Americans are more overweight than in any other country. How did we get that way? Most experts blame a combination of factors, including our parents, huge portions, a reliance on convenience and miracle diets.
Our parents are responsible for many of our values, views and habits - the good as well as the bad. I know a lot of people, myself included, who grew up with our parents telling us if we clean our plate we'll get a treat. That "clean your plate" ideology follows us into adulthood and we continue to clean our plates, even after we're full. This is a very old-fashioned ideal that thrives in many households across America. The "clean your plate" idea originates during WWI to encourage conservation of food supply. Or maybe it all started with a mom who really did not want to waste a well-made dinner. Anyway, the "clean you plate" mentality comes back to haunt us in the form of "saddle bags", "love handles", and "muffin tops". This, with increased portions in nearly every restaurant, is contributing to American's weight problems leaving 65% of adults overweight or obese. What's more frightening is the portions have increased over the years.
In addition to increased portions and the "clean your plate" mentality, American's have gotten lazy. Our society loves convenience. Hell, we even brag about it. We can do everything without doing anything. We can get dinner from a window, we can do nearly all of our errands online, we drive everywhere. And when we actually GO to the supermarket, we have our choice of pre-made meals ready to go. Exercise is more of a hobby and less a way of life. A CNN study tells us that 7 out of 10 American adults don't exercise regularly. Ideally, we should be exercising 3 to 5 days a week for at least 20 minutes for the average person. Lack of activity can lead to heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and other conditions and is attributed to some 300,000 deaths each year.
Americans aren't blind! We recognize our increased weight gain, but our bad habits are just too hard to shed. We immediately look for the fastest, easiest way to get results. Unfortunately, that leads them to crash diets and pills. These hard to believe scientific breakthroughs are not all they're cracked up to be. Sure, you lose weight. But the problem is you don't lose it in a healthy way. The first problem I see with miracle diets is they don't teach you. The bad habits that caused the weight gain are still there. More so, these miracle diets harm our body in ways that make it difficult to maintain weight loss in the future. Many of the diets wreck havoc on our metabolism . A decrease in metabolism means we're more tired, gain weight more easily, and burn calories more slowly.
So what do you do? It's okay to clean your plate. Just don't overfil it. Eat smaller portions. Move! The best way to get and stay healthy is to eat a healthy diet and exercise regularly. Even if you've fallen prey to one, or all, of the previous problems, don't fret. It's never too late to start being healthy. You can always increase your health.
Good luck in your journey. If you enjoyed reading this or any article, please follow me. There's more to come.
Sources:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2003-09-23-clean-your-plate_x.htm
http://archives.cnn.com/2002/HEALTH/04/07/americans.exercise/index.html
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