Obesity, what needs to be done?

First a little personal background.

I used to be Obese. However, after making some changes to my lifestyle, namely getting rid of my car and becoming vegan. I started noticing that I was losing weight rapidly. Now my choice to get rid of the car and going vegan had nothing to do with weight loss, but I had predicted this would happen. People compliment me on my weight loss for "Personal Responsibility" and enormous "willpower", I massively dislike these assertions. While it is great I lost weight, going vegan and cycling has taken no real extra effort on my part. Escaping from the detrimental lifestyle that has been normalized, is not me taking any responsibility, I am just as (ir)responsible as ever.

Now for the science

Being overweight, or obese, has serious detrimental risks. The extra weight can put a strain on your lower body, straining your lower back, and causing wear and tear in the joints, furthermore fatty material can build up and clog your arteries, which can lead to a heart attack. However, these things can be perfectly mitigated too. Depending on other factors on a human's health. With vitamins, exercise, a person with a high BMI can be healthier than a person with the ideal BMI. The body is a complex machine. With a myriad of factors at play in any given time. Where fat is stored is really important to consider. Visceral fat, which is fat stored inside your body, is generally harmful, but fat stored right under your skin, tends to be pretty benign actually. This is why Sumo Wrestlers for instance, are really healthy despite their weight. Intense exercise tends to stop build up of Visceral Fat.

What makes this topic particularly interesting is that, the culture warriors on both sides get this issue completely wrong. Both culture warriors seem too busy trying to oppose the other rather than actually trying to improve the lives of the people.

What the body positive camp gets wrong

First of all, the body positive left needs to acknowledge that being obese/overweight is not healthy. You can endorse body positivity without assuming someone's body can do no wrong. Love your body, and work on the parts that don't work. They have the right idea about being positive, but they are taking it too far as to ignore the actual problem. When a celebrity successfully loses weight, you should be cheering on them when they overcome their adversity, not boo them because they are no longer one of you. Blaming everything on genetics doesnt work either, unless genes related to obesity have been massively on the rise.

What the body shaming camp gets wrong

Stop with the fat shaming and vilification of overweight people. Treating Obesity as a matter of personal responsibility rather than a disease has not been proven to work. As a matter of fact, this kind of attitude does far more harm than good. Getting offended when Plus Sized Models are on sports magazines is incredibly juvenile and so is throwing a hissy fit when fat people are represented in other mediums. Grow up.

And while I am at it, criticizing people for playing Ring Fit Adventure, because it helps them lose weight is incredibly ironic. Even if you adhere to the 'personal responsibilty' rhetoric, they are doing exactly that, taking responsibility to lose weight in an exercise program.

What should be done?

There are a ton of things that could be done to mitigate or lower the obesity epidemic.

• Municipalities could redesign their cities and communities to encourage "passive" forms of exercise and healthy amounts of walking.
• We can host medically endorsed competitions to see which culinarian can produce the best, healthy food that will also be appetizing to a large amount of people. Do like they did with the Chicken of Tomorrow program, and add a healthy prize pool, that could hopefully attract some aspiring culinarians.
• With cultured meat on the way. We could see if we can genetically engineer their meats to be significantly healthier for the population.
• We can stop punishing vegans. Encourage vegan foods, don't dissuade them by pushing for laws that make vegan foods hard to find.
• We can regulate the food industry to make food less addictive. Especially the soft drink industry which intentionally puts in ingredients designed to make their drinks addictive. Usually as much as they can get away with. Strengthening those regulations could help.
• We can also have the food industry fortify their foods with commonly missing nutrients, so our bodies are more able to deal with obesity.

And that is just the top of my head.

What do you think? What do you think society needs to do to deal with the obesity epidemic?

Edit: Improved the language a bit. English is not my first language after all ;)

Watched another Not Just Bikes video a week ago and realized one of the biggest reasons Americans are so much fatter than most of world: their very segmented zoning laws. In more mixed use zoning, you can walk for groceries and be home within twenty minutes, possibly shorter depending on what you need. But because Americans have to drive miles to the designated shopping districts, they buy more in bulk, shit they don't need. Then they eat more, faster.

This times ten. American cities are eyesores mostly not enjoyable to walk in, prioritizing drivers above everyone almost all the time.

Then again, America has left so many people convicted and homeless that I'm not sure the rest would be much more inclined to walk among them anyway.

What do you mean? BiGiSbEAutIful! Lizzo is a queen!

