Does this bother anyone else?

No matter how many times you say "you should lose no more than 2 pounds a week," you still get these people that say, "I WANT TO LOSE 30 POUNDS FAST THESE NEXT TWO WEEKS!" And they think they can because there are all these advertisements saying lose up to 10lbs this week. And then when they find out they can't lose that much weight that fast they give up. On tv, instead of having all this talk about how fast you can lose weight and all that junk. They should be telling you the truth. Like, you have to be determined, eat right, and exercise.

Instead they make it seem EASY. So then there's all these people that are like, I want to lose weight FAST. Well, sorry, not going to happen.

And this doesn't have anything to do with all this, but... Don't you think the obessity in America is increasing because people make such big deals out of obessity? seriously. If you try and put your kid on a diet and if he or she doesn't want to, it is going to fail. The child will probably end up GAINING weight because he or she feels restricted from bad foods so he or she wants them.

I think people need to lay off the charts about obessity increase, stop making such a big flipping deal about it, and lay off... I think the parents just need to step it up and stop buying the bad stuff, stop taking their kids out to McDonalds every other day, and we wouldn't have this problem. Everyone needs to step back a little bit and let them decide...

idk, this is just what I think...

Original Post by bennyboy5:

lol I love how everyone refered to McDonalds as the bad place to go. 

well i hate clowns, and that's one of the stupidest looking clowns (altho the richest). not to mention they scare me.

Original Post by jessicasbc:

Original Post by octo-luv:

Original Post by jessicasbc:

im going to have to agree with karozel.   for every one obese kid that eats too much junk, there are probably 10 skinny kids who eat just as much junk.   

well then those skinny kids need some guidance as well. the focus should be about being healthy (eating and activity wise), not about looking thin. 

yeah im sick of the focus on obesity myself. even if you are thin eating mcd's every day just isn't good for the body.

 i agree.  thats why i dont really think that the obesity epidemic is really the problem.   there is a widespread lack of nutritional knowledge and good habits for people of all sizes.  pointing out all the obese people is just the easiest (and most misleading) way that the media addresses the issue.

Good point.  Obesity is the symptom.  I imagine that even if some drug company manages to develop a magic anti-fat pill, we would see other symptoms of poor nutrition instead.

Okay so I just got back from this thing called CDYC (Community District Youth Conference) I think...

It's something that my church and a bunch of other jr. high church groups go and have a good time learning about Jesus and doing sports and all kinds of other stuff. I serioiusly have the most fun in my life when I go. It's every summer so everyone looks forward to it.

Anyway, they have all kinds of food. For breakfast they had pancakes, waffles, sausage, scrambled eggs, chocolate milk, you know, all of that and a lot more crud.

Oh. and they had an ice cream machine, soda machine, and a table of desserts for EVERY MEAL. For luch they had pizza, tator totts, pasta, oh my gosh you can only imagine. It was like, if you wanted to pig out on whatever you want to celebrate for a weekend, this was the place to go.

So I'm trying to eat healthy and all. I succeded because they DID have salad, fruit, some soups, and few few other things that would be considered OK to have. I'm pretty proud of myself because I didn't lose control and have anything unhealthy. The soda machines? forget em, I had water. Ice cream? whatever I don't even like that that much.

ANYWAY, I'm going all healthy and my friends are kind of making fun of me. Like, every meal. "Dude, look at this kid, no soda, salad." and "Does any of that even taste good?" It was fine except one of the kids got on my case and it made me feel really stupid... I had plan chex cereal with no milk because they were always out and an apple for breakfast. First he makes a comment like, "No milk?" then he tastes my cereal and is like "Dude that has no taste that's disgusting." Then I eat my apple and I eat everything but the core and he's like "Do you eat until you see seads?"

So like every meal they talk about how healthy I am and stuff. I couldn't tell if they are making fun of me, saying good job, or what? What do they mean when they say things like this? Like they are laughing and saying "My mom would love you!" I don't get it...

good for you, its your body. believe me i feel for ya benny. unfortunately, i can't say that everyone gets any better when they are older, but well your at that age where everyone goes through & is learning acute social behaviour (ok im not making sense but you know what i mean), its a little harder to be different. but as im sure you know, you don't have to follow foolishness just because its there & other people are doing it.  easier said then done, i know.

btw...i hate, hate, hate when people comment on my food when im eating. 

they are probably secretly complimenting you, but ya know they are not really going to say anything in front of others. everyone admires healthy people, even secretly. 

they are the stupid ones, and probably feel stupider because they see you making good choices and they don't have the won't power.

