Obesity is a choice

Again, diet plays a large part, but you still regulate how much food you take in (if you're stuck with the fattening stuff like son_of_the_tear says he was) and how active you are.

And there are many cheap alternatives to McDonald's that aren't as bad for you. Ramen, anyone?

 

Are you kidding? Ramen is fried, and chock full of fat and cholesterol, not to mention sodium.

Ramen is NOT good for you. (It's yummy though).

 

I've already posted my feelings on the money arguement. It simply not true.

I was grocery shopping last night, and there are hundreds of cheap alternatives.

You can buy a bag of carrots for next to nothing, or a bag or oranges that will last you a week, and provide you with excellent vegetable goodness.

A big bag of potatoes is also extremely cheap, and while full of carbs are an excellent source of fibre and and nutrition.

Buy a whole chicken or turkey, then cut it into pieces to give you lean meat, then make soup from the bones.

Fish is a fantastic meat to eat - full of essential oils, proteins and low in fat. Buy a nice tuna steak for next to nothing and make two meals out of it.

Buy pasta - it's super cheap and very filling.

bread is mega cheap, and if you buy wholegrain brown bread it fills you up, and gives you loads of fibre, iron and vitamins.

Make a big pan of chilli - simply buy a lean cut of minced beef (very cheap), a tin of chopped tomatoes, chilli beans and seasoning. Cheap, filling and reasonable healthy - serve it on a bed of rice, with a couple of slices of brown bread and you are well onto your way to a good diet.





Tell you what - WALK to the grocery store everyweek, and buy your $20 of shopping then carry it home. You'll lose weight in no time at all.








The money arguement is NONSENSE - it's purely a matter of poor choice.

 

Obviously the basic decision comes down to individuals, and my point is there are people who don't have control over it, but for most of us we can choose to be healthy.

However if you look at the general trend you have to ask what has changed in the past 50 or 100 years that makes us so fat now, and it used to be that you couldn't afford to be fat, you had to do things and couldn't afford to eat all the time, now the fatting food is cheap and plentiful, one doesn't have to do manual labor, and in our culture you don't have to actually walk anywhere.
On the individual level it is the person that is at fault, but government also has a role in the general trend. If we built cities so that people would walk people wouldn't be as fat.

 

that's a poor excuse - what's stopping you from going for a walk in any major city ?

Blaming the Government is a little bit of a cop-out in my opinion.

 

The problem is, so many people don't KNOW what good nutrition is. Seems obvious, but it's true. How many people think that Lunchables are a good healthy meal for kids?

 

Are you kidding? Ramen is fried, and chock full of fat and cholesterol, not to mention sodium.

Um, beg pardon? One serving of ramen is equal to about 170 calories, far, far less than anything at Mickey D's. You can cut the seasoning out, which is where most of the sodium comes from. And I'm not sure what ramen you eat, but the ramen you buy at the grocery store is not fried.

 

Yes, they are fried, or rather, pre-fried in fat before packaging. IIRC, a while ago, Campbells tried selling low-fat baked ramen. It was absolutely inedible.

I checked the back of the package-1 serving contains 850 milligrams of sodium.

If you go to the entry for ramen at wikipedia, you'll see there ARE some health concerns. For one thing, they contain less food energy than your typical MickeyD's meal, and the noodles are indeed pre-fried in fat.

Now see, I adore ramen, but I'm not going to pretend it's all that healthy. It's pre-packaged, processed food. Not something you could live on exclusively.

 

I have friends that say that the sure could.
In fact I have a friend that eats ramen everynight. Yes, everynight.
And she is healty. Sure she dose eat other food, but most of it is sweets, like candy.

 

There are very few foods that you can live on "exclusively". Ramen, however, is a very versatile food, and is useful for everything from topping salads (uncooked and crumbled) to stir fry (cooked, and then mixed with vegetables). As your link itself says, most of the sodium comes from the soup/broth portion (the "flavor packet" in the packages), so if you either limit your use of the flavor, or eliminate it entirely, the health benefits go up enormously.

No matter what the food, even pasta with tomato sauce, you can run into health problems eating it exclusively. The trick is knowing how to combine different foods to maximize the health benefits within your budget.

Kimball Kinnison

 

The money arguement is NONSENSE - it's purely a matter of poor choice.

I completely agree. There are many altertatives out there, people just have make an effort to find and purchase healthier food.

 

No matter what the food, even pasta with tomato sauce, you can run into health problems eating it exclusively.

I wasn't suggesting that anyone lives solely on a single dish - just that there were plenty of cheap meal options out there.

