Carbonfiberboy 

Sure it's OK to be different.

I also used to think that it was good and normal to feel deprivation when I was losing weight. That was 50 years ago. However a few years ago, I gradually developed a diet involving smaller, balanced, natural foods portions which didn't make me feel deprived at all. I'm saying that maybe a lot of people aren't ready to face 50 years of deprivation. If that's the case for them, there's another way.

wolfchild

I don't want to look like I did during my school years...During my early high school years I was around 140 pounds at 6 feet tall ....

FXjohn

I feel sorry for people who eat at Mcdonald's

sprince

Yes. Far too many in the western world are overweight and undernourished. However it is not a majority. Given that 50 years ago that problem did not exist, I think it is fair to say this is an emerging cultural problem, and not an accurate assessment of the overall human condition.

But back to your sad world... Why do you even bother to get out of bed in the morning? It is hopeless, resistance is futile. Honestly, that kind of defeatist attitude is usually just an excuse to absolve yourself of responsibility for your own actions.

FXjohn

in many areas, obese people are indeed the majority. you're mistaken

sprince

Adult Obesity in the United States: The State of Obesity

Highest rate is 35.9%. But what is telling is if you go back through the years. If there were some kind of genetic factor there would be little change from year to year.

Fast Facts on the State of Obesity in America: The State of Obesity

There are some narrow demographics with > 50% being overweight. But there are also some data points that clearly indicate the causes, for example "Mississippi has the most adults in US not eating 1 fruit/day", "The 4 states with highest obesity rates also have the most adults who don't exercise", and "Colorado has the lowest obesity rate (21.3%) and the lowest rate of physical inactivity (16.4%)".

Not genetics, not fate, not inevitable.

Tundra_Man 

I realize this is just an anecdotal observation, but yesterday I was looking at a photo slideshow from Woodstock in 1969. As I was looking at the pictures it dawned on me how much thinner on a whole the people in those photos were compared to the people I would see in similar photos from today. It was actually kind of startling once I noticed it.

At my current height/weight, most people these days would look at me and consider me "normal." I'm not fat, no real belly (anymore), but also not really thin either. However had you plopped me into those Woodstock photos I would have looked chubby.

Seattle Forrest

There are a couple things going on here. I'm not disputing any of what you say. But there's an important distinction that's getting lost here.

Under the rules of reality, the only way to lose fat/weight (without surgery) is to maintain a calorie deficit.

In practice, there are many ways to go about doing that. Some are going to be more successful than others, depending on the person doing it.

Carbs aren't what make people fat, it's calories. But a lot of people really enjoy carbs, and for some people, it's easier to reduce total calories with a blanket restriction, similar to what you've done. Just like some people need to swear alcohol off entirely, while others can have it in moderation. But this is highly individual and, unlike calories in calories out, doesn't apply to all people as a blanket rule.

I lost the weight I had been slowly putting on more than a year ago, and have kept it off pretty effortlessly. I did that eating a high carb diet. At this point I'm deliberately trying to put weight on, I started counting macros yesterday to make sure my protein intake is what it should be. I ate 5,000 kCals yesterday and it was a struggle. I'm tired of eating and don't know how I'm going to do this for the next three months.

For me personally, I find satiety comes from protein and carbs, in that order. Fat does little to contribute. Other people have different results.

Seattle Forrest

I agree 100 %. The point of this thread is that it's ultimately about calories because that's a corner-stone that everything else need to build on (if we're talking about weight). You found low-carb to be an effective way to reduce your overall calories. Other people find other ways to do the same thing. But if someone else thinks that they're in "starvation mode" and the way for them to lose weight is to eat more, they're in for a world of disappointment.

To be clear, nobody is saying that if you just count calories you'll find easy success. What I'm saying is that calories are what ultimately matter to your weight. That's all I'm saying here.

