What is the governments role in the obesity epidemic or health in general?
- Thread starter HighStickHarry
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Right on Glove.
Refined sugar needs to be exposed as the fat building, cancer causing, cholesterol sticking poison it is.
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Refined sugar needs to be exposed as the fat building, cancer causing, cholesterol sticking poison it is.
Posted from Rivals Mobile
This^^^^^
and......
This^^^^^
The government BS crusade against fats has lead to an alarming increase in sugar consumption. Just about anytime you buy something that is low fat all you are doing is replacing natural fats with sugars. There are studies showing how toxic sugar really is to the human body.
I'll admit, I have a weight problem and I used to be one of those guys that just demonized the hell out of all carbohydrates. I've done just about everything you can think of to lose weight. I've done paleo, which worked well, but in the long run it was not sustainable for me and the weight came back. I had the same issue with low carb, keto, type lifestyles. I had great success....until life got in the way by taking a trip, going on a short vacation, a holiday with family, etc. I've since reversed course and quit demonizing carbohydrates.
Honestly, I just got sick of how complicated it all seemed. I kept thinking, it can't be this damned complex. So I started doing a ton of research on nutrition. Now, I've found something that works great for me. I've been able to sustain my lean mass while losing body fat (down 3% so far with a long way to go). It's been working great for my wife (who only needed to drop baby weight) and my sister in law as well. The progess isn't anything that happens overnight, it is slow and steady, but the best part is that this is sustainable for life. I wish I would have taken the time to learn this years ago, it has been so easy. I also finally have a workout program I love and look forward to instead of dreading every damned morning.
Its the government's role to educate the populace regarding the potential impact, risks, and harms. Its NOT for the governement (at any level) to outlaw such behaviors unless they directly impact others. Its why I'm for calorie and nutrition publication requirements, but against Bloomberg's soda size limitations.
Justin
Justin
doesn't the government also subsidize the monopoly sugar growers int he US? Sure I read that.
Thor, I hear ya...decided last year that due to an upcoming backpacking trip to Wyoming and the obvious need to step up from a 40" waist to 42" waist it was time to do something. I checked off abunch of the things food wise (double stuff oreos being numero uno) and working out. Since July 2, 2014 have dropped 56 pounds and am down to a 35" waist (I'm 6'4"). Usually get up at 4am and spend two hours plus at the gym before coming to work even on weekend will get up at 5 am ish.
I say all that to demonstrate if a goofball like me can do it anyone can and also making people lose weight by working out will be much harder to make happen than trying to induce them to lose weight by limiting sugars etc. I still splurge from time to time, but it does give one pause to think about cause and effect.
I picked up a 45lb disk yesterday and was amazed at how much it weighs and that it plus another 11 pounds is what I lost inb about 9 months. Feel so much better these days and stree is also about gone.
Thor, I hear ya...decided last year that due to an upcoming backpacking trip to Wyoming and the obvious need to step up from a 40" waist to 42" waist it was time to do something. I checked off abunch of the things food wise (double stuff oreos being numero uno) and working out. Since July 2, 2014 have dropped 56 pounds and am down to a 35" waist (I'm 6'4"). Usually get up at 4am and spend two hours plus at the gym before coming to work even on weekend will get up at 5 am ish.
I say all that to demonstrate if a goofball like me can do it anyone can and also making people lose weight by working out will be much harder to make happen than trying to induce them to lose weight by limiting sugars etc. I still splurge from time to time, but it does give one pause to think about cause and effect.
I picked up a 45lb disk yesterday and was amazed at how much it weighs and that it plus another 11 pounds is what I lost inb about 9 months. Feel so much better these days and stree is also about gone.
The government is complicit in the fat epidemic. They give people free rent, free health care and large $$ food stamp cards which most use on what is considered "junk food". I can't tell you how many Sec 8 properties I've entered where there were 5 or more large cans of "knock-off" Crisco in the cabinets, several skillets full of grease and floors covered so heavily in grease that you could not stand still without your feet slipping apart. If there is that much grease spread over the units imagine how much is in their veins.
That is awesome man, congratulations!! I'm hoping to get down to a 32" waist. I still have 8" to go but I'm already down 1.75". Using flexible dieting really forced me to pay attention to what I eat since I shift my macros every other day. It has resulted in me picking whole foods because it allows me to eat more, whereas fast food or sweets weren't really all that large but had a ton of calories. I quickly realized if I wanted to not feel like I was starving I had to make better choices. I am starting week 4 this week and I hope that when weigh and tape arrive Friday I will have broke the 40" barrier.
As far as working out goes I lift heavy 3 days a week. Workouts never last more than 35-40 minutes. I've really enjoyed getting back into lifting, haven't really done it since leaving the military.
Ultimately if you want to lose weight it is all about calories, and lots of high carb foods are also calorie dense. MFP puts me at 1660 calories to lose 2lbs a week. A slice of wheat bread has 69 calories, it is almost impossible for me to stay under my allowed calories and eat much bread. Having the food pyramid encourage grain loading is just a disaster when most people are sedentary most of the day.
I will say the results some people get from the Keto diet are amazing. I lurk on the Keto subreddit, and the benefits are impressive, particularly the diabetics who essentially go into remission on the diet.
I will say the results some people get from the Keto diet are amazing. I lurk on the Keto subreddit, and the benefits are impressive, particularly the diabetics who essentially go into remission on the diet.
Well, it's taken years, but I finally agree with Imp on something. I can't believe that government allows food stamps to go towards sugar, empty calories and partially hydrogenated crap. Both parties are responsible and have enabled it to happen. Keeping food stamps recipients to whole foods would, in my estimation, cost much less and result in less obesity, better nutrition and better health.
