Or is it really a circular scam that takes billions of tax dollars from Americans and gives it to pharmaceutical companies to throw drugs at people to numb them from the symptoms of diet related disease?Wouldn't it just be cheaper to shut down the fast food restaurants and to ban high fructose corn syrup?
Jasai said...
on date day yesterday with hubby, went to breakfast after yoga. was stumped by the sheer volume of oddly obese people. like, not just chubby, chunky or even fat. but really - "how long has it been since you cared about anything" - large.emptiness made visible.
Wanda said...
As an obese person, I can honestly say that my fatness has nothing to do with my checkbook. It has to do with lifestyle, biological and emotional issues.Its seems that in this day and age, most people just don't cook. Everything is fast food, even what we buy in grocery stores. Imagine paying a company extra to use a Ziploc bag to help you steam food? Because many of us are working, we don't take the time to even cook for our children.
And even judging by the meals prepared by my baby-boomer mother, its is no surprise that the babyboomer style of cooking has not translated well to this new generation. Salty canned vegetables with no color, meats cooked beyond recognition and infused with fat and nutritional value.
This past Ramadan, since I can't totally fast, I did a vegan fast. I cannot even explain how hard it was for my body to detox from my regular diet. Intense cravings and my stomach felt like it was sucking a balloon through a straw. It took about 13 days for my body to feel normal, sonething I never felt in a long time.
I don't think we should pass laws to dictate what people should/should not eat, they (the obese) just have to begin to care and move to action. That's the hard part really.
17 comments:
on date day yesterday with hubby, went to breakfast after yoga. was stumped by the sheer volume of oddly obese people. like, not just chubby, chunky or even fat. but really - "how long has it been since you cared about anything" - large.
emptiness made visible.
Wow.
isn't this suggestion support of selective "nanny state" policies that you claim to be so opposed to? Why not advocate shutting down Domino Sugar, Nestle, Hershey, Toll House, Vegetable Oil etc. If we drink more of the calories that lead to gaining weight and obesity why not ban carbonated beverages?
Fast food is not the issue. Decisions are. Removing food options is not a solution that strengthens minds. Mental health (resistance to impulse) leads to physical health and reduced consumption in all forms IMO.
"Mental health (resistance to impulse) leads to physical health and reduced consumption in all forms IMO."
-KP
checkmate.
As long as people have the option to make horrible decisions, they will make horrible decisions. The average american hasn't even heard the words "high fructose corn syrup." Closing down McD's and such would be great, but we all know it'd never happen.
None of America's options are bright. I think it will end up with a lot of people dying long, slow, painful deaths.
One of my best friends is over 500 pounds. He is naturally stocky and got teased about it so bad by his mom that he got fattger just to spite her. Wierd, I know.
It doesn't seem that this is an issue of education.
It's a matter of class. It's expensive to eat properly. Americans are getting poorer and poorer and, consequently, they have no option other than the corn-infested food peddled from every angle.
i happen to spend less on my quest to eat better. fisrt off, what you find when you sate those desperate urges that really have nothing to do with hunger, your body needs less food by volume. While fruit and vegetables won't break anybody, especially if they cut out the rest of the junk.
I think we have to be very careful selling this as a class issues as that becomes a psychological barrier after a while for those who may not have deep pockets.
education about what and more importatly WHY we eat is essential. There is no way that we can say messages and education won't get us out of this situation when education in the form of advertising got us this far in.
and Like J said, so much of why we ruin our lives - however we do it - is emotional below the radar of our consciousness.
As an obese person, I can honestly say that my fatness has nothing to do with my checkbook. It has to do with lifestyle, biological and emotional issues.
Its seems that in this day and age, most people just don't cook. Everything is fast food, even what we buy in grocery stores. Imagine paying a company extra to use a Ziploc bag to help you steam food? Because many of us are working, we don't take the time to even cook for our children.
And even judging by the meals prepared by my baby-boomer mother, its is no surprise that the babyboomer style of cooking has not translated well to this new generation. Salty canned vegetables with no color, meats cooked beyond recognition and infused with fat and nutritional value.
