I recently went to the local KMart type store and went to buy some jogging pants and I was just astonished at the sizes they had.

I'm over 6 ft and over 240 lbs. I don't consider myself fat, but I am overweight (and my BMI ain't that terribly complimentary).

So I was amazed when I grabbed a pair of jogging pants that were labeled "M" for medium and they were a perfect fit. But what was even more astounding is that M was by far the smallest and rarest size of the entire bunch. There were L, XL, 2X, and 3X sizes, where the XL and bigger were in the majority.

When did I become a Medium?? And are there really that many 3Xs?? Those pants were big enough for 3 of me to fit into....again, I'm a big guy.

Another experience I've had is success with the Atkins diet. I'm totally convinced that corn syrup is the nectar of the devil. I recently saw a very overweight couple buying some Atkins products at my local grocery and was very excited at the prospect of new foods with no added sugar.

My questions:

Do you see exteremely overweight Americans on a daily basis? And how do you feel about it?

Having you had success with losing weight and do you feel optimistic that Americans can turn the corner on being so obese?

Do you see a future where added sweetners are eliminated and the "low carb" label is as abundant as current products?

Do you see exteremely overweight Americans on a daily basis? Yes I do.

And how do you feel about it? Much thinner than I should feel.

Having you had success with losing weight and do you feel optimistic that Americans can turn the corner on being so obese? Americans will likely never turn that corner, unless we go through some sort of mass famine. Food is abundant, and we are getting more and more sedentary. We are a fat nation for much the same reason we are a debtor nation (I'm speaking of personal finance, specifically). Many Americans want to have immediate satisfaction and "work it off tomorrow". Like debt, the greater the excess, the greater the accumulated cost.

I had success with losing some weight in the past. I wasn’t fat, but was unhappy with the weight I’d gained after the first baby. I ate only vegetables and rice for several weeks, lost the weight, and it cost about a dollar fifty a day. It didn't take personal trainers or expensive programs, or even a gym membership.

My sister in law is in the Navy. She had to get a waver because she was overweight when she went in (161 pounds). She swore that she had a thyroid problem. By the end of basic training (I think that's 8 weeks, not sure), she weighed 128 pounds...eating three high carbo and high fat meals a day. Some thyroid problem. She's even fatter today than before she went in, eight years later, with the same (undiagnosed) thyroid problem.

Do you see a future where added sweetners are eliminated and the "low carb" label is as abundant as current products? I see 'low carb' everywhere these days. I actually think it's a bit out of hand. These products are outrageously expensive for the nutrition content and caloric value.

I'm old enough to remember the "low fat" rage, and the low carb one came before that. Now it's back. These fads seem to be cyclical. They work when people stay on them, but they are no fun, so they seldom last. I've noticed that even a lot of the personal trainers whose jobs are to give nutritional and fitness advice, are overweight themselves. For guidance, I think we should look at the countries which have none of the nutritional fads we do, and low obesity rates. They don't have low carb or low fat diets. They do have smaller portion sizes and generally higher activity levels.

I guess I'm a little more optimistic. I think people given the choice would rather be slim, so if in the future the pharma companies come up with a pill that reduces hunger and makes people skinnier, people will take it, IMHO.




I don't know if women react differently to sugar (I don't think so), but as a man I find eating sugar (high-sweetened foods) makes me eat more. And there's physiological evidence that there's a reason for that. Blood sugar influences our hunger and constant raising then dropping blood sugar causes hunger.

Not to mention the issues with all of this sugar consumption on increasing Diabetes.

My contention is that these products actually decrease the amount of food you eat. So you may pay a lot for a steak, but that and some broccoli may be all that you eat for half a day, instead a bunch of other garbage.

I'm not so much on the "low carb" craze as I am excited to see food producers removing the needlessly added sweetners to foods. Look at just about anything you eat, cereal, spaghetti sauce, soft drinks, not to mention candies and ice cream, etc. and the first ingredient is either sugar or corn syrup.

I hope the trend continues because it is indeed a healthy trend, IMHO. And the more people consume, the cheaper it will get.



You women must be tougher than us men. If I eat rice and veggies then I can't function. I tried that once and I acted like a walking zombie. Besides, I need to feel like I'm not depriving myself or I'll just go nutz and go order a dozen pizzas.




That's really the key. I think the French are thin because of doing just that. From my own personal experience, the low carb diet has made me really reduce my intake. I go out to eat with friends and I only eat half of what I used to eat, and I just pat myself on the back that I don't feel the desire to consume so much food.

Portion sizes from restaurants also are a big problem.

I think alot of americans are overweight for two simple reasons: poor diet and lack of exercise. When I lived in France I walked everywhere. Here, I drive to the corner store. It is ridiculous.

