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  #1   ^
Old Sat, Jul-09-11, 12:30
*Jenn*'s Avatar
*Jenn* *Jenn* is offline
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Plan: IF/VLC
Stats: 258/219/145 Female 63 inches
BF:
Progress: 35%
Default The Difference Between 1973 and Today

Last night, I attended a family party - a 50th wedding anniversary party. One thoughtful family member took all of the footage from the old video cameras and put them on a DVD. We watched the videos loop on the screen for some time. All of the old footage was from the 70s and very early 80s.

All but two were thin - almost too thin, by today's standards. And the two that weren't wouldn't stick out today as being "fat", but more like "slightly chubby."

Watching this with the backdrop of those same people, all ballooned out into obese bodies, riddled with health problems was really eye-opening. I caught a few glimpses of my grandmother in the video - she collapsed and died of a heart attack at age 48 - she was about a size 14. She was the heaviest of the bunch. In contrast, I have two aunts that haven't seen below 325 since the early 90s and another who has always been about 250. The rest hop around in the 180-220 range. Not a single one of them shops outside of the plus-sized ladies
department.

My father and my uncles were stick-thin in the video and only one at this point in time qualifies as merely overweight... the rest are obese. This is not all genetic; these include the wives/husbands of all 8 of the siblings.

I saw my mother, pregnant for me, saunter in front of the camera in a thin body. (I myself have never even approached such a thin body.) I saw my aunts laze around in bikinis - in bikini bodies. This is in stark contrast to now. And yes, they are all much, much older, but even glancing at all of the cousins - even the ones who are in this young age group - only one looked even remotely close in thinness to all the women on the video. The rest of us are straight-up obese.

In the videos, the family parties looked identical to what we had last night, with only minor changes.

In 1973, the guys drank copious amounts of Pabst Blue Ribbon. Last night, the beers didn't flow as freely as they used to, but I did see a few uncles who had a Light beer in hand.

In 1973, Aunt Kathy made her famous potato salad with real mayo. Last night, she made the sort with low-fat Miracle Whip. Same bowl as 1973. The plates were heaping with the stuff the same last night as they were in 1973.

In 1973, everyone showed off their fingers, dripping in bbq sauce, to the cameras while licking them off. Last night, I saw the same people eating the same food. The only difference was that in 1973, everyone was eating legs. Last night, everyone had chicken breasts.

It was amazing to compare the then and the now with the same people, under similar circumstances.
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  #2   ^
Old Sat, Jul-09-11, 12:33
gonwtwindo's Avatar
gonwtwindo gonwtwindo is offline
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Posts: 6,671
 
Plan: General Low Carb
Stats: 164/162.6/151 Female 5'3"
BF:Sure is
Progress: 11%
Location: SoCal
Default

Yep, people's metabolisms slow with age, no matter what you eat. Look around you. Most people over 40 are bigger than 20-somethings.

But what fun to watch those videos!! I wish my family had those...
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  #3   ^
Old Sat, Jul-09-11, 12:44
deirdra's Avatar
deirdra deirdra is offline
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Plan: vLC/GF,CF,SF
Stats: 197/136/150 Female 66 inches
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Location: Alberta
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by gonwtwindo
Yep, people's metabolisms slow with age, no matter what you eat. Look around you. Most people over 40 are bigger than 20-somethings.
But the grandparents in 1973 were not as big as the grandparents today, and the 20-somethings in 1973 were thinner than the 20-somethings today (even though they are eating lower fat Miracle Whip & chicken parts, which clearly hasn't helped them lose weight).
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  #4   ^
Old Sat, Jul-09-11, 13:05
primerib primerib is offline
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Plan: a blend of what works
Stats: 211/198/120 Female 5'2"
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Progress: 14%
Location: Ohio
Default

I met my DH in 1973. I know what you mean about pictures.

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  #5   ^
Old Sat, Jul-09-11, 14:36
teresaw's Avatar
teresaw teresaw is offline
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Posts: 7,064
 
Plan: LC and PH now and then.
Stats: 176.5/153/140 Female 60 ins
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Progress: 64%
Location: Sardinia, Italy
Default

I think its all to do with the food.... now its all processed, we let the big companies lead us up the garden path, feed us crap, and we like it... they changed the basic grains to suit themselves and fed us their hotch potch products, and we liked it... they made us think we couldn't go without a cool drink for more than an hour, put it infront of us 24/7 and we lapped it up... then, when everyone was fat, they brought out the " Light " version of the crap they made you eat before...... we are a sorry bunch. Why worry about Aliens landing here and taking over the World, they must be peeing their pants watching us...
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  #6   ^
Old Sat, Jul-09-11, 14:54
realdeal31's Avatar
realdeal31 realdeal31 is offline
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Posts: 548
 
Plan: Protein Power
Stats: 231/212/185 Male 5 feet 10 inches
BF:22%
Progress: 41%
Location: Canada
Default

portion size, this is what happened, sugar, soft drinks. Most people will drink softdrinks when they are thirsty and make junkfood there prime foods that they eat. Of course they always eat dessert too after a big meal. Its not all genetics, and its not all getting older, my father before he died in 2006 remained the same weight all is life 5 feet 7 and around 140 pounds he was never sick, he ate when he was hungry and never ate big portions of food at a time, he never drank any soda. Is last few years before he died of cancer, i started getting into that junk food craze, eating tones of sugar, and pasta.
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  #7   ^
Old Sat, Jul-09-11, 15:06
zeph317's Avatar
zeph317 zeph317 is offline
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Posts: 1,889
 
