America's WEIGHT LOSS Obsession >_>

[happymuffincat]

Is there anyone else out there who's just SICK of seeing and hearing constantly constantly CONSTANTLY about losing weight and dieting and exercising??! It's so ridiculous how the media can totally have the attention of the entire country whenever they mention anything about food, fitness, dieting, or weight loss "secrets"...

Personally, I am recovering from an ED that I had for about a year, so this I'm probably more overly sensitive to this kinda stuff then the average person but still. I've found it's difficult for me to try and have a healthy mindset about food when everyone's practically FORCING us to be obsessed. I'm not just talking about the models and whatnot; it's just the confusion about EATING that gets my undies in a knot.

I mean, it's sad that we need books and experts to tell us what we should EAT, which was once just basic instinct. I mean, a lizard is astronomically more confident about it's food choices then we are, and they eat bugs. Why? Because bugs are what they're NATURALLY supposed to eat.

The best way to go is just eating NATURAL foods.

A food shouldn't have to advertise that it's nutritious.

[rant over]

[Grandiloquence]

I'd love to eat more Natural foods!
If they weren't so damn expensive, lulz.

But yeah. I've been a fatty all my life, at least now I'm finally doing something to get the weight off. However, it was never really the media that made me want to lose weight in the first place.

[Dustier Gozongas]

YEEEEEEESSSSS!!!! Thank you for saying this!!! It's ridiculous!! It's constantly in your face! Why don't people just eat what they want, and not anymore than when they're full? Then there wouldn't be a problem. Just, so much in excess and then people wanna counteract that with some magical weightloss method that will make you skinny in a day, to exaggerate it. 60 percent of the country is considered overweight. It's horrifying. gonk

[Mirelloestel]

I understand completely. I've been in recovery from anorexia for seven or eight months, after going to treatment for it during the summer. It's so difficult when society pushes weight loss, and it's easy to be triggered. This is the hardest thing I've ever done, especially because society promotes what I was, not what I should be. I know it's good to be healthy, but some days I'll read a magazine and just wish that I could be skinny again.

[Warlord Nazdreg]

Seeing it that over 60% of the American nation is overweight, the media is just being clever by aiming advertisement to the biggest crowd, which is the one that need to loose an extra few pounds. neutral

[iinterstellar]

I hate when those diet things tell people to eat something, because it's low in whatever the hell they're counting, but it's stuffed with chemicals.

I mostly won't eat anything that isn't all natural.
I don't care wether I'm skinny, or not, I care that I'm healthy.

[halves]

I hate it when you're about to tuck into a nice bit of cheesecake and there's red warnings all over the shop about how much calories and saturated fat it has and how if this even touches your mouth you will drop dead from a coronary!
I don't know if they have in the US but over here in Britain they put this "wheel of good health" thing on all food packaging, showing how much salt, fat, sugar etc. is in the product. If there's a lot of fat or something in it then it will be coloured in red. For foods with low levels of bad stuff its green.
IF I WANTED TO BE HEALTHY I WOULD NOT BE BUYING A CHEESECAKE SO GTFO!

But yeah, I'm really unhealthy and still only 8stone so yay for me mrgreen

[spardakiller]

well the thing is this we have more people over weight than even in the us. I may not be an expert but i can tell you that its peoples choices to eat what they want to but right now the problem is so big that even the insurance companies care. too many people are having too many problems that can be corected just by watching what they eat. even small children start have this problem we really dont need that. you can blame the big companies like mcdonal's or coke and stuff but we are the ones giving our kids this junk. to me its not the way you look you dont have to be a model or anything i dont even care because most people know the consequences to their eating havits. its more to i fight for this country i prefare taking my time to help people even with that problem than to sit around and just watch.

[-Deamon Poet-]

~lol I guess you make a pretty good point on that. But they also advertise food, you know like del taco, taco bel, jack in the box, it makes it hard to eat healthy too. I think they are jamming it down our media becuase of how overweight our country is. But the way teenage women have been it might be a anorexic/bullimic country. I don't know, why can't we be like Germany, they always are listed in activities, I mean sure they got their obesity too but I know they are far more healthier. They eat good and healthy stuff. I think we need a German Swat team of health lifestyle to come over and give us a kick in the a**. We are either too fat or too skinny,

[happymuffincat]

My philosophy is just eat ACTUAL food 90% of the time, and if you wanna splurge, don't try and eat those stupid 100-calorie things -- just go all-out. By not feeling deprived you'll save yerself a binge and ultimately feel a lot better.

