Post: #1

This article talks about the Japanese approach to obesity, and how the English (whose women were just recently crowned the fattest in Europe) could learn from this.

Quote:The UK is by no means the biggest nation. Worldwide, the UK is the 5th most obese country whilst the US is the 1st. Interestingly, Japan is the least obese country with only 3% of the adult population being obese. I say interesting because, whilst this is not breaking news, I have just found out that it is in fact illegal to be obese in Japan! Companies and local government must now measure the waistlines of all employees and families over the age of 40. Men with waists over 33.5 inches and women with waists over 35.5 inches are considered overweight.

Post: #2

Quote:This article talks about the Japanese approach to obesity, and how the English (whose women were just recently crowned the fattest in Europe) could learn from this.

I agree 1000%

Post: #3

Thanks for posting that Athlone. It is interesting to see that companies will face fines for employees being overweight. Maybe a place I will consider long term relocation.

Post: #4

Hail Japan! They are leading the western world in how things should be!

Post: #5

Japan, getting shit done since 660bc. This would never fly anywhere else though. You'd have to do positive incentives for fit people rather than negative ones for fatties

Chef In Jeans
A culinary website for men

Post: #6

(12-09-2011 06:26 AM)Athlone McGinnis Wrote:  



[url=http://www.plus-size-tall.com/uk-women-are-the-most-obese-in-europe-can-japan-offer-a-solution-18264/] Men with waists over 33.5 inches and women with waists over 35.5 inches are considered overweight.

[/quote]

Why are the women given a bigger waist allowance, when their ideal waist size is 7-8" smaller than a man's?

I like the idea and all, but 33.5" is also pretty low. Maybe most Japanese are small enough, but plenty of American guys are that big without being fat.

The government and employers need to pass on the increased costs of insuring the obese. A $0.01/g tax on sugar would be a great boon as well.

Post: #7

They should base this of body fat. Moma would be considered obese based on these regulations even though he's strength and not fat.

In any case props to Japan. They're headed in the right direction.

Post: #8

(12-09-2011 12:04 PM)torontokid Wrote:  They should base this of body fat. Moma would be considered obese based on these regulations even though he's strength and not fat.

In any case props to Japan. They're headed in the right direction.

Torontokid, you are too kind. May the heavens bless you with a surplus of lizards of all shades and shapes to satiate your every desire.
May you slay 52 lizards a year for the next three years.

Post: #9

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAH I nearly died reading that.


I think whats going to happen in places like the US is peoples children are going to start dying before them due to fat related diseases/complications, then maybe that will make people smarten up. Regardless its survival of the fittest these people wont be as likely to reproduce and will die at an earlier date than the rest of us. On a side note how much do you think shows like Dr.Oz, the Doctors, biggest loser or anything else that promotes healthy living/weight loss, are affecting people. ie. do people really get an epiphany and decide to lose weight once they see it on a gameshow or dr oz?

Post: #10

I've been to Japan and though I'm not the tallest guy out there, I towered over the average Japanese individual. Those waist measurements if transferred to the states would be considered at the best overweight.

Post: #11

(12-09-2011 02:14 PM)WesternCancer Wrote:  HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAH I nearly died reading that.


I think whats going to happen in places like the US is peoples children are going to start dying before them due to fat related diseases/complications, then maybe that will make people smarten up. Regardless its survival of the fittest these people wont be as likely to reproduce and will die at an earlier date than the rest of us.

False. Obesity has been linked medically to infertility, but that doesn't mean obese people have fewer babies. For whatever reason, obese people have more children. FWIW, the same people who are too stupid and lazy to stay skinny are often too stupid and lazy to prevent getting knocked up.

http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/abs/10....4322836492

Post: #12

Well sheiiiiiiit. I just kind of assumed that the fatter they are the less chance someones going to want to have kids with them, BUT it makes sense about the lazy/stupid part.

Post: #13

I think the mistake in that article is assuming that Japanese food is inherently healthy. It's like anything else, you can make it unhealthy if you want to...just go to a Japanese all you can eat that's putting out fresh tempura and see.

That said, conveyor belt sushi is one of the few restaurants I've found in the US where you actually eat cheaper by eating less. Everywhere else you get stuck with a big pile of food.

Post: #14

(12-09-2011 04:52 PM)BortimusPrime Wrote:  I think the mistake in that article is assuming that Japanese food is inherently healthy. It's like anything else, you can make it unhealthy if you want to...just go to a Japanese all you can eat that's putting out fresh tempura and see.

That said, conveyor belt sushi is one of the few restaurants I've found in the US where you actually eat cheaper by eating less. Everywhere else you get stuck with a big pile of food.

