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A serious issue no doubt. Our shop has a weight program, I don’t think there is a smoking program but probably should be.
But addressing the costs is reactive, not proactive. What else has changed since 1960?
Our society is much more sedentary than ever. Thank you computers for keeping us at our desks instead of getting up frequently.
More of us work in offices than on farms.
Manufacturing jobs just don’t exist, with nearly everything being made offshore.
Food portions have gone up, though with less opportunities to burn calories during the day, one would wonder why. (says he with a bag of chips on the desk).
Health clubs on site at subsidized cost? Are they better than subsidized dining rooms or cafeterias?
Somewhere to walk at lunch? Someone to walk with?
What other ideas are there?
Put the vending machine on the roof.
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for all but the last 100 years it was hard to get enough calories to put on weight. People used to spend the summers working to prepare just to survive the winter. Now with supersized foods and no manual labor for most, what other outcome could there possibly be?
Yep, and this explains the traditional american diet. Bacon/eggs and fried potatoes in the morning, pot roast with gravy for dinner? Only if you’re going to spend 12 hours in the field.
That said I don’t think it’s reasonable to expect people to commute two hours a day, spend 8-10 hours sitting at a desk, find time for continuing ed and maybe raising a little bit of family on the side. Our employers demand this from us, I don’t know how we’re expected to maintain physical and emotional health in the modern middle class work environment.
I agree with everything Reality Bites said. Also, am I the only one who’s sick of these groups fighting against fat discrimination? I have struggled with my weight my entire life, so I understand how hard it is but you don’t get to be morbidly obese absent some seriously destructive activity. Real discrimination occurs against those who are born or made a certain way (race, gender, religion) not those who shovel in 2 days worth of calories at every meal by choice.
Weight solutions that don’t require much extra work other than learning to cook:
1) Go to the super market and buy more fresh fruits and veggies and less pre-packaged foods. Drink a lot of water and for god’s sake, stop drinking all those nasty, sweet, carbonated drinks!! Cut those out and you’d probably lose about 10 lbs a year on average. The diet drinks don’t work either. They just keep your sweet tooth wanting more sweet stuff. Cut all that crap out. All those cooking shows and the internet supply tons of simple recipies for foods that are not pre-packaged. Eat out less! You’ll save some cash as well. Stay the heck away from fast food restaurants. Everything in moderation.
2) Get out and do something. Walk instead of riding if your golfing. Take a walk after dinner. Take the stairs. Do you really need to take the elevator 1 or 2 floors?? Really??
You don’t need the government to tell people this stuff.
Wow, not much compassion from the group above.
This is not a compassion issue. Compassion and looking the other way caused this mess. Its time to bring out the cannons.
I think the issue is due to a lack of personal responsibility in general and a society based on the principle of entitlement. I.E. “I can eat what I want” (not what I should) and “Diet = pills or surgery”. Throw in cities built seemingly to *discourage* walking, a general shift towards sedentary recreation and things like elimination of recess/physical activity in schools of all levels and you have a real problem. Then add in the fact that much of the food we eat comes from mega conglomerates that have been pushing unhealthy processed junk for years and you have a real disaster.
We don’t need laws. We need motivation, willpower and personal responsibility. And we need the government letter agencies to make a *real* commitment to improving public health which is quickly becoming a matter of urgent national security. A nation of sedentary, unhealthy obese people will not remain a nation with military preparedness or a capable armed forces.
Is this a surprise to anyone? When Disneyland had to shut down Its a Small World to deepen & widen the boat channel because boats were sinking due to the much higher weights of the occupants, that should have been a super shameful clue as to how bad the obesity problem is.
This is a problem that cuts across class lines and if we have national health care it will ultimately turn the US into Greece, bankruptcy straight ahead. Its like bullying, there is no cure unless people want to change and, unfortunately, so many obese people are in such a constant sense of denial that getting through to them is virtually hopeless. Political correctness and more & more government aid won’t help people who just won’t curtail their eating,get off their asses to exercise and choose to live a healthier lifestyle.
I agree that new laws are not the answer. But, I would love to see the end of “high fructose corn syrup”. That garbage adds more “sponge” to the middle than anything. People just don’t know what they are eating anymore….
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Check out the documentaries Forks over Knives and Hungry for Change. Both document the amazing health benefits of a greener diet. Not easy in modern society when time for cooking is short -
maybe employers will have to help by changing to shorter workdays, etc if they want employees to have time to exercise and actually cook a healthy dinner.
well then, the FDA needs to go back to square one and rid all the food products with addatives, etc…one huge noticeable area in the freezer section…my point exactly, the HUGE freezer section!
What are you talking about? The whole point of freezing is that it requires fewer additives, not more. It’s that whole middle section of the grocery store that needs to be looked at.
From my highest weight I’ve lost 52 pounds. I did it by setting goals and sticking to them. My goals were 1) find the most convenient way for me to keep track of what I eat and how much I exercise, 2) do not go hungry, 3) the food must taste good, and 4) stick to a healthy lifestyle (not a temporary diet). I accomplished all of these goals. My biggest challenge? Sabotage.
