WEEK TWENTY-SIX :: Why Do Americans Have Such A Hard Time Keeping The Fat Off?

[costasoldatos]

Hell this could be bullcrap, but i watched a program stating that food companies add stuff to the food to make us more hungry, this boosts food sales, not to mention alot of countries wont accept meat from our Country because of all the garbage that is added into it. It sickens me

[italiamuscle]

There are a few simple answers to this complex question.


Answer one:
Unrealistic Goals,

When a 230 man who's life revolves around sitting on the couch wakes up one mourning and says oh my god its three weeks untill summer I need to lose 70 and get a six pack that is a very unrealistic goal. Despite how foolish this sounds I've heard this exact statement from four different people on four seperate occasions. As well as countless other claims to the same effect. For many people its not that extreme, however many people put to much thought into their goals. I know several people who have been carrying around an extra 20 pounds in thier minsection consistantly since high school. I find its not untill they try to lose the weight that they gain the most. Heres the reason. The join a gym, try some flash in the pan workout routine, complement that with some crash diet, all in hopes of getting ripped before they go on vacation a week from tuesday. Around day three they slam face first into the wall, look in the mirror and proclaim that weight loss impossible. They then proceed to the store to buy the fattiest foods they can find to fill the void that their disappointment left. Sound farmiliar. It should, because it happens to everyone. Which brings me to my next point.


Answer 2:
The wrong goals.

Ask anyone of the above people what thier goal is and they'll say to lose weight biuld muscle and get ripped. Ask them why they set that goal and you will reach the core of the problem. 98% of people will tell you to look good. We have all become infatuated with looking good. Why, I'll tell you why because everytime you open a CD cover and see Ushers abs, Or J-lo's B==t it ignites your envy. You get programmed to want that hollywood body, its a marketing tool. The right answer should be to feel good. To Be healthy. To borrow from my own personal experience, I am a life long athlete who never watched what he ate. I didn't have to. No matter what I ate it burned away on the field. However in march of last year I suffered a knee injury that left me hositalized, the bed bound for three months. My eating hadits quickly caught up with me. By the time I could walk again I was 45 pounds overweight. I felt sick all the time, had no energy, digestive problems, and sever lower back pain. When I finally decided to take off the weight it wasnt for looks it was purely for health reasons. Now nine months later( NINE MONTHS, not hours, days, weeks - MONTHS) I went from 187 lbs to 140, and i feel healthy. I'm not a super model, nor will you see me on the cover of Mens Health, but im the lightest ive been in years and I feel great. That should be everyones first and last goal. Life long health is a open ended goal that will keep you busy untill your dying day. A far cry from the two week lose a thousand pounds plan.

Answer 3:
Poor Nutritional Education,

Elaborating on my previous statement, the biggest aid in my quest to get fit was a Progressive, Prolonged diet change. Every week for Nine Monthe I eliminated one unhealthy food from my diet. When there where no bad foods left to eliminate I began watching portions untill i was on a sound 2000 calorie diet. Lets face it people eat poorly and they definately eat to much. Fad diets don't work, and thier unhealthy. The reason people like them is becaus ethey offer a quick answer, as opposed to a lifestile change. First and formost JUNK FOOD IS CALLED JUNK FOOD, BECAUSE ITS JUNK!!!! You have to slowly eliminate theses foods from your diet. The problems most Americans face is they one refuse to give up these foods, or two try to give them up all at once, thier will revolts and they quickly head back to the darkside. Secondly is portion controll, people don't watch thier portions. I've lost count of how many times my brother has grabbed a box of special k or whole grain total filled a huge bowl almost to the top, then dowsed that with milk and said, "see bro I'm eating healthy." True whole grain cereal is very healthy, but he just downed six servings of cereal and another six of whole milk thats almost 1200 calories!! Sadly most Americans suffer from this same complex. Look excess food = excess poundages. You have to manage better. That is the only way to lose and keep the weight off. Carbs are not the enemy. Fat is not the enemy, and Protien isn't your only friend. A healthy balance of all three contained in a structured 2000 calorie diet is the only way to take off weight and keep it off. Your body needs Carbohydrates for food, and Essential Fatty Acids to keep your systems running properly.

Answer 4:
Lack of determination,

Look in the first three answer I basically spelled out that its not your fault you can't take off the weight and keep it off. However your under the light now. Its up to you to overcome those psycological hurdles, and only you can change you eating habits. Lets face it no one puts the food in your mouth. The formula to good health is Eat right, and Exercise. The foundation of the formula is determination. Thats Americas problem lack of determination. Fad diets they will be around forever, why because when they fail you always hve somone elst to blame. Americans always look for an out or an excuse. Oh my schedual prevents me from woking out, and eating right. Sorry eating righ is easy if you plan ahead for those times when your out and about unable to get to your kitchen. As far as exercise everyone has some time to train. and hour three times a week. If you are so busy you cant workout for three hours a week you shouldn't have enough time to over eat.

