Survey: Most Obese Claim to Eat Healthy

AP Via Forbes ^ | 8-2-2006 | Mike Stobbe

[Psycho_Bunny]

I was going to say I found it a little pathetic - especially considering that FR is a bastion of conservatism - but I didn't want to start a flame war.

And before someone thinks I'm being defensive,  I'm 6'3, 195#.

[Fawn]

Wow.....I never knew so many people gave a crap about other people's weight.

'I' give a crap. It's becoming America's signature....FAT people.
Also...it increases MY TAXES and HEALTH INSURANCE premiums since people don't eat correctly or exercise and up with bad knees and heart attacks. I PAY for their laziness and gluttony. So there are 2 reasons why I care.

[Psycho_Bunny]

What are you going to CAPS ON about next, people like me?  I'm 6'3, 195 so you can't hammer on me about being fat, but my cholesterol is over 300.  I'm also borderline with high blood pressure........are you going to demand that laws be passed forcing me to take certain medications and exercising a certain amount every day so as to save your insurance premiums? 

What's the endgame associated with your opinions?  If I can't prove I've eaten healthy and I have a heart attack at 42, my insurance won't pay my medical bills?

Who enforces your opinions about people's health?  The government?  Insurance companies?  Or do we just use vitriolic peer pressure and name calling like the brunt of posts on this thread.

[Lazamataz]

Survey: Most Obese Claim to Eat Healthy

Of course they eat healthy.

They just eat way too much of it.

[Lazamataz]

I also read the author's name wrong, at first.

I saw Mike Slobbe

[Fawn]

Who enforces your opinions about people's health?

I would hope the people themselves would look at their own conscience....about themselves and for their kids sake.

[-YYZ-]

The normal range of BMI is based on people who are out of shape, or at best relatively lightly muscled as comes from having, say, a sedentary job and doing aerobic exercise which doesn't build large muscles. I'm 6'3" and 190 lbs, and although my BMI is just within the normal range, I still consider myself fat, due to the visible roll of fat around my abdomen. I will continue to watch what, and how much I eat, and try to exercise vigorously more often to see if I can eliminate it, and not worry too much about what the scale says. At least I'm not 230 lbs like I was until June of last year. That weight reduction was achieved mostly through changing my diet, and is an indication that my body type is naturally fairly slender but that my atrocious diet (too much, and too many of the wrong things) had forced my weight up.

[Mr. Jeeves]

There is a health tape out there called "Dead Doctors" that claims the USDA Food Pyramid that was designed by four lawyers is all wrong and that it fills the rules for fattening livestock for the market.

Well, it is. It was designed to fatten up Archer Daniels Midland's bottom line. ;)

It's simple - people following that pyramid are eating 300+ grams of carbohydrates a day (many of them disguised as "healthy foods") when they should be eating less than 100 grams to maintain weight, or less than fifty to lose.

[subterfuge]

If you want to see what makes people fat, follow a fat person

True. I'll see a fat person in the company cafeteria and invariably they choose a breadfast of Biskets Slathered in Gravy and a side of Bacon...with water.

[subterfuge]

This thread is making me hungy. Gotta go.

[Dr. Scarpetta]

"There is, perhaps, some DENIAL going on. Or there is a lack of understanding of what does it mean to be eating healthy, and what is vigorous exercise," said Dr. David Schutt of Thomson Medstat, the Michigan-based health-care research firm that conducted the survey.

My friend likes Weight Watchers because she has to write down everything she eats. That helps with DENIAL.

[-YYZ-]

The vegetables and beans are good for you. Most vegetables (and I don't consider potatos or corn vegetables) have pretty minimal calories compared to the fibre and nutrients they claim, and most legumes are chock full of fibre and protein and low in fat, and fairly low in carbs. White rice and pasta, OTOH, are essentially empty carb calories. Tofu I just don't much care for, so it's irrelevant.

[VRWCtaz]

"especially considering that FR is a bastion of conservatism"

People (myself included) are often totally blind to their own hypocrisy until it is pointed out to them. The mark of a true conservative is that he will examine his position upon being confronted and - if found to be hypocritical - he will correct his views and actions accordingly.

[gopheraj]

BRAVO!!

[mewzilla]

No, but if one is obese, what's wrong with having premiums reflect the risk the same way they do for people who smoke? Certain behaviors do increase risk. What's wrong with having people pay more for consquences of their behavior? Not to mention socking people in the wallet may be a better deterent than having the state shake its finger at them.

[HungarianGypsy]

I hope you don't have 6 or 8 kids :-)

LOL! I was actually in shock to read the scale last time. I look curvy, but I don't look fat. So did not expect such a high number.

[kaylar]

I found out that I was 10 lbs heavier than I thought I was when I took my dog to the vet and I had to stand on the floor scale with and without dachshund to get HER weight. "Shocked" would be putting it mildly-horrified, traumatized, terrified, desperate-

I usually wear skirts and dresses, which are much more forgiving in the waist and hips department than are slacks and jeans. I have adjusted my wardrobe accordingly, stepped up on the exercise (pushups, situps, and exercise bike) and I've cut out carbonated drinks by 90%. Seems to be working-my jeans are now fairly loose instead of almost unfastenable.

[HungarianGypsy]

I actually started doing yoga yesterday. I keep them on my DVR and will probably do the programs a couple times a day. Back in February I dropped an inch by just walking during a three day SCA event and pulling little children around in a wagon. I know it was not an eating issue, since I was constantly eating. Unfortunately, in the city and 102 degree heat there aren't as many places that I can walk with five kids.

I notice the weeks that I don't eat as much are actually the weeks I seem to gain more. I assume it's the body's starvation mode.

[kaylar]

I've noticed that, too....And when I switched to water, it seemed that my stomach (not my bladder, my stomach) got much more distended than it ever did from pop . Weird!

[TChris]

Interesting how the term "healthy" has evolved. It used to mean "not skinny and scrawny". Now, it means, "Pretty skinny; almost scrawny"