Plan: carnivore
Stats: 205/152/150 Female 66.5 inches
BF:
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Location: florida
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wow, i think it was more about switching from high fat to low fat. going from real food to fake food. interesting. must've been so neat to watch!
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  #8   ^
Old Sat, Jul-09-11, 17:24
alto alto is offline
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Plan: Protein Power
Stats: 296/278/179 Female  5'8
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Progress: 15%
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Default

I'd say TV dinners and junk food did it, having lived through that period (I graduated from college in 1970.) I'm 5'8, which was very tall then, at least for stores. It was hard to find clothes. I weighed 150 when I graduated from high school, which is not horribly overweight, but I could not fit into anything -- I was what today would be a 12, but back then it was a 16, and they didn't make 16s except in specialty stores like Lane Bryant.

I never had a TV dinner growing up. I did not eat at fast food joints. I think I have a wheat sensitivity (gluten?) and we had a lot of bread -- biscuits, cake, cookies -- but they were very rationed, two cookiues at lunch, one small slice of cake as a desert twice a week. At other times, it was fruit, or pudding. There were no snacks.

When I first went to Weight Watchers in the mid-1980s, I weighed 215 and I was one of the heaviest ones there. I did not know anyone who weighed 310, as I did at my heaviest 20 years later.

You have the historical evidence, Jenn! Thanks for the post.
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  #9   ^
Old Mon, Jul-11-11, 09:33
scthgharpy's Avatar
scthgharpy scthgharpy is offline
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Posts: 1,958
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 254/215/150 Female 64"
BF:C198/T126/H53/L120
Progress: 38%
Location: San Francisco Bay Area
Default

Im convinced we have been sold a bill of goods with the low fat thing. Ive been watching mad men marathons, and the bottles of coke they drink are like 8 ounces. A far cry from the 44 ounce fountain sodas at 7-11. Then again, they drink like a gallon of scotch a day!...(haha) not saying we need to get back to the 60s, (god forbid!) but we do need to rethink how we ate then, and were healthier than today.

Actually, any time anyones eating, its hearts of palm salad, porterhouse, oysters, chicken kiev (what IS that, anyway), steak tartar, these were the things considered good DECADENT food.

Hmm. I blame the boomers. They ruined everything (jk)
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  #10   ^
Old Mon, Jul-11-11, 09:43
indie's Avatar
indie indie is offline
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Posts: 3,271
 
Plan: atkins
Stats: 235/195/175 Female 5ft 6 in
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Default

This is such an interesting thread Jen!

I have noticed the same thing in my family pictures also.
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  #11   ^
Old Mon, Jul-11-11, 09:47
teresaw's Avatar
teresaw teresaw is offline
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Posts: 7,064
 
Plan: LC and PH now and then.
Stats: 176.5/153/140 Female 60 ins
BF:
Progress: 64%
Location: Sardinia, Italy
Default

Chicken Keiv in the most simple terms is a chicken breast, sliced into to make a pocket, in the pocket you put beautiful garlic butter, with herbs if you like, then egged and breaded and then baked ( sometimes first fried ) . A World classic.... with many, many variations.

p.s. I love, love love Mad Men.... I learned so much, like in the U.S.A. you had microwaves 45 years before us in the U.K........45 years... uh.
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  #12   ^
Old Mon, Jul-11-11, 09:59
RobLL RobLL is offline
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Posts: 1,648
 
Plan: generalized low carb
Stats: 205/180/185 Male 67
BF:31%/14?%/12%
Progress: 125%
Location: Pacific Northwest
Default

Jenn - fascinating. Thanks
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  #13   ^
Old Mon, Jul-11-11, 16:36
Aujuba Aujuba is offline
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Posts: 221
 
Plan: my own
Stats: 283/280/200 Male 185
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Progress: 4%
Default

My mom was thin in the 70s but she was always drinking Tab. No doubt all the sugar has had an effect. I would also question the diet drinks, too. They all play with metabolisms in my view.

You could also add that families were more united in the past. Communities probably were too. People stayed married despite problems within their marriages. Most diets were a lot more local. Less fast food and foreign food. Less gym memberships I would think too. A lot of things were different.
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  #14   ^
Old Mon, Jul-11-11, 17:29
Ilikemice's Avatar
Ilikemice Ilikemice is offline
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Posts: 730
 
Plan: Paleo-ish general LC
Stats: 151/119/118 Female 64 in
BF:
Progress: 97%
Location: Middle Tennessee
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by teresaw
p.s. I love, love love Mad Men.... I learned so much, like in the U.S.A. you had microwaves 45 years before us in the U.K........45 years... uh.


My great-aunt had a huge built-in microwave oven in her house in the 1960's...I did not know that was what it was until much later and I was astounded...I thought microwaves were not around then.

However, she died of cancer, and since that definitely does not run in our family, many of us wondered if it was the micro. Can't know for sure, of course, but that thing was probably not as well shielded as they are now.

Great post Jenn!
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  #15   ^
Old Mon, Jul-11-11, 18:52
freckles's Avatar
freckles freckles is offline
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Posts: 8,730
 
Plan: Atkins Maintenance
Stats: 213/141/150 Female 5'4 1/2"
BF:
Progress: 114%
Location: Dallas, TX
Default

Interesting, Jenn. I'm sure that has caused a lot of mixed emotions for you.
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