If anyone really wants me to "go to town" then give me a weekly budget equal to eating at McDonalds every day, and I'll create a healthy alternative menu for less money.

 

You can't win, Espalp, but there are alternatives to fighting... Like admitting malkie is right and awesome.

E_S

 

malkie, in the United States, it is far more expensive to eat that crappy food McDonald's serves up than buying healthful alternatives at the store.

For a #1 meal at McDonald's, that's about $4 or so. At the grocery, to buy ground meat, buns, lettuce, condiments, pickles and drinks costs much more than that.

Not only is it easier and less costly, it saves people the time from cooking.

That's why we have so many fat slobs in the country, because they're too lazy to go to the grocery to spend a little extra and eat healthier foods.

Portion control is also a large problem in the United States. Everything is 'super sized'.

 

malkie, in the United States, it is far more expensive to eat that crappy food McDonald's serves up than buying healthful alternatives at the store.

um, I agree

 

malkie's right from a certain point of view.

 

I find it amusing that no one has said what I am about to say yet.

If eating unhealthy foods are as unhealthy as many people make them out to be, then obviously they are overall more expensive than healthy foods if you take into account medical bills that result from eating bad foods.

Darth Mischievous

For a #1 meal at McDonald's, that's about $4 or so. At the grocery, to buy ground meat, buns, lettuce, condiments, pickles and drinks costs much more than that.

Yeah, but you get several hamburgers and drinks out of what you get that the store. It may total 20 bucks for a head of lettuce, condiments, other toppings, a pound and a half of ground beef, 6 buns, some taters and six pack of soda, but that could be the equivalent of 6 meals. Looking at $$, it still may be cheaper to do it yourself (and if you get leaner beef and are careful with the rest, it will be much healthier).

Not only is it easier and less costly, it saves people the time from cooking.

And to me, that is the real reason. It takes less time and effort, and people are lazy. If you say that time is money, then maybe it is still more costly, but otherwise, I do feel it is cheaper to do it yourself.

 

Time isn't really an issue, either, since there are loads of microweavable meals by Lean Cuisine, Healthy Choice, and a few other brands that offer some nice selections and healthier options. I, for one, find Lean Cuisine's pizzas to be mouthwatering. Only about 300 calories, too, and ready to eat in 3 minutes.


EDIT: And they're also about as expensive as a combo meal at any fast food place.

 

Well, that's all true, I guess. What I'm saying though is a lot of people are really ignorant when it comes to what's healthy.

And schools don't help-all the junk food vending machines and fast food sold in the cafeteria?

 

Yes, schools aren't helping at all, as malkie's already stated. But some schools are banning the sale of junk foods and sodas on campus. We still have a lot of improvements that need to be implemented in our PE classes, though. In my state, we're required to take a PE class, but it's an elective, and no one really pays attention, and no one really cares what's on the curriculum.

 

PE is a joke in our country. The way it's taught, all it does it make kids loathe all physical activity. I hated it when I was in school-I didn't learn anything.

It's sad, because it could be beneficial if teachers stopped favoring the jocks and encouraged everyone to gang up on the less athletic kids. THEY are the ones who need it the most. I was lucky that I was in the so-called "jerry gym", aka gym for unathletic people. But even then, most of our teachers were supreme jocks who didn't understand why we weren't too enthusiastic about handball and golf.

 

I admit when malkie is right, I just think he has trouble admitting when I am.

I had more trouble with his logic than the actual points.

I don't think government should just sit by while everyone eats themselves to death, as it is a social problem some of the solution must be done socially.

 

For all you McDonalds bashers out there. Don't blame McDonalds!

The McDonalds Diet
1400 calories a day

Again I'll stress what malkie has been saying all along. Its not what you eat, but how much.


In short three meals a day at McDonalds = weight loss.
Choice and picking the right food at McDonalds = weight loss.

I don't know I can get a sausage mcmuffin w/egg for $1 + tax in the morning. Thats pretty cheap and convienent to me. Not sure I could buy it for cheaper at a grocery store even when you add multiple days

 

I agree with that to some extent.

I should make a movie about eating McDonalds healthy options for a month, combined with an increased exercise regimen, and see how much weight I lose ?

Think that McDonalds would fund my movie ?


PE is a joke in our country. The way it's taught, all it does it make kids loathe all physical activity.

I absolutely agree. Furthermore, today's "softly-softly" attitude which prevents teachers from making kids do physical activity. I might have hated certain aspects of it at the time (eg getting picked last for football), but it keeps you in shape and shows you the best way to exercise, and also gives you physical goals to achieve.