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grimwerk: Careful, the measures in that article are inconsistent.
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Cadaver747: You are quite right. My bad.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2228rank.html

As we can see here USA is on 18th place, while China only on 152. Hooray! :)
That's one of the reasons I'm going back, within the first month of arriving last time I lost 20# without really trying. I didn't generally feel hungry and after the first bit of jet lag, I didn't feel particularly tired, but the combination of having to walk up and down stairs and not having easy access to crap food probably helped as well.

I rarely, if ever, saw anybody that was obese and the fattest people I would see with any regularity were just chubby.

Another point there is that the people around you tend to establish what you're going to view as healthy. If you're living in a country of fat asses you're going to be less likely to freak out when you get fat.

Lastly, the US is one of the few places where being morbidly obese entitles you to special treatment. Most countries don't coddle the fat the way we do. People don't get to be a hundred or more pounds over weight on accident, it's something that happens as the direct result of poor choices.
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ScotchMonkey: I'd guess way too much sugar and empty calories, also portions might play a bigger role than the food itself. Not really sure in the grand scheme of things.
Sugar definitely does factor into it, sugar screws up your insulin levels and your insulin levels being off screw up every other hormone in your body, including the ones that are supposed to be regulating your appetite.
Post edited January 19, 2015 by hedwards
Maybe size of one wallet matters too.

In other more thrifty country people have to eat less, cook own food because it is cheaper, eat less meat and processed food because vegetables are cheaper, walk / cycle more to save transport money, have more blue collar job then white collar, so have to move more. Even at home people are more DIY on cleaning, painting, repairing furniture, water pipe, patching worn out cloths.
Wanna know how to stay skinny? Smoke, smoke like its a cure cancer.

I was in my early twenties and was 6.1 and 125lbs. Cost = half a packs to 2 packs a day since I was a teen.

Quit for 3 years and smoke occasionally now.. 172lbs avg. My doctor told me to keep my "Fightin Weight".
It's not only the U.S. Obesity rates are going up everywhere in developed nations.
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Gnostic: Maybe size of one wallet matters too.

In other more thrifty country people have to eat less, cook own food because it is cheaper, eat less meat and processed food because vegetables are cheaper [...]
It's the exact opposite here. A healthy lifestyle regarding food is bloody expensive where I live, including cooking yourself. All the industrial produced garbage (including the meat) is cheaper than the ingredients for proper cooking.

This seems to be a factor over there at some places too:
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t2y9dZtgepw/U-kD0UAzEiI/AAAAAAAAWzk/T7jfzcXdxBM/s1600/and+you+wonder+why+everyone+is+fat.jpg

I'm cooking most of my stuff myself and even make my own beverage if I'm tired of water or fresh pressed orange juice at some point, but I haven't got a choice anyway because most stuff isn't vegan, many juices are not even vegetarian due to gelatin which is used for clearing (I actually like turbid juice more anyway).

There's a change happening in the local food industry though.
Post edited January 19, 2015 by Klumpen0815
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SalarShushan: Wheat Belly is another good book about some of the issues.
Personally, I don't feel that ditching wheat products has done much for me. When I was younger I used to live largely on wheat products. A few years ago I switched to a low gluten diet, and you know what, it did very little for my weight (it dropped a little initially, then went up). Nuts, potato and rice flour, etc., they all provide all the excess calories I don't need. And sure, some of the weight is age related, but I'm pretty sure it's mostly a matter of exercise. Up till my late thirties I didn't have a car, I went by foot or bus. I also did some moderate exercise regularly (dancing / fencing / karate, even if just once or twice a week). Now I drive and rarely exercise. That's the difference, not anything in the food.

(I'm not really fat, by the way, just a few kg over the weight I'd like to be.)
Hmmm after commenting about cows milk in the other thread, perhaps that's something to consider, how milk & eggs are pushed on everyone, and put in quite a few foods. As Cows milk was never meant for human consumption, and can take a calf from 100lbs at birth to 800lbs inside of 8 months, pushing that on everyone to keep drinking milk daily....

But this is just one piece of the larger puzzle.
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AlKim: EDIT: Mind you, the average Finn is getting fatter too. Too much sitting, both at home and at work.
When I see Kaisa Mäkäräinen or Mari Laukkanen, I also wonder for a glimpse of a second if they have enough food in Finland ( :P )

For Germany, the public discussion often concentrates on quantity and neither the content of the food (e.g. dietary fiber) or physical activities and the intensity of it.
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paulrainer: search youtube for
gary taubes - why we get fat
and robert lustig - sugar the bitter truth
all answered by those 2 guys- basically , its all about the insulin
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SalarShushan: By now all the real reasons - and the usual unkind stereotypes - are already posted on this thread.

My contribution is basically to second a recommendation for these vids - Taubes' book - and the following books.

Also Jillian Michaels' Master Your Metabolism which is closer to Taubes' ideas than you'd think, given how they quarrel in public, except that Jillian believes in adding exercise to that improved diet, and I am sure she is right about that. Wheat Belly is another good book about some of the issues. The Omnivores Dilemma is decent overview of food supply issues. Add The Hundred Year Lie and you'll have a decent overview of what is sickening so many of us.

Taubes book was only one of several that I've read that completely changed my understanding of how our body uses foods and micro-nutrients. I've been losing weight steadily since following Michaels', Lustig's, & Taubes' advice.

TL:DR of all those books & vids = Yes, we could stand to walk more than most of us do, but the worst problems are caused by pesticides/chemicals in a food supply woefully deficient in proteins and many important nutrients/micro-nutrients. GMOs don't help either, though exactly how much it contributes to the problem ...? IThis impacts our bodies use of insulin specifically and creates thyroid & other hormonal imbalances. Unbalanced hormones + deficiencies ensures our bodies tend toward weight gain, no matter what else we do. This means you seriously have to change your diet and address deficiency issues before the exercise will help. Smoothies = awesome, but only as a supplement to a regularly healthy diet. Avoid processed foods. Buy organic when you can.

Way, way too many bad sweeteners in even the plainest prepared foods in the US, especiall6y HFCS which is banned in Europe already. I wish it was banned here! But no, instead they get to hide it under other names like fructose and modified corn starch :P
good job on the weight loss , Im 85lbs down and levelled at 175 with 14lb movement room.

It appears dr atkins had the right idea , but he didnt understand the science behind it.

i think the main problem with large numbers of any populations is the idea of moderation.
When i was a kid treats and sugary foods used to be had on special occasions but nowadays , everyday is a special occasion.
low rated
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F1ach: Just perception, like "all you can eat" buffets https://www.furniturecart.com/dining-room-and-kitchen/dining-room-and-kitchen-furniture/buffets-sideboards-and-servers etc.

I remember a buddy of mine went to Florida, in a steak restaurant the steak dishes were huge and if you managed to eat it all, you didn't have to pay.

I think restaurants try to offer more product for less money to entice customers, which leads to over consumption.

*Note to self : Must watch that Supersize Me movie.
I think people generally eat more food when it is "all you can eat", because it is a set price and they feel like they need to get their money's worth.
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jefequeso: ...
before this gets locked: congrats to you on eventually making the hit retro-FPS game Dusk