I think alot of the "poor diet" has to do with the ridiculously busy lifestyle today. With two parents working (not the ideal situation in my view), we have lost sight of the importance of taking the time to cook healthy and nutritious meals. After working all day, most people will just opt for what is the easiest-- take out or high carb foods. There are only so many hours in the day and the lifestyle we have chosen places no emphasis on what is really important.

I read an interesting article that compared a typical mom in the fifties with a typical mom today. It broke down everything each one did throughout the day and what they ate. The fifties mom ate three meals a day (all home cooked)-- and not what you would call diet food at all. She did not work outside the home and she did no formal exercise, but her daily activities did require more physical exertion: hanging laundry, walking to the store etc. The contemporary mom-- worked a full time job and took care of the kids. She ate like a bird and only diet food (alot of prepackaged stuff), she also exercised from 5:00 am till 6:00 am every day.

The fifties mom-- 5 foot 2 -- weighed like 110 lbs and the contemporary mom was the same height and weighed like 150 lbs. According to the article, the difference was attributable to the higher level of stress in the contemporary mom's life along with eating convenience foods. We really do ourselves a disservice these days with our fast paced lifestyle and would do well to re-examine our priorities in my opinion.

I think you're exactly right about the exercise part. As I kid, I don't remember sitting around in the house. My parents forbid sitting in front of the TV for hours. We played hours upon hours of games outside depending on the season; baseball, football, basketball, not to mention bike riding everywhere to do these things. Being fat as a kid was a very rare condition.

There was no X-box, no computer, and no cable TV with 120 channels. There was fast food but it was a special treat to "go to McDonalds", not an every day staple.

Today, a significant portion of children are seriously overweight and a growing number of their parents are outright obsese. The reason is simple; too much food and too little physical motion.

I have traveled to Europe also and noticed that their food didn't seem like anything one would buy at a health food store. Yet, the people on average are much slimmer than Americans. Why? They walk, walk, walk. Walk to the train, walk to work, walk to the market, walk when they go out to eat. Everywhere. We get in our cars to get the mail down the driveway.

American can slim down if we start moving. Fad diets are just fads. They don't work and in many cases can result in serious health side effects (like Atkins). A common sense approach of smaller portions, cutting out the junk food, and moving more will work.

• Do you see extremely overweight Americans on a daily basis? And how do you feel about it?
  
  I do not. Odd thing about living in California, the morbidly obeses tend to hide from the eyes of the trim and or little over weight.
  
  
• Having you had success with losing weight and do you feel optimistic that Americans can turn the corner on being so obese?
  
  I never really gained weight. My last growth spurt (which happened only recently in my late twenties) enlarged my shoulders that caused be to buy all new jackets. I feel no optimism for Americans. In Europe, they tend to use mini fridges as their main fridge. In America we have huge refrigerators plus deep freezer plus the fridge in our garage that holds all the drinks. We grocery shopping at Costco, Sam's Club, Food 4 Less, and WinCo where we stock up and extra large servings of butter, milk, eggs, and soda. Though we do all this shopping and have all these over sized refrigerators, we tend to spend more meals eating somewhere other then our homes.
  
  In order for Americans to turn the corner they would have to change the American lifestyle. Very few Americans are willing to give up their corporate sponsored Big Mac.
  
  
• Do you see a future where added sweeteners are eliminated and the "low carb" label is as abundant as current products?
  
  Low carb is just another gimmick to sell more products. Remember low fat? Low calories? No caffeine? How quickly we forget. In the early 1900s Kellogg, the brother to the Kellogg that marketed the cereal, had a health resort to which they tried electrocution baths and eating nothing but cornflakes. Sad to say the only good way to lose weight is eating right and exercising (which has already been expressed).

Even though several posts have said this, I disagree. One of the problems with "food portions" is our ability to control how much we eat. Maybe the diet should be called the "no sugar" diet instead.

I'm not convinced that eating pounds of bacon is a good thing. What I am convinced is that the corn-syrup revolution has caused people to become addicts to eating. When you go out to McDonalds, the pop is probably the worst thing for you because it keeps you hungry after you just ate 1000s of calories.

Atkins does work. I think a contemporary diet of fast food and sugar-laden food is far worse than any "side effects" from Atkins.

The difference between the low-carb diets and the low-fat diets, is that low-carb diets are moving food in the right direction (away from excess sugar), where the low fat diet was moving to excess sugar.

We need fat in our diet, we don't need sugar (at least pounds of it per week). Atkins/low carb are not a gimmick, IMHO.

Chugging too much soda (even the diet kind) has always been considered bad for you. Too much sugar and refined starchy food isn't good. That's common sense, not Atkins. Diets that are too high in protein are not good for you either. High protein diets lead to osteoporosis and kidney problems (as do diet drinks).

