Number of people who admit they're obese is rising, studies show
Article Source: msnbc.com
from:msnbc.comAmericans may be getting honest about their weight
Seeded on Tue Aug 3, 2010 1:08 PM EDT (msnbc.com)
- msnbc.com sites & shows:
- TODAY
- Rock Center
- Nightly News
- Meet the Press
- Dateline
- Morning Joe
- Hardball
- Ed
- Maddow
- Last Word
- msnbc tv
Leave a Comment:
Fat Chance!
I've stayed in shape my whole life. People ask me what I do to work out and what I eat blah blah blah. They say "I want to get in shape and lose weight." And I ask, "How much do you weigh and how many times a week do you get on a scale?" The answer is usually something like, "I don't own a scale" or "I can't remember the last time I weighed myself" That is the main problem. Know your ideal weight, set it as a goal, and build a lifestyle that let's you achieve it. The first step to being healthy should be a step onto the scale.
I don't own a scale, but I'm not overweight. I think people obsess about it too much. Eat mostly whole food, exercise regularly in a way you enjoy -- swimming, dancing, sports, whatever -- run up the stairs instead of taking the elevator, and live a life you enjoy. If you notice your jeans getting tight, cut back on your portions and leave the sweets alone for a couple of weeks.
It's not hard, it's not painful, and it's not rocket science.
Sounds simple doesn't it? It's not. I know exactly what to do, what I need to eat, and I've been overweight my whole life. No, it's not impossible, but it's not easy either.
If you know exactly what to do then why aren't you doing it?
Problem is, for lots of us, the BMI is just not accurate. After 13 years of weight-lifting and a year now of martial arts, I have a lean of more than 180 lbs. I'm quite sure of that because it was measured at 165 when I started weight-lifting and I bulked up considerably from there. It's probably closer to 190. This means that I will be less than 14% body fat when I finish this Medifast program (or, more accurately, transition to maintenance) at my goal weight of 205. Here's the thing--I am a 5'2" woman with an out-of-the-ordinary body type. I've been losing weight this last year and, in fact, have lost 145 since my lifetime high, but I will NEVER weigh what the charts say I should. They need to stop using the BMI and figure out another, more accurate, means of measuring true body fat.
I agree. My BMI has always been in the "overweight" category and when I actually lost enough to qualify as "normal" everyone (including my doctor) agreed that I looked too thin. It might be a good starting point for people who have no idea what they should weigh but it certainly doesn't fit everyone.
From what I've heard from doctors and have read, the BMI chart is a guideline that fits the majority of people. Most people can find use for it as a rough estimate of what their ideal weight is for their health. For people who are very athletic, especially those who have more muscle mass, I've heard that the actual body fat percentage is a more accurate measure of your health regarding your size. I wouldn't worry about what the BMI charts say because you're keeping active and taking care of yourself.
actually there are other methods of measuring body fat. One i can think of involves water displacement. There are more i just dont have a list of them in front of me. However BMI's do apply to a very high percentage of the population. People seem to think just because it dosnt apply to EVERYONE and theirs says overweight...... that it must not apply to them. Problem is.. sometimes it does, and you are just lying to yourself. Body building is deffinatly an exception to an accurate BMI calculation. I would seggest you try a diffrent method since you are concerned about your health.
Take a look at a U.S. map and read the names of the 9 fattest states listed in this article... what the hell is going on in the south?! It appears as though obesity is spreading to the north and the west like some unstoppable super-virus. My guess is the outbreak started in Mississippi.
At least I've got a while before the plague strikes Massachusetts...
It's mostly a matter of demographics. Certain racial & ethnic groups have a higher obesity rate than others. Also, poorer people are more likely to be obese. Healthy food costs more and so does sports/fitness equipment and/or a gym membership. Also, those who have to work 2 or 3 jobs to pay the bills simply don't have time to exercise. There's also less of a social stigma to obesity in certain communities.
http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html
Here's a link to obesity trends from 1985-2008
The least obese state is coloroda. Mass is just like everyone else...... Fat.. colorado is the lowest at %18
I can tell you why the South has more obese people -- it's the damn hot weather. In New England, for example, people might go hiking on the weekend, while in Florida we're laying on the beach. When I lived up north I (and everyone else I knew) got plenty of healthy exercise, while here in the South (where I live now) the heat just drains the energy out of you if you try to take a walk anywhere (at least from April through Nov.) Also, cities are spread all over the place and are very unfriendly toward pedestrians, often with no sidewalks in neighborhoods. In NYC and similar big cities, the centralized downtown means less car travel and more foot travel. There are other reasons, of course, but I think climate is a big one.