This past Ramadan, since I can't totally fast, I did a vegan fast. I cannot even explain how hard it was for my body to detox from my regular diet. Intense cravings and my stomach felt like it was sucking a balloon through a straw. It took about 13 days for my body to feel normal, sonething I never felt in a long time.
I don't think we should pass laws to dictate what people should/should not eat, they (the obese) just have to begin to care and move to action. That's the hard part really.
whoops, sorry for the long post! ::embarassed::
Wanda that was tight.
It takes a truly thoughtful person to be able to make good food choices in today's society. I consider myself very food conscious and there are some days when I just feel like I have to PIG OUT. I just try to stick to certain rules: no fast food, very little soda, a fast every few months, etc.
KP makes an important point.
However, the suggestion to ban fast-food was figurative and not literal. It was designed to focus the attention on prevention and not treatment. It was an effort to point out the ridiculous suggestion that personal health - can be managed by a Federal Government.
Although I don't expect (or want) the government to legislate "good habits," I also expect better protective measures related to regulating the food supply.
One year, I took time to really research government-approved food additives. I am more than convinced that the tangled web we call "health and weight" leads to somebody's pocket.
How about this: MSG, labeled a "flavor enhancer" is actually a neurotransmitter added solely for the purpose of creating addiction to a particular food. Research the chemical.
High fructose corn syrup is an unnecessary, unhealthy super-sugar linked to increasing diabetes and heart disease.
And all of this creates life-long profits for pharmaceutical companies and many others (including folks involved in the approval process at all levels).
And I am far from being a conspiracy theorist. I look for the bright side of just about everything.
I don't expect the government to police my eating habits. But I also don't expect the government to (1) approve disease-causing additives as acceptable in the food supply and/or (2) profit from the ill effects of those approvals.
As TruthInLabeling.com put it:
"The FDA approves glutamate blocking drugs while at the same time the FDA approves glutamate containing food ingredients.
As a big supporter of "personal responsibility," I'm not naive enough to overlook potentially purposeful attempts to sabotage health and wellness for profits.
Great post Wanda. Very brave. Keep at it.....as I get my mind around step aerobics tonight - for the 3rd time this week. :-)
All make great points.
I'd add however, that a lot of this (folks needing to get in shape and lose a few pounds) is largely the result of an absence of any physical activity whatsoever. Think about it. For a lot of folks the only time their heart rate is raised is when they're f(*^ing!
We dont walk anywhere and sit for hours on end at work. In addition to tweeking the food, there needs to be a shift in how much people move.
and at the risk of being offensive, I'll say that picture up top is absolutely disgusting.
@rjesq:
Yea it isnt an attractive picture, so thank god i'm not that big. I agree with the exercise comment too. I have been very sedentary since elementary school and was never made to participate in any activities either. Now I have a desk job (blah!) and work with a bunch of snack addicts. :)
"Will "National Health Care" Actually Make Them More Healthy?
Of course not. Is that the goal of the "National Health Care" plan? I thought it was about givig access to medical care to people who can't afford it.
It's not our gov't responsibilty to make us more "healthy." Becoming "healthy" is a lifestyle. It's a combination of multiple things (diet, exercise, low stress, etc...) The vast majority of people become obese one way, through their mouth. To be fair, of course there are psychological reasons for injesting large sums of food. Fighting obesity is a different battle than providing health care to the poor...IMO
The question is: Is access to healthcare a right or a privelege?
Paul that's very interesting.
The goal of these proposed National "Health" Care plans is not the improved health of the Nation, but to grant "access" to health care for those who can't afford it. Not that this access is going to change anything ... but if some have it ... all should have it.
I don't know man.
Sounds a bit jive to me.
I think I'd rather see that hundred billion dollars spent improving the school system.
Actually, I'd like to see the hundred billion stay in the pockets of Americans and used to buy healthier foods not to get sick in the first place.
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are political twins.
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