It was easier to be skinny in the 1980s

[omni550]

"[These large studies] found a very surprising correlation: A given person, in 2006, eating the same amount of calories, taking in the same quantities of macronutrients like protein and fat, and exercising the same amount as a person of the same age did in 1988 would have a BMI that was about 2.3 points higher. In other words, people today are about 10 percent heavier than people were in the 1980s, even if they follow the exact same diet and exercise plans."

https://getpocket.com/explore/item/...-skinny-in-the-1980s?utm_source=pocket-newtab

omni

 

[Amethyst]

I'm sure my metabolism was quite a bit faster in 1988...everything else worked better, so why not?

That said, husband and I are both string beans even now. Less junk food.

 

[MRG]

So that's why I gained weight in the 80s? Nothing to do with diet or exercise. Who knew.

 

[RunningBum]

They give a lot of reasonable possible explanations for this. One thing it seems to me they missed was that technology today may reduce normal activity. They mention "equal exercise" but that doesn't equate to equal activity. Do people spend more time sitting and browsing on the internet? Fewer TV options mean less binge watching. Maybe more people mowed their own lawn in the 80s, rather than hiring a lawn service or using a riding mower or even a self-propelled mower. Even simple things like a cell phone in your pocket means you don't have to get up to answer a land line.

 

[mystang52]

They give a lot of reasonable possible explanations for this. One thing it seems to me they missed was that technology today may reduce normal activity. They mention "equal exercise" but that doesn't equate to equal activity. Do people spend more time sitting and browsing on the internet? Fewer TV options mean less binge watching. Maybe more people mowed their own lawn in the 80s, rather than hiring a lawn service or using a riding mower or even a self-propelled mower. Even simple things like a cell phone in your pocket means you don't have to get up to answer a land line.

+1 I suspect those minor additional activities had a cumulative effect.

 

[davebarnes]

Well, duh.
I was in my 30s in the 1980s.
Now, I am over 70.
That could not make a difference, could it?

 

[NW-Bound]

Well, duh.
I was in my 30s in the 1980s.
Now, I am over 70.
That could not make a difference, could it?

Well, I was in my 20s in the early 80s. That helped a bunch.

 

[UnrealizedPotential]

For anyone who wants to lose weight you can try drinking green tea. Drink atleast two cups a day. It works , it really does, but you have to stick with it, it works for me anyways.

 

[MrsHaloFIRE]

I weighed about 8.5 lbs in the early 80's. Im definitely much heavier now.

 

[omni550]

I weighed about 8.5 lbs in the early 80's. Im definitely much heavier now.

(You must be a young'un.)

omni

 

[aja8888]

It was easier to be skinny in the 1980s

When I look at photos of me in the early 1980's I was a lot skinnier @ 39 years old then I am now. Maybe it had something to do with me running 25 + miles per week back then and trying to qualify for a full marathon? Or was it the Mexican food?

 

[Ronstar]

I weigh about the same, but 2” of my chest drooped to my waist.

 

[Sunset]

They give a lot of reasonable possible explanations for this. One thing it seems to me they missed was that technology today may reduce normal activity. They mention "equal exercise" but that doesn't equate to equal activity. Do people spend more time sitting and browsing on the internet? Fewer TV options mean less binge watching. Maybe more people mowed their own lawn in the 80s, rather than hiring a lawn service or using a riding mower or even a self-propelled mower. Even simple things like a cell phone in your pocket means you don't have to get up to answer a land line.

For sure.
Plus in the 80's it was nothing for me to walk 5 miles. I don't see kids walking 5 miles these days.
Back in the day there was a charity for world hunger or something and it meant walking 40 miles and being paid per mile by sponsors. So I did it, yes it was tough.
Some years later they changed it to 26 miles (I guess world hunger was solved, or people started getting lazier ??)

 

[ls99]

I weigh about the same, but 2” of my chest drooped to my waist.

Can always blame it on gravity. I do!

 

[MRG]

I blame Megacorp. I started there mid 80s and put on a total of 80 pounds. Of course running around 300 acres all day, vs. a desk job might have something to do with it too.

 

[Ronstar]

Can always blame it on gravity. I do!

True! It's a proven fact that there is more gravitational pull on a 65 year old than there is on a 25 year old. Not to mention the compounding effect.

 

[harley]

For anyone who wants to lose weight you can try drinking green tea. Drink atleast two cups a day. It works , it really does, but you have to stick with it, it works for me anyways.

DW has been drinking green tea, as well as black tea, for her entire life. But going low carb allowed her to drop 60 lbs. I can't see how tea can do anything, really. I drink diet pepsi, but my BMI was lower than hers. Even so, I dropped 40 lbs after going LCHF/keto.

 

[GravitySucks]

Wait. Mexican food can help me loose weight as much as running 25 miles a week?
I know where I'm going for lunch tomorrow!

When I look at photos of me in the early 1980's I was a lot skinnier @ 39 years old then I am now. Maybe it had something to do with me running 25 + miles per week back then and trying to qualify for a full marathon? Or was it the Mexican food? [emoji23]

 

[GravitySucks]

AhhhYup.
Gravity Sucks. And it gets stronger every year.

Can always blame it on gravity. I do!

 

[Winemaker]

At 6'5" and 180#, any pictures of me in the 80's that daughter sees, she thinks I was an Auschwitz survivor. Now 50# heavier, I am in better proportion, stronger and have more endurance. My BMI says I'm overweight, but muscle is muscle. I eat only one T-bone or chicken breast at a meal instead of two, don't eat sweets, eat about a two pounds of veggies a day. My lunch bucket consisted of 3 sandwiches, 2 doz cookies, 2 Pepsi/Cokes, yogurt, water and maybe a candy/breakfast bar, daily for 30 years. The last years of w*rk, not so much, didn't have time.

 

[Mdlerth]

Even the Earth is packing on the pounds

Can always blame it on gravity. I do!

AhhhYup.
Gravity Sucks. And it gets stronger every year.

Humorous but also true. The Earth gains some 40k tons each year by attracting dust and solar wind. Greater planetary mass creates stronger gravity.

 

[JoeWras]

Another veiled article about how boomers had it easier? Spare me.

There is an elephant in the room here, and an ugly one. Smoking. If you are going to accept that smoking kills, well, accept that is also thins. Maybe this well known fact shouldn't get out to the kids, and maybe that's why it is never mentioned today.

 

[Amethyst]

Concern about weight gain was my mother's "reason" for taking up smoking in her teens. Oh, and she was of the fabled, revered "Greatest Generation."

She was around long enough to get wind of that nickname. Her reaction was, "We were anything but great. We just had a lot to put up with."

.

There is an elephant in the room here, and an ugly one. Smoking. If you are going to accept that smoking kills, well, accept that is also thins. Maybe this well known fact shouldn't get out to the kids, and maybe that's why it is never mentioned today.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

The food we are consuming today is NOT the same food that we were consuming in the 80s.

 

[MRG]

Concern about weight gain was my mother's "reason" for taking up smoking in her teens. Oh, and she was of the fabled, revered "Greatest Generation."

She was around long enough to get wind of that nickname. Her reaction was, "We were anything but great. We just had a lot to put up with."

I remember several family members and a friend's DM all saying cigarettes kept them from gaining weight.

I think there was a lot of hesitation to admit what was occurring. I remember DM talking about her DF who had "miners' asthma". He had worked in a strip coal mine for a couple years, he was a lifelong smoker too. I remember visiting him in an O2 tent before he died.