Honestly, I think the "special" measures Americans are taking to lose weight (which don't involve exercise and moderation) are often problematic. Artificial sweetners (abundant in low carb fare) are bad for you. I remember the fake fat food (maybe it's still out), which gave everyone diarrhea. Few who eat like an Asian will ever be fat, and will stay healthy as well. There isn't much of a secret to it.

I don't see how anyone can say low carb is not a gimmick. The diet was used in the 1950s and then faded and the was revived now. The attraction to the diet is the fact that one can eat all the meat they want (which tends to be the choice of most Americans), as long as you don't eat bread. However without a healthy diet how does one exercise to their full potential? Without the balance of nutrient, how does one grow stronger and healthier?

If it is not a gimmick, how can every fast food place seel a low carb burger when two years ago they were selling the low cal salad, and before that it was the low fat burger? How can Coke develop a low carb soda and and Oreo a low carb cookie, and they even have low carb chips that are replacing the baked chips that are replacing the 'WOW' chips that are replacing low salt chips that replaced the low fat chips.

It's January. In January all the diet books are released. In January all the dietary supplemental meals are released. In January cook books, Jenny Craig, Susan Powers, Weight Watcher's and South Palm Beach all see an influx of purchases. Memberships to gyms increase. In January America goes on a diet. In February, there is an increase in chocolate and candy sales. Odd how everyone is so gun-ho for the diet that by February, they have forgotten.

I do agree with you that it is not about the amount of product one buys, but the ways in which one eats the product. I can buy the 5lb of Syrup, but if use it to serve hundreds a pancake breakfast, then I really didn't consume the entire thing. But can you really trust the impulse buying of people to be able to control their impulses when at home? What do you think when you see an obese woman purchasing 12 diet Pepsi when they are on sell, plus two huge packages of frozen burrito's? Do you think to yourself that there is hope for this woman other then surgery?

Well, according to height/weight charts listed here, you should weigh between 160 and 205, split the difference and say 183. So, that means you are 57 lbs overweight (or 24% above your ideal weight), your BMI is 32.5, and that puts you in the “very overweight/obese” category in this list (which is pretty liberal compared to some others). Now, I’m sure you don’t consider yourself obese, but unless you are a bodybuilder with low body fat, you are technically (or considered by the medical community) “overweight” (i.e. fat). BUT, weight and BMI aren't always indicators of how healthy a person is. Some people will never be a size 2 (like me) or fit into 28” waist jeans.

Sounds like a mismark to me. But, clothing sizing is notoriously inaccurate (ask any woman ). The cheaper the clothing, the more inaccurate the size is, because fabric is stacked in many layers when cutting the patterns. So, the medium at the top of the pile of fabric is probably smaller than the one at the bottom of the pile (or is it the other way around? ). One of the reason couture and designer clothing is more expensive is because each garment’s fabric is cut individually or only a few pieces at a time.

Do you see exteremely overweight Americans on a daily basis? And how do you feel about it?

Of course. It is a national problem (regardless of what yehoshua says, there are overweight/obese people in Southern California). What bothers me most is seeing severely obese children who can barely get around. Their parents are setting a deadly pattern for them that is very hard to get out of.

Having you had success with losing weight and do you feel optimistic that Americans can turn the corner on being so obese?

Yes and no. I have always been “chubby” or “plump” (choose appropriate annoying adjective). In my 30’s I went on the NutriSystem diet and got down to a size 5, measurements 37-26-36 (to give you an idea about how narrow-minded considering weight only can be, I weighed 140 at the time). I kept the weight off for 6 years. Several traumatic events later, I started putting the weight back on. Now that I’m older, I put on weight in different areas (midsection). Grumble, grumble. I have no doubt I could lose it again; it just takes effort and discipline.

I agree with you that sugar is poison. But it’s such luscious poison. Do you realize we are addicted to sugar right out of the womb? Hospitals routinely give newborns sugar water. Is it any wonder kids grow up with a taste for sugar?

Do you see a future where added sweetners are eliminated and the "low carb" label is as abundant as current products?

Smacks of Big Brother to me. The current revolution toward “healthy” packaged foods will continue, and whatever the next craze is, food manufacturers will adapt to meet it. However, this will not change the obesity problem. Portion control is a huge problem, and that is a behavioral issue that seems unique to America, where everything big is good, from food portions to TVs to cars and everything small is not. Until Americans are willing to give up fast foods, not expect restaurant meals to be served on a platter covered edge to edge with food, and as long as there is poverty where the cheapest food available is also the most fattening, there will be a weight problem here.

Alternative sweeteners are available, and have been for many years. The low carb craze will die out (it has already ebbed quite a bit), as people realize a diet of protein only gets mighty old. In my opinion, the only diet that ever works is eat less, exercise more. Period.

