What are we coming to? (obesity issue)?

forgive me, i don't understand how kids or adults are getting so obese. i am tired of hearing excuses for example: it's my medication or its my knees or my back or anything else classified as an excuse.

i weighed 247 lbs after learning i had multiple sclerosis. i woke up one morning and said enough is enough. and regardless the relapses, although often hard, and the tons of steroids being pumped into my system, i managed to slim down to a healthy weight along with a good food regiment (without fancy diets). and now i am relapse-free for years even though my prognosis is not so optimistic.

so i do not understand all these excuses i hear daily. what happened to common sense and will power?

Good for you for doing what you did in spite of your hurdles. Many people could take example from you.

I can't imagine you would tell anyone what you did was easy (see above post saying it was "easy" for you) but you chose good health over a potential lifetime of ailments and hardship or worse.

Many people cannot make the change for themselves because it's simply too hard for them to be worth the effort. For those that do decide to make the change, I think often it comes from epiphanies similar to what you had, where you truly took your good health to heart. It is hard to do, but it can be done and by far it's worth it.

What it comes down to is that most people don't really want to change. People know it's bad for them but make a decision to continue the habits they're on because changing is hard and scary, and most people want instant results and when they don't get it, they quit. So, they blame life circumstances or external forces and become victims when all the time most people do have the power to change themselves.

Just because you can lose weight doesn't mean it's an easy thing, can't you remember what it was like before you lost your weight.
i know what u mean i was overweight and lost it too , although i wasen't that overweight it was still hard to lose, some people just don't care i guess, they must not want it that bad , i guess they just don't really care and keep eating until there morbidly obease, its a shame really
there are also many social/economical constraints on people - sometimes people have to choose between paying for food or rent, and sometimes nutritious low calorie food is not available. this can be especially hard in today's society where the cheapest food is usually nutrient dense (high fat, high cal, low fiber).

some people cannot get enough exercise because they don't have time (i.e. working 2 jobs), there isn't an affordable workout facility in the area, or one's neighborhood might not be safe enough to take a walk/jog or play in.

then there are also people who just make bad decisions when it comes to food and exercise - they eat too many nutrient dense foods (and/or too much of them), and they don't participate in recreational physical activities and don't take little steps to be active during daily tasks.

basically, for some people, there are real legitiment barriers that can lead to obesity, but for most, it's a matter of choice, and unfortunately more and more Americans (and people around the world) are choosing to eat too much and exercise too little. i do agree that for most, it is a lack of common sense and will power.
Kids and adults are getting obese nowadays because there is so much to eat out there of the wrong kind of foods. too many people drink too much soda. I was one of those people. I would drink soda eat potatoe chips and donuts etc. I also would get the big macs etc. Also I would have a lot of food at each meal.

I now do not drink any sodas at all. (Diet or regular) I eat very little bread. I have chicken lean beef and turkewy and lots of vegetables such as spinach, broccoli, string beans, peppers and cabbage and tomatoes and cucumbers.

I do not drink juices such as orange or apple juice etc due to the high caloric value of those juices. Rather I will eat blueberries strawberries grapefruits etc. in smaller amounts. I drink tea and water and squeeze a fresh lemon into a tall glass of water with out any artificial sweetners.

I have lost my craving for sweets and have lost 64 lbs in 3 months by eating sensibly and walking and bike riding and working slightly with light weights and exercise.

This is the way to overcome obesity as I weigh a whole lot and am reducing my weight without an operation. I weighed 400 lbs and I am now 336 lbs after three months of diet and exercise.

Yes there are real issues with medicines as my mother had to have a steroidic medicine for her emphazema and she used to weigh 122 lbs but after using the medicines for about 4 years she now weighs 186 lbs and she did not increase her food intake. So it is not always just a thing of eating sensibly There are sometimes other reasons due to side effects from medicine.

I agree with you that mostly it is an issue of eating good and healthy foods and not being tempted by advertising to eat the wrong foods Yet there are a few cases where it is not always easy to practice due to side effects of some medicines.

Thank you for reading this.