{"id":1958,"date":"2021-12-12T14:00:27","date_gmt":"2021-12-12T20:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/?p=1958"},"modified":"2021-12-12T07:57:34","modified_gmt":"2021-12-12T13:57:34","slug":"more-than-1-3-of-americans-are-obese-heres-why-many-of-us-cant-break-bad-eating-habits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/?p=1958","title":{"rendered":"More than 1\/3 of Americans are obese. Here’s why many of us can’t break bad eating habits"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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More than 1\/3 of Americans are obese. Here's why many of us can't break bad eating habits<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\tI believe if you conducted a survey, you would find that the vast majority of folks in this country know, in general, what they should eat and what they should avoid. Even so, when you look at what we eat, you are likely to find the list is full of things we should avoid, while the things we should eat are rare. <\/i><\/b>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\tFor example, we know we should eat more whole grains. These are loaded with nutrients and fiber and promote health in many ways. So, what do we do? Our most common lame attempt at checking this box is to consume lots of white bread which is virtually devoid of whole grains, is low in nutrients and fiber, and the white flour breaks down like simple sugar in the body.

\n\nAnd what about vegetables? The most popular is the potato, again a poor choice. We need deep-colored vegetables that are filled with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytochemicals (healthful chemicals contained in plants), but instead, we choose a white potato, then deep fry it to make potato chips and French fries.

\n\nThe implications of our horrible eating habits are obvious. More than a third of Americans are obese (36.5%), and another 32.5% are overweight, which means two out of three of us has a weight problem. This contributes to Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and some forms of cancer. Can the message be more clear? What we eat creates health problems and kills us prematurely.

\n\nAnd worse, we know better.

\n\nSo, why do we eat the way we do?

\n\nHow to break the habit of eating ‘bad’ foods<\/b>

\nFor starters, if you are 20 years of age, you have a 20-year habit of eating a certain way. And what if you are 50 or more, an age where you begin, far too late, to become concerned about your health status? That\u2019s too many years spent strengthening a habit, and the longer it goes, the tougher it is to turn the tide. What\u2019s more, we are encouraged to stay on this dangerous course because we believe we are getting away with it, as we have no symptoms of chronic disease (heart disease, for example) until it\u2019s too late and severe problems finally surface.

\n\nIt all starts as babies when we get off the bottle and start eating our first real food. Right then, we know what we like and don\u2019t like, or at least we think we do. The problem is the variety of things we have been fed is small, so we are choosing from a small selection. The good news is, at a very young age, kids are willing to try new things, and with encouragement, they can learn to like them. Yes, we can learn to like new things, and acquire a taste. Beer, dry wine, and black coffee are examples of things that, at first are blah, but we decide we are going to like them, and we do.

\nAs the child grows to be a toddler and beyond, their willingness to try new things may decline unless there is persistent encouragement to explore. I\u2019m amazed at parents of youngsters who say, \u201cBilly won\u2019t eat anything but jelly sandwiches and Twinkies,\u201d or whatever. Goodness gracious, who is in charge in that home?

\n\nAnyway, the eating habits of children can be molded by parents, and the earlier you start the better. Unfortunately, most American parents are poor role models, and the kids follow suit.

\n\nOK, so the process starts early, cementing lifelong habits. Add to that, our taste buds are programmed to love the sensation of sweets on the tongue. Why? This evolved from early man when life was a daily struggle for survival, and the biggest part of that was consuming enough energy to meet bodily needs. Thus, if back then you stumbled upon a beehive, you gorged yourself on the sweet taste. This not only was a pleasant experience, but it also guaranteed that you were consuming lots of calories to provide the body with energy. Our taste buds also love the taste and texture of fat, making a deadly combination of sugar and fat to overcome.

\nWhat is automatic eating? How can I stop it? <\/b>

\nSeveral other reasons stack the deck against us. Take automatic eating. On the job, when are you likely to eat lunch? At noon, and you eat whether you are hungry or not, because if you don\u2019t, you know you won\u2019t eat again for many hours. This teaches you to eat, even though you are not hungry. When this becomes ingrained, and it does at an early age, it encourages snacking and eating simply because the food is there.

\n\nFor example, you have a satisfying dinner then shortly thereafter you go to a Super Bowl party. Are you hungry? Of course not, but you reach for the chips and dip, and before you know it, you are consuming hundreds of calories you don\u2019t need and didn\u2019t really want.

\nWorse, it feels natural.

\n\nThe list of reasons keeps going. Another is comfort or emotional eating. Years ago, I worked very hard with a friend who was desperate to lose weight, and we made great progress. Then she started having problems with her husband, and soon the weight came back in a rush. Finally, she revealed that when she is upset, she buys a dozen freshly baked donuts and eats every one while she sits in her car.

\n\nWhy crash diets don’t work if you want to lose weight<\/b>

\nPut together all of the above, plus being bombarded constantly with tantalizing TV commercials, the ready availability of fast foods, cupboards stocked with goodies, and it\u2019s no accident that we have such poor eating habits. If this describes you, the good news is you are now aware of why, and also aware of the extreme challenge you face when making a change. It also explains why foolish crash diets never work. They are a short-term solution for a long-term problem.

\nIs there hope? Yes, there is always hope.


\n\nContributor: Bryant Stamford, a professor of kinesiology and integrative physiology at Hanover College-Courier Journal<\/i>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Eating\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More than 1\/3 of Americans are obese. Here’s why many of us can’t break bad eating habits I believe if you conducted a survey, you would find that the vast majority of folks in this country know, in general, what they should eat and what they should avoid. Even so, when you look at what […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","category-lifestyle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1958"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1958\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1963,"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1958\/revisions\/1963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}