If advertising made me fat, then explain why I'm able to walk past candy the candy machine at work with the "giant, smiling, waving Mr. Peanut Butter Cup" depicted on the front and not stop and buy candy. At first I tought he was mocking me. Then I realized he was waving me over to buy Peanut Butter Cups from him. Most days I can look at him and walk right past past him without feeling tempted. I have yet to give in to this smiling waving happy looking Peanut Butter Cup man, but some days I just feel like flipping him the bird.

Sorry Lez, I made me fat.

I am responsible.

Everyone has the power of choice. We chose to eat crap and we enjoyed it. We knew it was bad for us but we still ate it anyway. Kind of like smokers. They know they're killing themselves slowly but they still choose to smoke. Everyone knows sugar is bad for you and regardless of how healthy a company claims their healthy foods are -- we still have the choice of looking at the nutrition panel and seeing for ourselves how much sugar is in it.

However, I do believe the country was misled by the government regarding fat. I've read posts here that make it seem like the low fat push was purely political. It certainly gives you food for thought. We were sorely misinformed to the detriment of the nation's health.

Now I worry about the low carb rage. I worry that people will stuff their shopping carts full of low carb stuff, eat more fat and protein and still eat high carb stuff like doughnuts, mashed potatoes, etc. And actually believe they are doing something healthy!! All because the low carb woe is not clear to the masses. Then we'll really have some health problems.

Sorry my friend, I beg to differ. Don't buy into that victimization stuff. Blaming others is very self-defeating. Take responsibility for your life and your body, and empower yourself to make things in your life better!

I have to agree with Greytscot: the advertising and food-preparation industries are very large and powerful, at least here in North America, and the increasing superficial "awareness" of LC will probably lead to a huge influx of LC products that will, in turn, be eaten by people NOT following a LC regimen but still thinking (thanks to ads) that they are now eating "healthily".

In my opinion, the stuff that comprises the entire middle of the supermarket (i.e. everything that isn't meat, fish, dairy, veg, and fruit) exists less for the convenience or health of the consumer than to part him or her from his dollars. If providing "LC pizza" in the frozen foods section will provide that end result for the food company, then that action will jump to #1 on their agenda.

It is up to the consumer to figure out what WOE works for him or her, of course -- and the prevailing wisdom of the food pyramid as it has been drummed into us may just have been flawed, to say the least. So I would have to say that the consumer is partly to blame (I know that I have certainly eaten junk food that I should not have), but the food industry (prepared foods/fast foods/junk foods/advertising of all the above) and the society that spawned it are also partly responsible.

In following Dr. Atkins' advice to mend my diet, therefore, I am largely turning my back upon the food industry and eating natural and unprocessed foods. That is my responsibility, and my great pleasure. Never before in my experience has a "cure" been so pleasant as this one!

Absolutely



As I said, absolutely incorrect. Neither society, manufacturers, not my mom have any thing to do with it. So blaming anyone but me would be to insult my own intelligence.

Taking responsibility for one's own actions is not a bad thing Les as you can see by this thread and how many have done just that.

I I blame everyone else then I haven't failed when I fall off the Atkins wagon, because afterall, I'm not responsible.

If I own the responsibility, and then fall off, I am decidedly to blame. I do not consider myself a victim and refuse to allow another to bestow that status on me.

Interesting thread! Let me throw out some thoughts on the matter.
First...it seems to be very common to try to find someone or something to blame it on when we find we have a problem. This doesn't occur just with weight problems, but with a whole host of problems. If we are successful in finding someone on which to blame our woes, it neatly removes any and all accountability from us and for many, this is a psychologically more comfortable position to be in than assuming at least some responsibility for the situation you find yourself in. Victims tend to get a lot more sympathy than those who admit to sharing at least some of the blame for their situation.
On the other hand, if adverstising didn't work, all these corporations spending billions of dollars on it would quickly abandon it for another tactic to woo and win custmers and get people into their establisments happily ordering their product.
I don't see this as an either/or type of situation. Yes, all those tantalizing commercials that I am bombarded with multiple times daily filled with smiling, happy, trim people giving the subliminal message that if only I used that particular product, I'd be like them played a part in my choices. However...they were still my choices. Most people are savvy enough to realize that advertisers don't have their best interests at heart with commercials and ads..they're being paid by the corporations for which the ads are run to bring in customers. Conditioning may happen, but I'd like to think that I'm a little higher on the intelligence scale than Pavlov's dog who didn't, by the way, have the reasoning abilities that most humans are endowed with.
I do admit to feeling some anger at the government and various food lobbies (wheat and sugar in particular) for blatantly lying to the public about the dangers of fat and the supposed health benefits of these other products; this is how we arrived at the position of the government stating that it's perfectly okay to get up to 25% of your daily caloric intake from sugar and grains filling the bottom of the government food pyramid displayed in most schools today. The average person (which included me for quite some time) isn't going to think to question that information coming from an "official" source that they trusted to provide them with accurate information. It was a real eye-opener for me to find out how these official recommendations actually come about. It's almost like a line from X-Files applies here: "Trust no one!"
But at the end of it all, I still bear the responsibility of thinking about and learning about what good choices are for ME and then following through on that information. No matter how good the commercial, nobody at any point was standing beside me with a gun forcing me to eat a Big Mac or a Krispy Kreme...I purchased and ate those foods knowing full well they weren't the best choices I could have made and nobody had me tied to the couch forcing me to not excercise.
So...does the government and "Big food" share some of the responsibility here? Yes. Do I also share some of the responsibility? Yes.

