What's making people in the U.S so fat?
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Having just returned from a 2 week trip to Florida I will say that it is down to the prevalence of high calorie, low nutritional value foods. The diet in America (and TBH in the UK as well) seems to be centred around high-glycemic index (processed) carbohydrates and saturated fats, very little (if any) fruit and veg, and low levels of low fat protein - HUGE steaks do not count!! The body can only process so much sugar, anything that isn't used is stored immediately as fat. Sugar is the quickest way that the body can obtain energy, but consuming more than your body needs is counter-productive.
Portion size is a major factor, American standard portions are WAAAAAAAY too big. And, a big thing that struck me is the availablity and prevalence of fizzy drinks. Good lord! It is cheap, there are endless free refills, I was shocked that a glass of coke was cheaper than water - that is just screwed up and is a HUGE factor to the obesity problem.
I would also hazard that lack of education about food is a huge factor as well - it just has to be, otherwise people would be able to make more sensible choices about what they eat.
No time to prepare a healthy meal is just a lazy man's excuse for not taking care of themselves - sorry if that is harsh, bit it is true.
I would also suggest that lack of exercise is a major factor - Americans seem to drive EVERYWHERE! I never once saw a person walking along the street, NOT ONCE.
The body needs a balanced diet, that includes, fats, complex carbohydrates, protein, vitmains & minerals & water. It isn't difficult.
wavey_gravey
look at what the government tells people is healthy to eat, if you are living the first world cedentary life style, there is no fudging way you should be eating 6-11 servings of grain.
[QUOTE="wavey_gravey"]
Having just returned from a 2 week trip to Florida I will say that it is down to the prevalence of high calorie, low nutritional value foods. The diet in America (and TBH in the UK as well) seems to be centred around high-glycemic index (processed) carbohydrates and saturated fats, very little (if any) fruit and veg, and low levels of low fat protein - HUGE steaks do not count!! The body can only process so much sugar, anything that isn't used is stored immediately as fat. Sugar is the quickest way that the body can obtain energy, but consuming more than your body needs is counter-productive.
Portion size is a major factor, American standard portions are WAAAAAAAY too big. And, a big thing that struck me is the availablity and prevalence of fizzy drinks. Good lord! It is cheap, there are endless free refills, I was shocked that a glass of coke was cheaper than water - that is just screwed up and is a HUGE factor to the obesity problem.
I would also hazard that lack of education about food is a huge factor as well - it just has to be, otherwise people would be able to make more sensible choices about what they eat.
No time to prepare a healthy meal is just a lazy man's excuse for not taking care of themselves - sorry if that is harsh, bit it is true.
I would also suggest that lack of exercise is a major factor - Americans seem to drive EVERYWHERE! I never once saw a person walking along the street, NOT ONCE.
The body needs a balanced diet, that includes, fats, complex carbohydrates, protein, vitmains & minerals & water. It isn't difficult.
surrealnumber5
look at what the government tells people is healthy to eat, if you are living the first world cedentary life style, there is no fudging way you should be eating 6-11 servings of grain.
Hence, my lack of education suggestion.
That pyramid is SO out of date and really needs to be revised.
[QUOTE="wavey_gravey"]
Having just returned from a 2 week trip to Florida I will say that it is down to the prevalence of high calorie, low nutritional value foods. The diet in America (and TBH in the UK as well) seems to be centred around high-glycemic index (processed) carbohydrates and saturated fats, very little (if any) fruit and veg, and low levels of low fat protein - HUGE steaks do not count!! The body can only process so much sugar, anything that isn't used is stored immediately as fat. Sugar is the quickest way that the body can obtain energy, but consuming more than your body needs is counter-productive.
Portion size is a major factor, American standard portions are WAAAAAAAY too big. And, a big thing that struck me is the availablity and prevalence of fizzy drinks. Good lord! It is cheap, there are endless free refills, I was shocked that a glass of coke was cheaper than water - that is just screwed up and is a HUGE factor to the obesity problem.
I would also hazard that lack of education about food is a huge factor as well - it just has to be, otherwise people would be able to make more sensible choices about what they eat.
No time to prepare a healthy meal is just a lazy man's excuse for not taking care of themselves - sorry if that is harsh, bit it is true.
I would also suggest that lack of exercise is a major factor - Americans seem to drive EVERYWHERE! I never once saw a person walking along the street, NOT ONCE.
The body needs a balanced diet, that includes, fats, complex carbohydrates, protein, vitmains & minerals & water. It isn't difficult.
surrealnumber5
look at what the government tells people is healthy to eat, if you are living the first world cedentary life style, there is no fudging way you should be eating 6-11 servings of grain.
It depends on the servings size. I consider one cup of rice to be a 4 servings. 1 single bread to a 1 serving.
[QUOTE="surrealnumber5"][QUOTE="wavey_gravey"]
Having just returned from a 2 week trip to Florida I will say that it is down to the prevalence of high calorie, low nutritional value foods. The diet in America (and TBH in the UK as well) seems to be centred around high-glycemic index (processed) carbohydrates and saturated fats, very little (if any) fruit and veg, and low levels of low fat protein - HUGE steaks do not count!! The body can only process so much sugar, anything that isn't used is stored immediately as fat. Sugar is the quickest way that the body can obtain energy, but consuming more than your body needs is counter-productive.