You need a hobby. You spend way too much time thinking of ways to micromanage other people's lives than what is probably healthy. It's neither your business nor problem to solve. Like JFC "let's redesign cities." Yeah, sure, easy.

Psychological projection much? We are all too familiar with your posting history.

And way to miss the premise of the thread. Not that I wouldnt expect anything else from you. Pretty much all my points were related to investment of resources, not micromanging someone's life.

Edit: Even urban design, makes only 1 out of 6 of my points. With the idea being to introduce as many realistic solutions as possible, and see which ones people like.

This isn't just a problem in the US sadly.

We also see this in europe. ESPECIALLY in right wing muncipalities. Just look at Prague.

I think a big part of the problem is lack of time. Even more than lack of money.

If you have time in your hands you can cook, simply cooking yourself will allow you to consume healthy food that is tasty.

That by itself will help you attain a relatively healthy weight.

People need to exercise. That's what needs to be done. Go for a run. Do sit ups. Move. Just stay active.

In short take care of yourself. You will learn early on what's good for you and what's not. Stick to the what's good for you path.

@sargentd: it really depends on your body type and what you eat.

I have a friend of mine, he is into power lifting. He is very strong, but he is prone to gaining weight.

So even after years of power lifting, he is still what most people would consider to be fat. I mean that fat, but tough look, not fat and soft.

But still, it shows exercise alone is not enough for some people to loose weight.

@nirgal: he needs to run then. It's not that hard to figure out lol

Engage in a Keto diet by eating the rich.

TC is wrong. Personal Responsibility is extremely important when it comes to taking care of your health.

This idea that the state is going to change systems to get you to Take Care Of Yourself.

Is hilarious. 😂

@sargentd: he does.

@nirgal: if hes power lifting and getting big, and tends to gain a lot of weight. He should stop just putting on muscle and run instead. It's his decision to do that.

Guy doesn't sound unhealthy or Obese frfr so I don't know why your even using this as an example.

@sargentd: what i mean is that exercise by itself is not enough for some people depending on the body type. Diet is also very important.

@nirgal: didn't say it wasn't? Obviously you can't just eat like shit and expect to be healthy.

Work out atleast 3 times a week.

Eat nothing but veggies, grilled chicken and fish.

Drink lots of water.

I guarantee 99.9% of the obese will see results.

They just have to actually want to stick to it and do it. It all comes down to the individual to take care of thier health. You can't regulate people into living healthy. This comes down to the individual. I find the premise of the thread funny.

"Obsesity, what needs to be done."

I immediately think. "Fat people need to exercise and eat healthier".

That's my answer to the Topic.

All the stuff TC typed out is ridiculous.

Guys I solved the big problem.

"Fat people need to exercise and eat healthier".

Oh ok, i know what you mean.

But i think more than advicing people to eat well and exercise, the better focus is to share strategies to achieve that, since those two things can be hard with a busy job and a family.

I just see them as very time dependent. Cooking take time , exercise take time. most people work and take care of kids.

Otherwise If you want to buy pre made healthy and tasty food, it becomes really expensive.

Fat shaming. Worked for me. Lost about 20 kg.

I'm no great authority on this, but I think if people get their blood drawn they can see what their various numbers look like and see what falls out of balance and then work on getting them back in balance with exercise, diet, and vitamin supplements. It's what I'm doing now, and it's helping.

That said, the best you can do is empower people with education and ease of access to healthcare. Beyond that, it's not your job to make other people adhere to your dieting rules.

@nirgal: I dunno man. Everything takes time, getting dressed takes time, brushing your teeth takes time, wiping your ass takes time, taking a shower takes time.

I just don't think it's a good enough excuse to say people can't live healthy because it takes time. People are in charge of how they take care of thier body. I agree it's good to give people advice. But it's not going to matter if that person isn't willing to try and actually do anything about it themselves.

As far as strategy, exercise, eat healthy.

That's really all anyone needs to know.

I don't think it's something people can't do, because they don't know how.

It's that they don't want to.

Stop pandering to the fatties, i.e. don't provide mobility scooters for them in the shopping centers, force them to walk. Being fat is not a disability.

It'd be nice if fast food had some regulations like other countries have. Here it's all about the bottom line, whatever the cost. I'm mostly referring to the common fast food places, which is what's in my town.

When the countries that most heavily engage in the "Personal Responsibility" mantra are also often the countries that have it the worst with obesity, it sure is a sign it isn't working. Time to accept the fact that the "Personal Responsibility" rhetoric is yet another thought terminating cliche.