I live in Florida, and I exercise outside all the time. I consider myself lucky to live somewhere where I can exercise outdoors year round. Sure, I have to go jogging before 9am or after 6pm right now, but that's when most people are free to exercise anyway. Additionally, Florida and the rest of the South offer endless outdoor activities that have a physical component and are free or cheap. We have tons of parks with nature trails for hiking, oceanside boardwalks for cycling, running, rollerblading, etc., historical sites to tour, lakes and rivers to snorkel or swim in or kayak on. We also have a ton of rails-to-trails, where you can walk, run, ride horses, cycle, etc. safely, away from cars, and often in the shade.
Food is a very complicated issue for many of us. Many overweight and obese people use food to soothe or squelch unpleasant feelings, not just when we're hungry. Personally, I eat when I'm bored, angry, or tired. Even though I've lost 60 pounds and kept it off for almost two years, it's still a struggle.
Hestia, I'm glad you don't obsess over food, but some of us do. Don't discount what people do to lose and maintain weight. It IS hard; it can be painful; and, well, it isn't rocket science, it's biochemistry.
kerrym, I'm with you. I could lose a little more weight myself (I'm still slightly overweight with a BMI of 25.7), but I can live with myself. What worked for me was making small changes first: eating a healthy breakfast, not drinking calories except for milk, and getting more sleep. My next step was a food diary and Calorie King's calorie book. Healthy substitutions (whole wheat bread and pasta, brown rice, fruit instead of cookies) helped a lot too. I also try to avoid foods I don't control well, like potato chips and donuts. Good luck in your weight loss efforts!
Great point and positive attitude! Keep up the great work!
A 5 ft 10 inch tall man weighing 209 would be considered OBESE? I am only one inch taller than that and, while it's been a number of years since I weight that much, I would NEVER have considered myself obese at that weight. I am sure it wouldn't be much more weight for one inch more of height.
It truly astonishes me what is considered "obese" in our day and age. 5'10" and 209? That's stocky, at worst.
If that excess weight is from fat and not muscle, that person is obese, not "stocky."
Basically, any body type that you can't count spinal vertebrae and ribs in great detail is seen as "obese" in our society; I guess the "skeletal starvation" look is the new ideal.......
i'm not obese.. or a skeleton, 22.5 BMI. 5,6 135lbs
I'm not obese either according to any of these measurement systems, and you definitely cannot see my skeleton. I am overweight, I used to be obese, and I'm on my way to not being overweight. 175, 5'7", BMI 27.5. I can run a 5k and place first for women 26-30, and I can cycle 40 miles in just over 2 hours. I'm probably healthier than a lot of people who appear to be healthy but haven't worked out a day in their lives and are not mindful eaters.
Donte Whitner of the Buffalo Bills is 5'10 and 208 pounds . . .if he gains a pound he becomes obese!?! Something is not right . . .if a guy that can run a 4.5 and play in the NFL is obese.
BMI is an approximation of a person's amount of body fat based on the average human body, not that of a professional athlete who clearly has a higher weight because of muscle mass. It's not perfect, which is why the best measure is an electronic body fat percent reading, but that requires equipment the average person does not own and wouldn't want to pay for. BMI is not perfect, but it's way better than the system that said all women should weigh 135 and all men 180 no matter their height.
The obesity scale, better known as BMI is a joke for anyone who actually works out in any other way than pure cardio. Muscle weighs more than fat and is not accounted for at all on the BMI scale. I personally am 1 point away from the very obese category due to the fact that I lift weights, do assorted cardio combined with strength training and throw in a few outdoor activities as well - hiking, biking, walking, swimming. Just the things the BMI scale doesnt like. M waist is smaller than chest/ribcage measure by a significant amount and body fat only 1 category higher than athlete-in-training. Take that BMI and shove it, I aint buying that B.S.
Be healthy, eat smart, and LOOK IN THE MIRROR to see if you are overweight, forget the scale or the chart.
BMI is useless for athletes. Try using the fat % calculator at http://www.dietandfitnesstoday.com/body-fat-percentage-index.php
What a load of crap. We can survive without all the "nanny-ism" of "experts" wanting to protect we poor un-enlightened.
Everything in moderation. I do the 5/7. 5 days of eating healthy and two of eating what I really want mixed in. As Firnanderwaltmiller stated we have survived for quite some time without the food experts. Do waht works for you.
Healthy lifestyle, diet and exercise. If you don't know the routine by now, make all the excuses you want. Its your life.
BMI is garbage. I also recommend using your body fat % as an indication of your health.
Tigerwould, my Grandparents lived long productive lives. Except for the four smokers all of my Aunts and Uncles (5, one remarry) are living long and productive lives. They did a lot of what they say you shouldn't do. Ate butter, lard, flour, pies, icecream, cakes, scones, bacon back and peameal, gravy, lots of carbs and didn't exercise 50. All 5 are in their seventies. Grandparents lived to eighties with one 95. Moral of the story? Smoking is bad for you. Eating the good food and not exercising is not. I quit smoking 15 years ago. Still enjoy my pie and icecream among other treats.