Answer 5:
The dreamers,

These are my favorites. A class of people comprised of 75% of America who dream that they can eat whatever they want lose weight and get fit. They also believe there is some magic pill or diet somewhere. Something that will make them skinny without them haveing to work for it. Sorry even the big stars work hard for those super bodies.



So in conclusion,
American can't keep of the weight because we are and always have been a country of Brainwashed, Lazy, Dreamers who always want something for nothing.

[JonZ]

"Why Do Americans Have Such A Hard Time Keeping The Fat Off? "

definietly things like kids not being being physical enough, too many workers sitting behind desks and too much fast food and not enough paretns cooking at home is certainly a part of it.

But to me, its to many calories are our disposal.

You can run on the treadmill for a hour but then a few cookies will undo all that work.

[Slingshot]

Cause were all sitting in front of our computers.

[Ineffable]

Rule one:
Proof read your posts before submitting one.

Rule two:
Do not expect anyone to take you seriously if you do not follow rule number one

[TheSternMystic]

I believe that there are a few problems that are adversely affecting the North American person.

Diet - So many problems. Our society is extremely biased towards convenience. And of course, convient food is always bad for us. Laced with all sorts of preservatives, and often being packed full of calories. Then the other problem, is that foods that are bad for us, are of course less expensive! So what are people more likely to do? Spend more for something that takes longer to prepare, or spend less for something that takes very little time? So our diets will suffer as a side effect.

Activity - I don't know why, but no one wants to exercise. They'd rather starve on a couch to lose some weight, than eat all they want and go for an hour walk/run every day! Sure, exercise might not always be fun, but it's a heck of alot better than living a poor lifestyle because you have to take a break halfway up the stairs to catch your breath.

So, I think in the end, it really is just time. People don't want to spend the time to exercise, or spend the time to prepare a healthy meal.

[JtotheIzzo]

Bump.


This was a great thread with great responses!!! I just found it!

So, who had the best response int he thread and won?

[bdu821]

because its easier to pay 5 dollars to get a hamburger than it is to pay 6 dollars and eat a salad while ur friends eat hamburgers

[Black.Magick]

In my honest opinion, it seems that Americans choose convenience over health. It's a lot easier to order food from a fastfood restaurant than it is to go home and cook a meal. But restaurants aren't solely responsible. Even when Americans do cook meals at home, the meals that they cook are no better than what they buy at a fastfood spot. People go home and cook greasy meals full of fat and no nutrition. Then we also have the microwaveable meals that are no good for you. They're full of MSG, artificial sweeteners and other crap. Hardly anyone is consuming fruits, vegetables, whole grains, etc. The ice creams, cookies, potato chips, etc. are tastier. Americans don't drink much water either. People are drinking more sodas and juices full of sugar than they're drinking water. How much water should you drink? I've been told that to determine this, you take your bodyweight, divide it by 2 and whatever number you get --- that's how many ounces of water you should drink daily. But I doubt if many people are even coming close to their daily recommend water consumption. It's difficult for your body to flush out fat if you're dehydrated.

The food supply in America is also tainted. The meats are pumped full of steroids, hormones and other crap. The vegetables are genetically modified, the water has tons of chemicals in it, etc. Have you ever read the labels of some of the foods? If you have, you'd notice more chemicals listed in the ingredients than actual food. Anything that you can't pronounce is a preservative or some other type of chemical. The body isn't designed to take in those kind of things. Food in America is designed to get the American citizens addicted like drugs, which makes them fat and sick in order to increase the profits of drug companies. But that's another topic. To avoid that, your best alternative is to either grow your own food or go organic.

We can also throw in the fact that a lot of Americans don't exercise. I remember reading an article sometime in 2007 which said that the average America walks only 1/10th of a mile per day! People are sitting in front of computers, TV's, video games, etc. all day long. Doing something as simple as walking for an hour a day at a normal pace can lower your body's weight set point. Most people's bodies are also full of waste from eating little to no fiber in their daily diet and never getting a colon cleanse. In other words, they're constipated. Whether you believe it or not, you can lose a substantial amount of weight just by getting a colon cleanse. If your colon is clogged, then the body continues storing waste on the inside which leads to a protruding belly and other health issues and also causes you to be fat. Many people on this site wonder why they're lower stomach still pokes out even though they exercise the stomach, do cardio and diet properly. This is because of a clogged colon!

There's a lot more reasons that play into it, but I just thought that I would cover the basics. I'll be glad to share more if anyone wants to know some other reasons.

[TheBodyGenie]

With all those data presented, there is just one main cause of this "Lack of discipline'' to one selves. If you really want to be healthy you have to be discipline enough to practice dieting. Without discipline you can never reach your goal.