Virtually every medical expert agrees, that we need to treat Obesity as an epidemic, a disease, not some moral failing.

Insanity is repeating the same thing over and over expecting different results People have been shouting "PeRSonAl rESponSiBIliTy" for decades now and obesity rates are going up. Time to change tactics.

Biology is working against overweight people, our bodies are not adapted (aka Evolved) to a modern society where food is plentiful. Our bodies have evolved to send biological chemicals to our brain that tell us to go to our maximum weight. This is why maintaining long term weight loss is really difficult and somewhere between 80-95% of overweight people regain their original weight after a diet.

https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/there-s-no-point-telling-obese-people-to-exercise-more-doctors-claim-10039641.html

I am pretty sure the Fat Shaming comment was done tongue in cheek but I am glad someone brought it up, Fat Shaming does mroe harm than good according to medical research,

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6565398/

Definately.

Fast Food itself is just as addictive as something like Alcohol. Due to the combination of sodium, fats and sugars.

Here is an interesting read on it,

https://www.addictions.com/blog/does-fast-food-have-addictive-chemicals/#:~:text=And%20many%20people%20do%2C%20hooked,addiction%20to%20alcohol%20or%20drugs.

Agreed, we need to make sure healthy eating and exercise is more widely available. And that corporations don't mess with people's eating habits by making their foods just as addictive as alcohol.

Ultimately, to counter Obesity, we need to empower people to make healthier lifestyle choices. Which unfortunately in our current society can be hard. Especially since Dopamine Receptors may be altered.

Never seen a mobility scooter for overweight people in my life, so I cannot vouch for their necessity but I agree, we need to get everyone to move, so thumbs up from me :)

I have seen scooters for disabled people, those we can keep.

@Maroxad: fantastic post. I can relate with it because I'm also obese, but recently lost a lot of weight. You're right that losing weight doesn't have much to do with tons of crazy suffering in the mountains, spending 10 hours in the gym, or even going on a vegan diet. It's actually much simpler than that and has far more to do with life style changes than anything else. There is no need to do anything extreme. You can literally lose weight by following a few steps:

1) start by looking in the mirror and accepting that you need to lose weight. It's not healthy, you're hurting yourself.

2) Data. This is very important. Get a scale if you don't have one, use a fitness app to track calories, get a fitness smart watch to measure your activity.

3) cut down on the junk foods, the sugary foods. If it's processed, cut it out of your diet. Especially the processed carbs, the white bread, the chocolate, cake, ice cream etc.

4) do intermittent fasting. Work your way up to 18 hours a day of fasting and 6 hours a day of eating. It's easier to stick to a calorie budget when you only eat twice a day in a 6 hour window.

5) if you're able, try a full water fast for a couple of days.

6) exercise. Your body needs to move. You don't need to do anything crazy, just get in some steps. Walk. Walk 10k steps a day, which is around 1 hour on the treadmill. Exercise every day if possible, but 3 or 4 times a week minimum.

7) watch those pounds come off.

There's other things you can do, that will help. More psychological stuff, but trust me that's also important. So as I said, it's not hard to lose weight, it's actually fairly simple. Once you get into a habit, the process becomes automatic.

@Maroxad: on your other points, I disagree with a few things. Fat shaming being is good to a certain extent. People need to hear the truth, being fat isn't good for anyone, not for you, not for your family, not for the state or the country. Imagine if everyone was being nice to fat people and not telling them what they truly need to hear, you are doing them a real disservice by pushing them to their early deaths. Being fake isn't good, you need to step up and tell them the fucking truth. You could end up saving their life. It's not about being mean for the sake of being mean, those kinds of people have their own issues. It's fine to crack jokes and what not but being mean just to make yourself feel better, that's dumb. These kinds of people have their own issues, so just ignore them.

Also about making the cities more walkable, I actually agree on it. People need to get their fatasses out of their cars and start walking more. Government can help on that by building more paths and trails. Taxing food companies though is going to far, just educate people properly.

@blaznwiipspman1: Well said, there are a lot of individual actoins that can be done. I want these actions to become accessible for all.

I want society to be structured to empower individuals to be more easilly able to lose weight. Right now, it can be really difficult due to a myriad of reasons.

Glad to see more people having made huge wins lately! :)

In my case, it is all about empowering here, if I wanted to micro someone's life like Eoten said, I would have advocated for banning meat and cars. :P Which would be preposterous.

Everyone knows how to lose weight. If people think their obesity is a problem, they should go to the solution.