Nearly every one of my friends, family and coworkers repeatedly tried to force unhealthy food and large portions on me, got offended when I politely declined, and criticized me for losing “too much” weight, even when I was still well into the obese range. I wasn’t even a vegan or eating some crazy fad diet–I just exercised portion control and chose healthy foods whenever they were available. Some of this I think is just people being polite, saying you look good at your current weight, but after a point it becomes irrational and crosses the line into deliberate sabotage. We live in a culture where everything is celebrated with food and anyone who doesn’t indulge along with us is criticized, made fun of, or pressured to eat more. We say one thing on public forums like this, but in our personal lives we hypocritically exert negative peer pressure on the few of us left who are trying to live healthy lifestyles.
At least, that has been my personal experience.
Congratulations on your accomplishment. Hopefully this will help some more people get motivated and know they can succeed.
I agree with everyone on a greener diet, less additives in our food. However I think we also need to address our culture. We are under time pressure as a society. Many people don’t cook. They eat out or buy frozen meals, canned soup, bagged salad. I’m guilty as charged too. I am rediscovering my cook books and on a Sunday morning I try to cook a few things for the week and stash them in the fridge. I’ve come to enjoy Sunday mornings. Get the kids involved. Teach them to measure, stir stuff, portion things into containers. I’ve lost 12 pounds so far, but it’s a start.
It’s all about the pie hole.
Calories in Vs. calories out.
From the societal level, we can yap about sedentary lifestyles and changes in working conditions, blah blah yada yada.
But at the INDIVIDUAL level, the solution is simple. Eat only as many calories as you need.
You can adjust that a little bit with exercise, but not much. A good three-mile run is literally not enough to overcome the calories from 1 Snickers Ice Cream Bar. So it it all about the pie hole and how much food you shove down it.
That is an equally ridiculous assertion to the “healty at any weight” idea. It does, in fact, matter what you eat. I guarantee you that someone who eats a double whopper with fries and a coke once a day will be heavier than someone who eats 2000 calories worth of veggies, grains and fish a day. Not all food provides the same metabolic effect, and energy levels are a huge deal to obese people trying to lose weight.
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Who doesn’t love to eat? We have to eat in moderation. Anyway, regardless of the quality of food available, you can bet it is laced with different types of chemicals, preservatives, growth hormones, bulking ingredients etc etc etc. These adds up not only to the weight problem but most importantly to health problems.
It’s pretty close to apostasy in insurance circles (joking), but we also drink too much as a society. I never realized how much I drank until my wife was pregnant and I quit drinking along with her during the pregnancy. I lost about 10 lbs in the first month- didn’t really change my diet or exercise habits at all. I realized that having a beer or two or a few glasses of wine each night was so packed with useless carbs, it was crazy.
We both resumed drinking after the pregnancy but only sparingly- out to dinner with friends, etc.
I am overweight and diabetic. I’m lucky I haven’t reached obesity. My weight is totally my own responsibility and I know that my diabetes will improve if I eat smarter and get more exercise. I broke my leg a few weeks ago and that cuts into my exercise cnsiderably.
My veterinarian said I had to put both of my cats on a diet and I have created several chasing games for them. They have lost weight and they are livelier as a result.
Listen to me my chubby and fat friends- I’m getting healthier and thinner and there is no reason you can’t do the same.
Water Bug~
You’re funny, from a fellow chubby friend! Good luck with your new, healthier lifestyle. My mom is diabetic and did not take care of her disease. Her kidneys failed and she has been on dialysis for over 2 years now. I try to use that as motivation to keep me on the right path, but as we know, it is a constant battle.
She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed and I are downsizing from a too-big house to a much smaller apartment and one of the key thing for me was finding a place with a workout center. I cannot tell you how much I am looking forward to using the facilities to retain my faculties longer. Drop an inch (or 2), get tight, quit smoking etc. Then maybe I’ll start eating right when SWMB isn’t looking.
In the past five months I dropped almost fifty pounds – nearly a quarter of my body weight! I was surprised how easy it was, and I was even more surprised by how I was so unaware of the extent to which I was overeating. For me the problem was entirely dietary– I haven’t been killing it at the gym. Everyone is different but my problem was a serial inability to say “no” to rich food. I switched from tending to pick the unhealthiest thing on the menu to picking the healthiest, and I reduced all of my (previously enormous) portions down by 50%. Basically a change from living to eat, to eating to live.
A couple of thnigs to keep in mind with this calculator, it’s to be used as a guideline only. Women tend to have more body fat than men. Older adults on average tend to have more body fat than younger adults. Highly trained athletes may have a high BMI because of increased muscularity rather than increased body fatness.Some life insurance companies are now giving their customers better rates if they maintain a healthy BMI. Keep that in mind next time you update your policy and talk to your agent.Kirk yeah you’re picky lol and it is confusing. There are other more detailed guidelines which I will update with