So long as the government is underwriting medicare and medicaid, given the undeniable links between nutrition and health,it makes all the sense in the world for Uncle Sam to try and contain health care costs by incentiving sensible nutrition to medicare and medicaid recipients. Private insurance carriers do-- they've had insurance-sponsored weight loss drives for years. Why should all of us have to subsidize voluntary sickness?
County and state are a little more tricky -- I really believe local governments should have resources for citizens to have healthy lifestyles, both in terms of recreational facilities and nutrition. Rural Oklahoma is just a hard place to be healthy. It's generally not walkable, comparatively speaking it doesn't have the public facilities for the general public to be real active, and it's one big food desert. Eating well over the long haul is just hard in rural oklahoma.
Hey Thor, what finally worked for you?
I agree, but , it's not only the government allowing food stamps to go for those items, stores do not enforce it either. my son worked at a grocery store years ago in high school. before he went to the meat dept. he did check out and when a person on the food card (vision Card) tried to buy Red Bull he set it aside and the guy asked him what was going on. He told them he wasn't allowed to sell Red Bull with Vision Card payment. They guy went off and a manager came out and asked what was going on. my son explained that the store wasn't allowed to sell those types of items with food stamp payment. The manager said it was ok and did an override.
Short version. I combined intermittent fasting in which I alternate 16/8 & 20/4, if it fits your macros, cal/macro shifting, and heavy weight lifting made up of compound movements. I also took a comprehensive approach to looking at my results and started looking at weekly caloric deficits instead of daily. I know what follows will sound very hard but trust me, It is all not nearly as hard as it sounds.
On workout days (MWF) I eat at maintenence level for my current weight and on rest days I eat 60% of maintenence. So MWF my eating window is from noon to 8 pm, 34% of my calories will come from protein, 22% will come from fat, and 44% will come from carbohydrates. I don't always hit those numbers, I just try to get as close as I possibly can and when you are eating whole foods it is a lot of food. On TTSS my eating window is noon to 4 pm, 42% of my calories come from protein, 53% fat, and 5% carbohydrates. So as you can see I'm shifting my calories, fat, and carbohydrates. The goal is to have at least a 4,000 calorie deficit at the end of the week. The reason I have a shorter window on deficit days is because I am a big eater and it allows me to eat 1,600 kcals in 4 hours, which means I don't go to bed hungry.
This approach is very easy for me because I'm a big eater and it still allows life to happen. For example, this weekend we went to a birthday party and had an 8 hour round trip. By the time Friday hit I was already over my 4,000 kcal deficit goal because I wasn't able to hit TDEE on a couple of training days. I also wasn't able to eat all my calories from noon to four. The flexibility of this program allowed me to go ahead and eat at mainentence level on Saturday/Sunday because eating on the road makes wise choices more difficult and I did 16 hour fasts intead of 20 hour fasts. By Sunday evening my total caloric deficit was 4,227 kcals,and that was after having a few drinks, some birthday cake, Sonic, and eating at a local restaurant. The only real sacrifice was that I didn't meet the macronutrients levels. My protein was low and both fat and carbs were high on the same day.
I created a calculator in excel that gives me my macros every Friday morning after I put in my weigh and tape and I use Lose it to track my calories and have it set to my specific calorie budget according to my own method. I know this sounds difficult but it is not. Once you get going it just watching your calories while still being able to live life.
Edit: And to give credit where credit is due because I don't want this to sound like something I invented. I combined a lot of the strategies from Martin Berkhan, Sara Solomon, Brad Pilon, and Jason Loewy.
This post was edited on 3/30 2:16 PM by ThorOdinson13
Interesting approach.
I probably should've figured out this approach years ago:
"The reason I have a shorter window on deficit days is because I am a big eater and it allows me to eat 1,600 kcals in 4 hours, which means I don't go to bed hungry."
Have you read The 4 Hour Body by Tim Ferris? He has a counter-intuitive, but dead on take on lifting weights.
I probably should've figured out this approach years ago:
"The reason I have a shorter window on deficit days is because I am a big eater and it allows me to eat 1,600 kcals in 4 hours, which means I don't go to bed hungry."
Have you read The 4 Hour Body by Tim Ferris? He has a counter-intuitive, but dead on take on lifting weights.
I have read it, in fact, I think it is in the attic. It has been a while, but if I remember right he recommended lifting very heavy weights for short durations because it was all about intensity. Is that right? If so, I think he would approve of my weight lifting program which I pulled from Berkhan. I lift 3 days a week. Monday is Chest, Biceps, Triceps, Wednesday is all Back, and Friday is all Legs. It is a RPT program consisting of only 2 sets and 6-8 reps of very heavy weight. This forces me to have very intense workouts because I only get 2 shots at maximum intensity and my recovery is usually 2-5 minutes between sets. Some of the stuff I do is unconventional though. I don't have enough weight to bench and get a hard workout. So I improvise, my wife stands over me and pushes against me while I do pushups. I have no idea how much weight it ends up equaling but I'm blasted after each set and usually barely get that 8th rep.
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anon_ph7vrsh7abnty
Guest
What's even more fun to watch are those who buy all sorts of non-food items and then get upset when the checker won't allow them to use their food stamp card. Out comes the credit card to pay for the excluded items. More often than not they walk out and get into a shinny new SUV. Seems like if you can afford a new SUV and a credit card you shouldn't need food stamps. Maybe that's how they can afford those.
I think you are right. You should see the results Berkhan used to get with his clients. Pretty crazy. What I do is a little different as far as macros go but I believe it all works. Hopefully my results continue because I'm loving this so far.
