7 secrets of highly obese people

[ny biker]

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/che...highly_ob.html

I think this guy uses the words "easily" and "effortlessly" a bit cavalierly. Regardless, he makes some interesting points about behavior that can cause us to eat more than we need.

[Kalidurga]

He also swapped "site" for "sight":

They eat while looking at food. 41.7 percent of those with high BMIs took seats that overlooked the buffet, instead of sitting in a booth or facing in a different direction. The site of food tends to make our minds think we have more work to do, eating-wise. Keep your food stored in the fridge or the pantry, not out on the countertops.

Man, I'm in the wrong line of work. I really should be a copy-editor.

Other than that, I agree that he does raise some good points.

[OakLeaf]

It seemed pretty glib to me.

Sure, these are behaviors that correlate strongly with people eating more, but are they primary behaviors that can easily be changed, one by one or all at a time? Or is there something underlying them - a psychology (or reality) of scarcity, excessive susceptibility to marketing messages, true physical hunger due to carb bingeing (associated with lower-priced foods) or insulin dysfunction, something else? And of course, basing all his observations on buffet restaurants isn't representative of either the general population or the daily eating habits of the people he observed.

I've observed the same behaviors he's talking about, and it's easy to be smug and judgmental, but I don't think it's helpful.

One thing I have seen lately is that restaurants that used to have their servers bring diners piles of empty plates, now require diners to get their own clean plates one at a time; and much smaller dessert plates are stacked on the dessert bar. I'm sure both of these are intended as cost-saving measures, but the health benefits of eating less are still there.

[ny biker]

Yes, several people pointed out the typo in the blog comments. I didn't notice it, which means I'm losing my touch, I guess.

[Susan Otcenas]

"They use larger plates. When offered two plate sizes, 98.6 percent of those with the highest BMIs took the larger of the two plates to the buffet. A bigger plate tricks your eye into thinking you're not eating as much, and stuffing more food onto your plate -- and into your mouth. Use a smaller plate, get a smaller belly"

I just finished reading The 9-inch Diet. It's not really a diet book. It's more about how we've slowly been led into eating more at each meal through a series of subtle changes, one of which is that the average size of a dinner plate has expanded from the former norm of 9-inches to a current norm of 12. The author advocates the simple little change of purchasing and using 9 inch dinner plates. You'll quickly adjust to the smaller plate size, and naturally eat less food.

[ny biker]

"They use larger plates. When offered two plate sizes, 98.6 percent of those with the highest BMIs took the larger of the two plates to the buffet. A bigger plate tricks your eye into thinking you're not eating as much, and stuffing more food onto your plate -- and into your mouth. Use a smaller plate, get a smaller belly"

I just finished reading The 9-inch Diet. It's not really a diet book. It's more about how we've slowly been led into eating more at each meal through a series of subtle changes, one of which is that the average size of a dinner plate has expanded from the former norm of 9-inches to a current norm of 12. The author advocates the simple little change of purchasing and using 9 inch dinner plates. You'll quickly adjust to the smaller plate size, and naturally eat less food.

This is related to something I saw on TV a while back -- a show on one of the Discovery channels called "I can make you thin." The first advice the guy offered was 1. eat when you're hungry and 2. stop eating as soon as you think you're getting full. So much of it boils down to paying attention to eating while you eat so that you stop when your body tells you that you've had enough, instead of eating more food than you need just because it's there.

[GLC1968]

Indeed, getting fat is often a result of some simple -- and easily correctable -- bad habits, especially when it comes to dining out.

This is the smartest thing said in the entire article.

The rest of it strikes me as highly anecdotal and I agree that studying people at buffet restaurants is a poor representation of society.

Yes, restaurants are in the business of selling food. The more they sell, the better they do. No secret there. Food companies hire ad agencies and promoters to spin their food in one way shape or form in order to sell more. It's what they do. They cannot be held responsible for the obesity problem in this country. They do not put the food in our mouths.

I swear that if I hear or read one more article about how it's everyone else's fault that Americans are fat EXCEPT Americans, I'm gonna scream. What has happened to the idea of personal responsibility? Since when is it the restaurant, government, food industry, etc...job to ensure that we are eating correctly as individuals?

[smilingcat]

Lately I've been bit stressed out... I just have a hunkering for fried chicken even KFC sounds yummy. And fish and chips and more chips ... even a meatloaf din din sounds pretty good. I don't hang out at a fast food joint, I hate buffet cause its volume and not taste...

sigh...

okay my weight gain has been going on for the last 30 years (gulp). averaging about a pound every year. (gulp)

I'm conditioned to finish off my plate no matter what and its a hard habit to break more so because I'm really cheap. sigh...

stop eating when you are getting full? WHAT ABOUT ALL THE STARVING PEOPLE IN AFRICA I would hear...Well they are not getting my leftovers that's for sure. Can't pack it up and send it there...

More I think about diet more I want to eat....

this isn't healthy. I think I need to grab a bag of M&Ms and a supersized chai latte. Chai latte is good for you isn't it?? snort!! At least I'll feel better in the short run.

Seriously, I hate my weight. I hate to look myself in the mirror. I hate to go shopping for cloth these days Why can'I be like one of my cat. Her name is Twiggy. long skinny legs and skinny torso just like the namesake. She tries to bury her food on two out of every three feeding. I really don't think I'm eating all that much food!! HONESTLY...

more things to stress over...