Now, if we're talking about it like it's a widespread problem we as humanity has to tackle together? Yeah, OP's points sound good. Don't have much more to add there. Bad food is easy and cheap to get. Guess that's the biggest reason for obesity, and that's what we should change.

Why would that be important? You know what makes you fat and what doesn't. Or, you should know, if you went to school. But if you're a moron, it's still very easy to look up. I don't see a reason why you'd need "data". Sounds unhealthy to care that much.

Those are the only valid points I'd say that you have.

I like to keep it simple. Fat? Eat less things that make you fat, or excercise more, or both for the best result. Acting like this is rocket science or that you need some intricate plan is silly. Removing things from your life is silly too. Fat because you eat too much ice cream? You don't need to ban ice cream from your life or replace it with something else that you can eat just as much of as you're used to. Just eat less ice cream, you freaking idiot. xD You know?

@Litchie: Interesting points and you are correct. This thread is primarily about what we as a society have to do to reduce the obesity rates. Individual actions can not solve a condition that affects 20% of our home country of Sweden :)

In my case I went vegan and anti-car due to ethical reasons. The weight loss was a nice boon though.

Bad food is definatley too cheap and good food is too expensive. And a lot of this is due to heavy subsidies. Every kg of beef in the US is paid for in around 60 dollars, and according to a book, Meatonomics, around 1 dollar of beef sales has around 2 dollars of subsidies. I cant find the data for sweden, since there is a lot research on this stuff done here.

But I do know that healthy vegetables like spinach is really expensive. While processed junk food is really cheap. A possible solution would be to stop subsidizing beef. And move those subsidies to healthier meats as well as fruits and vegetables.

People might know instinctively whats good and bad, but if they have the numbers, its harder to be in denial over it. They think that danish isn't too many calories, but in reality it has 600 calories in it lol.

Everything I gave was advice that would make it easier for you to lose weight in a healthy way. You actually can make it really simple and lose weight in an even simpler way. You just sit in bed, and don't do anything, just watch tv all day. Don't eat, just drink water. You will be fairly thin within a month or two.

Also you agreed with me earlier on cutting down the junk food. What exactly is ice cream? Its super processed junk food. Eating a natural diet, without all the processed junk food will get you half way there to being fit.

As for this,

Medical Consensus seems to disagree. Toxic positivity can be bad, but as is fat shaming. What seems to work is Body Positivity, that still encourages people to get healthier.

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/fat-shaming-makes-things-worse

https://www.webmd.com/diet/obesity/news/20170803/fat-shaming-patients-can-cause-real-harm

Ive been on the receiving end of it, so I can understand, but end of the day fat shaming is far better than the toxic positivity. Too many people are being accepting that being fat is good nowadays. The media is helping with it, by putting these body types on front cover. Its disgraceful to be honest that they would stoop so low and promote obesity just for clicks and money.

Wanting the option to be able to walk to the store is suddenly micromanaging.

I think one problem is that many are in denial about how fat they are, and even more believe that the changes required either can be done for a limiting time only or are massive.

Not at all. I'm not the one sitting here saying we need to fucking redesign cities to "end obesity" which guess what? Wouldn't actually work. People can walk to stores, there are grocery stores dotted throughout cities here in the US, and I tend to find MORE obesity in those areas. People CHOOSE not to walk to the grocery store out of convenience and to save time. Secondly, grocery stores are moving more towards grocery delivery so at this point it looks like even walking down the aisle in a grocery store is going to rapidly become a thing of the past.

Your "city redesign" comment may not have been the majority of your points, but it's certainly the most ridiculous and shows a consistent trend with you pushing unworkable ideas that end up costing billions of dollars, and ultimately fail to work. How do I know this? Because I've witnessed this bullcrap first hand. I've seen most the major streets in my own cities torn apart to make bike paths, and walking paths to make the city more foot accessible, and exactly as predicted, this cost the city, and it's taxpayers millions upon millions of dollars that could have been spent on something actually useful, and virtually nobody rides a bike anywhere. Not a lot of people WANT to ride a bike to work, and getting a week of groceries on foot doesn't really work.

Your other points were nonsense. Nobody is punishing vegans. Vegan lifestyle isn't superior, and often involves a **** ton of carbs and sugars that are as bad if not worse for you than meat. You bring up vegan not because anything scientifically supports it, but because it's something YOU believe in and want others to do too.

Other nonsensical points, make genetically engineered meat that is healthier? There are plenty of natural meats that are already very healthy. There's no market in genetically engineering something we already have, it only results in that product being too expensive for the average person to eat on a regular basis.

