<p>How is the government supposed to fix this? Or the teachers, for that matter. You can't just start putting restrictions on what people are eating, and the teachers can't be monitoring student's calorie intake. </p>
<p>At some point, people have to look in the mirror, say "I have a problem and need to deal with it," and then deal with it.</p>
<p>Of course I agree,but the government pays for what children eat in school whats wrong with replacing a double cheeseburger with a single one,instead of chunky chips what about fries.Maybe the government should promote after school activies and school PE classes in a more child friendly way.Physical Education is more of an option for youth here rather than part of the National Cirriculum.</p>
<p>british chick,</p>
<p>notice how i said in paris is where i saw noone fat or obese. in england i definitely saw some overweight people, but def. not as bad as the us.</p>
<p>Well I have heard that some suggest that the government should require soda companies to put warning labels on their cans, since soda is all calories and no nutrition.</p>
<p>sodas do have water in them...haha.</p>
<p>Hahaha!I'm not blaming the government but they are the brains of a country so I think from time to time they should use 'em!!
I visited Amsterdam las month and I don't think saw a big person insight....wonder why?Weed does give you the munchies also.....mmmmmmmm........</p>
<p>I've never been a small person - part of this is inherited from my parents, part of this is my big bone structure (my doctor actually told me that if I dropped down to the 50% on the BMI chart, the ideal healthy weight for my height, I'd look anorexic, lol.) But still, I realized that although I may not be physically able to be skinny and small, I need to be as healthy as I can be with what I've got to work with. Since the beginning of this year (well, since spring really), I've lost 22 pounds. I didn't overly diet; all I did was watch what I ate a little more carefully and try not to binge on unhealthy food. I never ate a whole lot of food or ate that poorly in the first place, so it wasn't much of a problem. The main thing I did was really buckle down and exercise. It's not my favorite thing, and whether I run or bike for exercise, I'm certainly not setting world records. But it's worked. I think I'm in the healthy BMI range now, and that's the main thing I was shooting for, although I think I may keep going and try to lose some more.</p>
<p>The point is that many people would be able to easily lose some of that weight if they'd just get up away from the tv and computer and lose the sugary/salty/calorie-filled snacks and drinks. But sadly, the convenience of their lifestyle prevents them from being willing to make a change.</p>
<p>Good job juba2jive!</p>
<p>I was once 9 years old and 205 pounds. Yup, you read that right. I was MORBIDLY obese for most of my life. I eventually went down to just being overweight--normal sized for US standards--by the time I started high school. But by Sophomore year people started getting really cliquey and I wanted to fit in so during the year I lost 50 pounds. I came back for Junior year and people could recognize me at all. I currently workout twice daily. Cardio in the morning and weight training in the evening. I have cheescake and dark chocolate daily, but in moderation.</p>
<p>I'm currently approaching 9% body fat and I'll be entering the wonderfull world of commercial modeling next year! Imagine, from 205 pounds in the fourth grade to a model. It's a miracle!</p>
<p>Losing weight is actually quite easy, it's keeping it off that's the hard part. That's why I don't buy into fad diets because in order to keep the weight off you have to continue your low-carb or whatever until you die. In order to keep it off, you have to keep everything balanced and have your calories in check; it's a lifestyle change.</p>
<p>While I was dieting, I allowed myself to cheat every now and then as long as I made up for it through cardio. All I did was peddle the stationary bike while for one hour a day while watching Friends and Everybody Loves Raymond reruns on the WB lol. </p>
<p>If you burn 500 calories a day, you'll lose a pound a week. But remember, a pound could mean muscle and fat. So in order to not lose as much muscle, you need to keep your protein intake relatively high and strength train. Id you don't, you'll end up looking like Jared from the Subway commercials.</p>
<p>BIGGEST MYTH: You CANNOT spot reduce. Meaning, no matter how many crunches you do, you'll never see your abs if you don't lose the fat covering them. You lose fat by cutting calories. Sit ups can only build the muscle under the fat.</p>
<p>Well done by the way!You have so much will power,I used to weigh 10 stone 19 months ago and now I weigh 6 1/2.I know 10 doesnt seem that heavy but with me being 5ft it was equivilent to 16 maybe 17 stone on a person of an average height.I exercised and weened off the bad foods and I haven't looked back once.I am a weak person ,because I give into things easily and I get distracted alot especially when it came to food.I guess that changed because I used to get picked on at school for my sizes,that gave me amunition to carry through my goal of losing weight.I wont go into a huge story but lets just say Billy Blanks released some useful videos!</p>
<p>thisshhhisbananas,</p>
<p>haha...love your sn. very true what you said about the spot reduce.</p>
<p>One thing that America as a whole can do to improve obesity is to create fast food chains that only carry healthy, though moderately tasty, food...instead of processed junk that tastes really good. People will still buy it if it's cheap, readily available, and not ostensibly and conspicuously "health food"</p>
<p>lol thank you! </p>
<p>coqui, try explainign that one to my parents. they still think squats will reduce the size of their buns.</p>
<p>and to knightmare, it frustrates me so much to see a bag of disgusting Lays cost 50 cents and a bag of soy nuts or w/e floats your boat cost like $4.50</p>
<p>thisshhhisbananas,</p>
<p>"they still thinksquats will reduce the size of their buns". i do those to make my butt look more rotund. haha.</p>
<p>i suggest that SCHLOTSKY'S and QUIZNOS reduce their prices. those deli's are soooooooo good and most have drive thru.</p>
<p>British Chick... 6.5 stone? Sounds a bit <em>too</em> light for your height...
(though I can't really talk about being the right weight for my height, I want to drop from 160 to 130 pounds... I'm 5'6")</p>
<p>omg, i love schlotsky's...but i haven't had them in 6 years ever since i moved from AL...sourdough rules! lol</p>
<p>Whenever I come to Florida I cant help but run to sizzlers....mmmmmmm......its the best place to eat there!!The downfall of going to Florida is that when I get home I need to take up more exercise and diets to lose my sizzlers belly and bum!!</p>
<h2>BIGGEST MYTH: You CANNOT spot reduce. Meaning, no matter how many crunches you do, you'll never see your abs if you don't lose the fat covering them. You lose fat by cutting calories. Sit ups can only build the muscle under the fat.</h2>
<p>Doing massive crunches won't help much either. (At a certain point, you enter slow-twitch muscle fibre type IA growth - think Kenyan Calves, running the same incorrect logic as many assume, their calves should be the size of car tires) Build / or ask a personal trainer to set up a program dedicated for hypertrophy in the core for you to promote strong visibilty in the abdominals. (Would be geared to low reps, high intensity)</p>
<p>Benefits, an evident "eight-pack" is there non-flexed, while your core will be strong enough to sustain just about every activity with energy levels going through the roof.</p>
<p>Go through a rest stop in Indiana or Ohio, and that's pretty much everyone there.</p>
<p>The real problem we have is fast food. They're all in line for Hardee's or the like and ordering massive amounts of food and consuming enough calories in one meal to suffice for an entire day.</p>
<p>"Sit ups can only build the muscle under the fat."</p>
<p>I think you misunderstood that. I didn't mean that ONLY sit ups can build muscle, I just meant that it can't burn a signifcant amount of fat.</p>