[Tuckervill]

I only eat from 8 inch plates. I buy them special, one at a time, from potters, and I have quite an eclectic collection. I take great care in choosing them, so each time I eat it is a pleasure. That, and eating breakfast, are two of the most important reason I'm down 45 pounds.

Karen

[spokewench]

"They use larger plates. When offered two plate sizes, 98.6 percent of those with the highest BMIs took the larger of the two plates to the buffet. A bigger plate tricks your eye into thinking you're not eating as much, and stuffing more food onto your plate -- and into your mouth. Use a smaller plate, get a smaller belly"

I just finished reading The 9-inch Diet. It's not really a diet book. It's more about how we've slowly been led into eating more at each meal through a series of subtle changes, one of which is that the average size of a dinner plate has expanded from the former norm of 9-inches to a current norm of 12. The author advocates the simple little change of purchasing and using 9 inch dinner plates. You'll quickly adjust to the smaller plate size, and naturally eat less food.

Larger plates are almost impossible to avoid. I went to the store and bought a set of dishes a few months ago. (a set of 4 plates, bowls, etc.) when I put them away in my cabinets, the dinner plates were about 1/2 inch too large to fit completely so my door is slightly ajar.

Well, I decided to get some more dinner plates and salad plates and got some plates in sets of 4 (that did not match my set); (you can only buy that set as a set). To my surprise, they are just a hint bigger than the first set and I had to move my plates into the lower cabinet cause they would not fit!

Yikes, what an issue to have!

I have to admit that I often eat off of the salad plates instead of the dinner plates since I don't eat that much.

[Susan Otcenas]

when I put them away in my cabinets, the dinner plates were about 1/2 inch too large to fit completely so my door is slightly ajar.

That was one of the things that got the author of the book thinking about plate size. He bought an older home, one in which 9-inch plates fit just fine, but his "modern" plates wouldn't allow the cupboard doors to close! Newer homes come with deeper cabinets, to accomodate all the oversized plates we use these days!

[smilingcat]

I was good today... I saved half my sandwitch instead of devouring it and feeling like a stuffed turkey afterwards.

The plate size got me thinking too, so I measured te plate that was used to serve my sandwitch (freebie at the coffee house where I hang out often). and sure enough that plate was around 12 inches. yeah I can be a uber nerd. Then again I can't help it.

It's not just us or the serving size or the plates. It's happening to our kitchen appliances as well. Fridge is lot lot bigger, and my poor oven looks more like an easy bake oven compared to today's built in oven. One in my house measures around 23"?? and the newer models are 26" and more up to date ones are 28" or even 32" wide. I can't replace my broken oven in my kitchen cause the new ones will not fit!!

[redrhodie]

I had to get nerdy and measure my plates, too. The ones I use most are 8". I got them at a restaurant supply store in NY. They're those classic diner plates with the maroon border. Not really anything pretty about them, but they're indestructible, and I guess they keep me from loading up!

I can't remember now because I got them a long time ago, but I bet I got them because they fit in my tiny NYC cabinet.

[Eden]

hmmmm my dinner plates are about 10 inches, but the area that you actually put food on is 7.... I rarely use them though. I tend to prefer bowls.

Smilingcat is so right about appliances - we didn't want a big fridge. It's just the two of us and I like to shop daily, so a huge side by side would not only waste space in my small house (the fridge isn't even in the kitchen - its in the pantry), it would go largely unused. Small fridges in this country were all seriously ugly with no amenities - like not even movable shelves at the time (this was about 15 years ago), but we'd been overseas - and were soooooo jealous. In Japan, Italy and England where living spaces are mostly much smaller than we have here small appliances were seriously stylish. We finally did find a place here selling a Swedish brand. We ended up with a really nice, really energy efficient fridge eventually, but it took a lot of effort.

[shootingstar]

Interesting about the plate size for supper or in lieu, using bowls instead.

Just realized as a child and teenager, I grew up in a home where our staple..rice was either served to each of us, in a bowl or on a dinner plate, depending on the entrees served.

When rice was served in bowls, of course, our entree(s) was served traditional Asian style, where you use chopsticks to pick food from the serving platter from the imaginary triangle area of that common entree dish in front of each person. That is etiquette and we were taught to observe this (most of the time ) at home. It is bad manners to reach over and pick up food from someone else's "pie" area.....still is bad manners.

Hence, now I realize, it might have actually "controlled" our portions of meat, veggies instead of handing around platters of food around the table and using a big spoon to scoop out a portion of meat, veggies for oneself. We never did that at home while growing up. It's a more Western serving style at the dinner table. Besides seating 8 people with all the dishes on table was really tight, it would have been totally impractical to pass around central common dishes of entrees & veggies.

If our rice was served on a dinner plate, each child and adult still picked up their portion of the food from common entree central serving dish (with their chopsticks) and placed it on dinner plate OR I remember as older sibling, I would help my mother allocate each person's portion of meat, veggies, etc. I learned ie. what amount to serve much younger siblings. Then everyone else would be allowed to come to table to eat.

So maybe this helped...the portion control issue in our family for quite a long time.

This technique also gives me a benchmark that I know for certain how much I've cut back on white rice consumption now compared to when I was a teenager. I used to eat 2 full bowls of white rice per dinner. Occasionally 3 bowls for entree was particularily yummy with a sauce. In my teens, I weighed in early 90's lbs., I was abit slim even abit underweight during some years.

Now it is 1 heaping bowl equivalent of white rice, perhaps once a week.