Beginner's Fitness Programs

We often hear that more than 60% of Americans are overweight, and close to 30% of them are obese. Still, according to a poll taken by YouGov for Slimming World, only 7% of people put themselves in that category. More than half of morbidly obese people think they eat a healthy diet, and more than one-third of overweight people say they have never thought about losing weight.

What is going on? Well, it’s easy; everyone is getting large, so compared to your neighbor, your look normal. Did you see the animated movie “Wall-E?” In the outer-space colony, no-one worked and everyone sat in a comfortable chair all day, and the got obese, but since they were just like everyone else, they didn’t care.

Some ladies say that Marilyn Monore was a size 16, and she was sexy. Well, sorry to inform you, but the sizing system of clothing has changed significantly from that of the mid-20th century to the sizing system we now have in the early 21st century. Probably the size 16 of Marilyn Monroe’s time is closer to size 8 now. In fact most “small” size T-shirts are about the same size as a medium size T-shirt of 15 years ago.

There are also parent bias problems. Mom loves her baby so much that she cannot think her adorable plump girl is overweight! In fact, if someone, such as a kindergarden teacher, tells a mother that her daughter may need to lose weight, the mother will get upset. She firmly believes that her daughter is normal… until it’s too late. When she becomes a teenager, the girl cannot lose weight easily and often becomes a victim of abuse among her peers.

So we should choose skinny friends, and eat with them to stay in shape, right? Well, not quite. Researchers at the University of British Columbia found if your skinny friends can eat a lot, it can affect your waistline! They sent a pair of students to watch a movie with popcorn, and examined the outcome. The student with the skinny companion ended up eating much more popcorn than the student with the obese companion. It is a totally unconscious process, but it happens!

What can I do, you may ask? I can’t live with overweight people, or skinny people to keep my weight down! Whatever I do, I lose!

Well, the first thing that you need to do is to know whether you are at a normal weight, are overweight or even obese (in some cases, underweight, which is not good either). Check a Body Mass Index (BMI) Chart and check where you are. Although BMI is not a perfect indicator, it is the first step. Then find out how much you need to lose. Keep monitoring your weight, at least once a week, and keep a record of the numbers. Even if you are in the normal weight range now, this will help you keep track of where you are, and then you can keep your weight in the healthy range. If you are in the overweight range, then you need to start some program to shed the extra weight, but the first step is the most important part. If you don’t know you are overweight, you don’t even think about losing the weight.

source: I’ll Have What She’s Having: Effects of Social Influence and Body Type on the Food Choices of Others. Journal of Consumer Research, 2009;

BBC online news Sept 23, 2009; Turning a blind eye to obesity

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