Fat People Cause Global Problems.....

[gwd]

Several Car-Free people have commented that they lost weight after ditching the car. It happened to me too. My doctor thinks regular exercise is one of the few things that slows the aging process and helps prevent associated problems. Here is an article that describes how some people think fat people don't just hurt themselves but cause global problems. I don't know, part of the argument is based on calorie consumption. I understand that a fat person uses more calories just in maintaining the fat, but we car free people also burn calories getting about.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7404268.stm

[fordfasterr]

I would still rather overconsume calories to stay fit, than to stay fat !

[timmhaan]

i eat as much, or more, than a lot of obese people when i'm riding a lot. it's better food, i'm sure, but still quite a bit.

[bragi]

That has got to be one of the silliest articles I've ever read. While we're at it, let's blame fat people for the Seattle Mariners' pathetic hitting this year....

[wahoonc]

That has got to be one of the silliest articles I've ever read. While we're at it, let's blame fat people for the Seattle Mariners' pathetic hitting this year....

Is the fat lady singing...:innocent::D BTW that article sounds a lot like our local television news...:rolleyes:

Aaron:)

[I-Like-To-Bike]

That has got to be one of the silliest articles I've ever read. While we're at it, let's blame fat people for the Seattle Mariners' pathetic hitting this year....

And don't forget, fat people are unable to climb up on a high horse as well as Skinny Pasty White Smugsters!

[Cyclaholic]

And don't forget, fat people are unable to climb up on a high horse as well as Skinny Pasty White Smugsters!

It took the opinion nazi untill post #6 to strike, nearly 5 hours!..... you're getting slow, ILTB :D

[Roody]

I'm carfree, I ride more than 5000 miles a year, walk more than 500 miles....and I'm still fat! :eek:


(But at least I'm 100 pounds lighter than I used to be.)

[AllenG]

And don't forget, fat people are unable to climb up on a high horse as well as Skinny Pasty White Smugsters!

Hey, that white, pasty, glow helps keep my lighting bill down.
Not so much the smug. It takes lots of scrubbing with organic, handmade, soap to keep the smug from tarnishing the pasty.

[Cyclaholic]

I'm carfree, I ride more than 5000 miles a year, walk more than 500 miles....and I'm still fat! :eek:


(But at least I'm 100 pounds lighter than I used to be.)

Don't worry about it, I'm 6ft and a bit over230lb... not exactly 'trim' either, but I have no problem hanging with cat2-3 training rides, and I do over 10,000 miles a year on the bike..... I blame my wife's wonderful easter european cooking. :thumb:

I'll bet you've got good cardiovascular fitness, which is what is the western world is chronically lacking.

[CommuterRun]

My doctor thinks regular exercise is one of the few things that slows the aging process and helps prevent associated problems.

I agree with your doctor. This isn't the first time something like this has happened, but not long ago I was speaking with someone who was surprised to learn that, at 45, I'm only a few years younger. She thought I was at least ten years younger than she. She looks her age and is about as wide as she is tall.

I don't think it's so much a matter of how many calories are consumed, but what kind of food. Fat people who are sedentary consume a lot more over-processed, over-packaged, over-priced junk, and tend to over-indulge. Active people, on the other hand, tend to eat better quality food because, recognizing food as fuel, and being more conscious of the health benefits or detriments of certain foods, they care more about what they are stuffing in their face.

I think this carries over into other areas of life. With more active people giving more consideration to their consumption of goods and resources. Fat, sedentary people tend to be over-consumers across the board, being instant gratification oriented.

[Johnny_Monkey]

Don't worry about it, I'm 6ft and a bit over230lb... not exactly 'trim' either, but I have no problem hanging with cat2-3 training rides, and I do over 10,000 miles a year on the bike..... I blame my wife's wonderful easter european cooking. :thumb:

I'll bet you've got good cardiovascular fitness, which is what is the western world is chronically lacking.

You like goulash and potato dumplings eh?


I've put on 4kg since I moved to Italy (and ditched my car). Italian food is tops though.

[I-Like-To-Bike]

It took the opinion nazi untill post #6 to strike, nearly 5 hours!..... you're getting slow, ILTB :D

Be a little more accurate in your description of me: Skeptic of obnoxious moralizers and/or naive Woodstock Wannabes passing off their mantras of self righteousness and puritanism as some sort of virtue. Especially when these so-called "opinions" have nothing to do with bicycling.

[Cyclaholic]

Be a little more accurate in your description of me: Skeptic of obnoxious moralizers and/or naive Woodstock Wannabes passing off their mantras of self righteousness and puritanism as some sort of virtue. Especially when these so-called "opinions" have nothing to do with bicycling.



