OasisMan said:

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cisgenderedAggie said:

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1939 said:

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We are definitely a fat society but those numbers are typically over inflated because they use BMI as a measure which is not a good measure.

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Because the average American is actually a pretty muscular athlete.

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BMI i think is a good generalized screener, but there are def flaws

im 5'10 170# and literally anyone who sees me would call me "lean" -- but my BMI is 24.4, nearly overweight

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Correct, but that's the point. 80 years ago nobody alive would have thought you looked skinny. You'd have likely been the heaviest person you knew at that height in the military for instance.

Soda is absolutely the best thing to cut out even over fast foods. I quit drinking them close to a year ago and the weight ( 40lbs) came off fast and has stayed off.

Walk around, go to theme park, walk through a grocery store, just look around. Those numbers are not inflated out of probably a margin of error. When I'm in the general public everyone is fat. The those with enough muscle mass to blow the BMI scale are not accounting for many of those numbers.

When almost everyone is fat, nobody notices they themselves are fat.

Danny Vermin said:

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Soda is absolutely the best thing to cut out even over fast foods. I quit drinking them close to a year ago and the weight ( 40lbs) came off fast and has stayed off.

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Agreed, but I'll also add in all the other calorie dense sugary beverages. Lots of people (LOTS of people) don't even think about things like Gatorade, the sugar caffeinated drinks they call "coffee", certain juices, etc. being every bit as bad as soda.

I remember seeing this movie some 40+ years ago. I thought Chuck Norris was pretty bulky.

Bruce Lee at 5'8" 141 pounds and Chuck Norris at 5'10" 155 pounds (maybe 170), they're fit and should be considered the norm.

It's not so much the BMI is flawed. It's more of how our perception of obesity has changed during the past 50 years.

Show me an adult male with no beer belly and waist of 30-34 and I bet you his BMI is less than 25 and that should be the norm. Not a BMI 30 steroid king.

The most insidious part of all this, are people who are skinny walking around with internal numbers that look like a obese person.

I do drink zero sugar Gatorade/powerade because I play alot of golf and water was just not cutting it on hot days. It's made a big difference.

I laughed at the airplane story, I was on a flight houston to Amsterdam, had a dude in the window seat and I was on the aisle. Both of us were watching to see who was going between us. I see this woman coming down the aisle. Looking up at the numbers then looking at the seats. She sees her number, then she sees me, then the other guy, and I see her just go ohhhh,...lol

I see fat ass women on all of these fitness commercials. I mean really big, fat out of shape women even though they are on a Pelaton. This is good, right? Parents should tell their kids that this our model, no?

Danny Vermin said:

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I do drink zero sugar Gatorade/powerade because I play alot of golf and water was just not cutting it on hot days. It's made a big difference.

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Mix in a little pickle juice. It beats gatorade hands down and has no sugar either. It also has more electrolytes. You can even buy pickle juice by the gallon.

We are definitely at a point in history where there is a new normal. Our modern diets are so calorie rich that it has lead to a higher fat ratio and a higher muscle ratio. Definitely interesting to examine.

BMI is accurate for 95% of the population which is why it is used. Americans are fat, dumb, and lazy. We eat junk, are behind a screen too much, and are inactive. It will get worse since parents are doing this and kids follow what their parents do.

I laugh since we have this conversation and people overfat are always arguing that BMI is inaccurate. You know who you are but you want to die on that hill. Denial is what, the third step?

AggieDruggist89 said:

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Well, and mom's don't cook any more.

Growing up, I don't ever remember going out to dinner. Mom always cooked, every day.

Try never going out to dinner....

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it's a cultural wasteland

no one cooks fresh foods, everyone drives from their garage at home to their office to the store, and then stocks up on sweets and desserts

Meditteranean citizens are not fat at all and have great cuisine from Italy, Spain, Morocoo, Israel, Greece.

and rare to see ANY obese people.

Infection_Ag11 said:

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SB 43rd STREET OG said:

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AggieDruggist89 said:

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BAP Enthusiast said:

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schmellba99 said:

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BAP Enthusiast said:

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SB 43rd STREET OG said:

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Very true…to be fair, and this may be because they don't have much money left over after everything else, I was surprised by how fit the beach goers in Cali were on a recent trip. Far cry from Galveston. Guess they're also just more outdoorsy and active as well. This pic kind of sums up what I saw in Huntington and Venice Beach. They're a bunch of freaks out there, but in pretty darn good shape as far as the eye test goes.