Tundra_Man 

Just for the record, I hate you.

sprince

Woodstock? Here is another anecdotal observation: cannabis + 4 hamburgers + 6 boxes of pop tarts + a gallon of milk = zero excess calories. One of the many ways that calorie math can fail to explain weight loss or gain.

Thinking back to high school (40+ years ago), I remember only a few fat kids out of the whole school. There was no such thing as political correctness, or sensitivity training, have to think that life was not so good for those kids. I wonder which is a greater deterrent to weight gain, the peer pressure of the selfie generation, or the cruel taunting by an overwhelming majority?

FXjohn

but Mcdonalds or junk food are the same thing as fresh fruit and veggies


according to this thead

wolfchild

According to this thread: as long as somebody is riding their bicycle everyday, then they can eat few pounds of sugar then eat whatever other junk they want with that and then wash it all down with few gallons of sugar water. It doesn't really matter because all those junk calories will be burned off through exercise.

squirtdad

I would observe lots of reasons in addtion

• Not as much food and flavor science that makes things taste super good back then
• fewer families with multiple cars
• fewer electronic distractions (computers, DVR, cable tv, netfilx, hulu, etc
• smaller portions over all think mcdonalds 40 years ago
• eating out/fast food was a treat not a way of life

TheLibrarian

I've eaten junk food and Mcdonalds my whole life and have always been underweight. It's wives, husbands, jobs and responsibility that you have to watch out for.

kzin

You're equating overweight and obese when they're separate categories in most statistics.

35% obese plus well over 20% overweight = most people fat by my way of thinking.
Especially when a lot of the not fat are under 30 and will get to being fat soon enough.
Even the line for overweight is possibly higher than it should be just because such a major fraction of people are over their ideal weight.

The problem is genetically programmed and inevitable(with a few lucky exceptions).
I never said or meant that people can't overcome it or shouldn't try.

Anyway, fatness in the first world is a lot less sad than people still starving in the 3rd.

kzin

I'm celebrating rather than arguing for a while.

I dropped from >210 to <195 pretty routinely then stuck thereabouts for many weeks.
Finally saw 189 yesterday!

among other problems:
July 4 neighborhood cookout
work summer picnic
birthday feasting enforced by Mom

It often seems that the whole world is fighting against your weight loss goals doesn't it?

Seattle Forrest

Congratulations kzin!!

FXjohn

what's your opinion on "McDonalds"??

kzin

re the OP?

Agree that if you cut calories you lose weight, period.
I think all mcdonalds has to be one of the hardest possible ways to do it
relative to the deprivation management we've been discussing.

I didn't care enough to follow up on the facts.
Did the guy actually eat a ton of salads and yogurt and ice water rather than what we typically think of as mcdonalds food?


Personally?

I hardly ever eat there because I hate buying carbs then throwing them away.

I have the deli a block from work trained to make me low-carb breakfast and lunch.
I pay through the nose but I get very tasty food that works with MY strategy.

karthik

Really

sprince

Maybe I'll give up exercise and nutritious food. Becoming overweight is genetically programmed and inevitable, can't possibly make any difference what I do.

Machka 

How are those problems?

Neighbourhood cookout ... eat the salad and eat the rest in moderation. Eat less during the rest of the day. Go for a long, long bicycle ride.

Work summer picnic ... eat the salad and eat the rest in moderation. Eat less during the rest of the day. Go for a long, long bicycle ride.

Birthday ... well, personally, I don't "feast" at any time. On my birthdays we usually find a place that serves Mexican food and have a normal-sized restaurant meal for dinner. Then we might have chocolate cheesecake for dessert. The calories are higher than what I'd normally eat, but because I'm a cyclist, I ride my age on my birthday or a day close to my birthday as the larger part of my celebration. So I burn off the dinner and cheesecake before I have them.

Easily solvable problems.

kzin

wtf?
You quote 2 lines and rant away totally ignoring one of them.

sprince

Rant? Hardly. Was trying to point out that the two lines can't both be true. But then, doesn't your own weight loss prove that?