Actually, I'm taller than 6' and my BMI is at 30.8, which is considered overweight. I do lift weights, so I do carry extra "muscle weight".

I don't think I'm "fat" per se, as in having a huge belly that goes over my belt or having to wear a moo-moo because nothing fits. I carry extra weight, so I'm not slim, but I don't consider myself obese or overly overweight.




No mismark. I am now a medium. I used to get larges and even XLs. Now I fit into mediums. Go figure. The XL was huge and the L was big as well. The 3X was really big and there was a whole stack of them.

I'm on Atkins (my own version of the diet), but I work out every other day. I run 3 miles every other day, lift weights, etc. I prolly get more nutrition on Atkins than I ever did before, because I'm eating more greens and veggies than I did before. I always ate plenty of fruits, but cut down to the very low sugar fruits. And now I eat a lot of soy products.

In my version of Atkins I prolly eat as much meat as I ever did before. I try to keep it mostly to chicken/turkey, then pork, then beef. I eat a lot of soy products that replace old bad habits, like processed bleached flour in noodles and breads.

Atkins is not a gimmick. If you follow the guidelines of Atkins, you can maintain good nutrition. The key is to not get crazy with the saturated fat which Atkins also deters.




You're making a false analogy. You're saying that because "special foods" that were gimmicky came before the low carb foods, then so must the low carb foods be gimmicky. To some degree you are correct. The key to a good low carb diet is avoiding sugar, and some products calling themselves "low carb" are still loaded with sugar. You should know how to read a label.

But products, such as Hellman's new low-carb ketchup simply uses sucralose and other healthy sweetners, but keeps the product the same. Sucralose has not been shown to be detrimental to your health.


I don't think Atkins is gimmicky. Ultimately, Atkins and fiber diets (diets that recommend whole grains and low fat), are trying to accomplish the same thing: keep blood sugar constant and low as that is the cause of overeating (it's a physiological reaction to want to eat).

You can simply say "Eat small portions and exercise daily". Sure, well life ain't that simple. When 99% of your foods have sugar or corn syrup as the #1 ingredient, you're fighting a losing battle in trying to keep your portions small.

So how do you get to where you eat small portions? You can go fiber diet or Atkins, or something in between. I went with Atkins because I tried the fiber diet and I just couldn't do it. Atkins allows me a lot more avenues to eat what I like and I can always modify my diet so that I eat more veggies or fruits, if I feel I'm eating too much meat.

It's working for me, so I don't think it's a gimmick.

Do you see exteremely overweight Americans on a daily basis? And how do you feel about it?

Well, when I went out more I used to see fat Americans on a daily basis. When I was in France, we knew who the American tourists were: they were always fat. When I came back from France, I had to go to the DMV to replace a stolen license, and it was full of seriously obese people. It was a huge culture shock. It was so weird coming back and seeing people with weight problems chowing down on Burger King. In France, you didnt really see that (and I lived right by a McDonald's).

It sort of embarasses me to see these people, and it upsets me how focused our culture is on consumption. Eating smaller portions is something that most Americans dont understand. All the Americans I knew complained that restraunts just weren't "filling". But here, I can hardly finish an entire meal in a restraunt.

Having you had success with losing weight and do you feel optimistic that Americans can turn the corner on being so obese?

Ive never really had to lose weight. Im really tall and thin. People who dont know me always make some annoying comment about it, and my "anoerxia".

But I dont feel optimistic about Americans turning the corner, so to speak. It would require a major change in our lifestyle, one that I think most people dont really care about.

Do you see a future where added sweetners are eliminated and the "low carb" label is as abundant as current products?

Yeah, because Americans will never really see the solution in just eating healthy and moving around. They would much rather eat some gross over-processed "low carb" item, than some fresh veggies. People seem to think that eating right must mean some sort of bland diet of crackers and water, but its not true. It may also mean adapting their tastes away from hamburgers and fries, but there are plenty of foods that taste good and are healthy. I am a HUGE fan of Asian and Middle-Eastern cuisine, both of which are fairly healthy for you. I know too many people that just "dont like" Indian food, and it amazes me. I cant dictate what people eat, but it still is disappointing to me, that because its not steak that means its not a good meal.

And even if we kept up with American cuisine, I think we would fare alot better using fresh, organic ingredients, as opposed to something that comes in a can. Thats one of the things I miss the most about Europe, fresh food everywhere. I hardly ate a meal that wasnt from an open-air market. Very little processed or frozen foods (except ice-cream).

We must go to entirely different stores because I am 5'9" and 155 lbs and medium jogging pants fit me to a tee. If I want them sort of loose on me,I even go up to the large size.

