Why do the poor become fat?

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I found an awesome way to eat chickpeas and garlic out of the processor. I realized after doing some reading, it is not truly hummus unless it contains Tahini which contains more fat than I want to include. So, maybe my mash of chickpeas, Tamari and garlic is really a spread or a dip instead.

Anyway, I found a great way to make use of it. I put a container of brown rice in the microwave and let it cook for sixty seconds. Minute Rice sells a good variety of ready made brown rice. I put sone On The Border salsa in the bottom of a bowl. I like this brand but any brand is fine depending on what you like. I then put the microwaved brown rice on top of the salsa and the garlic/chickpea combination on top. Its pretty good and a way to eat the chickpeas without eating bread.

Which is why you'll find MOST people his age AREN'T doing what he's doing, hence his being considered exceptional.
I'm glad you finally get the concept, that the more obstacles between a person and doing something, the less likely they are to do it, statistically,
which precisely answers the question which spawned the thread.
Congrats!

When things scream "low fat" I have to question it, because many times it's bogus carb-ridden bullsh*t. But yeah, I agree with you, not enough people are getting fat in their diets-- HEALTHY fats that is. People are brainwashed to believe outdated bullsh*t and many end up overweight as a result.

I don't care if the package says "low fat"-- scan the ingredients list, and if it contains anything such as hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated any oil of any kind, or margarine, then it's game over, because that's the worst fat that you can have in a food (and an unnatural one at that).

I don't care what any government says, the fructose in fruits and the fructose in packaged foods are NOT the same. And too, the fructose in fruits is so much smaller than the sheer amount of inflated artificial fructose in high fructose corn syrup. Just one can of soda will put you over your sugar limit for the day. And with the worst kind of sugar too.

When people are booked busy to wit's end (which is common in the case of someone who is of the working poor variety), one thing that is a problem is time and preparation that goes into healthy foods (this has already been discussed).

There was a bit, about 6 months ago, when my bf was eating beans on a near daily basis. Guess who had his butt aimed out the window with a fan blowing in his general direction?

I'm going to have to browse that budgetbytes site, it seems pretty good. and LOL at the mcdonalds cheeseburger after a year. I saw that a while back and that was gross.

But, where are the veggies? And the fruits? Fiber is not the only nutrient one gets from fruits and veggies. And too, Reg Park has nothing to do with the average person. As far as I've read, with eggs and the LDL in the yolk, LDL's effect on people depends on what they do. LDL come to find out from my reading, has some role in building up your muscles. However, to stay in good health, you must UTILIZE IT (aka you need to work out), and at least eat enough HDL to clean up after it. This is where people fail. People can't eat LDL rich foods like eggs and be sedentary (whether it is via couch potato ways or the unfortunate life of having a desk job). That, and the average person does not bench press 500 lbs, none the less do that much working out, therefore the amount of eggs they should be eating should be far less in comparison to someone who does work out frequently (I usually have a few eggs about once a week). I think you're trying to put the cart before the horse. And you are assuming that the average person is able to gain access to eating a lot of HDL to counteract it. And if weightlifter whats'his'name eats a lot of HDL (which is very likely) you're not acknowledging it. I bet he has better financial access to a more balanced varied diet than many poorer americans.

Reg Park's time was like the 1950s.

You do know that there are a whole lot of skinny poor folks too, don't you? I think a lot of it has to do with metabolism, as well as what you can afford and how many you have to feed on that budget.

Let's say I had $150 a week to spend on groceries. I could cook healthier foods if it were just me and my husband, than I could if it were me, my husband and our four kids. When you have to make larger amounts, you have to use cheaper ingredients, and those tend to be less healthy. You also tend to stretch meat with breadcrumbs. A lot. That also means you have to add eggs to hold it together.

Let's say I wanted to make hamburgers for just my husband and myself and I had about $10. I could buy one pound of ground round for about $6, and have enough leftover for whole grain buns, a tomato, an onion and lettuce. Using my own spices that I already have at home to go in the meat. Ground round is fairly lean.

Now, to make hamburgers for me, my husband, and four kids I'd need to buy about three pounds of ground beef and a large package of white buns, and maybe I have something left for lettuce or a tomato, but usually not. I also have to stretch the fatty ground beef with an egg and breadcrumbs and add a small can of tomato paste so it's not so dry. I wouldn't be able to afford enough ground round or chuck to make the burgers with to feed six people, if I had $10.

Another factor is healthier food is usually cooked from scratch and that takes time. I'm a housewife, so I have all day long to cook. I can cook some good meals for pretty cheap. Much healthier than what you'd get frozen or in a can, although they are fairly high in fat and calories. If I worked and had maybe an hour in the evening to put together a supper for my family, I wouldn't have time to make anything more than maybe burgers or hot dogs. Maybe hamburger helper, a meatloaf, spaghetti with canned sauce (blasphemy!) or something like that. Look at Hillbilly Housewife's site and you'll see lots of recipes for feeding a good size family cheaply. I think there's one for $100 week that includes all ingredients. But, read the recipes. It's for three meals and a snack per day, plus drinks, but look at how time intensive it is. I've used her menu before and it was pretty good, but I was constantly doing some kind of prep work or something. If I worked, I couldn't do that.

Something else; McDonalds isn't just Big Mac's you know. Those are pricier than the dollar menu. We had take out last night and I got a McCruncher (cheeseburger topped with spicy sauce and french fried onions) and a small fry and an apple pie for less than $3. Sure, I could get one of the big specialty burger meals and spend about $7 on it, but I'll get just as full with what I got last night.

