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I suspect it's related to the "default" diet that we consume. You can be healthy by eating a healthy diet, but that takes a conscious effort and we know that th

I suspect it's related to the "default" diet that we consume. You can be healthy by eating a healthy diet, but that takes a conscious effort and we know that the food that's most pushed in modern western countries is full of sugars and carbohydrates. Most people eat the default diet, and for the modern person that might be microwave meals or takeout. Presumably in previous generations the default diet was more healthy, because people had to cook due to the lack of quick-and-easy options like oven-ready pizza and chips. Overall it seems like a fundamental issue with the "food ecosystem" we surround ourselves with, and the types of food that it encourages us to eat. You could even include in that the inclination to treat eating as a chore to be performed instead of cooking and food as part and parcel of a fulfilled life, leading to products like soylent that promote themselves as a least-inconvenient meal.

craftyguy 8y ago
Eating 'right' is only half of it. Many folks don't realize that they also should exercise.
- beaconstudios 8y ago
  this is covered in the article. Lack of exercise is surely contributing to obesity, but not as much as bad eating habits. A good run could burn off 500 kcal but a relatively small amount of sugar/carbs will negate a lot of that. There's an argument for increasing basal metabolic rate through exercise but countering a bad diet with a high BMR is making things harder for yourself needlessly.
- magicalhippo 8y ago
  They should, but the reducing energy intake takes the least amount of effort by far when it comes to losing weight. You don't even have to eat "right", just eating less would be enough. For example I still love my pizzas and hamburgers, but I eat smaller portions so the amount of kcals I consume is in line with what I need.
  - craftyguy 8y ago
    It's literally an equation, calories in = calories out. Any sustained inequality will lead to either eventual obesity or a slow death by starvation.
    - beaconstudios 8y ago
      I think you're arguing past each other - magicalhippo is arguing that it's easier, willpower-wise, to eat one less slice of pizza than it is to go to the gym and run on a treadmill for 20 minutes. Either way it's less caloric surplus.
      - craftyguy 8y ago
        I'm not arguing with anyone. I agree with their comment. They are addressing the 'calorie in' part, and I the 'calorie out' part. Obviously you can't focus only on one and not the other. Limiting intake is sometimes easier, but increasing usage of calories isn't as 'hard' as going to the gym all the time (e.g. walk to work, take stairs, etc)
        beaconstudios 8y ago
        Then ignore me :^) [edit]: > but increasing usage of calories isn't as 'hard' as going to the gym all the time (e.g. walk to work, take stairs, etc) Not all the time, but given some baseline of activity predicated on having a normal routine that's fairly good (ie including routine exercise like your listed examples), increasing activity further is likely to be more strenuous than lowering consumption. Or in other words, once you're past the quick wins that you can easily integrate into your day you're more likely to get results from decreasing/improving consumption.
        craftyguy 8y ago
        Yea totally agree with your edit/point. I was originally advocating for adoption of the quick wins, since I still see lots of folks who want to lose weight but couldn't be bothered to, for example, walk up a flight of stairs (despite being physically capable of doing so).
bootsz 8y ago
> the food that's most pushed in modern western countries is full of sugars and carbohydrates. Starting a ketogenic diet really made this frighteningly apparent to me. I had never really looked at carb or sugar counts in foods before. I now have to make sure to have my own snacks with me or nearby if I'm going somewhere other than home for more than a few hours. It's surprisingly hard to find a quick bite that isn't primarily composed of carbs or doesn't have added sugar.
- beaconstudios 8y ago
  this is exactly what I had in mind when writing my comment. I'm on keto and I've fallen off numerous times in the past because it takes serious effort to maintain. The solution my wife and I have opted for is meal prep (cooking meals in batches) and buying in keto snacks in advance. If I find myself caught short and need to nip to the shops for food on the go, I'm usually restricted to one of 5-6 items in a moderately-sized shop. Even supermarkets might only contain 10 things I can have in the entire place. The dominance of carbs and sugar is truly mind-blowing. If healthy diets were the default easy option and you had to go out of your way to get access to processed sugary foods, I suspect we'd see a drastically lower obesity rate.
  - bootsz 8y ago
    Hah, yeah seriously I was at the airport last week and literally could not find one single item in the convenience store that I could have other than plain water. Even their seltzer water had added sugar...
alexhutcheson 8y ago
Miles Kimball has some great blog posts digging into the evidence for this: https://blog.supplysideliberal.com/post/2017/9/21/obesity-is-always-and-everywhere-an-insulin-phenomenon https://blog.supplysideliberal.com/post/2017/9/21/obesity-is...