Lol at the f-ing masks tho

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My grandfather was 6'4" and 145 when he went to WWII. People have completely lost touch about what healthy means. He worked hard in the fields growing up and was perfectly fine. Yeah he was a beanpole but this was normal back then and everyone was generally fit.

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Not really. And a whole mess of people were "skinny" simply because they weren't getting close to the caloric intake they should have because often times (more often than not), food or funds weren't available.

The flip side is that we eat way too much, and poorly today. Somewhere in the middle is where we should be.

But 6'-4 and 145 lbs is unhealthy skinny unless you are Starvin Marvin.

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It was during the depression, yeah that was normal back then. He made it through 4 years of WWII carrying normal amounts of gear so clearly he was alright.

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I would rather be 6'4" 145lb than 6'4" 300 lb with knee and hip replacements.

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True, but I would also much rather not be either one. I don't think the average human comprehends how skinny 6'4" and 145 would look. People were badasses back then though, regardless of stature.

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The average western adult today doesn't have any comprehension of what "normal" is, that's the point.

Our physiology has developed over the millions of years of primate evolution that preceded the excesses of the latter half of the 20th century. Our bodies have evolved such that physiologically healthy weights are what most today consider too skinny.

If you are 6'0", 140-150 in high school today you'll get called skinny. Nobody thought that in 1940, or at any previous point in human history.

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I am 6'5 and when I was in the best shape I weighed 225 with body fat % in the low teens and good muscle definition/size. Worked out all the time, ate clean, etc. According to BMI I was fat, which was simply false.

BMI seems to be very poor if you have any noticeable degree of muscle mass

gbaby23 said:

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Most people are far too stupid to make good decisions.

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Bad decisions combined with excellent behavioral/psychological marketing combined with economic fatigue/stress and terroble guidance from our leading public health system.

It'll be proof that people care when I start reading news articles of "obesity vigilantes" destroying "nutrient-empty" food products and vendors at grocery stores and such.

Meanwhile we laud Berkshire Hathaway and the Oracle for gluttony of both McDonald's and Coke investments and eating habits.

Let the games begin?

Artorias said:

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Infection_Ag11 said:

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SB 43rd STREET OG said:

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AggieDruggist89 said:

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BAP Enthusiast said:

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schmellba99 said:

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BAP Enthusiast said:

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SB 43rd STREET OG said:

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Very true…to be fair, and this may be because they don't have much money left over after everything else, I was surprised by how fit the beach goers in Cali were on a recent trip. Far cry from Galveston. Guess they're also just more outdoorsy and active as well. This pic kind of sums up what I saw in Huntington and Venice Beach. They're a bunch of freaks out there, but in pretty darn good shape as far as the eye test goes.



Lol at the f-ing masks tho

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My grandfather was 6'4" and 145 when he went to WWII. People have completely lost touch about what healthy means. He worked hard in the fields growing up and was perfectly fine. Yeah he was a beanpole but this was normal back then and everyone was generally fit.

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Not really. And a whole mess of people were "skinny" simply because they weren't getting close to the caloric intake they should have because often times (more often than not), food or funds weren't available.

The flip side is that we eat way too much, and poorly today. Somewhere in the middle is where we should be.

But 6'-4 and 145 lbs is unhealthy skinny unless you are Starvin Marvin.

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It was during the depression, yeah that was normal back then. He made it through 4 years of WWII carrying normal amounts of gear so clearly he was alright.

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I would rather be 6'4" 145lb than 6'4" 300 lb with knee and hip replacements.

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True, but I would also much rather not be either one. I don't think the average human comprehends how skinny 6'4" and 145 would look. People were badasses back then though, regardless of stature.

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The average western adult today doesn't have any comprehension of what "normal" is, that's the point.

Our physiology has developed over the millions of years of primate evolution that preceded the excesses of the latter half of the 20th century. Our bodies have evolved such that physiologically healthy weights are what most today consider too skinny.

If you are 6'0", 140-150 in high school today you'll get called skinny. Nobody thought that in 1940, or at any previous point in human history.

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I am 6'5 and when I was in the best shape I weighed 225 with body fat % in the low teens and good muscle definition/size. Worked out all the time, ate clean, etc. According to BMI I was fat, which was simply false.

