Obesity in America

We Americans are too fat, and we all know that this is a problem. For the record, I was once 220 lbs, and I have been trying my best to lose the weight. I am now down to 171 lbs, but it took a lot for me to get there. Eating healthier and exercising a lot were the first steps to it. A lot people will make up excuses for their weight (not a good idea because it just adds to the problem), if you are overweight, acknowledge it, and then do something about it. I think that people need to just eat more greens, cabbage, broccoli, lettuce, peas, peppers, and spinach are your best friends. Carrots, cauliflower, beats, grapes, tomatoes, potatoes, rice, beans, berries, and onions are your friends too! Food Network, Hell's Kitchen, and recipe books can help you learn how to cook. Dance studios, gyms, and sidewalks were are created for a reason. Also, Channels such at Fit TV can help you learn ways to get in shape. There are so many machines that can help you shape up.

I don't think that it is fast food alone although that is a huge contributor. Obesity is also linked to all of the processed foods that we eat that are filled with fat and sugar. I think that fast food is popular because as a society we are so busy that we just don't feel like cooking. It's easy to stop and pick something up that we know that is inexpensive and that we know that our families will enjoy. DH and I used to eat out a lot (usually not fast food except for Subway) and I couldn't figure out why I couldn't seem to lose weight. Then I looked online at the nutritional information for the restaurants that we were eating at. What I learned was that I was eating more calories and fat in the entree salads that I was ordering than I needed for one or more days. If there's an Elephant Bar in your area, go into the bar and check out the calorie counts on the bar appetizers. How anyone could order one after seeing the calories is beyond me. We still eat out a lot. The older I get, the less inclined I am to cook but I always check nutritional information online and pre-plan what I'm going to eat.

Great discussion. We don't cook at home because we have been sold a crock of manure. First of all, fast food is not always so fast, because unless you are already on an outing with no plans of going home soon, stopping at a fast food restaurant takes time. There is usually a line. As a rule, we pick up the food and take it home, by which time it is cold. So what do we do? We nuke it in the microwave. Secondly, when you add up the expense of fast food for a family, versus cooking the same food at home, you have spent a fortune. Fast food is expensive as well as unhealthy. Thirdly, you have filled your body with food that is greasy and salty or too sweet and you did not even get a balanced meal. A look at families who eat a lot of fast foods versus ones that eat nutritious home-cooked meals usually tell the story. The nutritious home-cooked meal family is less likely to be bloated and overweight. Also, the family that cooks at home is more likely to have more money for other things. There are so many meals that can be prepared in 30 minutes to one hour at home. There are also casseroles and such that can be prepared in advance and frozen. Also there are crock pot meals that cook all day while you are at work. So many ways to feed a family....economically and in good health.

Because life is going at a fast pace, and sometimes it easier on us to just stop by McDonalds to grab a sandwich on the way to the socker game or the school awards dinner. I watch my daughter who doesnt' care much for fast food beat herself silly trying to put a meal on the table before the awards dinner, or the football game or the ROTC dance her girls are involved in and I ask why not just order a pizza, she tells me it is not healthy for her kids. But her being so worn out trying to get all this together and a full meal on the table before she goes is good for her. Yes I think obesity is taking over our country, no I do not believe it is the kind of food we cook, I believe it is the fact that no one is getting up and out of their chairs away from the TV screen where they are playing the games or off the computer where they have found a life and no exercise. Life is too easy for us now adays. BAck when people had to get up every day and go out and work in the fields or they didn't have the games on tv and the internet, they walked and played ball. We are too confined to the house anymore and not moving from that chair or from in front of the computer. I know I find myself sometimes eating right here in front of the computer screen so as not to lose a game on facebook or to keep it going. We have recently taken out a policy for insurance that gave us a free membership in the ymca, and I think I will enjoy using it and getting out of the house and the exercise that I don't get.

I don't understand the world for this. Americas is obese and Africa is starving. It doesn't make much sense. I think all the food that Americans are gorging themselves on should be sent to Africa, there we're killing two birds with one stone! I wish it was that easy. One argument Americans have is they don't have time to cook their own food so they have to get fast food instead. This is a bunch of B.S. as it doesn't take three hours to cut up some vegetables and fruit and make a sandwich with some lean meat on whole grain bread. It's not that they don't have time it's that their too lazy and too set in their own ways. I will take into consideration though that there are people who can't help it with certain thyroid conditions or something crippling them from being able to excercise. The ones that can do something about it, and are just sitting around complaining about it, are the ones I don't understand.

Yes, cooking at home is the best way to control the weight. First of all, if you want to eat something, you must cook it by yourself.It is not just wait to eat.You will go to market to buy the material of the food, and think over what dishes to cook.Then go back home,you will pick up them, wash them.After that,cook. How much calorie will cost in this process. We can consider cooking as a exercise everyday,and it is worthy.And we can also have a healthy lunch. Why not?

Well truthfully fast food has lost it's appeal to me....I would much rather stay home and make something that I think is more tasty....sometimes fast food also disagrees with my stomach.......I think there are other ways to get into the more healthful living.....like exercising...and also just getting some fresh air! Being outdoors so you sleep better is also part of it....

In my country, boys and girls have grown fatter also after the arrival of fast food. When I was little we had much more quantity of food at our table yet we all were slim. But fast food is mainly made with fried products and the kind of oil used is not always the best. Fortunatly my family was taught to have home cooked meals made from scratch with little use of canned food. All my grandchildren are slim even if they don´t do as much exercise as we did due to the overuse of computers and TV. I also think, like you, that homemade food is not only a lot better tasting but also much more healthier. Happy posting!

I absolutely agree. I used to eat quite a bit of fast food, and whilst I was never obese (or even porky!), I've certainly noticed a big difference since I started cooking at home a lot more. Home cooked food is tastier, it's less processed, it's more nutritious, it's cheaper - and it's more fun to cook and eat! Now we only eat fast food maybe once a month. I've also lost nearly two stone on a 'low carb' diet. Now I'm too skinny... (Maybe I should go back to the burgers? )

True, people lately eat more at fast food places, forgets about doing any kind of exercise, uses the elevator to get down only one floor, etc... and then they complain about being fat and they can`t understand why did they gain so much weight It would be better if people reconsidered their living habits. Preparing food at home, doing exercise, trying to be active, not eating only one kind of food. Putting from our part will benefit our bodies

There are many reasons for obesity.As the writer said,cooking is an important factor.Addentional,take more sports and a diet are also important.

I totally agree with you, eating at home truly is a dietary suppliment and a way to loose weight I am a true witness of that. Netherless to say you have to get everything in a diet mode get used to it and go for it once in a routine you are in your way down hill.