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Are we fat because we eat too much or eat the wrong things?

Cliffhanger

Coach
Messages
15,228
I think most people have a very poor understanding of what an adequate diet is and how to read a nutrition tab.

It's not just nutrition though, it's physical activity our bodies are designed to be active, yet our modern world promotes laziness. We seem to believe that fitness is abnormal, or that light exercise is enough, when it simply isn't. In fact just walking for 20 or so minutes a day is almost bad is being totally sedentary. The latest recommendations are that we should do around 1 hour (of 40-60 per cent of you max) of physical activity a day and walking doesn't count. (However if you're doing vigorous activities (>60 per cent) it's half an hour

Look at how active our ancestors, look at the lifestyles of people in bluezones around the world, fact is we're doing it wrong. Around 70 per cent of Australians are overweight and that is shocking, as a nation we keep getting more sick and yet we're decreasing the amount of physical ed kids do at school.
 

Jason Maher

Immortal
Messages
35,977
And to answer the question posed by the thread title: both, and also a lack of exercise.
 
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Cliffhanger

Coach
Messages
15,228
We also seem to think, that junkfood and over processed foods should be part of a balanced diet. Yes there's not too much wrong with having them some of the time, but you do not need them in a balanced diet.
 

Joker's Wild

Coach
Messages
17,894
Did anyone actually read the article?

It argues that not all calories are equal and that the amount of starchy carbs and sugars has a greater effect on obesity than actual over eating. The point about the amount of fat kids during the depression is interesting
 

Cliffhanger

Coach
Messages
15,228
Too many people don't understand the difference between fibrous carbahydrates and starchy carbhydrates and how they impact their body.
 

GuardDog

Juniors
Messages
343
i would also include lack of discipline/motivation to train and lack of pride in appearance otherwise one would make an effort to try and look good
 

JoeD

First Grade
Messages
7,056
There are two obvious reasons why this idea that working out makes you skinny or keeps you skinny is likely to be just wrong. One is that it takes a significant amount of exercise to burn even a modest amount of calories. Run three miles, says Cornell University researcher Brian Wansink in the documentary, and you’ll burn up roughly the amount of calories in a single candy bar. And this brings up the second reason: you’re likely to be hungrier after strenuous exercise than before and so you’re more likely to eat that candy bar’s worth of calories after than before. (When the American Heart Association and the American College of Sports Medicine jointly published physical-activity guidelines back in 2007, they described the evidence that exercise can even prevent us from growing fatter as “not particularly compelling,” which was a kind way to put it.)
From the article. Something the exercise nuts don't like to think about
 

Cliffhanger

Coach
Messages
15,228
You don't just burn more calories while exercise, but after you finish and then you have to take into account how much you burn without doing anything, it adds up. Secondly it improves your cardio vascular health, you don't have to be fat to be unfit.

People who genuinely want to make some tangible changes to their life, don't eat candy bars after exercise. Honestly I am sick of the bullshit coming out that tries to suggest that overweight people shouldn't be encouraged to exercise. If you lose weight without exercise, you will become weak. You will f**k up your muscular-skeletal system.
 

Danish

Referee
Messages
31,835
I suppose thats why I saw so many fat pricks running the canberra marathon the other week and will see thousands more this weekend at the SMH half marathon.

Always astounds me how an academic can state that exercise leads to weight gain with a straight face
 

Joker's Wild

Coach
Messages
17,894
Absolutely Cliffy but the point that is being made is that just reducing your calorie intake and upping your exercise wont provide optimum fat loss. I dont think the article suggests in any way that people should stop exercising, rather that you need to look at when and what you are eating as well.
 

Cliffhanger

Coach
Messages
15,228
I get that point. But the problem is attitudes like confuse people even more.

The night I unwillingly caught a bit of 60 Minutes, some dickhead scientist was saying that if you lose weight you will always put it back on. He said something along the lines of, if you want to know what a fat person feel like when they diet, then stop eating for two days and see how you feel.

That frustrated me. Losing fat is by no means easy, but it's very rewarding and people shouldn't be discouraged from making these changes. I agree there's a lot of misinformation out there and a lot of the fitness and weight loss industry is doing it wrong, but this type of stuff isn't that constructive.
 

Snoochies

First Grade
Messages
5,590
I was calorie counting and was eating the reccomended calories to lose weight but didn't shred anything until I heard the 40 40 20 principle and now the weight is moving alot faster and don't feel hungry at all.
 

aqua_duck

Coach
Messages
18,316
I get that point. But the problem is attitudes like confuse people even more.

The night I unwillingly caught a bit of 60 Minutes, some dickhead scientist was saying that if you lose weight you will always put it back on. He said something along the lines of, if you want to know what a fat person feel like when they diet, then stop eating for two days and see how you feel.

That frustrated me. Losing fat is by no means easy, but it's very rewarding and people shouldn't be discouraged from making these changes. I agree there's a lot of misinformation out there and a lot of the fitness and weight loss industry is doing it wrong, but this type of stuff isn't that constructive.

That's such a f**ked up attitude hey. I mean I've never touched a cigarette before but from what I understand it's one of the hardest things to give up, yet we always encourage people to squat smoking, it should be the same with unhealthy diets.

In the end it all comes down to laziness, not just laziness to exercise but also laziness to make the necessary adjustments to one's lifestyle. I mean I bring my lunch to work 95% of the time, only eat out sometimes if a few of us have planned it, most of my collegues buy their lunch and 90% of the time it's something unhealthy, just because they're too lazy to pack food the night before
 

Joker's Wild

Coach
Messages
17,894
Cliffhanger said:
I get that point. But the problem is attitudes like confuse people even more.

The night I unwillingly caught a bit of 60 Minutes, some dickhead scientist was saying that if you lose weight you will always put it back on. He said something along the lines of, if you want to know what a fat person feel like when they diet, then stop eating for two days and see how you feel.

That frustrated me. Losing fat is by no means easy, but it's very rewarding and people shouldn't be discouraged from making these changes. I agree there's a lot of misinformation out there and a lot of the fitness and weight loss industry is doing it wrong, but this type of stuff isn't that constructive.

Better that people be confused than uninformed imo. One of the biggest challenges of losing weight is the frustration of seeing little or no results when you think you are doing the right thing (ie exercising and eating "healthier" foods). If we can educate people that there is more to it we may just get better results from them and a healthier population
 

JoeD

First Grade
Messages
7,056
Cliffhangar, can't you see that the current information people are getting isn't helping them lose weight?
 

Danish

Referee
Messages
31,835
Cliffhangar, can't you see that the current information people are getting isn't helping them lose weight?


The only reason current information is not helping people lose weight is because they are ignoring it.

If you count calories and start exercising 4-6 hours per week you will lose weight. Thats the basic formula for just about all diet systems around today. The only people who fail at this system are the ones who cut corners somewhere along the line.
 

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