial Darwinist-esque statement; many of the members of the ruling class were and are, indeed, obese.

 

[ewok]

Fat is fat whatever way it comes about, I think it boils down to laziness not your diet you can eat shit all day every day, but if you exercise enough to burn those calories your gonna be OK. It's all about amount that goes in to how much you use. Just don't eat more than you need/use.

 

[Xt]

I have re-written this post about 5 times and deleted my text. There is no way i can say what i feel without some venom. If a store that sells vegetables is 10 miles away and my kids need healthy food... and i'm obese... ill fucking walk there.
Quoting the cause for obesity is not an excuse for being obese.
It is costing health services a lot of money... it is not cheaper to eat fatty shitty food. It will kill you... how is that cheap? Eat fatty food... or go hungry for a day? When your overweight the choice might seem obvious.
Plant some god dam seeds.

 

[DMTripper]

And when you eat fatty shit food you need to eat a lot more. There's very little nutrition in a MacDonalds burger but beans for example are compressed proteins and nutrients. Beans are not expensive.

 

[Steely]

you can eat shit all day every day, but if you exercise enough to burn those calories your gonna be OK.

Skinny, in-shape, "fit" people can be very unhealthy as well. There is a huge difference between eating right/exercising, and eating like crud/exercising. Extreme levels of Cholesterol clogging up ones arteries is the cause for fatal heart attacks in any type of person, obese or skinny.

His cholesterol has since been dramatically lowered, and thankfully nothing life threatening occurred, but my father was a shining example of how someone seemingly in shape could be at such serious risk for heart attack/stroke.

In terms of longevity, those who consistently eat well but do not exercise are in much better shape than visa versa. But just remember that dieting consists of two major, equally important factors: Healthy Eating & Exercise (Not one or the other).

 

[benzyme]

genetics is half of the issue, but convenience and complacency compose the other half. sums it up in a nutshell.

 

[polytrip]

Obesity isn't an american thing, it's a worldwide pandemic that is more and more hitting countries that are traditionally seen as poor nations, like china and india.

I think we get a wrong picture of modern society by just focussing on the obese. The truth is actually far worse: If average life expectancy rises while at the same time casualties of things like obesity also rise, then this indicates a growing divide in society between a group of people that get's increasingly healthier and a group of people that get's increasingly less healthy.

I think that within a few decades, we could see a gap of over 20 to 30 years in life-expectancy between people born in wealth and people born in poverty.

The wider the gap in wealth, the wider the gap in life expectancy, i suppose. So america, china, india and the UK would be society's with relatively more of these health problems and sweden and denmark would be society's relatively well off.

 

[jamie]

"If average life expectancy rises while at the same time casualties of things like obesity also rise, then this indicates a growing divide in society between a group of people that get's increasingly healthier and a group of people that get's increasingly less healthy."

That is exactly the way things are going IMO. As awareness increases concerning health and diet etc some people will tune into that and truely take health into they're own hands. Others will continue to feed poison to the body. It's not hard at all to imagine the divide down the road. Hopefully everyone takes up a more ideal approach towards hygene in the end and things like fast food, processed sugars and other refined foods become a thing of the past.

 

[Rivea]

Wait until you younger ones get to experience the slowdown of your metabolism which for me has started to occur in my 50's. I eat little junk, but there is some stuff to cull out of my diet. I need to be more active there is no doubt, but I do move around a lot. So It's back to lifting those kettlebells again and getting some dynamic resistance work happening for my body.

Everybody I talk to says that I look great and don't need to lose weight, but I say otherwise. I don't like it at all. Yet I am one of those insensitive people that is pretty critical of those that are grossly morbidly obese. Like some friends of mine say: "If you spot it, then you've got it." I have to work on me some.