There is a lot of weird obsession on this site with trying to confuse people about whether being overweight or obese is ok or not ok, healthy or unhealthy. Here are some basic truths, which you don’t need to do massive research on to prove.
People are overweight or obese at much higher rates today than in the past not just because there is a lot more and cheaper food available, but it’s because of these basic reasons:
1. Due to the information/computer revolution our jobs and lives and entertainment are a lot more sedentary. Our kids are a lot more inactive as well, playing outside less and spending a whole lot more time in front of TVs, computers, video game consoles.
2. Desire for instant gratification + fast food + processed foods overavailability = nightmare in our bodies.
3. A huge amount of diets often promote untenable eating habits, easily broken and cheated on with the above fast food + processed foods.
Most people who are overweight/obese are that way because it’s their fault. Harsh, I know, but true. Most, does not mean all. Some have medical conditions, but those are a very small fraction of the population. Reading some of the diaries here would lead you to believe that 50%+ of overweight people have these conditions based on the response rate, but reality is those medical conditions are quite rare (less than 5% and probably around 1%). I am overweight. I eat generally ok, but mostly maintaining my weight. When I seriously try to exercise and focus on eating both less and healthier, I lose 5-10lbs over a month or two, and then slide back down due to my own lack of willpower to continue in the same vein. It’s my own fault, and it is the fault of about 90-95% of the young to middle-age Americans who are overweight, for not being in better shape.
People who are overweight or obese will statistically have a lot more health problems than normal weight people. It’s just a fact. No matter why or how you got fat. No matter how healthy you consider yourself to be or how much you exercise. That means that some overweight/obese people will be “healthy” but many more will not be, in rates much higher than the rates of the “normal” weight people. Overweight/obese people have statistically higher blood pressure (for obvious reasons – heart must pump harder to support the weight), much higher rates of diabetes, joint damage (again obvious reasons – heavy weight is hard on the joints), heart disease (fat deposits in your arteries), etc. Instead of living healthier lives, we (and I am guilty as well) simply start depending on the blood pressure medication and statins.
For most people (again most is not all) the following will help lose weight:
1. Aerobic exercise that decently raises heart rate a few times a week.
2. Eating smaller portions of somewhat better food (not all burgers, fried chicken, fries, pizza, etc)
3. Continuing 1 and 2 on a regular basis without cheating.
We are eating more crap than ever and are less active than ever and people are CONFUSED about why we are getting fatter and fatter? Bullshit. Look at the Asian countries. I’ve been to Korea and Japan multiple times. People eat much healthier in much smaller portions. That ALONE made me see only less than 5% of the population overweight and I maybe saw about 1-2% who were demonstrably obese. It was that rare. Look at what you eat and do and stop making excuses. It’s true that we got culturally skewered into processed and fast foods, but individually we can make a difference if we really try.