Which brings me to your other nonsensical "solutions." The typical liberal "regulate this" "enforce that" mentality. "Let's regulate the food industry too...." make food more expensive, which doesn't harm the people producing it, only the people who have to buy it and for what? To make food "less addictive?" Who is putting addictive chemicals into soda? What are these addictive chemicals you speak of?

The bottom line is, worry about yourself. Quit with this Jesus complex that you're the philosopher that is going to save the world whether people want you to or not. Worry about yourself, and let others live how they choose to. You're no different than a body shamer or the body positive people who talk shit about those who are healthy, at the end of the day it's a superiority complex on all sides generated by people who fail at the basic concepts of tolerance.

Eoten is just upset because pretty much the entire urban planning community agrees that designing our cities around cars is TERRIBLE and unsustainable design. None of my ideas are original in the slightest I am just basing my ideas on what experts have already been saying for a long time. Be it in this thread and elsewhere, none of my ideas are even remotedly original.

Yeah the changes arent that big. On a personal scale, biking to and from work takes me an extra 20 minutes when I started, a time that has gone down dramatically since. Going vegan was rough... the first week. Even then, the daily exercise just biking to work is a recreational activity on its own.

Edit: His rebuttals are hilarious too. But they arent really worth responding to. Eoten made it explicitly cleared he does not like expertise nor evidence based decision making. He even admitted as much himself.

I used to be skinny as a kid and then when I got into my teens gained weight though maybe like 20 pounds to 40 pounds. As a adult in my 20's I became a diabetic and for like 5 years didn't care. It wasn't until my dad had a stroke in his 40's and years later suffered another one in his 50's that caused him to not walk and be blinded in one eye, give me a awake up call. A dietician at my doctor's office who was in her 20's helped me to see the different types of food I could eat and not eat. Even portion control which is something I never knew as I would eat whatever food. I quickly eliminated bad foods like sodas for one and greasy food like fast food. I drank water with every meal and excercise outside walking for 30 minutes then increase it to an hour a day. It took me 3 months to lose weight and I went from 200 pounds to 177 pounds. I had felt better about myself and had my A1C under control from a 9.5 to a 6.5.

Obviously I do want to keep in shape and been eating less food. I have two nieces who are 6 and 8 years old and I fear that they will likely become diabetic as they just eat cereal. Their mom is extremely overweight like 250 and she is in her late 20's. I have a nephew who joined sports like basketball and football so he keeps in shape and lost weight.

Those who say just "personal responsibility" don't want the situation to improve. They know overweight people won't take personal responsibility without an external force. They are fine with them burdening our healthcare, but as soon as you suggest the government take an active role in addressing the crisis, they complain about big government. What I would do is make zoning laws less car dependent, better regulate the shit companies can put in our food and improve physical education and nutritional education. I'm not suggesting rebuilding cities that are still in manageable condition, but better designing what hasn't been built yet or NEEDS to be renewed. Nothing will be done. Because, in a time when two thirds of the country is overweight and more than half is obese, merely promoting good eating and exercise from a position of power is deeply unpopular.

Where?

Some of these changes have a perceived big threshold to start with. In summer 2019 I got myself an electric bike to use to and home from work. Planned it more or less so I would start biking when the weather would be most agreeable for doing so. Thinking it would be a big change from using public transport. Reason being is that I stressed about getting to the metro in time.

A week after doing so I asked myself why I hadn't done this before. It's also easier than using a car. Sure, with it being electric I don't get the activity that comes with it. That was planned with my decision. If I need more activity I turn down the power from the engine and do more of the work myself.

Now it is my preferred method of travelling for distances less than 10km. All year round.

About city designing. Is it Sim city devs that have stated that they had to shrink down the amount of space that goes to parking lots? The amount of space it actually requires would make the games far more boring or so. People (the loud ones at least) are very reluctant to imagine other ways of transport than a car. Hell that many things can be planned so a car isn't needed.

Zoning laws are definately an issue. places that dont employ Euclidian zoning, tend to have people hang out in all sorts of public spaces either between work hours, or just as a way to chill out after work, before then walking home. In places with more euclidean zoning, people tend to move around a lot less since there is often a lot more commuting. Time spent in a car.

Parks, where people can play sports, are also significantly more attractive when you dont need to drive 20 minutes to play football (soccer) for an hour, then drive home again.

You mentioned a Not Just Bikes video, and this one is also really good addressing this topic

It was an old post about a year ago. Unfortunately I cannot find it, but the meltdown was hilarious. It was done as a reply to Planeforger. The topic I believe was related to COVID 19 in an Australian city.