I saw a survey a few days ago that said, Weight Watchers was the only diet plan proven to work for a long period of time. None of the other plans were successful.

The only true answer to keeping your weight where it should be is moderation in eating and excerising.

My pet peeve is to see people eating at a buffet style restaurant and stuffing themselves until they are almost sick. Most of us Americans seem to have little or no discipline when it comes to eating and excerising.

Another pet peeve of mine is watching people drive around the parking lot of a retail store 2 or 3 times to try and get the closest parking spot to the front entrance of the store. I always park as far away from the store as possible and walk to get my excercise.

Walking up steps in your office building instead of using the elevator is another way to keep fit and lose weight. There are so many little simple things to do, but most Americans give the excuse I don't have time or etc.

These same people have time to eat and then lay on the couch and watch tv for a few hours and then fall asleep. We all have time to walk or climb steps every day but you will only do what you want to do.

Thanks for listening to me vent.

Do you see exteremely overweight Americans on a daily basis? And how do you feel about it?
R U kidding. This has become the country of the lardbutt. I am suprised that more people aren't dropping daily. Nothing funnier than some obese fool with a tray full of Mikkedees who orders a diet soda to wash down their trough of garbage.
Ya don't need diet books or special foods--just your face out of the fridge. Stop supersizing the already obscene amount of food on your plate. Finally get your butt off da couch ya jelly sacks. I would almost just laugh at em but I find it very distressing that so many people let themselves get so HUGE.
Whatever happened to pride?
and as for the thyroid problem excuse........neighbor please!
When i put on weight I know why and just stop that weak behavior in its tracks.
It doesn't even require that you exercise all that much--go for a walk.
What I have found to be very effective is to replace my dinner plates with the ones used for deserts. At half the size they are actually just the right size for a balanced meal that meets your actual needs.
Also measuring portions is easy. No scale needed. Use the palm of your hand- and that doesn't mean clutching as much mass as you can. Your palm is actually a very accurate representation of what you need for each portiopn. Try it sometime and you will be suprised.

Having you had success with losing weight and do you feel optimistic that Americans can turn the corner on being so obese?
Yes I have--and no i don't have any faith in Americans turning the corner. As life gets easier we get lazier. That seems to be the way of it in anything.
It will require the specter of death to rear its bony head to make the changes needed.

Do you see a future where added sweetners are eliminated and the "low carb" label is as abundant as current products?Never. We love our munchies.

Do you see exteremely overweight Americans on a daily basis? And how do you feel about it?
Not every day, because I don't live in America. And when I was there, the slim people are just as slim, and the medium-sized people are just the same. Surprisingly (and depressingly - the UK is Europe's fattest nation, probably because our diet and lifestyle are closest to America's compared to the rest of Europe) there didn't seem to be many more fat people in the USA than at homein Britain.
The fat people in America are, well, much fatter, though.

Have you had success with losing weight and do you feel optimistic that Americans can turn the corner on being so obese?
My weight has very gradually crept up since I left university, with two downward blips. At 21 I weighed about 180 pounds, which for my height and build was not only medically ok, but looked & felt good. Very gradually, it crept up and up, largely through lack of exercise, until it got up to 250 pounds (!) about eight years ago. I had just changed jobs, and instead of commuting to work, I began to walk there and back. And I joined a drama club that met just under a mile away, and would walk there & back too (up a steep hill on the way there) two or three times a week. In the space of about 18 months, I lost just under 30 pounds, without changing my diet at all.
Two years ago I lost that job, and my drama group changed premises to much further away (so much so that the walk there would have taken as long as the meetings) so I started to drive to get to them. Most of the exercise I got suddenly became a thing of the past. Surprise surprise, the weight started coming back on at a rate of knots, until in November last year I found I had got up to 260 pounds.
We think in terms of stones (14 pounds) here, and that's only three pounds off 19 stone. Nineteen stone is not far off twenty stone, and I don't care how tall or muscular I kid myself that I am, twenty stone is just fat.
So the next week I started the South Beach Diet (a version of it, anyway) and, allowing for two weeks of indulgence over Christmas & New Year when I went backwards, I've lost sixteen pounds in the eight or nine weeks since.
I rather like it, actually. I'm eating better food, I've rediscovered the joys of preparing and cooking it myself, I don't get indigestion or gas nearly as much as when I was living on ready meals and takeaways, I seem to have found cheekbones and a jawline (still heavily camouflaged, but they're there again) - it's all good (so far).
My goal (which will involve lots of exercise too) is to get as close as I can to my college weight AND run a full marathon before I'm 40 - two and a half years away. I reckon I'll get there, too.

So, in a roundabout weight I am perfectly optimistic that Americans (and Brits) could turn things around quite easily. But I don't think that they will.