....I rest my case.
:rolleyes:

[Roody]

Don't worry about it, I'm 6ft and a bit over230lb... not exactly 'trim' either, but I have no problem hanging with cat2-3 training rides, and I do over 10,000 miles a year on the bike..... I blame my wife's wonderful easter european cooking. :thumb:

I'll bet you've got good cardiovascular fitness, which is what is the western world is chronically lacking.

I'm the same height as you, but only 225. and I only ride about 5000 miles a year!
:p

As for CV fitness, this is one of my main reasons for riding. I had a heart attack at age 46, and I'm convinced that lots of intense cardio exercise is the best prescription for avoiding a repeat.

[maddyfish]

When I was fat, I ate so much more than I do now. I ate WAY too much. I eat less now, and ride alot. The answer; ration food, 1300 calories a day per person.

[botto]

I'm the same height as you, but only 225. and I only ride about 5000 miles a year!
:p

As for CV fitness, this is one of my main reasons for riding. I had a heart attack at age 46, and I'm convinced that lots of intense cardio exercise is the best prescription for avoiding a repeat.

controlling your temper helps as well.

just sayin'

[peace_piper]

This article is indeed silly. I'm plenty chubby myself, despite biking daily and eating organic, whole foods. I've probably lost some weight since I took up bicycling, but I'm still chubby. Someone around here has a sig that sums it up well: A fat man on a bike is no one's enemy.

[cerewa]

Be a little more accurate in your description of me: Skeptic of obnoxious moralizers and/or naive Woodstock Wannabes passing off their mantras of self righteousness and puritanism as some sort of virtue. Especially when these so-called "opinions" have nothing to do with bicycling.

Self righteous pots and kettles.

[Roody]

This article is indeed silly. I'm plenty chubby myself, despite biking daily and eating organic, whole foods. I've probably lost some weight since I took up bicycling, but I'm still chubby. Someone around here has a sig that sums it up well: A fat man on a bike is no one's enemy.

Yeah, exercise isn't the best way to lose weight, since you'd have to ride pretty hard for almost an hour a day to lose one pound a week. (That's IF you don't eat more in the meantime.) But exercise is good for helping th keep weight off after you lose it.

[cradduck]

The article is very one dimensional. It is no different than local news broadcasts talking about how pizza is actually good for you because scientists found new incentives to eating tomatos.

[Cosmoline]

I THOUGHT a fat man on a bicycle was nobody's enemy, but apparently I was wrong. This is just more guilt mongering from the MD's. Useless, pointless and absurd. According to the same MD's my BMI means I can't ride a bike and should be dead now instead of riding half centuries every weekend and riding the bike to work every day.

[Tabor]

The answer; ration food, 1300 calories a day per person.

I'm no dietitian, but won't you eventually die from malnutrition if you exercise heavily and only consume 1300 calories per day?

1300 cal/day is the diet that doctors put the morbidly obese on. They then proceed to loose 5-10 lbs per week.

[KrisPistofferson]

But when the Peak-Oil Apokalips or whatever LCF people wet-dream about comes to pass, the only people who survive will be all the Konsumptive Kagers with a 6-month food supply around their waist. Oh the irony! :banned:

[slagjumper]

Organic cows, (28 are needed to produce the same amount of milk as 25 industrial cows), and long lived vegitarians, (live an extra 10% , means you burn more energy), also use more energy and produce more carbon. The real point is that people need to give up cars, blaming fat folks is just a way to get the citizens to look the other way.

Looks like gas prices will make the global warming arguments moot, since gas prices are allready curtailing auto use.

Do fat people need as much heat? Seems to me that it would be easier to keep the heat down in your house if you are a bit chubby. I am normal but as many of us know if you stay active you make a lot more heat.

High gas price = more exercise and less fat.

[wahoonc]

Organic cows, (28 are needed to produce the same amount of milk as 25 industrial cows), and long lived vegitarians, (live an extra 10% , means you burn more energy), also use more energy and produce more carbon. The real point is that people need to give up cars, blaming fat folks is just a way to get the citizens to look the other way.

Looks like gas prices will make the global warming arguments moot, since gas prices are allready curtailing auto use.

Do fat people need as much heat? Seems to me that it would be easier to keep the heat down in your house if you are a bit chubby. I am normal but as many of us know if you stay active you make a lot more heat.

High gas price = more exercise and less fat.

Might be...but it is offset by the fact they want the A/C set colder...

Aaron:)

[darksiderising]

So people are saying this this article is silly. Can someone explain, using examples from the article and scientific data, why it is so silly? I just simply can't find anything wrong with what the article is saying, and I would like to understand.

[ATAC49er]

I will answer two issues here, that of the 1300-calorie diet maddy suggested, and the 1680-calorie burn to sustain normal energy quoted by the article.

