tskeeter
Junior Associate
Joined: Mar 20, 2011 19:37:45 GMT -5
Posts: 6,831
|
Post by tskeeter on Sept 29, 2015 12:06:22 GMT -5
I think you need to look more at lifestyle, than at foods. When I was young, my Mom was at home. We didn't eat as many highly processed foods because Mom had time to cook, can, preserve, and garden. Today, when Mom gets home at 6:00. she doesn't have two or three hours to get a meal on the table, so we tend to eat more processed foods. Take out the presevatives, and the like, and Mom won't have access to many of the products she uses today. Mom will need to quit her job so she has the time to cook from scratch using raw, more wholesome products. Another factor in youth obesity is a low activity level among kids. When I was young, we walked to and from school and wherever else we needed to go. Or used our bicycles. And, after school, we played outside. Now days, kids are driven to and from school. And after school, they play video games and watch TV instead of playing baseball and tag. The problem you want to solve is a bit like going on a diet. Most people aren't very successful with diets because what you eat really has only a modest impact on your weight. What really makes a difference is your level of physical activity. That's why it's called diet and exercise. You suggest controlling diet and have not considered the more important factor, activity level, which is dictated by lifestyle choices. One only has to compare the US to Europe to see the impact of lifestyle choices. Most Europeans are not as heavy as we are. Yet European grocery stores have much of the same food choices that we have. But, they are much more active because they walk so much more than we do. There are fewer cars per capita. It is more common for a family to have one car than two or three. People don't commute to work in a car. They walk to the station and take the train. And then they walk from the train station to work. Often these walks are a half mile or more. How many of us, especially those of us that live outside large cities, walk two or three miles a day to get to and from work? And they walk to the grocery store. And they walk and they walk. Maybe that's why I can't remember seeing a gym the places I've been in Europe. They walk instead. The problem is there is not enough activity (well unless you are an Olympic athlete or training like one) to off-set the increase in calories. I am all for being more active. I am active, but I burn perhaps 200 calories on a 3-4 mile run. That is easily consumed with an apple or snack size bag of potato chips. And Europe is getting heavier and heavier just like the US is. Cyprus, the UK, Poland, Spain, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, etc., all have more than half of their population who is overweight or obese. In terms of the OP, there is a grocery store near where I live that has a high percentage of people with food stamps who shop there. I've seen more than one person offer to pay for the groceries for the person in front of them in exchange for cash. According to Livestrong, you're not giving yourself enough credit for calories consumed by your run. If you take your body weight and multiply by .75, that gives you the calories burned per mile. So, if you're 125 pounds, you'd burn between 282 and 376 calories during your 3 - 4 mile run. If you're walking, instead of running, the multiplier is .67 times your body weight. So, walking would burn between 251 and 335 calories during a 3 - 4 mile walk. So, if you assume that Europeans typically walk 2 miles a day that we don't walk. That adds up to 41,875 calories per year burned by a 125 pound person (I assume only walking to and from work, 250 days a year). At 3,500 calories per pound, that's just a hair shy of 12 pounds per year that a person who walks two miles per day doesn't gain, as compared to another person who eats the same diet , but doesn't walk the two miles per day. I think it's pretty apparent that when you consider the impact of even moderate increases in activity levels, the difference over decades of our lives can be substantial. Could you cut 300 - 400 calories a day out of your diet? Sure. But I don't think that simply reformulating packaged foods to reduce the sugar, fat, and starch content will provide the whole solution. I doubt that most of us eat such a poor diet that a 300 -400 calorie reduction wouldn't be a pretty big change to what and how much we eat. As for Europeans getting fatter, they are affected by many of the same cultural and social forces that we are. I expect that they spend more time in front of the computer and TV than they used to, also.
|
|
tskeeter
Junior Associate
Joined: Mar 20, 2011 19:37:45 GMT -5
Posts: 6,831
|
Post by tskeeter on Sept 29, 2015 12:24:02 GMT -5
I had the same thought as Emma; activity can do only so much. My nephew WAS an Olympic swimmer and yeah, he could eat a ton of food. He had to. OTOH, I just rode my bike 34 miles last Saturday. The offerings at the rest stops (hint: it was the Tour de BBQ) and the free beer at the end would make it very easy to make up the 1,400 calories I burned. It doesn't sound like your bike ride or your beer and Q fest was an every day occurrence for you. However, if you rode 34 miles every day (I used to), I don't think you'd eat and drink every day like you did on Saturday. By the way, you'd have to drink about nine 12 oz. beers to consume 1,400 calories. Or, you could eat half a pound or more of pork and still have nearly five beers. If you eat and drink like most adults, my guess is that you probably burned about 40% more calories than you consumed in BBQ and beer.
|
|
Deleted
Joined: Oct 13, 2024 1:23:27 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2015 12:57:26 GMT -5
It doesn't sound like your bike ride or your beer and Q fest was an every day occurrence for you. However, if you rode 34 miles every day (I used to), I don't think you'd eat and drink every day like you did on Saturday. By the way, you'd have to drink about nine 12 oz. beers to consume 1,400 calories. Or, you could eat half a pound or more of pork and still have nearly five beers. If you eat and drink like most adults, my guess is that you probably burned about 40% more calories than you consumed in BBQ and beer. Yeah, but there was the carb-loading the night before, too! You're right, though- I did only 5 of these rides spread out over the summer, although the longest (39 miles) was just the Saturday before last. I'm 62 so I'm just grateful I can do two of them on successive Saturdays without falling apart.
|
|
tskeeter
Junior Associate
Joined: Mar 20, 2011 19:37:45 GMT -5
Posts: 6,831
|
Post by tskeeter on Sept 29, 2015 15:52:59 GMT -5
It doesn't sound like your bike ride or your beer and Q fest was an every day occurrence for you. However, if you rode 34 miles every day (I used to), I don't think you'd eat and drink every day like you did on Saturday. By the way, you'd have to drink about nine 12 oz. beers to consume 1,400 calories. Or, you could eat half a pound or more of pork and still have nearly five beers. If you eat and drink like most adults, my guess is that you probably burned about 40% more calories than you consumed in BBQ and beer. Yeah, but there was the carb-loading the night before, too! You're right, though- I did only 5 of these rides spread out over the summer, although the longest (39 miles) was just the Saturday before last. I'm 62 so I'm just grateful I can do two of them on successive Saturdays without falling apart. Cripes, you're just a young snot. A guy named Kenny Woods used to ride with the Gopher Wheelmen, in Minneapolis. I think Kenny did multiple 50+ mile training rides a week with the Wheelmen until he was in his mid to late 70's. When I'm talking training rides, I'm talking training to race, with the 18 and 20 year olds. At speeds that hit between 25 and 30 mph. (Note that it was common belief that Kenny knew the routes so well that he had a few shortcuts. ) But he was out there. Riding hard. Well past the age when most folks have relegated themselves to the recliner. Giving us all something to aspire to. You're only old when you decide you are. Until then, you're young!
|
|
Deleted
Joined: Oct 13, 2024 1:23:27 GMT -5
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 29, 2015 20:12:04 GMT -5
Well, tskeeter, I'm an amateur by those standards! I think I need to talk with DH about getting a nice new titanium bike so I can handle those distances.
|
|
Lizard Queen
Senior Associate
103/2024
Joined: Jan 17, 2011 22:19:13 GMT -5
Posts: 14,659
|
Post by Lizard Queen on Sept 30, 2015 10:27:45 GMT -5
|
|