Actually, I am more optimistic for the Brits than I am for Americans, because (horrors!) our government seems to believe that they have a role in changing public attitudes to food (and many other things) and, despite the constant "nanny state" whining, most of the public thinks seems to agree. Americans, on the other hand, would mostly rather die their flabby watery-eyed intensive care deaths than suffer the indignity of being told what they should or shouldn't eat by anyone.

Do you see a future where added sweetners are eliminated and the "low carb" label is as abundant as current products?
No. I think the effort will go into finding some kind of magic bullet that allows people to eat as much as they like without putting on any weight. Nobody will stop to ask whether or not such a thing is a really good idea in the context of agriculture or the environment, they'll just spend more and more time eating.
So the future for Americans will be a constant lifelong banquet where nobody stops eating between birth and chemically postponed death Except for the Americans who can't afford the diet pills, naturally.
In fact, I predict the first commode-equipped dining chairs in fast food restaurants are less than two decades away, so customers won't even need to stop eating to visit the rest room.
I'm being flippantly cynical, of course, but the point is that this nightmare scenario is the logical extrapolation of current American lifestyles, where consumption and quick fixes are the norm, and where any suggestion of change or restraint is a violation of civil rights.
The only solution to this, and many of the the problems, in the USA (and elsewhere in the West, here included) is somebody somewhere saying NO in response to our constant chant of "I want..."

Sounds like you and I were raised around the same time. I was 15 before I ever ate at McD’s, only drank soda (limited to one small glass) on ‘Popcorn Sunday nights’ as we watched Bonanza, and time spent inside the house was for either eating, studying, or sleeping.

Typical Saturday morning: up around 7:00, we would bike on our 10-speeds for 20-50 miles and then play the sport de jour all day stopping only for lunch and dinner. We were always on the move, walking or biking and it’s disturbing these days that you can barely find any children outside at all.

Do you see exteremely overweight Americans on a daily basis? And how do you feel about it?
It’s getting harder to not see obese people every where on a daily basis. I really feel for these folks, especially the youngsters, they’re only setting themselves up for serious medical problems down the line. Heart disease, diabetes, hip and knee problems.

Having you had success with losing weight and do you feel optimistic that Americans can turn the corner on being so obese?

I fortunately take after my mother’s side of the family. Blessed with that hummingbird metabolism I was able to eat anything any time and as much as I wanted and couldn’t gain weight if I tried.

Of course in my mid to late thirties that started to slowly change and I really only have to watch my calories and exercise to manage my weight. If work demands get in the way and the weight jumps up, I can still loose 5-10 pounds within a week or two just by cutting back on portions and sweets along with exercise (spinning is an excellent work out). I also drink about a gallon of water a day, in addition to the mulitple benefits it keeps my stomach full and reduces my urge to eat.

Do you see a future where added sweetners are eliminated and the "low carb" label is as abundant as current products?

Good friend of the family was a doctor and I can remember him telling us 30 years ago the key to weight control was eating breakfast every morning (kick starting your metabolism) and eating smaller healthy portions throughout the day that included fresh veggies and fruit. He's had the same waist size for 40+ years.

Unfortunately that’s not really conducive to the American culture. Most of us fly out the doors in the morning and fail to eat breakfast, and even fewer have the ability to ‘graze through the day’. Once you hit your employers door most only get the opportunity to eat lunch, if that.

Another major issue in America is our infrastructure isn’t really setup for healthy lifestyles as compared to many European communities. Suburbia has made it difficult to walk to church, the movies, grocer, butcher and bakery.

With few exceptions dedicated biking/hiking paths are hard to find in abundace. I really enjoyed my three month stint in Southern California years ago. I was able to borrow a bike and would ride from Irvine to Laguna Beach several times a week on a dedicated bike way. They’re starting to develop more of these fitness trails in my city, but it takes a 20 minute drive to get there from where I live. No way will I bike on the streets.

We have low carb stores popping up all over the city and from the results I’ve witnessed Adkins truly works. I’m just not sold on the long term affects of this diet (plus being of Sicilian decent I could never give up pasta, and bread is like a fourth utensil)

But I think the key to any weight management program is realizing that it’s going to be different for each individual and it’s not going to happen just by watching what you eat. Exercise is mandatory. Walking and gardening are probably the two most undervalued/overlooked exercises.

I think heyleyanne hit on another good point. Saw a story on Dateline (I think) this past summer and they showed that as a result of modernization we’re now burning 800+ calories a day less than we were just twenty years ago. One of the biggest offenders: the remote.

I almost fell out of my chair when I read this in an article with a great tongue-in-cheek title “The federal government says Americans should eat less and exercise more.” Like, DUH.