Given my height, age, weight, activity level, and resting pulse, my RMR (resting metabolic rate, measured in calroies per day burned just to maintain life) is 2110. I laugh when I read the nutrition information on packaged food "...based on a 2,000-calorie diet." I maintain my weight eating between 3500-4000 calories a day. By the BMI tables, I'm considered on the edge between overweight and obese, yet my resting pulse is less than my age (still in the 1st half-century).

So, "*raspberry*" on this article....

[velocycling]

Given my height, age, weight, activity level, and resting pulse, my RMR (resting metabolic rate, measured in calroies per day burned just to maintain life) is 2110. I laugh when I read the nutrition information on packaged food "...based on a 2,000-calorie diet." I maintain my weight eating between 3500-4000 calories a day. By the BMI tables, I'm considered on the edge between overweight and obese,

Why do you want to maintain being overweight/obese?

[gascostalot]

Sometimes those BMI charts are bogus.

My experience with MEPS proves it. There was this guy who looked like cottage cheese, pass the BMI portion easily. There was a tall basketball player who weighed 230lbs and have enough muscles to fill up 3 average sized bodies. He didnt pass the BMI portion and when he step up to measure his body fat percentage, everybody laughed because he was easily the most fit person in the room (and most likely the building).

[Nycycle]

I was fat, drove big truck, Doc told me to ride or live miserable, I ride, the battle to be car free is with my wife, nothing else, she's still fat.

[FXjohn]

your doctor didn't tell you to ride a bike. you could have lost the weight through eating less calories.

[MnHillBilly]

These ideas are all presuming that the human metabolic response is consistent over all populations of people and that it's all just a matter of in vs. out. Metabolism isn't a universal standard. There are morbidly obese people you see among you in public who are eating less than the FDA recommended average, yet their metabolism is just kaput from the years prior of yo-yoing and experimenting with their intake. They can't move to burn what they take in, so it gets to be a catch 22. No amount of dieting will change that. At that stage in the game, medical intervention is the only thing that seems to have a good track record in breaking the cycle. The people who are most at risk are those who are still just moderately overweight and not self-aware of what they're taking in.

The guy who puts in 2 hours on his road bike each day is likely the culprit in this scenario - as he/she's likely taking in more over the course of a day, but in better quality food, whereas the fatter person may not be eating as much or as often, but more of cheaper, "fake," easier to produce junk. Quality organic produce is a bigger consumer of resources than factory-produced pasteurized product, so to speak.

[maddyfish]

I will answer two issues here, that of the 1300-calorie diet maddy suggested, and the 1680-calorie burn to sustain normal energy quoted by the article.

Given my height, age, weight, activity level, and resting pulse, my RMR (resting metabolic rate, measured in calroies per day burned just to maintain life) is 2110. I laugh when I read the nutrition information on packaged food "...based on a 2,000-calorie diet." I maintain my weight eating between 3500-4000 calories a day. By the BMI tables, I'm considered on the edge between overweight and obese, yet my resting pulse is less than my age (still in the 1st half-century).

So, "*raspberry*" on this article....

Given that you eat too much, no wonder you are overweight. Eat less.

[cerewa]

Looks like gas prices will make the global warming arguments moot, since gas prices are allready curtailing auto use.

A big part of why gas prices are going up is because more people are buying cars in India and China.

[Cosmoline]

So people are saying this this article is silly. Can someone explain, using examples from the article and scientific data, why it is so silly? I just simply can't find anything wrong with what the article is saying, and I would like to understand.

Because the article could have made the exact same point about cyclists, or active people in general. They use up more calories than sedentary people, and even worse they live longer. Therefore they consume more of the Earth's resources and are bad for the environment. Taken to its logical conclusion, the article would suggest that we should all sit perfectly still, exist on meager rations and die young.

Might be...but it is offset by the fact they want the A/C set colder

Those of us who are car free make our own AC!

Anyway, look who did the study:

http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/people/e/images/edwards.phil.jpg

Little smarta** math geek. Needs a manbeating.

[slvoid]

i eat as much, or more, than a lot of obese people when i'm riding a lot. it's better food, i'm sure, but still quite a bit.

That's cause you and i both have a huge metabolism. I mean, look at the popeyes obsession. :p

[slvoid]

I was fat, drove big truck, Doc told me to ride or live miserable, I ride, the battle to be car free is with my wife, nothing else, she's still fat.

New wife...

[FXjohn]

That's cause you and i both have a huge metabolism. I mean, look at the popeyes obsession. :p

Olive Oil?

[Tabor]

A big part of why gas prices are going up is because more people are buying cars in India and China.

Also, coal prices haven't really gone up much at all.

[huhenio]

i am in the 4 to 5 thousand calories a day club.
i am not fat, but I eat a lot.