The assumption is that the Japanese food you get in the U.S is the same as what they eat in Japan.
I used to date an Asian lizard and whenever we ate at a restaraunt, she told me that the food was terrible junk food. When we ate at her family's place, the food was fresher and much healthier.

Japanese food is healthier (less preservatives), more variety (fish, vegetables) and the lifestyle is not as sedentary as the North Americans.

Post: #15

(12-09-2011 04:58 PM)Moma Wrote:  

(12-09-2011 04:52 PM)BortimusPrime Wrote:  I think the mistake in that article is assuming that Japanese food is inherently healthy. It's like anything else, you can make it unhealthy if you want to...just go to a Japanese all you can eat that's putting out fresh tempura and see.

That said, conveyor belt sushi is one of the few restaurants I've found in the US where you actually eat cheaper by eating less. Everywhere else you get stuck with a big pile of food.

The assumption is that the Japanese food you get in the U.S is the same as what they eat in Japan.
I used to date an Asian lizard and whenever we ate at a restaraunt, she told me that the food was terrible junk food. When we ate at her family's place, the food was fresher and much healthier.

Japanese food is healthier (less preservatives), more variety (fish, vegetables) and the lifestyle is not as sedentary as the North Americans.

Yeah, but my guess is that their country is succumbing to the same over-reliance on processed food as we are. I mean if everyone was eating American style food cooked from scratch like they did in 1950, we wouldn't be fat either.

Post: #16

Japan is in my top 3 places to visit, I think it is now number one.

Post: #17

Just watched this with my Japanese friend. She says that working for a Japanese company is very strict, and gave the example of having to bow when you arrive in the morning. Personally, I think this is great - and I am a self professed libertarian. Square that.

Then again I pay 30% more on my health premium for being a smoker. It's time the fatties pay more too.

Post: #18

(12-09-2011 02:32 PM)basilransom Wrote:  False. Obesity has been linked medically to infertility, but that doesn't mean obese people have fewer babies. For whatever reason, obese people have more children. FWIW, the same people who are too stupid and lazy to stay skinny are often too stupid and lazy to prevent getting knocked up.

False, it isn't that people are too stupid and lazy to be skinny in the U.S. It is that it costs more money to be skinny than it is to be fat in the U.S. Our government subsidizes corn to an extreme extent. So much so that corn and its deadly offspring, high fructose corn syrup, has become a part of the vast majority of foods sold in supermarkets and restaurants. Corn has been proven to have little health value if not a negative one, and high fructose corn syrup has been proven to be extremely detrimental to health and one's metabolism. On top of this potatoes are also highly subsidized by the U.S. government. Potatoes, high in their starchiness and low in nutrients, also generally hurt one's health.

So, in this country the two foods that are the worst for people's health are also the cheapest. Both are so subsidized in fact that our entire agricultural system is built around them because they produce the greatest amount of profits.

To top it off, repeated industrial revolutions has led to robots taking over most of the physical labor in this country. Our workforce now dominates offices instead of farming, steel mill factories and thread factories. This leads to a sedentary life lived while working and since most people spend their decreasing amounts of free time relaxing watching T.V. or on the computer. Combine that with the is culture shift that is beginning for "fat acceptance", and you have the perfect recipe for a country whose waistlines are increasing at a rapid pace.

Post: #19

(12-10-2011 06:05 PM)All or Nothing Wrote:  

(12-09-2011 02:32 PM)basilransom Wrote:  False. Obesity has been linked medically to infertility, but that doesn't mean obese people have fewer babies. For whatever reason, obese people have more children. FWIW, the same people who are too stupid and lazy to stay skinny are often too stupid and lazy to prevent getting knocked up.

False, it isn't that people are too stupid and lazy to be skinny in the U.S. It is that it costs more money to be skinny than it is to be fat in the U.S. Our government subsidizes corn to an extreme extent. So much so that corn and its deadly offspring, high fructose corn syrup, has become a part of the vast majority of foods sold in supermarkets and restaurants. Corn has been proven to have little health value if not a negative one, and high fructose corn syrup has been proven to be extremely detrimental to health and one's metabolism. On top of this potatoes are also highly subsidized by the U.S. government. Potatoes, high in their starchiness and low in nutrients, also generally hurt one's health.

So, in this country the two foods that are the worst for people's health are also the cheapest. Both are so subsidized in fact that our entire agricultural system is built around them because they produce the greatest amount of profits.

