In a culture of blame-shifting we often look for someone to blame for our predicament. Being overweight is no different - who is to blame for obesity?
"It's the fast food outlets - supplying us with fatty foods"
"Our thin-obsessed society is putting all sorts of pressure on even slightly overweight folks"
"The weight loss industry is to blame - after all if everyone was slim - they would go out of business"
Some will simply blame the overweight person - making generalizations and attaching unhelpful labels to the person. "After all" they say, "it's up to us to manage what we eat and how much we exercise".
There is truth in this, but it is too simplistic. Many overweight people have tried desperately to eat 'properly' to manage their weight - yet continue to struggle for years. There are a number of outside forces here that have more of an influence than we realise.
So Who Is To Blame?
The weight loss industry is large, with millions being spent every year by people looking for answers. Like any industry, it has it's share of charlatans and snake-oil salesmen. Many manufacturers of diet pills and weight loss supplements are certainly opportunists - rather than looking to treat the source (i.e. by eating right), they are trying to treat the symptoms. However we have found that most decent commercial weight loss programs have a genuine interest in helping people manage their weight. So it's unfair to cast blame on the entire 'industry'.
If we were to start looking for culprits, we might want to cast our eye at the food processing industry - that, coupled with savvy marketing experts, has snared us into eating so many kinds of processed foods that going to the supermarket is like walking through a nutritional minefield.
Get Them While Their Young
The Center For Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) recently conducted a study of the magazine "National Geographic for Kids". In 17 recent issues they found 51 ads for junk-foods - including a depiction of one meal that contained 590 calories (remember this is a magazine for children).
Many years ago a certain famous fast food outlet began calling its meals for children "Happy Meals" - creating an emotional response and attachment to certain foods - typically nutritionally poor foods.
Chemical Food and Clever Marketing
It's not the weight loss industry that's to blame - but the clever marketing tactics from the food processing giants that are misleading us. To make things worse - some popular weight loss diets have unfortunately associated themselves with snack food corporations, and severely reduced their credibility.
Is a low-carb / low-fat (take your pick) snack bar really that good for you? Take a look at the ingredients list - can you decipher all those numbers? Do you understand what a 'partially hydrogenated oil" is?
What about those great 'health' bars for the kids - they even have the healthy tick on them (indicating they are recommended by the American Heart Association). On closer inspection those 'healthy snacks' are nothing but lots of refined sugar, some white flour, trans fats, and a host of other chemicals. But hey - they're low in fat so they must be good? Right?
Finding the Right Food
It's a nightmare. What exactly is good for you? Who do you believe? Next time you see those bright colors, and eye-catching ads - do your own inspection of the ingredients list - you might be surprised.
Recently we bought some cranberry juice for our young daughter who had a slight urine infection - knowing that cranberry has some useful medicinal properties. Like any frazzled parent, having time to stand and stare at the nutrition panel while shopping with children is a rarity. That night our daughter had trouble getting to sleep, and woke up 3 or 4 times in the night. This is unusual for her.
On closer inspection of the so-called cranberry juice - we discovered that only 30% is actually cranberry, and the rest is water and 'high fructose corn syrup' - a chemically altered sugar with a fair share of (anecdotally) noted poor health affects.
What Is The Answer?
If obesity had a simple cause, don't you think we would have the answer by now? Good diet and exercise are the answer - but when we have large corporations spending millions to make us buy their food - it doesn't seem so simple anymore. Go figure - profit in the food industry is made by either people buying more food, or sourcing/manufacturing basic ingredients at less cost. How does good nutrition factor in this? Are you starting to get the picture?
There is no miracle weight loss cure - no diet plan that will fit everyone. The only long term answer is understanding how your own body reacts to the foods you eat. Weight loss is not a 6 week program, but a lifelong commitment to good nutrition and lifestyle.
About The Author
www.freedieting.com is a resource for everything concerning losing weight. Independent reviews of popular diets, free diet plans, and articles taking a serious look at the causes and solution of weight problems.
This article is available for reprint in your ezine or website. No changes should be made, and all links left in tact. (c) 2004 www.freedieting.com All Rights Reserved
move in cleaning service Wilmette ..The very first thing you want to do before you... Read More
My last article, Make Diets Work, concluded that dieting the... Read More
Twenty years ago, I did not expect to accomplish what... Read More
Most men and women put on weight differently. But on... Read More
Are you a 'look-and-lose' dieter? Have you studied every diet... Read More
Well, to begin with, there isn't really any one Mediterranean... Read More
It's been called the world's oldest medicine, the miracle fat... Read More
Mindfulness is all about paying attention. It's amazing what can... Read More
Why was the FDA trying to hide the facts about... Read More
What is a calorie? The definition of a calorie is... Read More
A Little Help With Some Difficult terms ------------------------------------------ Aerobic... Read More
Not everyone can handle hot food. But who said cayenne... Read More
There has been a recent surge in the experts weighing... Read More
Many Americans include health improvement in their New Year's Resolutions.... Read More
When people hear the term Unified Theory, some times called... Read More
To upgrade the current software in your brain you can... Read More
Healthy eating has become part of your life, but you're... Read More
I am so proud of you and your accomplishments. You're... Read More
Why Making Small Changes in Your Eating Habits Adds up... Read More
Each month I receive hundreds of e-mails from consumers who... Read More
Recently a woman went public in her online diet community... Read More
Although many patients have few problems after bariatric surgery, there... Read More
Life is extraordinary filled with wonderful people to show up... Read More
Any dietary plan on the market has some portion of... Read More
I am Dr Patrick Flanagan, and this is the latest... Read More
green cleaning service Lincolnshire ..The best exercises for quick weight loss in my opinion... Read More
We have plans for everything these days. That is how... Read More
Dieting will continue to fail most dieters, unless personalized weight... Read More
Today, Ephedra is an herb of controversy. It contains ephedrine,... Read More
(But What You Need to Know if You Want to... Read More
The perfect diet should be combined with a healthy weight... Read More
"I never saw it coming, how did I get so... Read More
Are you a hopeless carbohydrate addict? Let's conquer these cravings... Read More
New gastric bypass patients say they miss food, they grieve... Read More
If you find this article helpful, please forward it to... Read More
Food cravings can be triggered by various things including low... Read More
Weight loss plans come in all shapes and sizes. Some... Read More
Once there were these two Nuns and they...just kidding! Do... Read More
These days, most everyone has heard of low carb diets... Read More
Many of enjoy sitting down at Starbucks and enjoying a... Read More
Some of you will not like what I have to... Read More
There are many books and internet articles written about weight... Read More
"How do I lose 5 kg or 30 kg?""How do... Read More
Yes, you read it right?no diets!The first step in this... Read More
I'm sure you have heard it before, but one of... Read More
There are numerous ways to make a bad weight loss... Read More
As our bodies move from Winter into Spring we can... Read More
A common claim from gastric bypass detractors is that after... Read More
This little known secret has been used by bodybuilders for... Read More
Have you ever wished for a diet where you ate... Read More
Weight Loss |