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Again, BMI is really a society level measure, it was never supposed to be an individual measure. So a chart showing the USA is Obese/overweight by BMI is perfectly ok.

On the high end of height, BMI is overestimated and on the low end it is underestimated. So over the entire bell curve, it evens out really.

And at 6'5", you are at like the top 0.5% of all people height wise, so using any "standard" measure is already putting you as an outlier (you're more than 2.5 standard deviations from average).

You're very tall and BMI has flaws on an individual basis. However, most people are of average height and low activity levels. Using BMI to gauge the health of the general population works well enough to get the point across that we have an obesity problem in this country.

Infection_Ag11 said:

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24601 said:

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Like others have said, yes we are very fat but BMI has always been a joke for me personally. At 6'1", I'm in the "healthy" range at 140-185 lbs. If I weighed 140, I would be confined to a hospital bed. At 18 years old In high-school, I weighed 185 and was thin as a twig. Anything under 200 and I promise you I am in a healthy weight range, but bmi would still call me rather overweight.

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The average size of an American soldier during WW2 at the time of deployment was 5'8", 144 pounds. The average weight of a 6'1" soldier was 166 pounds. My grandfather was 6'2" 180 pounds and was by far the largest appearing man in every photo there is of him from that time period in his life. I mean his size really stood out.

Now that being said you aren't obese at 6'1" until you hit around 220 pounds. But a "normal" weight for a man that height historically is between 160 and 180 pounds.

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These numbers sound representative to me.

6'3" here.

My weight is typically from 175-185 since high school. It peaked around 195-200 range when I weight trained frequently, and also dropped at one point in grad school to 168. Currently about 180. For me to be 190 I have to be weight training a lot or just getting fat. 190+ lbs and lean isn't sustainable for me without very consistent weight training. I still exercise pretty regularly.

Black coffee
Steak
Kettlebells

Don't be a puss....

I am oddly optimistic about the future of obesity mostly due to the recent addition of Wegovy (and similar drugs like Saxenda) to the obesity treatment realm. Long term data shows that if you are obese around age 12 you are very likely to be an obese adult (75% chance). There is something that gets jacked up metabolically speaking when you start puberty obese.

Here is a great website discussing these drugs: Mounjaro, Ozempic & Wegovy: What You Need to Know About Newest Weight Loss Drugs - Dr. Richard Lipman M.D. (richardlipmanmd.com)

In the FDA study that gave Wegovy approval a year ago they showed roughly 20% weight loss in placebo controlled studies where both groups had diet & activity modification. That is HUGE.

I personally started it 7 months ago and have dropped from 34 bmi to 29. I have always done IF, salad + protein for lunch, daily exercise but could never drop weight like I have since starting Wegovy. it is completely a game changer and if they can get the crazy high cost down and get insurances to cover it I think it could be a significant societal change.

It would also be great if they would study them down to age 12, although aggressive caloric restriction during puberty makes me a bit nervous.

Also it is a good illustration of the power of lobbies that food stamps can buy chips and soda. There is no reason tax dollars should be paying for these foods that are poisoning our kids. It would be very easy to just not allow food stamps to buy anything that is taxed but the food lobbies control the state government and the bills never leave committee.

Would this type of behavior fall under "taxation without representation"?

If so, what do?

We can solve this problem the same way we have solved inflation. Just change the formula for how we calculate it.

MouthBQ98 said:

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Random crowd of adults in the 50's:

https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/daily-mirror-party-for-bill-haley-at-hammersmith-palais-de-danse-7th-picture-id1071366368?s=612x612

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The human body has not changed since then, but the composition of our food has. This may help explain it:

https://roguehealthandfitness.com/vegetable-oils-cause-obesity/

AggieDruggist89 said:

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Be honest, how many of ya get nervous when you have an empty seat next to you on the plane and see a 300 pounder coming down the aisle making eye contact with you???

Don't be that 300 pounder. Quit stuffing your face.

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It's never a 110 lb. woman!

We really need to get the cancer lobby involved on this obesity stuff.

Skinny people have less skin = less skin cancer!!

Adverse Event said:

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Would this type of behavior fall under "taxation without representation"?

If so, what do?

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It would not because our representatives are the ones being bought by the lobbies and burying these bills. It really sucks.