craftyguy 8y ago

Eating 'right' is only half of it. Many folks don't realize that they also should exercise.

beaconstudios 8y ago
this is covered in the article. Lack of exercise is surely contributing to obesity, but not as much as bad eating habits. A good run could burn off 500 kcal but a relatively small amount of sugar/carbs will negate a lot of that. There's an argument for increasing basal metabolic rate through exercise but countering a bad diet with a high BMR is making things harder for yourself needlessly.
magicalhippo 8y ago
They should, but the reducing energy intake takes the least amount of effort by far when it comes to losing weight. You don't even have to eat "right", just eating less would be enough. For example I still love my pizzas and hamburgers, but I eat smaller portions so the amount of kcals I consume is in line with what I need.
- craftyguy 8y ago
  It's literally an equation, calories in = calories out. Any sustained inequality will lead to either eventual obesity or a slow death by starvation.
  - beaconstudios 8y ago
    I think you're arguing past each other - magicalhippo is arguing that it's easier, willpower-wise, to eat one less slice of pizza than it is to go to the gym and run on a treadmill for 20 minutes. Either way it's less caloric surplus.
    - craftyguy 8y ago
      I'm not arguing with anyone. I agree with their comment. They are addressing the 'calorie in' part, and I the 'calorie out' part. Obviously you can't focus only on one and not the other. Limiting intake is sometimes easier, but increasing usage of calories isn't as 'hard' as going to the gym all the time (e.g. walk to work, take stairs, etc)
      - beaconstudios 8y ago
        Then ignore me :^) [edit]: > but increasing usage of calories isn't as 'hard' as going to the gym all the time (e.g. walk to work, take stairs, etc) Not all the time, but given some baseline of activity predicated on having a normal routine that's fairly good (ie including routine exercise like your listed examples), increasing activity further is likely to be more strenuous than lowering consumption. Or in other words, once you're past the quick wins that you can easily integrate into your day you're more likely to get results from decreasing/improving consumption.
        craftyguy 8y ago
        Yea totally agree with your edit/point. I was originally advocating for adoption of the quick wins, since I still see lots of folks who want to lose weight but couldn't be bothered to, for example, walk up a flight of stairs (despite being physically capable of doing so).

bootsz 8y ago

> the food that's most pushed in modern western countries is full of sugars and carbohydrates. Starting a ketogenic diet really made this frighteningly apparent to me. I had never really looked at carb or sugar counts in foods before. I now have to make sure to have my own snacks with me or nearby if I'm going somewhere other than home for more than a few hours. It's surprisingly hard to find a quick bite that isn't primarily composed of carbs or doesn't have added sugar.

beaconstudios 8y ago
this is exactly what I had in mind when writing my comment. I'm on keto and I've fallen off numerous times in the past because it takes serious effort to maintain. The solution my wife and I have opted for is meal prep (cooking meals in batches) and buying in keto snacks in advance. If I find myself caught short and need to nip to the shops for food on the go, I'm usually restricted to one of 5-6 items in a moderately-sized shop. Even supermarkets might only contain 10 things I can have in the entire place. The dominance of carbs and sugar is truly mind-blowing. If healthy diets were the default easy option and you had to go out of your way to get access to processed sugary foods, I suspect we'd see a drastically lower obesity rate.
- bootsz 8y ago
  Hah, yeah seriously I was at the airport last week and literally could not find one single item in the convenience store that I could have other than plain water. Even their seltzer water had added sugar...

alexhutcheson 8y ago

Miles Kimball has some great blog posts digging into the evidence for this: https://blog.supplysideliberal.com/post/2017/9/21/obesity-is-always-and-everywhere-an-insulin-phenomenon https://blog.supplysideliberal.com/post/2017/9/21/obesity-is...