[FullBoatBilly]

Hell this could be bullcrap, but i watched a program stating that food companies add stuff to the food to make us more hungry, this boosts food sales, not to mention alot of countries wont accept meat from our Country because of all the garbage that is added into it. It sickens me

i have learned something similar to that in one of my classes this year..the companies have exact measurements as to how much sodium,sugar,fat goes into their products. just the right amount makes the product that much more irresistible. its called the trifecta or something..and about the meat.. i also read that america does not carefully inspect their meats like other countries..for example japan

japan inspects every piece of meat carefully and because of that they have the least amount of foodborne illnesses.

correct me if im wrong though.

[HapaHaoleOkole]

The one thing that I did not see mentioned here, is that many people emotionally eat, whether they are tired/over worked/over stressed/eating improperly/depressed etc.... When this occurs adding all that was stated in this thread, many will become overweight and if you have the genetic predisposition for it, all the larger you will become. Plus many people have trigger foods that there body reacts to and if eaten sends them on binge of that type of food, such as sugar and white carbs etc....

[nickh0801]

The price of healthy food costs more, the unhealthy food is quick and convient, and it all boils down to laziness.....

[G-forcer]

The answer is obvious, most Americans are happy, rich and spoiled, they can afford to eat anything they want whenever they want !

[dramed]

too much immigrants therefore too much fast food stops

immigrants needs jobs or else society is gonna be like one of them slums
why do u think every grocery supermarket owner is always muslim?

[masong11]

two words bud "fast food" i think three things any one follows these steps and they will lose the extra pounds diet! exercise! and fat burner for an added boost

[Julius7236]

Processed food cheaper than Quality healthy food.
Convinience

[Alice10]

The U.S. is currently working to address the issue of obesity. It is a complicated issue that relates to lifestyles, and eating a diet high in fat and calories, as well as physiological factors (including genetics). You will also notice that there are many Americans who are very concerned about good health and exercise regularly and make healthy choices when they eat.


"Everybody's getting their Steelers jerseys dry-cleaned," comedian Bill Crawford says. "They're watering their fake flowers, and they're ironing their terrible towels." Crawford was born and raised in the Steel City.

"Most of the people that live in Pittsburgh really don't even know what the G-20 is," Crawford jokes. "It's just another notch in our belt. It's something else for us to brag about. They're like, 'Dude, first we won the Super Bowl, then we won the Stanley Cup. Now we got the G-20. I don't even know what it is, but it's awesome.' "

He's kidding, of course. Pittsburgh has spent months preparing itself for the dignitaries, journalists and protesters. Schools will be closed, people are being asked to work from home, and volunteers have been scrubbing sidewalks and putting up new coats of paint.

"They're doing a good job of 'redding up' the city — which is Pittsburgh terminology for cleaning up the city," Crawford adds.

Gail Shrott has been training one group of volunteers. This group's job is to answer questions from the international visitors. Questions about how to get around, where to eat — and even peculiarities of American culture.

"For example, if you look at what media we send abroad, it's pretty violent," Shrott tells NPR's Guy Raz. "They may be asking, 'Is it true that every American has a gun?' "

How would you answer that?

Shrott's quick answer is that no, that's not true. "A percentage of adults do have guns, but that doesn't mean every single American carries one," is her practiced reply.

Shrott's been compiling a cheat sheet for her volunteers with suggested answers for visitors' questions, including the frank ones. Try your hand at delivering Shrott's prepared answers with a straight face:

Why are there so many fat Americans?

The U.S. is currently working to address the issue of obesity. It is a complicated issue that relates to lifestyles, and eating a diet high in fat and calories, as well as physiological factors (including genetics). You will also notice that there are many Americans who are very concerned about good health and exercise regularly and make healthy choices when they eat.

[allenreid]

TOPIC: Why Do Americans Have Such A Hard Time Keeping The Fat Off?

For the week of: May 12th - May 18th.

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Why is it that after all of the studies on how to lose fat, all the articles in magazines and newspapers on how to lose fat, all the diets and supplements for losing fat, and all the constant media attention on how to lose fat... Americans still can't lose their fat and keep it off?

Why do most Americans have a weight problem? What would you tell all overweight Americans if you had five minutes on national television on the subject of getting in shape and staying in shape? What are they doing wrong?

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Don't discuss any other topic in this section. ONLY discuss the question above.

The best response will get $75 in credit to use in our online store! The other good responses will be used in an article on the main Bodybuilding.com site, with the poster's forum name listed by it. Become famous!

Thanks,
Bodybuilding.com

I think the reason is in the western world buying food without sugar or additives is very difficult. to think buying an apple that can be filled with additives is considered healthy by supermarket chains is a nightmare for any athlete trying to keep the fat off

[TheComebackKidd]

It's because of the western worlds obsession with shortcutting and wanting what they want now. Hence the birth of processed foods that take no time to make, cost little, but are extremely unhealthy.