Awesome for you on the Ebike. I went with a normal bike because I am boring like that. But Ebikes are cool!

On the topic of weather, I biked home today in the middle of a rain storm, forgot the poncho at home. Not a pleasant trip, but still beats driving a car. Even after biking for a little while, even in the rain, the endorphins kick in and you suddenly feel a lot better in spite of the rain.

Ever notice how much food is advertised?

Thats one.

The next, people just eat because they can. Not because they’re hungry. What do they do ? Oh lets make it a disease with special status.

Just stop fucking eating. Get up off your fat ass and go for a walk. Every time you think about eating go for a walk.

The answer is quite straightforward, change eating habits and exercise. You don't have to hit the gym, just walk or cycle. There are options out there. Also, a low-carb and high protein meal works too.

@Maroxad: I would also so there are any number of things we could (maybe we do, I don't know) offer people such as compensating gym memberships, vitamin supplements, medication, etc. That's probably controversial with your average republican, but still, it's an offer, not an enforcement.

Going to throw this into the ring since everyone's just saying "eat less exercise more lol." This is rather reductive, as it's a treatment for how people end up obese but not why. Studies can confirm, there's plenty of correlation with obesity and mental health, education, and poverty. As well, access to safe and walkable public facilities can play a big factor.

Of course, no one at the top seems interested in providing health, education, and general wellbeing. So we're just fucked I guess.

Live cam a Trump Rally.

@Maroxad: very nice post and a good discussion.

As someone who is morbidly obese and, thankfully, still in relatively good health (cholesterol is low, blood pressure is good, no diabetes), it still sucks for a variety of reasons. Everything you do is harder, fat people are treated like second class citizens, and it's just not a good way to live.

For me, obesity comes down to a few things, but in my personal experience it is mental health and, from what I've seen of other obese people, education.

No one is fat because their life is going well. Sorry not sorry, but if you're fat you are dealing with some issues and probably over eat as a result. As for education, people these days don't cook. Everyone eats out. No one knows basic nutrition. And we are fed absolute crap that's been bioengineered, processed into something completely different than it was when it was pulled from the earth, and worse.

There are other factors of course but to me, Americans are sick of mind more than they care to admit, and they eat too much and eat too much crap.

It's a combination of personal issues and systemic ones.

Yes, god forbid we try to make the world a better place and learn from our mistakes 🙄JFC, indeed.

Maintaining good weight is diet. Like...90%. Exercise will push you over the edge from healthy into fit, but diet alone will keep you in range of being healthy.

This idea that we need to work hard and "earn" our health is does nothing to help the situation and applies the wrong kind of pressure to people that are already stressed. Just make smart eating decisions and you can stay in range of a healthy weight.

If you weigh 200 pounds and your healthy weight is 130 +/- 15, then just eat better. If you want to be toned and fit once you hit 130 and want to get to 120, then workout.

You are right however that activity is pretty important. I wouldn't go so far as to call it exercise but, you know...just walk a bit. 5000+ steps a day is a good start. Have a somewhat active hobby you do a few times a month; golf, hiking, nature walk, camping, etc.

The issue is that shaming is not productive because it includes judgement. People don't fat shame to help people, they fat shame because they view fat people as second-class citizens and like to bully them.

But I agree that body positivity--whether fat or super healthy--is also bad. Fat positivity promotes unhealthy lifestyles, while fit positivity promotes unsustainable ones. Most of those fit ones don't have real jobs and come from wealth, such as actors who are literally paid millions of dollars and get free personal chefs, dieticians, and trainers included with their contracts. You think Thor looks like that because of personal responsibility? No, he got paid to look like that. Look at Chris Pratt, dude was pretty flabby in Parks and Rec and it took Guardians of the Galaxy to get him in shape.

Body neutrality is the way to go. Your body is a physical vessel, like a car or whatever. Most people aren't really proud of their car, but they take of it. They are not ashamed of their car, but they take care of it.

Correcting the problem will take personal responsibility, yes.But eliminating the cause of the problem? There is a lot that society can do to fix that.

I don't think either solution is mutually exclusive, we can benefit from personal changes as well as systemic ones.

Likewise, changing the way we plan our cities also has other benefits (cheaper housing, for one). Shorter commutes would also mean more time to cook healthy meals at home. And so on and so forth.

Overall you're not wrong, in the end it's up to the individual to get up off their ass and make the changes.