Most Obese Claim to Eat Healthy

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This study was simply astounding to me. Most people I know that are overweight know they are either eating unhealthy or not exercising enough (current company included). The article is Survey: Most obese claim to eat healthy.

One quote at the beginning of the article sums the whole thing up:

Later in the article it was admitted that quantity of food was not discussed. Perhaps some people believe that a 4000 calorie a day diet can be good as long as you follow the food pyramid -- which is only true for hard-core athletes.

 

Maybe some people think that restaurant sized portions are normal and not a once a month treat?

 

I think it has mostly do with ignorance concerning what is healthy andnot, and also possibly to do with the way the question of how the questions were phrased - if someone eats healthy most of the time but is also a binge eaer who can down 7000 calries at one sitting, they probably would check "Mostly healthy" box or "on a sclae from X to Y" closer to the healthy option.

Plues, everyone likes to lie to themselves.

 

While self-delusion can be a powerful force, I tend to think that the main reason people who are overweight claim to eat healthy is because either A.) They may eat healthy foods but eat too much of them, or B.) They don't know what a healthy diet is. (As has already been pointed out.)

Especially in regards to eating a healthy diet, the FDA states that on average you need about 2,200 calories a day. Again, this assumes that you are an average sized person. A six-feet tall male athlete would lose weight like crazy if he ate 2,200 calories per day, whereas a 100 pound female would likely gain weight eating that much. Generally speaking, the bigger you are, the more energy you need to keep yourself going, if for no other reason than to transport the extra weight that you carry around with you. So with women gernerally being smaller than men, it stands to reason that the recommended caloric intake of 2,200 calories is probably a bit low for men, but a bit high for women.

I never liked BMI as a way to calculate whether or not someone is overweight or not. IMO, percent body fat is a much better indicator. By using BMI as the measure, many athletic people are considered overweight, simply because they carry around more muscle mass than the average person. It also completely disregards body type in the calculations.

I am 5-feet-9, and weigh 180 pounds, so by using BMI, I am definitely considered overweight. And admittedly, I probably could stand to lose a few pounds. But to me, the threshold for being overweight seems a bit low to me. In the example sited, 5-feet-10 and 174 pounds is overweight. I do not think that 174 pounds is an excessive amount of weight to be carrying around if you are 5-feet-10. In fact, I imagine such a person with those measurements would be considered rather fit. Also someone who is 174 pounds is listed the same as someone who is 209 pounds. That's a difference of 35 pounds! While I would consider someone at 5-feet-10 and 174 pounds rather fit, I certainly can't say I'd say the same about that same person if he weighed 209 pounds. (Yes, I know that BMI calculations apply to women as well as men, but I'm using the male gender as there are a hell of a lot more 5-feet-10 males in the world than 5-feet-10 females.)

By using BMI, you lump a large group of people into the overweight category, despite the major differences in body shape that will occur depending on where on that range you fall. To go back to myself as an example, while I do have some fat around the middle, I do strength training, meaning I'm probably carrying around another 10-15 pounds of muscle mass that most other men do not. And I do not think most people would classify me as overweight just by looking at me. The same definitely could not be said of me when I weighed around 200 pounds a few years ago. At 200 pounds I looked fat - really fat. Some would probably see me as obese. Yet at 200 pounds I was still classified using BMI as "overweight" - the same as I am now - despite the fact that now I don't look fat at all.

 

I actually believe that.

Most obese people probably do eat more or less "healthy". Just a few hundred/thousand calories too much.

I'm close to 300lbs now and I do eat everything I'm supposed to, as much as I'm supposed to. The problems are my metabolism and lack of ability to exercise.

If anyone's complaining about that/saying I'm just lazy - I'm very willing to discuss how everyone is able to properly exercise AFTER I get their knees more or less into the same shape mine are with a woodcutter's axe.

 

I can't believe that applies to the States with the vast quantity of fast food that is consumed over here. All the fried chicken, hamburgers, soda pop, no way in hell to justify that has "healthy". Last study I checked said that Americans obesity stemmed from excessive consumption of pop since simply carbohydrates are very quickly converted to fat if not immediately burned.

 

There are loads of TV shows now where fat people are taken aside by a dietician and shocked into losing weight by being shown what they eat in a week all loaded onto one table at once. When they see all the chips and burgers in one place, they always go "Oh, I never realised it was that bad until I saw it all in one place like that."

 

Just like Taza, I too have metabolism problems. I have to watch everything I eat, because the slightest junk food (a bag of chips, for example) makes me gain a couple of pounds quicker than you can say it.

Fortunatly I lose extra weight just as easily ad I gain it...

 

I love these smart ads. The ones on this thread are all about Body For Life and "Lose 20 Kilos in 30 Days". Brilliant.

There's more to eating healthily than just maintaining a healthy weight. I'm half the weight of some people here, but my cholesterol is way over the safe level. So I need to steer clear of foods high in saturated fat even though it doesn't look like I need to.

 

Well, I am obese and am under the impression that I dont eat excessively unhealthy and that I try to get some excersise. I am aware that considering my size that probably not completely true but just looking at friends and family it seems like most people can eat about how I do and get even less excersise without really gaining much weight.

The thing is, I am aware that I eat wrong and move too little but not to the extent of my current size. If we had lived in a fair world my eating habits would lead me to have perhaps 10kg extra weight and not 30kg which is currently the state.