There's a guy who sets up a camper and a grill at the liqour store every weekend and sells bbq sandwiches. They are $1.50 each. No side dishes, just bbq sandwiches. Big ones too. They are very good, but it's bbq pork on white bread, so it's not that healthy. I could go to the restaurant and get leaner bbq, in a plate with beans and potato salad or something but that would be about $8. I can get two sandwiches for $3. Which do you think I'm gonna buy if I'm watching my money?

As for cars, if you live somewhere that doesn't have public transportation, and can't really ride a bike or walk everywhere, you have to have a car. Especially to go to work from here, because most people either work in Tuscaloosa or Birmingham and that's about 45 mins to an hour away, one way. By car. You cannot ride a bike that far, especially up these roads.

I tried riding a bike again not too long ago. I do walk to the grocery store from time to time, and to my mothers (when we are speaking) or the liqour store (they also have cheap cigarettes and they have just started selling burgers and chicken in there, so it's not just booze) and I wanted it to be less streneous and to be quicker to go there and back. Well, no. That did not happen. It's much faster going downhill, but when I have to come back up the hill to come home, I have to push the bike. I tried for close to a month and still couldn't get up the hill, so a bike is out for me. I also have to go a longer way on a bike because of the one narrow road with hardly any visibility that I have to go on to get to the store. It has only a grass shoulder about two feet wide before a big drop off and woods, on each side. I had enough trouble not falling into the drop off when it's wet from rain, I'd kill myself riding a bike down it.

I never said poor people had it just as easy as rich people, but nobody is forcing them to be unhealthy still. You cannot get fat without eating more calories than you need.

I eat five fruits everyday. Vegetables are obsolete when you et the nutrients from other places.



The "good" cholesterol in eggs outnumber the bad 2 to 1.



If his diet didn't work, he wouldn't have gotten that far.



http://www.livestrong.com/article/28050 ... l-in-eggs/

I can pretty much go eat Burger King and ride my bike or lift after and do awesome. Ever see wtf Michael Phelps eats?
[img][800:454]http://medicalmyths.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/phelps-diet.jpg[/img]

Also, it's debatable whether Reg Park was "natty" or not. Vasily Alexeev was reputed to eat 30 egg omlettes in the morning and he looked like this:

So if we're going off things, we can conclude eggs make you strong, but not necessarily good looking. Or maybe not. I don't know what I'm trying to argue, but... eggs.

I quote this from the article:

I am not going to argue with anyone, but what MSG causes is an accumulative effect, as with many medications out there. Yes, they were willing to test damaging amounts against mice, but have they not the same will to do that to a human? How can they be sure? Anyway, sure a small amount of poison and you won't feel it, as with the arsenic in cigarettes. It's accumulative into the tissues. Some are more sensitive, maybe allergic and that is why they felt more severe symptoms. But the long-term effect/build-up of the use, creation of free particles rises, etc is what I'm pointing at. The little details in between. They decrease your ability to lose weigh, along with aspartame (Splenda), and all those fake little things in diet sodas, and flavor enhancers.

Portion control and healthy eating are the real secret. Count your calories, limit carbs and fat. Flavor your foods with spices, not additives. Exercise or do an activity. Go out there and live.

That's absolutely insane. They may be strong now, but I guarantee it'll catch up to them. That is really not healthy for you heart. Listen to Jack Lalanne - he knew what he was talking about.

Well Reg Park lived a while. He lived to be...79. Not bad. Vasily Alexeev lived to be... only 69. Vasily Alexeev, though, he didn't care about the amount of fat on him at all, though, and he said "I can work on my figure after my weightlifting career" and he never did. So he died huge, too. Vasily Alexeev would also have like vodka and beer and just wouldn't care at all what he ate, except for the eggs and things like that to make hormones. So Alexeev's diet was probably more like Phelp's without the aerobic activity level to burn the calories off, whereas Reg Park's was probably more standard bodybuilding fare. And 35 eggs is exceptional, but it's not uncommon to eat like 5-6 eggs a day as a novice bodybuilder, and then when you're trying to get like, bigger or stronger, eat a dozen or dozen and a half. I don't eat eggs daily, though, they're nice. Most I've ever eaten daily was like...6 or so. They're good, you should have some activity level with them to actually use the cholesterol in them, but I tend to feel pretty awesome having bacon and eggs for breakfast and going and doing athletic stuff or hard work.

i think a lot of times people get distraught when there isn't much to live for, especially in lower income brackets, and then it's like 'why should i keep my body in shape -- what am i keeping it in shape for?'

the thing is, it is not just the poor who have bad diets. I live in one of the unhealthiest states in the US where people drink Dr Pepper for breakfast and there are more fast food places than other cities. Its the culture of an area that leads to an unhealthy population. People who eat a lot of junk food do not nourish their bodies.

I think so too but a lot of people seem to want to ignore that.

My mother doesn't eat healthy or exercise and can eat whatever she wants but is way too thin. I had a friend and her daughter that are like that too. I have an aunt that doesn't eat a lot due to not liking to cook and having limited money to buy food since she lives off ssdi and food stamps. The way she eats you'd think she would be thin but she is kind of fat.

When I was younger I was pretty much the same way. I actually got heavier when I was in reform school and was eating healthier and exercising more. When I got out I quickly lost the weight but over the years as I got older my weight has been creeping up on me.

No, you didn't, but the difference remains the POINT as per the thread topic.

Kurgan wrote:

Force isn't always a gun.


You've already admitted the poor people face more obstacles than do rich people (relevant)
so what place has your finger waggling (not-relevant) here?