Growing up we probably ate at McDonald's once every other month. Fast forward to now and my poor little cousins are growing up on fast food (and my cousin, their dad, can cook)!

During the summer when my mom felt it was too hot to cook, we would have a big salad for dinner. My mom always stressed drinking water and taking vitamins along with healthy eating.

My parents are both from the south and grew up on the typical Southern Diet (which is not all bad when you cut out a lot of the deep fried dishes). They make healthier substitutions when they cook those dishes now. My dad has an awesome veggie and herb garden now so they eat even healthier. I came back from visiting during Father's Day weekend with a huge bag of cucumbers and squash!

My 18 and 15 year old nieces hate water, won't touch salad, or anything the doesn't "look" right to them. On the flip side my 11 and 4 year old nieces love veggies and even eat sushi. The 4 year old said one day while eating some green beans "this is good and it's vegetables so it's good for me" (that's my girl...LOL)

It's all about leading by example with kids. It will stay with them as they get older.

I have to say I am really tired of hearing all the weight loss commercials and ads for fast weight loss.  It upsets me that so many can get away with this false advertising and in the end not only do you NOT lose the weight you expect, but you soon gain that weight back plus some.  In the end you are more S#$%#ed then when you started.  Unless you learn how to eat real food, in real life, it is pointless.  I have tried every diet gimmick out there and am so happy I finally changed my thought process to eating the five food groups in the right quantities and counting calories. 

Obesity is a problem, however I also think that we tend to take things too far.  When I was growing up I always struggled with my weight.  My family used to make comments about it.  I was 5'8-5'9 and 165-175 lbs.  This is by no means FAT but according to my family it was.  I am a big girl and will never be small, I know this now because a few years back I had a bone mass test done and know that I have big bones.  I wish I knew that then, I would not have killed myself and my metabolism trying to get to 150 like everyone said I should.  I think parents really need to learn to lead by example and also not to say negative things to your kids.  Encourage them without making them feel bad! 

I also do no think people REALLY realize how high in calories those fast food meals are.  Even the"healthy" sandwiches almost all come with mayo!!  My daughter about fell over when I told her a large fry at McDonald's had 500 calories!  I think if all the fast food had to be wrapped with all the calorie info on them it would really open up some eyes!! Think about it, the nutrition info at some places is really hard to find, it needs to be on everything just like when you buy food at the grocery store.  I for one did not realize if I had a chicken sandwich, large fry and apple pie at McDonald's that is like 1000 calories.. and that is only ONE meal, not counting a drink.  OUCH!

Original Post by jenkinsj_99:

I have to say I am really tired of hearing all the weight loss commercials and ads for fast weight loss.  It upsets me that so many can get away with this false advertising and in the end not only do you NOT lose the weight you expect, but you soon gain that weight back plus some.  In the end you are more S#$%#ed then when you started.  Unless you learn how to eat real food, in real life, it is pointless.  I have tried every diet gimmick out there and am so happy I finally changed my thought process to eating the five food groups in the right quantities and counting calories. 

Obesity is a problem, however I also think that we tend to take things too far.  When I was growing up I always struggled with my weight.  My family used to make comments about it.  I was 5'8-5'9 and 165-175 lbs.  This is by no means FAT but according to my family it was.  I am a big girl and will never be small, I know this now because a few years back I had a bone mass test done and know that I have big bones.  I wish I knew that then, I would not have killed myself and my metabolism trying to get to 150 like everyone said I should.  I think parents really need to learn to lead by example and also not to say negative things to your kids.  Encourage them without making them feel bad! 

I also do no think people REALLY realize how high in calories those fast food meals are.  Even the"healthy" sandwiches almost all come with mayo!!  My daughter about fell over when I told her a large fry at McDonald's had 500 calories!  I think if all the fast food had to be wrapped with all the calorie info on them it would really open up some eyes!! Think about it, the nutrition info at some places is really hard to find, it needs to be on everything just like when you buy food at the grocery store.  I for one did not realize if I had a chicken sandwich, large fry and apple pie at McDonald's that is like 1000 calories.. and that is only ONE meal, not counting a drink.  OUCH!

