Possible TW? Article: It was easier to be skinny in the 80s

[Deleted]

I do not believe thin is automatically better, that thin should be the standard of beauty, or that weight loss is or should be the goal for every body.  I am sensitive to body issues, and do not mean to imply any of that by sharing this article. All that being said, I found it fascinating and wondered what others thought about it: 

getpocket.com/explore/item/why-it-was-easier-to-be-skinny-in-the-1980s?utm_source=pocket-newtab

Subtitle: A study finds that people who eat and exercise the same amount as people 20 years ago are still fatter.

Bottom line: if it seems like there must be more to the story of why people today struggle so hard and are often so unsuccessful at losing weight, there is.  This agrees with several books and other articles on nutrition that I've read suggesting the same factors at play.  While people do tend to greatly underestimate the calories they consume and overestimate how many they should be consuming for weight loss/maintenance, there are other environmental factors very likely working against us that were not in play 30+ years ago.

[scm1011]

Interesting. Earlier this week I listened to the You're Wrong About podcast episode about the obesity epidemic which had the same findings. They got there a slightly different way, but same general theme. Something they noted that I found interesting was the endocrinologists have essentially debunked the calories in / calories out method of weight loss / maintenance. That to believe in that is like not believing in climate change - the science is that strong. And that one of the reason people generally fail at weight loss is that the heavier you get, your body resets its baseline and when you lose weight its working as hard as possible to get you back up to that baseline (i.e. the heaviest you've ever been). It was really disheartening.

[Deleted]

scm1011 I typed out a big, long response to you yesterday and just realized it didn't post. Argh!

I find the evolving science on weight loss/maintenance so fascinating, and am thrilled that's finally moving beyond the "CI/CO is all that matters!" school of thought. First of all, it's not true. Secondly, it's not helpful to those who are struggling. Sure, CI/CO is an important part of the weight loss equation, but not all calories are created equal, and foods have different effects on different bodies.

I've lost 70# and spent years dialing in my diet to find out what works best for my body. I get ~1,650 calories/day. I can tell you with 100% certainty that 1650 calories/day of mostly fat or carbs has a vastly difference effect on the scale and how I feel than 1650 calories/day of mostly proteins, fruits, and veggies. Meanwhile, I have friends who thrive on a high carb or high fat, high protein diet. It's not as simple as we've been led to believe for decades now.

[meganiv]

It makes sense, for sure. I guess 20 years ago we all spent less time staring at our screens and where moving much more that these days.To be honest i always had the opposite issue. I am very skinny and doesn't matter what i eat, i don't put on weight . I visited doctors of course (my health is absolutely fine), ordered special supplement from canadian pharmacy but the stubborn scale does show exactly the same figures.