The increase is use of products like sweetners, aspertame, HFCS, etc are all bi-products of this obsession.

When you combine the ability to process foods with poor education on nutrition in the home and in most cases in school (and not to mention the emotional connection to food that exists and is amplified for some based on their life experiences), you end up with problems such as obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, hypertension, all these things that plague North Americans.

So in a nutshell: Greed

[TheComebackKidd]

Hell this could be bullcrap, but i watched a program stating that food companies add stuff to the food to make us more hungry, this boosts food sales, not to mention alot of countries wont accept meat from our Country because of all the garbage that is added into it. It sickens me

MSG comes to mind

[keazyyy]

because making it a combo only costs another buck fifty. and you get a large soda and fries with it. upgrading that to super size only costs another 39cents and you get a jumbo soda and fries. you feel like you are "saving money" and getting a "good deal". too bad you are losing out when it comes to your health....


those were just examples. but im sure you catch my drift.

[lslisa]

Our time and attendance system is totally optimized for multiple sites, multiple time zones and multiple languages. There are many features that allow you to configure the application to fit your solution needs.

[Anetta22]

I would share my article, how keep the weight off after losing it.


When dieters or weight watchers have finally lost their unwanted weight, they often make the mistake of thinking that they can go back to how they were before – to binge eating and being lazy. What they fail to realize is, doing those will only make them gain the weight they just lost. What they need to do instead is to continuously work to maintain their ideal weight.
How can you do that?



Keep a healthy diet and continue counting calories, that simple. If you really want to maintain your weight, then try to steer clear from too much fat and carbohydrates. This is because if these do not get burned, they remain in your body and make you bigger again. The idea is to maintain a 1200 calorie diet. That count is just perfect because 1200 calories is just enough to sustain the energy needed by an average person – no more and no less. So instead of filling yourself with fat and carbs, you should think of taking in lots of vegetables, considerable amount of fruits and lean meat. This is how the 1200 calorie diet works. Remember, a healthy diet is important if you want to lose weight without risking your health in the process.

There are many vegetables that are not only healthy and tasty but are also low in calorie count. Cabbage, lettuce, tomatoes, celery and cucumber are among them. In terms of fruit, you can always snack on berries (strawberry, raspberry and blackberries), apples, grapes and watermelon. And for lean meat, fish, chicken breast and turkey are always good choices.



To build a 1200 calorie diet plan, you need to combine your choice of ingredients into a minimum of 3 meals a day with at least 400 calories each. That challenge may seem quite terrifying but it is definitely achievable and certainly good for the body. It is a healthy diet that everyone can benefit from.
How so?

Try substituting. You can avoid using oil when sautéing by substituting it with 1 or 2 tablespoons of vegetable stock. In sandwiches, you can also replace mayonnaise with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil. Apart from substituting, you may also need to rethink of the cooking methods you use. Instead of frying (which only adds more fat to your dishes), you can try cooking methods like steaming, poaching, roasting and grilling. These methods are efficient because they require little to no oil at all. In addition, when done correctly, these methods can help you preserve the flavor of your meat.

One other way to maintain a diet is to keep yourself hydrated with water all the time. Note – water, not some fruit juice or soda that contains tons of sugar and other preservatives. Water is still the best because it does not contain any calories, it aids digestion and as a bonus, it clears up your pores.

If after doing all that, you find that your intake still goes beyond the 1200 diet, the next thing you need to do is get some exercise. You need to burn off anything that goes in excess of 1200 calories. Walking, gardening, biking and even cleaning your house for an hour can help you get rid of 300 – 400 calories or more. If you need to burn more than that, you can go for rigid cardio exercise like martial arts, gymnastics and running.

Those are the things that you can do to keep your weight off after losing it and keep a healthy diet. Through the 1200 calorie diet, you would be able to satisfy your body’s nutritional needs without gaining weight. To sum it all up – just eat and live healthy. As long as you maintain a healthy lifestyle, then you are all good.

[Alivedog]

Being fat is convenient.









Think about it.

[noloc45]

Because we're used to having all the food in the world!

[Ewalk91]

It's much easier going down the street to grab a burger than to cook up some chicken or fish!

[amassnia]

I think that people are too worried about losing weight and overdieting rather than simply becoming fit through exercise.

gaga``

[Westboarder]

Our time and attendance system is totally optimized for multiple sites, multiple time zones and multiple languages. There are many features that allow you to configure the application to fit your solution needs.

Way to bump a 6 year old thread.

[roushrsh]

Some people find a lot of enjoyment through eating and figure they're going to live once so might aswell stuff in as much as they can. Different mentalities I guess :S