Every 4th day?! Wow, when I was in school they ran (literally) our butts ragged in PE every single day, rain or shine…which is largely responsible for why I absolutely HATE running. No wonder kids are getting so fat-junk food in the cafeteria and PE every 4th day. Man. Question for the parents here: is that the PE schedule at the schools where your kids go?

For the scheduling matter, I as a high school student have never heard of a school that went through a 4 day block cycle, it's simply too long between classes to make sense. Almost all schools that use block scheduling I've heard of use 2 day cycles, with longer blocks so that the amount of time spent in gym is the same as having all classes in a day, but you lose a transition period at the beginning and end of class (having only 2 instead of 4, for changing and stuff) and actually exercise more in a block schedule.

Block scheduling does not even affect most middle schools or below, only high schools, and I've never seen someone develop obesity in their 4 years of high school. They either go in "fat" or do it later, high school tends to be such a fast-paced time of life that most people don't get much bigger during it.

Furthermore, I don't see the number of obese people that all these statistics claim. I look around my classrooms and I see maybe 1-2 people that look even slightly overweight per class. No one I know I would consider obese, and maybe 3-4 people I see in the halls (in a high school of around 1700 I think).

I do see a lot of elementary school children that are "big," but not older children typically. I was pudgy in elementary school, and I got a lot of exercise. Then I stretched out as I began to grow. If I wasn't a little on the chubby side in elementary school, I wouldn't have had the meat on me to be able to grow out, and I'd be unhealthily skinny right now.

I don't see obesity as anywhere close to being of the most important issues in society today, I think the growing trend in recognizing it is just creating panic. Taft , anyone?

They do this block scheduling at my daughters' school. They are both in elementary and what it is they cycle through is their elective..or fun classes. I have no problem with it. They get 20-25 min (depends on how fast they all use the toilet after lunch) recess everyday which I happen to feel is much more important then PE class. Sorry one of those mums who happens to believe unstructured and non parental controlled play is the best kind of play for kids.
There are 4 classes they cycle through...art, music, PE and computer class.

I think the school lunches is where we should be concentrating criticism. It is just horrible. I won't let my kids eat it. In fact they don't want to..I let my first grader have lunch one day because the often have a themed lunch offering for holidays..and she told me after she doesn't want to have it ever again.
They serve the kids..pizza, chicken fingers, cheese whiz burritos, hamburgers... just all junk. And they even allow young children to choose their side dishes..which they most often select a cookie, canned peaches or french fries. It is so unhealthy and all that kind of junk seems to be just normal everyday kid fare. I would never feed this to my kids on a regular basis.
I think it was a baby food recipe book I once read where they author claimed..it is not that children do not like these foods (meaning veggies and other healthy foods) it is most often that they have not had them prepared well.

I just saw those Carb-Well Oreo cookies today and thought of this post. My question is, how much worse can you get from a regular Oreo anyway? It's not like an Oreo is made of whole wheat and granola. But I did read the label and it had some substitute sweetners that "could have a laxative effect if eaten excessively".

I guess I look at this way, the low carb stuff is going to curb your hunger. So instead of 20 regular Oreos, you have 3 carb-well Oreos.

I haven't seen any big-brand low-carb chips yet. Mostly I've seen Soy chips as a low-carb substitute. I'm not sure you can use potatos and claim low carb, no matter what diahritic substance you jam in it.

I stick with brands that simply switch the sweetner with sucralose and/or matlilol and when the product makes sense as a low-carb product.

Has anyone tried those low-carb Oreos? I've tried some of the Hershey No Sugar candies and they aren't bad at all. The beauty of that stuff is it's like smoking a cigarette without the nicotine, you eat it, it tastes the same (or similar), yet the sugar kick is missing. Gradually you don't desire to have 4 bags of Hershey kisses.

I am so happy that I can control my appetite.

Not to be directed to the poster personally but I just cringe when I read things like this. Sucralose is a chlorinated sucrose derivative....yum doesn't that sound tasty.
Why not have three fat red strawberries instead of these diet foods to satisfy your sweet tooth? Strawberries are an excellent source of cancer and disease fighting antioxidants..seems all these diet cookies are a source of is a possible case of the runs.

My oldest is in first grade, and they have this schedule as well. I, too, prefer unstructured play. The problem is, on bad weather days they sit inside and watch movies during the recess time frame. When I was in elementary school, we would play heads-up-seven up, and king chase queen, ect. Fun, active and social games indoors. It rained for almost three weeks straight and the watched movies every day during that time.

I also agree about the cafeteria food. It was bad when I was in school, but never like it is now...catsup considered a vegetable and all. When I taught sixth grade, they asked me to list the students who were overweight in my class in order to give them and their parents nutritional advice. It seems to me, they're throwing pointless money on top of the problem they are creating offering debbie cakes at lunch and putting individual kids on diets.

