Why Do People let Themselves Get Obese?

[Last Conformist]

Originally posted by Mrs. Tuberski

I am sorry but when your living on pure protien like beans and peanut butter and make ur own tortillas i hardly call that starving but it fills ur belly. then you throw in eggs which are cheap as well with some rice well i guess u might be getting the point cause most of this stuff is cooked with lard and oil. these folks wont go and say you know what i need to my cannoal oil etc cause its less fattening, its cause it is cheaper why they buy it

Whatever you eat, you can always afford eating less of it.

[Mrs. Tuberski]

Originally posted by Last Conformist

Whatever you eat, you can always afford eating less of it.

Using this theory if all you have is a peanut butter sandwhich i guess i can throw out dinner since i already had one for lunch and breakfast. And by the way eating stuff that hi in protien well pack the pounds on. But hey since i only got that to eat, to remain to the norm, thats all i have to eat ill pass on one meal

[Dr. Nick]

HAS it occured to you that most of the folks cant afford the senisble health foods??

Vegetables are cheap everywhere. Meat, which should be eaten sparingly, is what's usually expensive. Skimmed and low fat dairy products aren't considerably more expensive than whole dairy products. Cereals and bread aren't expensive (whereas candy is).

How can eating healthily and sensibly be more expensive than eating insensibly and unhealthily? Eating unhealthily is a choice, either because one would rather watch tv or read a book than cook, or because people are unconscious as to the health risks associated with overeating and thus don't give a damn. The only excuse for unhealthy eating is when you've absolutely no money, and live off begging in the street, which is hardly the social strata where obesity or overweight is prevalent.

How easy it is to judge when ur not in those shoes.

I was 15 kilos overweight. I went on a diet with a dietician, started exercising, and lost the 15 kilos in one year. I didn't even alter my diet that much, and "exercise" was mostly football once a week. Most of it was walking briskly to university instead of taking the subway. I've been in their shoes.

Oh and by the way over eating is a disease, just like alocholism and drug addiction for some folks. It can be seen as a release but i guess as you guys say these folks just choose to be fat

Alcoholism and drug addiction also started out as a choice. And while they do become diseases, they are treatable. With obesity, it's the same thing. You can't be addicted to eating until after you've started eating, so it started out as a choice. If the alimentary conduct has been so badly screwed up, you can either go to a nutritionist who might give you medication to reduce your appetite, or to a psychologist/psychiatrist. Those, as well, are choices.

Exercise is just as important as proper nutrition when it comes to lowering one's body mass.

[Footie Mad]

Can't you buy oats, eggs, low status pork, milk and vegetables quite cheaply in America? Cause you can here and it's much cheaper than most fattening foods. I think one of the big culprits is the food lobby that makes money out of people being addicted to their sugar stuffed garbage.Investing money to prevent proper health information.

[Provost Harrison]

Low status pork? Is that the type that would sweep the streets?

[Provost Harrison]

You know what interests me is just how food fascist we are becoming. You know, Jon mentions he has one scoop of ice cream and it's like he's committed a major crime of dietetics. Give yourselves, and others, a break!

[GePap]

Originally posted by Dr. Nick


Vegetables are cheap everywhere. Meat, which should be eaten sparingly, is what's usually expensive. Skimmed and low fat dairy products aren't considerably more expensive than whole dairy products. Cereals and bread aren't expensive (whereas candy is).

How can eating healthily and sensibly be more expensive than eating insensibly and unhealthily? Eating unhealthily is a choice, either because one would rather watch tv or read a book than cook, or because people are unconscious as to the health risks associated with overeating and thus don't give a damn. The only excuse for unhealthy eating is when you've absolutely no money, and live off begging in the street, which is hardly the social strata where obesity or overweight is prevalent.

Actually, in the US this is certainly NOT TRUE.

If you go to an American supermarket, where most people find their meals, you find that mass produced processed foods are BY FAR the cheapest source of calories. Its much easier, cheaper, and more convinient to buy bulks of processed carbohydrates, cheap fatty meat, and pre-made cans and boxes of stuff. And given that most Americans have very little free time, spending the time to cook meals out of raw materials like vegetables is actually much more expensive.

Simply put, its cheaper to feed your kid processed Macaronni and cheese (because for about maybe $2 you get a box with enough to feed 2 or three kids) than to feed them say some nice chicken and salad, whoese raw material cost might be closer to $6 bucks, plus the time added.

And in fact, in the UNited States, obesity is highest amongst the poor The wealthy have the money and the time to eat healthy.

[Footie Mad]

And why does not the state do something to inform the poor of basic nutritional information, and possibly subsidize some healthier foods?

If im not remembering this wrong there is some kind of system where the state hands out "tickets" that can be used for buying food. If they excluded obviously unhealthy foods from being purchasable with these tickets it might encourage people to eat better.

[Dr. Nick]

If you go to an American supermarket, where most people find their meals, you find that mass produced processed foods are BY FAR the cheapest source of calories. Its much easier, cheaper, and more convinient to buy bulks of processed carbohydrates, cheap fatty meat, and pre-made cans and boxes of stuff. And given that most Americans have very little free time, spending the time to cook meals out of raw materials like vegetables is actually much more expensive.

Simply put, its cheaper to feed your kid processed Macaronni and cheese (because for about maybe $2 you get a box with enough to feed 2 or three kids) than to feed them say some nice chicken and salad, whoese raw material cost might be closer to $6 bucks, plus the time added.

Insane!

And in fact, in the UNited States, obesity is highest amongst the poor The wealthy have the money and the time to eat healthy.

Obesity is always prevalent amongst the lower strata of society everywhere as a direct result of a poor education and awareness and lack of interest or need to cultivate a good image.

A study should be made regarding whether it's more expensive in the long run to eat healthy and stay out of the hospital until you're 80 or eating badly and the running up a tremendous health care bill after you're 55.

[Provost Harrison]

GePap is right, a lot of my food expenditure actually goes on vegetables relative to how much I spend on meat - they aren't cheap when you consider the cost of preparing a decent meal which is piled full of veg rather than meat, compared to the readymeal equivalent.

[Dauphin]

Get the microwavable vegies.

[Provost Harrison]

Hell no. Food comprises a very small proportion of my expenditure so I can afford to eat well without affecting my budget...

[Dr. Nick]

Originally posted by Dauphin
Get the microwavable vegies.

Cooking vegetables renders their nutritional value obsolete.

[Provost Harrison]

And I can't eat boring food, stems back to when I was a kid and 'school dinners'. It's the one thing I can't stand about English vegetables. Boiled cabbage, boiled sprouts, boiled green mush. Not only were they tasteless, but their texture was repulsive. I can now eat plenty of vegetables by eating the right vegetables and preparing them in a manner I can enjoy them...

[Footie Mad]

Also boiling them lowers the good contents inside.