Portion size is a major factor, American standard portions are WAAAAAAAY too big. And, a big thing that struck me is the availablity and prevalence of fizzy drinks. Good lord! It is cheap, there are endless free refills, I was shocked that a glass of coke was cheaper than water - that is just screwed up and is a HUGE factor to the obesity problem.
I would also hazard that lack of education about food is a huge factor as well - it just has to be, otherwise people would be able to make more sensible choices about what they eat.
No time to prepare a healthy meal is just a lazy man's excuse for not taking care of themselves - sorry if that is harsh, bit it is true.
I would also suggest that lack of exercise is a major factor - Americans seem to drive EVERYWHERE! I never once saw a person walking along the street, NOT ONCE.
The body needs a balanced diet, that includes, fats, complex carbohydrates, protein, vitmains & minerals & water. It isn't difficult.
EasyStreet
look at what the government tells people is healthy to eat, if you are living the first world cedentary life style, there is no fudging way you should be eating 6-11 servings of grain.
It depends on the servings size. I consider one cup of rice to be a 4 servings. 1 single bread to a 1 serving. there are 17 slices of bread in a standard loaf the sugested intake is 65% of a loaf of bread a day or other grain equivalence, i used bread because it is easy to imagine. that is a lot of grain. 1/2 cup of cooked white rice is considered one serving, so that would be three to five and a half cups of cooked rice every day.
[QUOTE="surrealnumber5"]
[QUOTE="wavey_gravey"]
Having just returned from a 2 week trip to Florida I will say that it is down to the prevalence of high calorie, low nutritional value foods. The diet in America (and TBH in the UK as well) seems to be centred around high-glycemic index (processed) carbohydrates and saturated fats, very little (if any) fruit and veg, and low levels of low fat protein - HUGE steaks do not count!! The body can only process so much sugar, anything that isn't used is stored immediately as fat. Sugar is the quickest way that the body can obtain energy, but consuming more than your body needs is counter-productive.
Portion size is a major factor, American standard portions are WAAAAAAAY too big. And, a big thing that struck me is the availablity and prevalence of fizzy drinks. Good lord! It is cheap, there are endless free refills, I was shocked that a glass of coke was cheaper than water - that is just screwed up and is a HUGE factor to the obesity problem.
I would also hazard that lack of education about food is a huge factor as well - it just has to be, otherwise people would be able to make more sensible choices about what they eat.
No time to prepare a healthy meal is just a lazy man's excuse for not taking care of themselves - sorry if that is harsh, bit it is true.
I would also suggest that lack of exercise is a major factor - Americans seem to drive EVERYWHERE! I never once saw a person walking along the street, NOT ONCE.
The body needs a balanced diet, that includes, fats, complex carbohydrates, protein, vitmains & minerals & water. It isn't difficult.
wavey_gravey
look at what the government tells people is healthy to eat, if you are living the first world cedentary life style, there is no fudging way you should be eating 6-11 servings of grain.
Hence, my lack of education suggestion.
That pyramid is SO out of date and really needs to be revised.
It has been revised. The government doesn't use the food pyramid anymore.[QUOTE="wavey_gravey"][QUOTE="surrealnumber5"]
look at what the government tells people is healthy to eat, if you are living the first world cedentary life style, there is no fudging way you should be eating 6-11 servings of grain.
-Sun_Tzu-
Hence, my lack of education suggestion.
That pyramid is SO out of date and really needs to be revised.
It has been revised. The government doesn't use the food pyramid anymore. do you have the new one? because i got mine from the usda website
Aside from what's been said about diet, understand also that the U.S. is very spread out. Outside the major metropolitan areas, you're going to need a car to get anywhere. There simply isn't a pedestrian infastructure in many small to mid-sized cities. It's often impossible to easily walk from one store to the store right next to it, because there's two parking lots the size of fvck and a busy road between them. Seriously, our parking lots are huge.
You simply can't get anywhere without a car in most places in the U.S., and the lack of sidewalks (pavement for you John Bulls) in most places makes walking somewhat hazardous besides.
Walking in my town is an excersize in frustration. Sidewalks start and end abruptly for no reason.
Okay, so there's this bridge right in the middle of town, right? I mean, at the intersection leading up to it, there's electric pedestrian signs and everything.
I hate this damn intersection. Fvcking hate it.
So the sidewalks obviously lead up to and across the bridge on both sides, so okay...
I like to spit over the side to see if I can hit the ducks below.
So you're obviously encouraged to walk over the bridge, but once you get across...
What the fvck is this sh1t?
Seriously, look at that sh1t. Look how far away the nearest parking lot is. The other half of the town is just around the curve. Seriously, why the hell do the sidewalks just end right here?
Fvck. Dammit.
It'd be nice to be able to walk behind those guardrails, so I'm not about getting side-swipped walking down through here, but the guardrails are there because there's a steep fvcking drop on the other side.
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