A thinning year for Americans

That's what I thought for a long time: I have reached a new point of
equilibrium, and have levelled off at my new "natural" weight.

And I kept saying that every time it went up another 5 pounds, until I
broke through 300.

I agree that one year doesn't show a trend, any more than losing two
pounds in one day does.

Stan
Since 9/21/03
309/288/199

On 15 Oct 2003 13:32:44 +0200, JeanC wrote:

By Jon Bonné, MSNBC
[snip]
"The weight gains in this country had to come to an end," he says. "We
could not have people exploding."

Carol in NC wrote:

It doesn't surprise me that this is the case. I'm appalled
at the numbers of extremely obese people in the US
today...particularly among children. Perhaps the general
population, seeing this, is more motivated to do something
about their own weight. I know I am.

Carol

Me too. I'd like to put on 15 lbs by April, which will give me
a BMI just over 30.

--
-Wayne

"Wayne S. Hill" wrote:

Carol in NC wrote:

It doesn't surprise me that this is the case. I'm appalled
at the numbers of extremely obese people in the US
today...particularly among children. Perhaps the general
population, seeing this, is more motivated to do something
about their own weight. I know I am.

Carol

Me too. I'd like to put on 15 lbs by April, which will give me
a BMI just over 30.

Height?
Weight?
How much do you pull?

miguel

miguel wrote:

"Wayne S. Hill" wrote:

Me too. I'd like to put on 15 lbs by April, which will give
me a BMI just over 30.

Height?

5'10"

Weight?

Currently, 195

How much do you pull?

I rarely pull for maxes these days, but probably around 435 raw.
I'll work on this a bit over the winter, but it's not my main
emphasis. My main interest nowadays is highland games.

--
-Wayne

"Wayne S. Hill" wrote:
miguel wrote:
"Wayne S. Hill" wrote:

Me too. I'd like to put on 15 lbs by April, which will give
me a BMI just over 30.

Height?

5'10"

Weight?

Currently, 195

How much do you pull?

I rarely pull for maxes these days, but probably around 435 raw.
I'll work on this a bit over the winter, but it's not my main
emphasis. My main interest nowadays is highland games.

I've googled on your name a bit, and see you have a decent
wit, unlike most of the dumbasses who populate MFW.

miguel

miguel wrote:

I've googled on your name a bit, and see you have a decent
wit, unlike most of the dumbasses who populate MFW.

I am but a phantasm of my lord Watson.

--
-Wayne

"miguel" wrote

I've googled on your name a bit, (Wayne S. Hill)
and see you have a decent
wit, unlike most of the dumbasses who populate MFW.


Well yeah, we tolerate him. Along with that Hobman guy. It is hard to put up
with too much decency. We place a much higher value on INDECENCY here at
MFW.

HTH

Lee Michaels

JeanC wrote:

By Jon Bonné, MSNBC


There's light at the end of the Twinkie. Americans' collective weight gain
leveled off in the past year after half a decade of us all getting fatter,
according to a new national survey of eating habits. Consumers appear to be
focusing on healthier foods and are more worried about fats and additives.

THE RESULTS come from the NPD Group's annual "Eating Patterns in America"
study, publicly released Tuesday. The study tracked how many Americans were
overweight based on the Body Mass Index (BMI). The percentage of overweight
Americans has always grown, according to the study, and rose from 50
percent in 1998 to 56 percent in the 2002 study. This year revealed a drop
to 55 percent -- hardly a sign of impending twiggishness, but possibly a
hint that Americans are hearing the gospel about healthy eating.
"It's a surprise," says NPD vice president Harry Balzer, who has authored
the study for nearly 20 years. "The one thing we could count on was
Americans were going to get heavier."

Balzer is less sure about why obesity seems to have leveled off. In part,
he believes it may be that we're finally absorbing years of nutrition
labels (federally mandated since 1994), food guidelines and recommendations
like the "Five a Day" program for vegetables.

[snip]

Yeah, right! Since the numbers of very obese people took another spike
upwards, I suspect the overall numbers are being kept steady by the
increased numbers of people who are losing weight on a low-carb diet.

While fewer households were interested in dieting, 35 percent of
Americans say they carefully plan to eat nutritious meals, the study found,
a slight increase. And the number of "Naturalists" -- people who seek
out natural cereals, home cooking and more fresh foods -- now accounts
for one-fifth of all households, up from 15 percent three years ago. NPD,
a marketing firm, compiles the study for clients like food manufacturers
and sellers.

More people are also checking their food labels frequently, hoping to
avoid too much fat, cholesterol or sugar: 53 percent now say they check,
up from 51 percent last year. And two-thirds of Americans say they are
exercising at least once a week.

This also could be skewed by the increasing numbers of low-carbers. We
tend to scrutinize labels pretty closely. And we spend most of our
time in the supermarkets at the perimeter of the store as we pick up
our fresh meats, fresh vegetables, eggs, milk, dairy - and skip all
those high-carb processed foods in the center of the store.

I really haven't noticed any kind of generic movement towards more
nutritional foods per se - just a definite growing subgroup seeking
low-carb foods in particular.