To top it off, repeated industrial revolutions has led to robots taking over most of the physical labor in this country. Our workforce now dominates offices instead of farming, steel mill factories and thread factories. This leads to a sedentary life lived while working and since most people spend their decreasing amounts of free time relaxing watching T.V. or on the computer. Combine that with the is culture shift that is beginning for "fat acceptance", and you have the perfect recipe for a country whose waistlines are increasing at a rapid pace.

Bullshit. I'm tired about hearing how people can't afford to eat healthy. A giant bunch of spinach costs a dollar where I live (Colorado). A pound of broccoli is like $1.65. A 5 pound bag of carrots is like 7 bucks. A big celery bunch is like 70 cents. You can spend 10 dollars on fruit and it'll last an entire family a week. Store brand whole grain breads are not more expensive than cheap white bread. Lean chicken breast is pretty cheap. Tuna is 65 cents a can. You don't have to spend a lot of money to eat reasonably healthy.

The fact is, people eat shit foods all the time because they're lazy and/or because they like to. If I go to Mickey Ds drunk at 2 in the morning and wake up with a hangover from that garbage, I don't blame the government. All it takes is a little effort and self discipline to eat healthy. You can buy fresh fruits and veggies anywhere, including the ghetto, and nobody has to buy an expensive gym membership to exercise.

Post: #20

(12-10-2011 06:56 PM)Only One Man Wrote:  Bullshit. I'm tired about hearing how people can't afford to eat healthy. A giant bunch of spinach costs a dollar where I live (Colorado). A pound of broccoli is like $1.65. A 5 pound bag of carrots is like 7 bucks. A big celery bunch is like 70 cents. You can spend 10 dollars on fruit and it'll last an entire family a week. Store brand whole grain breads are not more expensive than cheap white bread. Lean chicken breast is pretty cheap. Tuna is 65 cents a can. You don't have to spend a lot of money to eat reasonably healthy.

The fact is, people eat shit foods all the time because they're lazy and/or because they like to. If I go to Mickey Ds drunk at 2 in the morning and wake up with a hangover from that garbage, I don't blame the government. All it takes is a little effort and self discipline to eat healthy. You can buy fresh fruits and veggies anywhere, including the ghetto, and nobody has to buy an expensive gym membership to exercise.

Thank you for proving my point. Did you know Colorado has the lowest obesity rate of all the states?

http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html

Post: #21

Corn and potatoes are not bad compared to anything processed. Its what these foods are turned into that are bad, potato chips, high-fructose corn syrup etc. The biggest problem is portion control. You go to a restaurant and what you get is twicce as much at least as what you should be eating.

I can feed myself for <$80 a week and I'm eating about 3000 calories a day. Here thats barely enough to eat at mcdonalds once a day for the week.

Post: #22

(12-10-2011 08:27 PM)All or Nothing Wrote:  

(12-10-2011 06:56 PM)Only One Man Wrote:  Bullshit. I'm tired about hearing how people can't afford to eat healthy. A giant bunch of spinach costs a dollar where I live (Colorado). A pound of broccoli is like $1.65. A 5 pound bag of carrots is like 7 bucks. A big celery bunch is like 70 cents. You can spend 10 dollars on fruit and it'll last an entire family a week. Store brand whole grain breads are not more expensive than cheap white bread. Lean chicken breast is pretty cheap. Tuna is 65 cents a can. You don't have to spend a lot of money to eat reasonably healthy.

The fact is, people eat shit foods all the time because they're lazy and/or because they like to. If I go to Mickey Ds drunk at 2 in the morning and wake up with a hangover from that garbage, I don't blame the government. All it takes is a little effort and self discipline to eat healthy. You can buy fresh fruits and veggies anywhere, including the ghetto, and nobody has to buy an expensive gym membership to exercise.

Thank you for proving my point. Did you know Colorado has the lowest obesity rate of all the states?

http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/trends.html

Yes I do know that. That's my point. There are still tons of obese people in Colorado and it's not because they don't have access to quality food at reasonable prices. I'm pretty sure that people who live in the same city as me can go to the same grocery store and pay the same prices for the same food. They choose to eat garbage and never exercise. The drive through line at McDonalds during lunchtime is always super long, not because people can't get a cheap lunch somewhere else, but because they're too lazy to bring a healthy lunch to work or they just genuinely love those "burgers".

The obesity rate here is the lowest because the average person has a much more active lifestyle than someone from, say, Mississippi. It's not because healthy food is cheaper here. The attitude is different. People here don't want to be fat worthless slobs, so they're not. The people here that are obese are this way because of their attitude.