[Warlord Nazdreg]

-Deamon Poet-

~lol I guess you make a pretty good point on that. But they also advertise food, you know like del taco, taco bel, jack in the box, it makes it hard to eat healthy too. I think they are jamming it down our media becuase of how overweight our country is. But the way teenage women have been it might be a anorexic/bullimic country. I don't know, why can't we be like Germany, they always are listed in activities, I mean sure they got their obesity too but I know they are far more healthier. They eat good and healthy stuff. I think we need a German Swat team of health lifestyle to come over and give us a kick in the a**. We are either too fat or too skinny,

well, could always compare the ingredients in German pastry and American pastry (maby throw in Swedish as well, we are supposed to be in the middle)

[esgal dae]

Natural foods are really the best way to go. There are definite trends in nutrition theory, mainly because foods are too complex to identify just one aspect that's good or bad. Scientists always say that their current idea is the best, but it never helps. If you look at history, for a while they were anti-protein, anti-fat, anti-carb, anti-food... So what do you replace the extra stuff with? Almost always something even worse for you. Think of margarine v. butter. margarine (usually) has trans fat, which is man made, and generally horrible for everyone. Butter has saturated fat, which we think is correlated to heart disease, but a little bit is not harmful at all. By subscribing to nutrition theory, we are volunteering as guinea pigs. They don't know all of the affects until long after you start eating the food. One of the few things that we know is that highly processed foods are bad. That is about it. And that most Americans eat too much meat.

I actually read whatever someone hands me, and someone recently handed me a book called In Defense of Food which is where a lot of this particular info comes from. I must say, I don't want to be eating junk when I don't know the effect. Actually, something interesting from this book was that he advocated eating traditional food, whatever cuisine you choose. So have a Japanese lunch, Italian dinner, etc. A lot of things are supposed to be horrible, but cultures that eat them are healthier than Americans, because they generally care more about the food.

Also, after feeling full, it's time to stop eating. Not when the bag of chips runs out or the TV show ends, but when your stomach doesn't need any more food. It's quite simple. (Apparently, Americans usually stop eating when the food is gone, and don't pay attention to their stomachs. Which makes sense, because a longer meal is required to notice it.)

Really, what all of the studies have found is very little that grandparents don't know. Eat your fruits and veggies, slow down (inhaling food is rude), and try new things. Almost all of our food is made of bleached flour, high fructose corn syrup, and various partially-hydrogenated oil, and those are all highly processed, and therefore should be eaten only in moderation. Go for non-hydrogenated fats, cane syrup, and whole wheat flour instead, is the basic message. A cheese cake is fine (but after the meal, not instead of it) as long as it doesn't contain all sorts of artificial junk.

As a side note: you can balance flavors, like sweet/bitter/sour by adding more of another. Sweetness disguises bitterness, and many chemicals leave a very bitter taste, so they have to add more sugar. By eliminating the chemical, you need less sugar and it tastes better. In foods without large quantities of junk, the excessive amounts of fat and sugar are unnecessary, and more reasonable quantities can be used.

[Ineloquent]

But I do need to lose weight.
150 pounds at 5'2" can't exactly be healthy.

But I'm pretty much forced to eat a lot of s**t because that's what's sold and that's what gets bought up.

And exercise doesn't help when you don't eat right in the first place.

[nickyb00zed]

[FlamingWolfTongue]

Is there anyone else out there who's just SICK of seeing and hearing constantly constantly CONSTANTLY about losing weight and dieting and exercising??! It's so ridiculous how the media can totally have the attention of the entire country whenever they mention anything about food, fitness, dieting, or weight loss "secrets"...

Personally, I am recovering from an ED that I had for about a year, so this I'm probably more overly sensitive to this kinda stuff then the average person but still. I've found it's difficult for me to try and have a healthy mindset about food when everyone's practically FORCING us to be obsessed. I'm not just talking about the models and whatnot; it's just the confusion about EATING that gets my undies in a knot.

I mean, it's sad that we need books and experts to tell us what we should EAT, which was once just basic instinct. I mean, a lizard is astronomically more confident about it's food choices then we are, and they eat bugs. Why? Because bugs are what they're NATURALLY supposed to eat.

The best way to go is just eating NATURAL foods.

A food shouldn't have to advertise that it's nutritious.

[rant over]

I just have to dissagree with the being forced part,
as no one can force you not to eat. they just make
you want it. real bad.

[Flurpe]

Yes. It is ridiculous. I mean, the press always talking about how Americans
are "fat" and such and the rumors that go around in other countries about us
just make things worse.

So what if you have a stomach? We DO have them for a purpose.
I'm not fat, but I'm not a stick either, and I"m happy with myself.

I don't understand why people are on the verge of killing themselves because
of starvation or malnutrition and such when they are perfectly fine.

Before you get to love anyone else, start to love yourself for who you are.