Texas food stamp bill would ban junk food purchases (usatoday.com)

hawk1689 said:

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AggieDruggist89 said:

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Be honest, how many of ya get nervous when you have an empty seat next to you on the plane and see a 300 pounder coming down the aisle making eye contact with you???

Don't be that 300 pounder. Quit stuffing your face.

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It's never a 110 lb. woman!

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Maybe im a mean ass father.... but I'm ok with that. I don't mind hurting my kid's feelings. Not at all.

I told my kids to never ever get fat. Nothing good comes from it.

Daughter is 23, 5'6" 110 pounds and son is 16, 5'10" and 145 pounds. Wife is a stay home mom/wife and cooks every night.

We don't keep soft drinks but we will drink it no problem if we are eating in-n-out double double.

We have a family combined weight of 550 pounds. And we pretty much eat what we want to never having to diet.

Caliber said:

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We really need to get the cancer lobby involved on this obesity stuff.

Skinny people have less skin = less skin cancer!!

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One thing people don't think about as this may seem counterintuitive but the body surface area/body weight ratio is much larger on skinny people compared to obese.

This in turn allows skinny people to give off more heat or have a higher metabolism. And this may explain why some skinny people can't gain weight.

KidDoc said:

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Adverse Event said:

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Would this type of behavior fall under "taxation without representation"?

If so, what do?

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It would not because our representatives are the ones being bought by the lobbies and burying these bills. It really sucks.

Texas food stamp bill would ban junk food purchases (usatoday.com)

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Then they aren't "our representatives" they are "lobbyists' representatives," therefore we remain unrepresented, and taxed.

Quote:

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We really need to get the cancer lobby involved on this obesity stuff.

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the cancer lobby is already involved. Remember lobbyists are there to protect the industries they are funded by.... more cancer = more cancer profit.

Always seems like people on food stamps buy a bunch of worthless crap with it and then have a wod of cash to pay for even more worthless stuff

Holy cow....

National association to advance fat acceptance

Naafa.org

Quote:

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Advocates for the obese say charging bigger passengers for an extra seat is simply not a solution. Such policies "add yet another way to discriminate against already marginalized fat people," said Peggy Howell, public relations director at the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, a nonprofit civil rights organization. She added, "We see this as more of an attempt at getting more money out of the consumer's pocket than any concern for our well-being as some have claimed."

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ValleyRatAg said:

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Walk around, go to theme park, walk through a grocery store, just look around. Those numbers are not inflated out of probably a margin of error. When I'm in the general public everyone is fat. The those with enough muscle mass to blow the BMI scale are not accounting for many of those numbers.

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Go to a Buccee's on a Saturday or Sunday. 10 mins of looking around will confirm the study.

schmellba99 said:

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SB 43rd STREET OG said:

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schmellba99 said:

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SB 43rd STREET OG said:

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BAP Enthusiast said:

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SB 43rd STREET OG said:

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Very true…to be fair, and this may be because they don't have much money left over after everything else, I was surprised by how fit the beach goers in Cali were on a recent trip. Far cry from Galveston. Guess they're also just more outdoorsy and active as well. This pic kind of sums up what I saw in Huntington and Venice Beach. They're a bunch of freaks out there, but in pretty darn good shape as far as the eye test goes.



Lol at the f-ing masks tho

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My grandfather was 6'4" and 145 when he went to WWII. People have completely lost touch about what healthy means. He worked hard in the fields growing up and was perfectly fine. Yeah he was a beanpole but this was normal back then and everyone was generally fit.

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True...why people in Asian countries have far fewer health problems than us. Tall, short, active, lazy...they are all closer to what we used to be.

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Their diet has a hell of a lot more to do with it. Same reason why India has one of the lowest rates of alzheimer's in the world - diet.

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I agree. They don't eat like sh** like so many Americans do.

Enlighten me on that last part though...I'm intrigued.

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India in general incorporates a lot of curry in their food, curry has turmeric as one of the components of it and although western medicine will tell you that there is no clinical proof that it is responsible for the prevention of alzheimer's....it is one of the single biggest differences that can be identified in the diets of your average Indian (dot) and American, especially in the south where Alzheimer's is more prevalent.

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… they also are more likely to be vegetarian, eat less beef, and consume more veggies. But no one wants to think of that