Post: #23

It's the food culture of the USA that causes this more. It's not just about what you can cook at home yourself. It's also about what kind of food you can get when your in a hurry and have not a lot of time on the street. What kind of snacks people will serve when you go visit your friends, what kind of healthy meal options that are filling that you can buy when you go to restaurants, what kind of meals your employer may serve if they do serve them. Portion sizes, eating habits and so on.

For example, in Thailand, I don't have to worry about any of this. Fast street food is healthier and quicker to purchase than even McDonalds. It's cheaper than the junk food. Thais are not much better in their food discipline, but what is available on all levels is way better and because of that you can't pick the fat off their skin. In 3 months I lost 15 pounds, and I ate ice cream occasionally, bags of mangosteens and did not think about one bit about what I was eating. I had to drink somewhat sugared drinks for water most of the time because most bottled water tasted disgustingly plastic (only one brand wasn't plastic).

If thai food culture suddenly replaced american food culture in the USA, in 3 years almost everyone would as skinny as the thais.

In the 1980s, low fat diets and HFCS was introduced into North America's food culture, and ever since then the obesity rate has been on the rise:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/...owfat.html

Post: #24

(12-10-2011 06:05 PM)All or Nothing Wrote:  

(12-09-2011 02:32 PM)basilransom Wrote:  False. Obesity has been linked medically to infertility, but that doesn't mean obese people have fewer babies. For whatever reason, obese people have more children. FWIW, the same people who are too stupid and lazy to stay skinny are often too stupid and lazy to prevent getting knocked up.

False, it isn't that people are too stupid and lazy to be skinny in the U.S. It is that it costs more money to be skinny than it is to be fat in the U.S. Our government subsidizes corn to an extreme extent. So much so that corn and its deadly offspring, high fructose corn syrup, has become a part of the vast majority of foods sold in supermarkets and restaurants. Corn has been proven to have little health value if not a negative one, and high fructose corn syrup has been proven to be extremely detrimental to health and one's metabolism. On top of this potatoes are also highly subsidized by the U.S. government. Potatoes, high in their starchiness and low in nutrients, also generally hurt one's health.

The bolded portion is false - to eat an ideal diet, it might be expensive. But the typical American could eat healthier and save money by improving his diet - simply drink tap water instead of sugary drinks. But Americans drink hundreds of cans a year each. And middle-class people eat fast food more than poor people do.

Part of the problem is all the misinformation. In the grand scheme of things, fruits and vegetables are fucking irrelevant. In terms of weight, that is. You aren't fat because you aren't eating them, and you aren't skinny because you are eating them. If you're talking about obesity, fruits and vegetables are irrelevant. They will also never be the core of your diet either, unless you're counting tubers as vegetables. The problem is the quality and quantity of your calories.

Processed foods, especially highly refined carbohydrates and sugars, are easy to eat in massive quantities. They don't fill you up as much as a simple potato or steak would. Regardless of the merits of those latter two, it's just a lot fucking harder to get fat when you're eating minimally processed foods.

An apple is 100 calories. So is a cookie, of a certain size. But how often do you eat more than one apple at once? Have you ever eaten more than two in one sitting? So even if the apple is as bad for you as a cookie, you'd never eat it in the quantities you would a cookie. Apple sauce, apple cider, etc are different, because you easily could eat them in large quantities.

Try downing a shake at Coldstone's, and then eating the same amount of calories in potatoes - you'd have to eat 6 lbs of taters. It's no fucking wonder you get fat when you eat food that is un-filling despite having so many calories.

There may be other factors as well, eg, if grains are particularly bad, but that's icing on the cake in my eyes, when it's just so easy to eat a lot without feeling it.

Post: #25

I agree with basil fully. Some years ago when I was in England, I have always been able to eat what I wanted. Fat friends used to hate because my metabolism was fast, I packed abs even though I would wolf down loads of crisps (potato chips), biscuits (cookies), angel cake (absolutely loved it) and other crap.
However, I reached a point where I guess my metabolism tanked and my lovely abs began to share the apartment with stomach fat.
I've always been a big eater and cutting portion sizes were not an option.
So, after doing some research and consulting a nutritionist, I merely made some changes.
I started to eat more natural foods with a much higher fibrous content. Result. More energy, zero brain fog, stomach fat..evicted.

I have to watch what I eat in North. America like a hawk. What's in that? What are those preservatives?
It's not the quantity, it's the quality.
It's very easy to be gluttonous on non filling foods like pizza, cookies and all that other shyt. Try that on some brown rice, sweet potatoes. Even if you can override the 'I'm full, stop eating' mechanism in your body, you still won't match up to this procession of human coaches that walk amongst us.