People also have vastly different appetites, I feel the need to eat a lot more than many others and it is thus harder to resist various temptations.

 

Yeah, but as I mentioned above, that doesn't mean we are necessarily healthy.

 

Yeah, I'm obese, legally retarded, and have severe social problems -- Asperger's, ADHD -- but no one can blame me because it's all genetics. It's the genes! In fact, feel sorry for me.

Actually, I'm pretty healthy and normal.

Yeah, most obese claim to eat healthy. And most people on RPG boards will claim 16 Intelligence. And most drivers will claim that they're better-than-average drivers.

 

And suddenly, there was a great disturbance in the Force...

(This post originally contained something else that was removed as an afterthought.)

 

It’s important to realize that, for every 3,000 calories you consume in excess of what your body needs, you will gain 1 pound of fat. (Similarly, consuming 3,000 calories less than needed translates to 1 pound of fat lost.) Those “needs” are based on maintaining the status quo, plus calories used up by exercise. How long it takes to consume those excess calories will determine how quickly you gain weight. Calories are gained from carbohydrates (4 calories per gram), proteins (also 4 calories per gram), and fats (9 calories per gram), and your body needs all three types.

Exercise burns calories, but what many people don’t realize is that resistance training (such as weight lifting) can play a very important role in weight loss. There are 2 main reasons for this:
1. Unlike cardio workouts (eg. treadmill), where the calorie-burning effect lasts during the workout and for only a short time afterwards, calories are burned for a significant period of time following a resistance-training session as the muscles recover from the workout. The actual period of time will depend on the intensity of the workout.
2. Muscle actually requires more calories to maintain itself than does fat. So a muscular 160 pound man will burn more calories than a 160 pound man with a less muscle and more fat, everything else being equal. Basically, more muscle = higher metabolism.
You don’t need to be a bodybuilder in order to get the benefits here – every little bit of additional muscle helps. And of course, cardio exercise is important as well for general fitness (although it doesn’t do much for increasing muscle).

And no, I’m not a fitness guru. About a year ago, I decided that, after 15 years of sitting on my duff doing nothing, I needed to get in shape. And since I’ve always been scrawny (but with a midsection that was expanding), I figured if I was going to go through the effort, I might as well try to get some muscle as well. So I did a lot of research on how to accomplish my goals, and the above is part of what I discovered.

This may all seem to be slightly off-topic, but I think it boils down to this - overweight people don't really know how to lose weight, and misconceptions about what constitutes "eating right" are only part of the problem.

 

People estimate my weight between 225 and 260, but it's about 300 lbs. I probably do eat more than I should and like my junk food. The problem is that I haven't been able to work as hard as I used to since I hurt my back. I'd like to make better choices (like whole grain breads, better snacks) but the junk is cheaper and more convenient...

 

The excuse of fast food being cheaper is not valid. Wages are higher in North America, yet the cost of living is much lower.

[ August 03, 2006, 11:18: Message edited by: Cúchulainn ]

 

I refuse to accept that fast food is cheaper than healthy food. A carrot costs about 10c. A hamburger costs about $8. Porridge works out to be about 5c a bowl. A bacon and egg McMuffin is more like $4. An apple costs about 20c but a chocolate bar is about $1.50.

Fresh fruits, vegetables, and cereals are miles cheaper than their junky, processed, fast food alternatives.

 

Exactly. The problem is, many (fat) people would rather pay extra to get their meals prepared by someone else. Now, if someone is so lazy that they don't care to make their own meals, what are the odds of the same person going over to the gym and lift some weights or doing some cardio? I think obesity, in many cases, is more of a matter of mental weakness than physical cravings. You just need to challenge yourself *not* to eat those extra cookies, or go for a second round at the dinner table. If you eat smaller meals 6+ times during the day, you will improve your metabolism and prevent hunger.

 

Exactly! The French eat lots of portions which includes a lot of fatty foods, yet they remain slim because their potion sizes are small.

 

Splunge brings up some excellent points. I have never heard the ratio of one pound of fat = 3,000 Calories. (And note that for this discussion we are talking about the "Calorie" with a capital "C".) It just seems a little low if one gram of fat can be converted into 9 Calroies of energy for the body. Actually, if the 9 Calories is true, then with 454 grams to one pound, that works out to 4,086 Calories to burn a pound.

The ratio I have heard (and I have no means to back this up) is that if you eat 150 Calories in excess of what your body needs every day for an entire year, you will gain 10 pounds. Now, obviously that is much greater than a 3,000 Calories = 1 pound of fat ratio. 150 Calories per day * 365 day a year = 54,750 Calories. But that's for ten pounds, so one pound would work out to 5,475 Calories.

So depending on what source you go by, for every 3,000 to 5,000 Calories you eat in excess of what you need, you gain one pound. Conversely, you need to use 3,000 to 5,000 calories more than you eat in order to lose a pound. Naturally, most people who are overweight don't overeat by 3,000 calories in a single day. They would be the size of a house. I imagine most eat a little more than they need every day, but over the course of weeks, months, and years, the excess builds up to the point where they are obese. The whole point is that you don't need to eat like a pig in order to get overweight. A little more than you over a long enough time is sufficient for that to be the result.