The also ate foods that weren't heavily processed. Eat ice cream made from milk from cows fed a grain diet and without HFCS like your grandparents did and eat it in moderation and you may be just fine. Your grandparents also probably did a lot more activity in their youth than people do today. They probably did a lot more housework and a lot more walking.
All I know is they all have good bad food as a mainstay of their lifestyle. No shyness from a calorie. The farmers amongst the clan had many children. There wasn't that much heavy lifting required with thirteen children in one instance. Sure they had fresh veggies and milk and eggs but they also ate things that fanatical health people rail against as death in disguise. A lot of hype out there as to what to eat. Give it a break.
I agree my BMI say I'm overweight even though my body fat percentage is 9.7% and I'm only 5'8" and I weigh 192lbs.
Listen to my show tomorrow and i'll discuss it in depth
www.blogtalkradio.com/realtariktyler Wed 9pm-10pm pst
I truly believe the BMI is right. I run, lift weights and am almost too light in weight. Come on people...lifting weights and working out isn't an excuse to eat more.
Americans are overweight. The term "obese" is overworked. Being somewhat overweight is NOT OBESE. Obesity is a serious condition. Not being able to fit into the jeans you bought eight years ago is not serious.
BMI has a category below obese called overweight! Shocking!
Getting rid of denial is the first step... way to go...
I used to administer the Navy Physical Readiness Program and have measured thousands of men and women, generally fit or in superior physical condition. The hight/weight BMI calculators are only for a very general figure. Try this BMI calculator:
http://www.scientificpsychic.com/fitness/diet.html
It is what we used and comes up with a more accurate and informative BMI. In my experience less than 1 percent successfully challenged the BMI obtained. The most accurate means of measurement is by using a water displacement, which few people have access to.
People should realize that some are born predisposed to be thin and others are not and they will always have to watch thier diet and be more physically active. Just because you can eat what you want and not gain weight does not mean that others have that luxury.
The key to a long life, if that is what you want, is to be happy which is not mentioned in this article. Also not mentioned is genetics. My family history is full of people living well into their eighty's, and ninety's. They all ate fatty foods, and most smoked, it didn't seem to matter. However most of them were also muscular which was from hard work, and also weightlifting. Weightlifting is a tradition in my family it seems. I am 54, a ex-Marine, a weightlifter, I eat fatty foods, I smoke, and I am 5'9 and weigh 210 lbs of muscle (I will be competing in the 2011 Masters Power Lifting competition, age group 55 to 59). I will also probably live into my late eighty's, or more which is my genetic family history. But I am also happy. And that folks is all that really matters.
Its about time we Americans are waking up. We are far from being the greatest country in the world... Denial can last many genarations, and does.. Its all about money not ethics like we are programed to recieve.... To admit your fat is the way to a better you.............
OK, then, let's all admit we are fat, that we are bad people because the "world" does not like us and we will wake up happier, healthier people.
Admit or not, we can tell if youre obese...Obesity and the cause is not rocket science. It's a choice. OBESITY IS A CHOICE. I see it with family in Rockport, TX, home of many obese people. Anyway, at the seafood restaurant they order the fried platter and eat the roll, the potato and have key lime pie for dessert, all washed down with several sweet teas or beer.
The same menu offers grilled choices, as well as green vegetables and many salad options and they serve unsweetened tea. Same in the mall, I see obese teen girls stuffed into jeans with their muffin tops oozing over cramming a Cinnabon in their mouths, a few stores down the yogurt store is serving non fat and sugar free yogurts which would be a better choice.
Anyway, both selections (good and bad) are there, in most restaurants, even fast food, and you know what's good and what's bad and you make a choice and you can be (at least somewhat) healthy and fit or you can store dozens to hundreds of sticks of butter on you.
20 pounds = 80 sticks of butter....imagine that NOT being on you, get it off, start now, skip the pizza poppers and make a grilled chicken salad. Dont have time? You would if you quit reading or turned off the TV and got in the kitchen.
Wow, you are really naive if you think it's that simple. Sometimes, the grilled items on menus are worse for you than the fried items by some trick of Frankenfood science. Some people are genetically predisposed to carry extra weight. A lot of people try to eat better but don't know how or don't know that the "healthy" options might not be healthy. Who would think a chicken caesar is worse for you than a hamburger platter? It usually is. We need public awareness campaigns to help teach people how to recognize healthy options; we need to reintroduce cooking as an important component of our daily lives; and, we need food information to be readily and boldly available, not hidden on a flyer you often have to ask for from a manager.
Big Deal! Stick your BMI where the sun don't shine!