Emma
========= started 10-99: 163-146-155-139-? =========
Low Carb Savvy Shopper - losing lbs and saving $$$
http://lowcarbshopper.bestmessageboard.com

On Wed, 15 Oct 2003 23:04:15 -0700, EmmaPeel
wrote:

This also could be skewed by the increasing numbers of low-carbers. We
tend to scrutinize labels pretty closely. And we spend most of our
time in the supermarkets at the perimeter of the store as we pick up
our fresh meats, fresh vegetables, eggs, milk, dairy - and skip all
those high-carb processed foods in the center of the store.

Amen sister. I can't exactly call my diet low-carb (eat too much
fruit to make that claim), but processed foods I avoid like the
plague.

I really haven't noticed any kind of generic movement towards more
nutritional foods per se - just a definite growing subgroup seeking
low-carb foods in particular.

I started off avoiding carbs after reading about the Zone diet, and
watching a guy lose a whole man's worth of fat on an Atkins-type diet,
but now I've gotten to where I avoid other things like hydrogenated
oils (why the hell would I want to eat that petrochemical-industry
****?) and soy. As far as carbs, I just try to be choosy about the
source. I rarely eat corn, potatoes, or pasta, and the closest I get
to bread is tortillas.

There's still a few good things you have to go down the aisles for,
like olive oil, walnuts, Ghirardelli Double Chocolate chips, and
coffee.

Proton Soup

On 15 Oct 2003 13:32:44 +0200, JeanC wrote:

By Jon Bonné, MSNBC


There's light at the end of the Twinkie. Americans' collective weight gain
leveled off in the past year after half a decade of us all getting fatter,
according to a new national survey of eating habits. Consumers appear to be
focusing on healthier foods and are more worried about fats and additives.

THE RESULTS come from the NPD Group's annual "Eating Patterns in America"
study, publicly released Tuesday. The study tracked how many Americans were
overweight based on the Body Mass Index (BMI). The percentage of overweight
Americans has always grown, according to the study, and rose from 50
percent in 1998 to 56 percent in the 2002 study. This year revealed a drop
to 55 percent -- hardly a sign of impending twiggishness, but possibly a
hint that Americans are hearing the gospel about healthy eating.
"It's a surprise," says NPD vice president Harry Balzer, who has authored
the study for nearly 20 years. "The one thing we could count on was
Americans were going to get heavier."

Balzer is less sure about why obesity seems to have leveled off. In part,
he believes it may be that we're finally absorbing years of nutrition
labels (federally mandated since 1994), food guidelines and recommendations
like the "Five a Day" program for vegetables.

While fewer households were interested in dieting, 35 percent of Americans
say they carefully plan to eat nutritious meals, the study found, a slight
increase. And the number of "Naturalists" -- people who seek out natural
cereals, home cooking and more fresh foods -- now accounts for one-fifth of
all households, up from 15 percent three years ago. NPD, a marketing firm,
compiles the study for clients like food manufacturers and sellers.

More people are also checking their food labels frequently, hoping to avoid
too much fat, cholesterol or sugar: 53 percent now say they check, up from
51 percent last year. And two-thirds of Americans say they are exercising
at least once a week.

EATING AT HOME AGAIN
Still, it's not entirely clear where the healthy habits came from. The
study found little change in the number of meals made from scratch or
ready-made meals prepared at home. At the same time, the study showed a
third straight year of decline in visits to restaurants, though data was
compiled earlier this year and a subsequent NPD study found chain
restaurant visits bumped up again in late summer.

Though many Americans still bring home takeout food, it's a trend that
peaked in 2000. The focus on healthy eating might be partly responsible,
since it's almost always easier to eat prudently when we cook for ourselves
-- in part because restaurant portions can be massive. Balzer's research
shows 38 percent of all food tonnage is consumed at restaurants, even
though they account for just 22 percent of Americans' meals. "So you know
those meals are large," he says.

A lagging economy explains part of the move away from restaurants as
families tried to save where they could. But restaurants are also starting
to shift the way they package their meals.

While the top two items sold in restaurants were still burgers and fries,
perennial favorites that they are, retailers have also moved to include
new, healthier food items in meals like salads and fruit. Balzer sees that
as a response to consumers' desires to eat fresh food without having to
store it at home. Rather than let lettuce or bananas go uneaten and
spoiled, we may be paying to let restaurants worry about freshness. "I
think the battle right now in the restaurant industry is from being the
microwave, or our food preparer, to being our refrigerator," says Balzer.

The new study results come on the heels of another study of American
obesity based on BMI data, in which the RAND Corporation found the number
of extremely overweight Americans was soaring. The RAND study tracked data
until 2000 and showed similar increases in fat that were tracked in
previous NPD surveys. To that end, Balzer is skeptical that the reversal of
our bulging trend will hold, since one year of good news is hardly enough
to let the scale gather dust. But he is optimistic the message about
American nutrition might finally be sinking in.

"The weight gains in this country had to come to an end," he says. "We
could not have people exploding."



Right, we have finally achieved critical mass.

Dr. Dickie
Skepticult member in good standing #394-00596-438
Poking kooks with a pointy stick
====================================
"Let be be finale of seem.
The only emperor is the emperor of ice-cream"
Wallace Stevens-1923
=====================================