Are you ever shocked by the lack of knowledge about nutrition and exercise?

I am.

I asked my boyfriend the other day how many calories he thought were in his slice of pizza, and he shrugged and said "200?".

I looked it up, and it said 300.

Overheard a co-worker stating what they ate for lunch, and they thought it was healthy. Ended up calculating it, and it wound up being a whopping 1,300 calories, minimum.

Heard someone in the elevator talking about how they just couldn't lift weights, or they'd end up looking 'like a man' (it was a tiny woman).

I'm not being a snob here (not: ew gross how could they?!), I'm just shocked by how little people know. Then again, I knew very little at the beginning of this long journey too....

Ever wonder WHY we're not taught what we need, nutrition and exercise wise, as a kid? Ever wonder just how we all got caught up in the fad diets, the quick fixes, and the exercise crazes?

Ever wonder if it's ever going to stop? If people are ever going to stop looking for the easy way out, and just focus on life style changes, rather than crash diets and exercise binges?

It scares me that our world is so focused on appearance, and yet we lack the basic knowledge of how to prepare healthy balanced meals! I'm mostly speaking of America here, but I'm noticing more and more that the way the USA eats and lives is spreading...

I get a kick out of listening to my co-workers and their weight loss strategies.  Knowing what I know from Calorie Count, experience, and some research, it's very hard to bite my tongue and not lecture them about their choices.

But they're older than me and wouldn't listen anyway. :\

re LorikLorik: I wouldn't give my KIDS any sugary or sodium filled things. Meaning children under the age of about 5. Anything I give them after that would be in moderation, and not as a 'treat' just as another thing to eat. I saw things like candy bars and soda as treats as a child, and wanted them more....Then when I could eat them all I wanted as a teen at school....Guess what I ate?

And of course I'd be educating them on more than just 'Hey, you, eat this because I said so'. It would be more like 'You're going out to play soccer later right? Eat these foods because they'll fuel your body, and you'll be able to play better!'

I believe in not giving infants/toddlers soda or candy, and at the very least limiting their intake of things like cake and cookies to the more natural varieties like low-sugar oatmeal cookies, and whole wheat cakes with a more natural frosting that is, again, low in sugar. 

I know about sheltering kids. I have a cousin who was sheltered his whole life. He is now un-prepared for the real world. That's not what I would do to my children. That's almost worse than how I was brought up (little to no knowledge of food).

About the 1300 calorie meal.... She thought it was healthy as in, "Yeah, the cook up there makes the best meals. This chicken was baked, the veggies are delicious, and oh my god these fries are so good!" 

She thought that the fact that the chicken was baked, instead of breaded and fried, made it okay that it was swimming in a cheese sauce. She also thought that the veggies, because they are veggies, counter act the half pound of butter that was drizzled on them. And because of those first two parts, the HUGE amount of fries was okay right? I mean, fries aren't that bad, as long as you don't get them from McDonald's, right? They were made here, in the cafeteria, so they're going to be healthier, right? No, not when you eat a huge portion, and cover them in two packets of salt, and then dip them in ranch.

It wasn't just that she thought it was healthy and it was high calorie. It was that she thought it was healthy, and it wasn't, all around.

yeah, i'm shocked by it all the time.

i think it's a combination of things.  there's plenty of information out there; i don't buy the argument that people don't know.  i think, for the most part, people either don't care or don't want to know.

but i've also begun to realize that i'm a very lucky person, in that i remember everything.  of course sometimes i remember things that are just plain wrong, but for the most part, i remember stuff that i've heard or read from reliable sources.  makes "learning" a whole lot easier.

if you don't have that kind of memory, even if you do care, it must be a whole lot harder (and i'm not just talking about food).

Agree there's lots of info out there. Easy enough to see, however, that folks 20 years ago had a lot less access to it. Most of us are dealing with the barn door after the horse is gone. Not to mention that even the information that is available is sadly incomplete and conflicting.

Also agree about memory. My husband was like you, Pg. Incredible recall. Part of why he was truly the most intelligent person I ever met, am certain.

I see a combination of several issues.

1. Ready made food (read manufactured and processed) is inexpensive and available everywhere.  You can drop by your gas station and pick up something to eat that resembles food if you're not too picky.  Nevermind that a sandwich with mayonaise and bologna is probably the healthiest of the lot.
2. Ready made garbage is inexpensive and available everywhere.  I used to have to save my allowance to buy candy bars, they're cheap and easy to get.  Homemade goodies were becoming a rarity when I was a kid and you made them from scratch, not from store bought dough.  Now there's at least 5 different flavors of cookie dough available in the store ready to eat/bake.
3. Nutritional needs are different at different ages and activity levels.  The nutrition information that I was taught in kindergarten was that apples and crackers with peanut butter are good for you (remember Laura Scudders?).  Now only the apple is.  As kids get older they need more calories and I believe a different composition of various calories, the information presented at various ages becomes obsolete every few years or even sooner.
   

A co-worker who was impressed with my success asked how I did it. I tell all I studied all aspects of nutrution and exercise I could find on the web like here, WebMD, etc....all free. I plan my meals and watch when I'm out at restaurants. So what does he do...he signs up at a local hospital and pays to pick up planned foods once a week for all his meals....like a Weight Watchers deal. Now he complains about the cost and hassles. He'll drop it in no time. Everyone thinks I must have a magic formula. Some one said it earlier...they really need extensive classes in high school on nutrition and I feel rasing children. Rasing kids is the single most important thing in life and we get no training!