In my case it was most definately my fault. I allways lost the weight after having my children,even weighed less than pre pregnancy. The I went threw a bad depression, marriage was rough etc... I had gained almost 40 pounds in those 3 years. Now that my life is much better as well as my marriage I am taking back my control and health. I was LAZY those 3 years... And when I say LAZY I mean VERY LAZY.

It really isn't rocket science to figure out that when we sit down and eat a big bag of chips and dip, or half a box of ice cream that it is going to make us fat. I have no one to blame but myself for my weight.

I was brought up in a house with no snack cakes or sodas, few chips, lots of fruits and raw veggies, basic cereals, (no Captain Crunch or Froot Loops), meals that included meats and fresh veggies every night, moderate amounts of home made desserts, and look at me now. My Mom felt like all that processed, sugar laden food was bad for us even back then. Did I stick with her teachings when I got out on my own?? NO! Is it her fault?? NO! I weighed 140 lbs when I left the nest....I started gaining very quickly soon after. If I had stayed with a moderate way of eating, I would still be able to enjoy piece of cake after dinner without cranking up a carb craving eating machine.

When I walk to work I go past large poster advertisments saying:
'This is what you can eat on Atkins' with a huge range of foods shown (including advantage bars and Atkins shakes!).
I believe these are being paid for by Atkins nutritionals UK who are trying to make get a hold here on the British market.
Fighting fire with fire - interesting.

Hey, I saw that ad too! Very clever, IMHO.

I do think that "big food" does bear some of the blame for the obesity epedemic. People tend to eat more if larger portions are given to them, and they want convenience. And to some extent people are conditioned from a young age to believe that low-fat/high carb is healthy. That said, individuals DO have the ability to choose what they eat; but the healthy path is not that of least resistance.

As for me, some of my weight gain I believe was entirely my fault. The summer after high school I stopped exercising and gained about 20 lbs. But before that I had never been thin; I'd been about 35 lbs overweight already. When and how did that happen? I couldn't say, really. I don't remember getting fat--I had always been fat, even as a little child. When I was in jr.high I really noticed the problem and wanted to lose weight, so I went on a low-fat, high carb diet as advised by the popular diet gurus and magazines. I didn't lose more than a couple of pounds, and I was hungry too. I gave up, tried again several times, and had resigned myself to my fate and gave up dieting by the age of 16.

So ultimately, I do take responsibility for my weight, though "big food" and the media certainly do give a shove in the wrong direction when it comes to healthy eating.

25 responses 207 hits well I didn't expect that many, but I still believe its not your fault.

I will do a bit more research and do another artical, when I'm sober LOTS of LOVE to YOU all.

Lez

it's kind of a double edged sword. this is just an opinion, but i think that, like someone mentioned earlier with pavlov's dogs, we were conditioned to eat the low-fat, high carb way. i mean, why would there be so many angry people saying that low fat is better and atkins will kill you? they're ignorant and conditioned. HOWEVER, ignorance can be corrected by the person who possesses it, and each individual is responsible for their own ignorance. if you're conditioned to eat the low fat way, and that's how your doctors tell you to eat, but your body really has adverse affects to all of the carbs and you don't KNOW that you were told to eat wrong, and begin craving them and can't stop eating, then no, it's not your fault because you have been conditioned that way. if, however, you know all of the research and know how your body reacts, and you don't change the way you eat. than yes, it is your fault. i just realized how harsh that sounded! i don't mean to be cruel, but everyone IS responsible for their own actions.

but i also agree with what people mentioned earlier about food manufacturers putting things in products that are supposed to be healthy and they really are not. like all of the new low carb things. they'll do anything to sell a product.

that's my two cents. hope it helps.

I quit smoking. I blame that entirely. <guffaw>

Maybe its not your fault that your intoxicated? Maybe the advertising is to blame? .....Its the same concept as becoming overweight. You decided to overeat, as you decided consume too much alcohol. You have to take responsibility for your own actions, and not just pass the blame on someone or something else.