 I couldn't agree more!

And the thing you said about how they should put the nutrition facts on all the fast food items is a good idea. I noticed McDonalds french fries and the cardboard boxes that the sandwhiches come in tell you that stuff. Not how many calories though :/. It tells you the fat, saturated fat, sodium, protein, and a couple other things I think. But there is this dotted line that tells you how much you are supposed to have per meal and it usually barely exceeds that so people think it's ok. But then you have to add the fries AND drink. That's what a lot of people skip.

They need to have a nutrition fact label on every item like they do at the grocery store. Like how many calories and how many are from fat. saturated fat, trans fat, sodium, blah blah blah...

It really bothers me when people will get a double cheeseburger, small fries, diet coke, and then add a little cup of fruit and call it healthy because of the fruit, DIET soda, and SMALL fries. It's like, seriously? or they will get a salad except it has like 10 pieces of green then a big fried chicken breast and drenched in dressing. Or a deli meat sandwich that has 98 percent fat free meat but a pound of mayo smeared on heart attack blocks of bread and they put way too much other stuff. People need to think more. If they really want to lose weight, stop eating out and fix stuff at your house where you know what your putting into your food so you can control your calorie intake. seriously...THINK PEOPLE.

So McDonalds fast food in the states doesn't state the calorie content on the packaging? In New Zealand all fast food outlets over a certain size (which catches pizza places, Maccas, BK, Subway etc) are required to either provide pamphlets stating the nutrition content or to have it on the packaging. McDonalds has both, and the wrappers/packaging also state the other stats - fat/protein/carbs etc and the daily needs percentage it equates to.

I think it's a good start, but the problem is that so many people don't have a clue what calories actually stand for. What is the use of knowing your burger is 500 calories if you don't know whether you need 1,000 or 10,000 calories in a day? There needs to be more education on nutrition, for sure.

I'm really not sure why it bothers you what other people eat so much though. What exactly is a heart-attack block of bread?! I think you need to calm down a little around food. Food isn't the enemy, you know.

Hahaha yeah I guess we do need to calm down... sorry...

Idk why i called them blocks of heart attacks lol it's just what came to mind. I got it from what Wendy's used to have. The deli meat sandwhiches. Their bread was huge! but whatever.

Your right we need to calm down.

and your right about everything else you said. People need to know how many calories they are supposed to have. Like when they add up the calories that they ate they seem surprised but they don't care. They think it might be how much your supposed to have or something.. Idk... They probably just don't care.

I have never seen that McDonalds puts how many calories are in their food, but then again I don't really look. I just noticed on the side of the fries container that they put how many fat it contains and stuff like that. I never saw how many calories are in it. I know subway lists how many calories are in all of their foods. I very rarely have fast food anymore so I wouldn't know...

McDonalds does put the calories on SOME foods but not all.  But they use a stupid chart that tells you nothing in an obvious way.  The chart also does not include comparison info the way normal packaging does.  A normal package would say calories - XXX% of RDA for a 2,000 calorie diet.  MCDs skips this helpful bit of information.

They do provide a pamphlet - it is on the tray liner.  Just turn it over. 

Personally, I think there should be a really good health class that is mandatory starting in grade school.   Kids could learn real life portion sizes and good nutrition.  Through middle school they would learn how to cook and plan appropriate meals etc.

I know this sounds like what they do already to some degree.  But it needs to be as important as math or science.  We already know kids don't get this infromation at home.  And many kids are not in touch enough with their parents to trust them. 

The best thing I ever did for my son was to sign him up for a cooking class that did just this kind of thing.  He is a fat kid.  Because of my own lack of knowledge and my own lack of good parenting.  But as I got more informed myself and made new changes he resisted my new parenting skills too.  My husband thought it was crazy to sign a fat kid up for cooking class.  But my son learned so much about nutrition and making good choices that his behavior has changed.  He now helps me plan healthier meals and is making healthier choices on his own.  I think it is because he learned what he needs to know from an unbiased source.