[fiona]

I have switched over the completely organic now for my grains and I do not eat as many processed foods as before. I have noticed a weight loss, but I need to add in another day at the gym to see more of the effects of it all.

[Craig]

I really believe if North America stopped putting High Fructose Corn Syrup in so many things, and also eliminated all "white" bread and refined sugars obesity wouldn't be such a problem. My wife and I switch to only whole grains about a year ago, and the difference is amazing. We only had a few extra pounds to start with, but without those "junk" foods, it's easy to maintain a healthy weight. You feel fuller after eating, don't eat as much, and stay fuller longer. We basically won't buy anything if "sugar" or "fructose" is either the first or second ingredient on the label...you'd be surprised how many foods this includes!

[ammulu]

High cost of the Organic foods even stop me from buying them, but few are the optional foods which I purchase compulsorily like Spinach. I find many of the Americans being either perfectly figured or over weight, is it mostly the fast food that affects them??

[Angel]

Originally Posted by ammulu

High cost of the Organic foods even stop me from buying them, but few are the optional foods which I purchase compulsorily like Spinach. I find many of the Americans being either perfectly figured or over weight, is it mostly the fast food that affects them??

Is the high cost of organic foods because they don't keep as well without all those preservatives?

I think in America there is a huge amount of sugar added to foods. Even plain buscuits/cookies are coated with sugar. Over here in the Uk I despair of cereals - even the weight loss ones are loaded with sugar.

Congrats on losing weight, well done. Yes cutting down on fruitose will definately do it for you, as does cutting out processed food.

[Roguegal]

I agree that this country is massively overweight. But I am sick and tired of all the bull about it. By that I mean, we have made it one of the things that everybody sees and looks down on with all the anorexic models and "beautiful" people on TV and in movies. If people would be more supporting and understanding of those who are to weight it would make for a very happy world.

I believe this country is overweight because of its attitude towards people who are not "beautiful". I also believe that this starts the person is a child. If that child is shy, awkward, shorter than everybody else, not as smart as everybody else, or is different in any way they are teased, picked on and ridiculed. I know this to be a fact! As I was one of these kids. Yes, I am fat.

I have tried for years to lose weight and because of all the emotional problems brought on by my childhood, I wasn't able to lose the weight effectively enough. When I finally got my head screwed on right I became disabled to a point where I can't lose the weight. Yet, I still get those looks of disgust from people, even if I am in a wheelchair. I don't need to hear them say it, because I know what it is. "No wonder she's in a wheelchair. Look at her weight."

If you have children, secretly watch them around other kids and see if they are teasing or picking on any of them. Yes it's our nature because it's hereditary. Based the other kids doing it so they do it to be part of the crowd. If we start with our children and not only teach them how to treat others correctly, but teach them how to exercise and eat right then we won't have an overweight country. But you also must realize that there are some people who are overweight because their health is bad and they cannot do much about it.

I am slowly losing weight. I have to practically starve myself to do so because I cannot exercise. I envy each and every one of you who can exercise to lose weight. This diet I was ever on was the 6 meals a day" diet. You simply take each of your normal 2 meals a day and divides them in half. The schedule I'm going to give is only an example.

Breakfast - 8 a.m.
Brunch - 10 a.m.
Lunch - noon
Break - 3 p.m.
Dinner - 6 p.m.
Snack - 8-9 p.m.

This simply keeps food in your stomach so that you do not get hungry during the day.

[Craig]

While I agree that we definitely shouldn't idolize or focus on super skinny and body image as much as we currently do, I also don't agree that our society should just accept and be more understanding of obesity (not directly quoting you as I realize you may not be referring to overweight, fat and obesity as all the same thing).

Obesity will soon become the number one cause of death, overtaking smoking. It's estimated to cost over $75 billion dollars a year in the US and anywhere from $2+ billion in Canada. In Canada anyway, that's OUR tax money...so I'm paying for someone to eat themselves to death.

How come it's perfectly OK for someone to look down on a smoker, and actually approach them in public and ask them to butt it out? But I can imagine the looks I would get if I saw a fat person in McDonalds and went over and asked them to drop the Big Mac.

Granted, there are some medical conditions which can make it difficult to lose weight, and I do feel sorry for these people. However, NOT being able to excercise, is not one of them. There are plenty of people out there that never exercise and still aren't fat! 80% of how fat you are is what you put in your mouth, not how many weights you can lift. Sure exercise helps speed things up, but it's really about simple math...take in less calories than you burn in a day and you'll lose weight. The reason this country is overweight is because fast food is easy, cheap and accessible, and other than dragging their buts from the couch to the car, people never have to move. They eat non-stop and watch hours and hours of TV.

And besides, I've seen people in wheelchairs in great shape so I find it hard to believe there are many medical "conditions" that prevent someone from exercising in some fashion.

[Roguegal]

Well, there is one medical condition I can tell you about, myasthenia gravis. It's basically like having muscle fatigue every time you move. That's what I have. Admittedly, not all MG patients have it severely enough to prohibit them from exercising. I do. I practically starve myself as it is just to maintain my health. It doesn't help that prednisone puts weight on you, which it did in my case. That type of weight is just as hard to lose. Just like the weight a woman gains during pregnancy.

My main point was that people look down on anyone who is "overweight" no matter how much that amount is. If it happens to be children, it just makes things worse. Children can be very mean and cruel and not even realize that they are that mean or cruel. Their parents need to teach them to be considerate and kind and not imitate others. Because if they see other kids do it they think it's okay to do themselves

People who truly want to lose weight need to be encouraged and told that they can do it. Some of them may even need someone to go along with them on the journey. Like many of the contestants on "Biggest Loser", many of them admit that they could not do it on their own and have tried.

Someone who is obese or even overweight usually has a very low self-esteem and self-image. The general populace does not help that to improve at all. If you happen to have a friend who is overweight, just be their friend. Don't rag on them because they need to lose weight. It just makes things worse.

[ACCER]

Yet another reason to shun a national healthcare plan! Craig, in the US the know nothings who think they know everything would get together and make it illegal to eat whatever they determined was the "evil" food. It would get worse from there.

[ammulu]

I agree with what you all have to say. I think in India there is a lot of physical work, we have hard floor with stone, which needs daily wiping and sweeping, that is the first exercise to have a flat tummy. I guess it all depends on the person too, eat only that much which is needed but not more just coz' you have to eat for time pass, that is some extra pounds to your overall weight.

[mollyL]

Originally Posted by ACCER

Yet another reason to shun a national healthcare plan! Craig, in the US the know nothings who think they know everything would get together and make it illegal to eat whatever they determined was the "evil" food. It would get worse from there.

If there was a US national health care plan, prevention would be the priority rather than forcing people to seek health care only when the situation becomes life-threatening. Having worked in an ER made me a die-hard believer in a national health plan. Any nation that treats its rich and leaves its poor to rot is morally bankrupt, and, surprise, the US is the only industrialised nation to not have a national health care plan.
This "know nothing" advises you to eat whatever you like and as much as you like; just don't come crying when your arteries have hardened and you have raging cases of diabetes, hypertension, and colon cancer. Boy, will we look stupid then!