I don't know the exact chemical properties of sucralose, but it has been proven safe. I haven't felt any adverse affects from using it.

Fwiw, I do eat all sorts of berries. I love fruit, but have cut out a significant amount of the very-sweet fruits. I just love candy as well, so this is how I get my fix. The beauty of the no sugar stuff is that I have one piece and I'm satisfied. I'm not engulfing huge amounts of the stuff like I would do before.

I get kind of annoyed when people talk about "will power" and how people can't put the fork down. There are physiological reasons we gourge ourselves. No one would say to the heroin addict, "have some will power" because we all understand it's a highly addictive substance.

Fwiw, strawberries are a much better food than sugar-laden cookies and candies as well!

I can remember the food we ate in our cafeteria. I always brought my lunch so I never had the money to buy anything. But there were always greasy french fries, pizza and burgers along with cakes, candy and chocolate milk.

It amazes me that the schools, as controlled by parents, would let them sell that junk. In college we had an incredible cafeteria that always offered a vegetarian dish at each meal.

All schools require a vegetarian dish, to my knowledge. I think it's a law. We typically have at least 3 that are every day (large yogurt, PB & J, Salad), and we also get meatless lasagna, meatless spaghetti, cheese sticks with marinara sauce, etc., although vegetarian dish does not by any means mean healthy. Cheese pizza is vegetarian, but it's not healthy.

If there is a problem at schools (which, as a high school student, I don't think there is), it doesn't lie in the lack of healthy or vegetarian dishes, but the students choices.

Besides, if the cafeteria did decide to change it's foods, getting rid of pizza, burgers, fries, nachos, etc., I would probably pack my lunch, and it would probably consist of a sugary fruit juice instead of milk, a sandwich, a chocolate pudding, a very chocolatey granola bar, and a bag of salty chips. Kids are going to eat unhealthily, it's just a fact of life.

America is the land of the big, except for our cell phones and PDAs, which need to be extra-small.

I see tons of overweight people everywhere. Most people really don't exercise. I am amazed. I was turning in a rental car the other day and the guy was dropping me off at work. I was going to walk after work to get my car from the repair shop. The rental car guy was shocked... It was only five blocks from where I work to the repair shop and it takes less than 5 minutes to walk that. It is a sad day when Americans think 5 blocks means you need to drive. Usually, we waste more time driving short distances and finding a parking place (or trying to) than we would if we would just walk. I personally know that it is faster for me to walk to the restaurants near where I work than it is to drive there and then find a parking place. However, I constantly see my co-workers get into their cars to go to lunch in the restaurants just up the hill from our office building. Its disgusting.

When I was in high school we switched to the block system. I only had to have PE for half a year the entire time I was in high school. And since I hated PE I never took it again. (In addition, I was a real egg-head so I was taking all the advanced courses I could and I really didn't have time to put it on my schedule). However, I was involved in hiking, and other activities, so I really didn't miss the PE.

I did not realize how out of shape I really was until I was almost done with my undergraduate degree and joined the ROTC program at my university. I had never even ran one lap around the track (I hate running). I thought I was going to die the first time I went on a run with the cadets. Now, I feel like a slug if I don't do some kind of exercise every day. Its all about developing healthy addictions. Americans need to learn to get their thrills from adrenaline and endorphines and not from food and the trance-like state the TV induces.

It's ironic that my distaste for aerobic exercise stems from the martinets that taught girls PE in my high school. I don't know how they got away with it, but they based your grade on a descending point system, based on how many situps, pushups, chinups and whatnot you could do, and how fast you could run a mile. Every day we had 20 min. of exercise, followed by a quarter mile run on Mon and Tue, a half mile on Wed, three-quarters on Thursday and a mile every Friday. Every week for the entire school year. I've never been athletic, and got the first and only F in my life in PE. My mom was livid, and reamed the school. They raised my grade to a D - whoopee.

I detest running to this day. However, I love walking and working with weights. Unfortunately, with a herniated disk in my lumbar spine and degenerative disk disease, 15 minutes of walking is torture, and weights are out of the question (at least until I can figure out which ones won't make my problems worse).

I hope, even with the abbreviated PE, that schools have more of a variety of physical activities. The regimen I suffered through for 4 years of high school shouldn't be foisted on anyone. It defeats the purpose by discouraging kids from exercising if they're not good at it (and kids are cruel-I was made fun of until I rebelled and did only what I could and said to hell with the rest).

Just like the FDA approved Vioxx as being "safe'?

Actually sucralose's ..which most around here know as Splenda..safety is debateable. Here is a little bit of info on why some of us have concern's about things such as these...

Sucralose