Most Albertans overweight or obese: report

[Table 5]

I think the takeaway from this thread is that you shouldn't allow yourself or your kids to ever get obese in the first place, as clearly losing weight and maintaining it afterwards becomes an uphill battle for life.

Cook your own meals. Involve your kids in the kitchen. Shop the outside perimeter of the grocery store. Buy quality, not quantity. Give your kids healthy snacks from the start. Take the stairs. Go on bike rides. Let your kids roam their neighbourhoods. Teach yourself (and your kids) good habits, and chances are you and them won't ever have to go through the same hell that a lot of obese people go through.

While I'm sure there are those who are doomed to be overweight from the start, most of the time when I see an obese person, I think to myself that somewhere along the way, a parent, and not biology, let them down.

[Bagor]

Originally Posted by Thor

The reason is based on science, as I linked to above. The longer you are obese, the less likely you are to ever succeed.

Where is the link?

Thor, you keep on harping on about science but I can't find any evidence, despite you being asked on more than one occasion by more than one poster, for you to present peer reviewed evidence, of you presenting any. Why?

[TorqueDog]

^Because he doesn't have any.

Originally Posted by Thor

LOL this is a friend of mine!! Kris Gunnars actually considered me as a writer last year. But wow quoting what you said about that we should shame fat people, his response like any decent human being was that you are not worth listening to... The IRONY you would link to his website, awesome..

Uh, yeah... I linked to it because you originally posted it, and I was calling out what an awful article it was to use to try and discredit CICO.

Originally Posted by Thor

You sir, are a joke.

Uh huh.

We agree on a great many things, Thor, particularly when it comes to religion and the future of our world (hopefully) without it. But you have been barking on in this thread about 'science science science' and haven't posted a damn thing to back up your claims, except continuing to parrot that the science is on your side. Your posts read like the content posted on /r/fatlogic.

As for which one of us is the joke... I'd say "don't make me laugh", but your conduct in this thread already has.

[TSXCman]

On a positive note... I've been biking to work for the past 2ish months (not terribly far but it gets my heart pumping), eating more vegetables per sitting than normal (I cook a lot already, just focusing on getting more veg in), checking my calorie balance with MyFitnessPal, and coincidentally drinking/partying a lot due to the stampede and a fun summer in general.

I dropped from 208lbs to 198lbs in a month and dropped 2 inches off my waistline. My progress has slowed, but my legs are definitely getting larger and firmer, so it's good mass coming back on.

I would like to get back to 180lbs, as I was this weight at my height from age 13 to 25. My healthy weight for me would still be considered obese, but it's a reasonable goal.

[Erick Estrada]

After spending the last few weeks in western BC it's pretty evident that people here aren't as fat as Albertans. Just like Texas in the U.S. Oil money and obesity go hand in hand.

[Wormius]

I guess from my own experience in losing some weight - if I was going to be somewhat sedentary, I didn't need to eat as much.

Once at a healthy weight, I felt more interest in going to the gym, buying some nicer clothes, etc.

[Regorium]

Originally Posted by Thor

Odd that you would call me arrogant and irritating, considering the insulting comments made against obese people in this thread, and in general. Fat shaming is the last great politically correct insult that most people have no issue with making.

I'm shocked you still believe this. Victim complex much? Consider that there's basically a 50/50 split in opinion even in this thread, it doesn't seem very politically correct to me.

I can immediately think of three insults that are still politically correct - in the way that NOBODY would stand up for the insulted. I could start a thread about it, and it'd get maybe 10 responses because noone would care. That is the meaning of politically correct insults.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

After spending the last few weeks in western BC it's pretty evident that people here aren't as fat as Albertans. Just like Texas in the U.S. Oil money and obesity go hand in hand.

I'm not so sure it's that clear cut. If there's one thing I do notice, it's that more affluent people, whether it's in O&G, financial institutions, name your enterprise... tend to be in better shape than the people who report to them. Directors, executive VPs, C-levels... I mean there's obvious exceptions, but I see a ton of these people who are routinely going to the gym, or in pretty commendable shape.

So is it having the money, or chasing the money that influences it? Longer hours, less desire to waste time making a meal or finding the healthier option? It's not about cost, because we know full well that eating healthy is no more expensive than eating garbage.

One thing you could also observe about people in BC is that they're seemingly a lot more relaxed. I think there's an interesting correlation there.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

After spending the last few weeks in western BC it's pretty evident that people here aren't as fat as Albertans. Just like Texas in the U.S. Oil money and obesity go hand in hand.

Nonsense. There are mountains of data showing a correlation between poverty and obesity. The rankings of obesity by U.S. state is almost a perfect inversion of the rankings of states by median income. There are far more obese people in Mississippi and Arkansas than in New York and Colorado.

You don't need lots of money to eat lots of crappy food and avoid exercise. But the more educated people are, the healthier they're likely to eat and the more they're likely to exercise.

I'd guess the high rates (by Canadian standards) of obesity in Alberta correlate to having lots of people in high-obesity demographics: people who grew up in a rural environment (or are one generation removed), and 35-55 year old men - both groups who, not coincidentally, make up a large proportion of the people who move here for work.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

So is it having the money, or chasing the money that influences it? Longer hours, less desire to waste time making a meal or finding the healthier option? It's not about cost, because we know full well that eating healthy is no more expensive than eating garbage.

I think that would have more to do with the general personality traits of someone who makes it to high-level corporate positions. They are generally very driven in all walks of life, not just for money.

That said, I see a lot of executives on a daily basis and they really do come in all shapes and sizes. Not sure I see any correlation with health at all. Some of them are in some of the worst shape I've seen.

Might have more to do with how people deal with stress. Some people exercise, some people eat, some people read, some people smoke, some people drink, etc... So I would say that whatever this vice tends to be, its very visible for people who deal with a lot of stress.

[CliffFletcher]

Again, we don't have to guess about this stuff or rely on anecdote. There is loads of empirical evidence showing clear demographic correlations to obesity.

The less educated are more likely to obese the than the more educated.

The rural are more likely to be obese than the urban.

The poor are more likely to be obese than the affluent.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Again, we don't have to guess about this stuff or rely on anecdote. There is loads of empirical evidence showing clear demographic correlations to obesity.

The less educated are more likely to obese the than the more educated.

The rural are more likely to be obese than the urban.

The poor are more likely to be obese than the affluent.

Are the poor less likely to be well educated than the affluent? That's a resounding yes.

If the poor and the less educated are both demographics more likely to fall prey to obesity, then they're in tough if they happen to straddle both poor and uneducated / less educated.

So the thing I keep coming back to - education. It needs to be better on the subject of what and how people need to eat.