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for all we know, the hormones that they feed to the livestock to produce more milk and gain more weight (make more meat) is getting into our bodies and making US gain more weight!
That's why it's important to drink organic milk and eat the organic meat also.
I've been doing this for about a year. It helps with the weight but it also helps women control the mood swings and whatever else that goes along with perimenopause.
This is a topic I think about a lot...IMO, it seems that the cards are stacked against many of us trying to maintain a healthy weight. Among other challenges we face are:
-the huge serving sizes in restaurants and fast food places
-junk/snack food (just why do we need this category of food at all?)
-the addition of high fructose corn syrup to most of our food supply, which is apparently metabolized differently and some scientists think contributes to obesity/diabetes -consumption of sodas, sugary fruit flavored juices we think are healthy but are not
-the growth hormones and other additives in our meats, poultry and milk.
-our sedentary lifestyles and cities and towns not designed for easy walking or bicycling
-so many processed foods and convenience foods high in fat, sugar, salt and additives
I'm sure there's more that could be added to the list, but it's an uphill battle to eat well and not grow larger today. What's supporting us to be well and healthy other than dire statistics and warnings?? Think about it.
What's supporting us to be well and healthy other than dire statistics and warnings?? Think about it.
I think this is where CelticLady's good old-fashioned common sense comes in.
Maybe we should take those dire statics and warnings with a grain of salt, but it is a pretty safe bet that if we exercise and eat less, we won't gain weight.
However, I agree that the American way of life, when we look at everything you have said, is neither the healthiest nor the most sensible.
Mostly it is the American way of profit.
Yep, common sense works if we've not been too brain-washed by all the advertising driving us to the chips and ice cream...have you noticed there are not too many advertisements for cauliflower or swiss chard??
The French Paradox of how the French remain (mostly) slender and yet eat butter and pate and other high fat things was revealed to be simple-- their portions are tiny compared to ours--and they don't eat snack/junk food--and they walk more! Now that makes sense to me...
Yep, common sense works if we've not been too brain-washed by all the advertising driving us to the chips and ice cream...have you noticed there are not too many advertisements for cauliflower or swiss chard??
The French Paradox of how the French remain (mostly) slender and yet eat butter and pate and other high fat things was revealed to be simple-- their portions are tiny compared to ours--and they don't eat snack/junk food--and they walk more! Now that makes sense to me...
Portion control...what a concept!
It's sad about the brain-washing thing. I myself don't need to see romaine lettuce advertised in order to want it.
But I grew up a certain way, and other folks grow up another way.
As insidious as the advertising is, I am more disgusted with HFCS and additives and the way so much of our food is processed. Even if someone agrees and understands that our national diet should be improved, it's sometimes difficult and/or expensive to change.
It would be really sad if this overweight social divide gets worse and worse; it is already becoming a upper-class/lower-class schism.
I never thought obesity would be so medicalized, either, but then I never dreamed of Botox, breast implants or a zillion other procedures.
That's why it's important to drink organic milk and eat the organic meat also.
I've been doing this for about a year. It helps with the weight but it also helps women control the mood swings and whatever else that goes along with perimenopause.
I've switched my husband, son, and myself over to organic milk, because we drink milk every day, and I figure it's got to help, at least to some degree, not to be injesting milk that has added hormones, etc., (obviously, milk does have natural hormones, but that is different). We buy a half-side of beef occasionally from a local guy, who doesn't use feed with added hormones, either. Our local grocery store, Publix, has a fairly large variety of organic products, such as milk, meats, (pork, beef, and chicken), fruits and vegetables. Of course, they also carry the organic packaged foods, but those are extremely pricey. I try to use organic/natural where I can, but it is aggravating that most of it is so doggoned expensive.
This is a topic I think about a lot...IMO, it seems that the cards are stacked against many of us trying to maintain a healthy weight. Among other challenges we face are:
-the huge serving sizes in restaurants and fast food places
-junk/snack food (just why do we need this category of food at all?)
-the addition of high fructose corn syrup to most of our food supply, which is apparently metabolized differently and some scientists think contributes to obesity/diabetes -consumption of sodas, sugary fruit flavored juices we think are healthy but are not
-the growth hormones and other additives in our meats, poultry and milk.
-our sedentary lifestyles and cities and towns not designed for easy walking or bicycling
-so many processed foods and convenience foods high in fat, sugar, salt and additives
I'm sure there's more that could be added to the list, but it's an uphill battle to eat well and not grow larger today. What's supporting us to be well and healthy other than dire statistics and warnings?? Think about it.
You're right on with this. High fructose corn syrup is horrible for us and it's in many things. I've eliminated it from our diet. It's even in many whole grain and whole wheat breads that we're led to believe are good for us. Brands without it are readily available at grocery stores.
there are tons of people who absolutely HATE overweight people. i wish someone could explain why this is so. i think that a lot of overweight people are addicted to food and that most would love to be able to stop eating and look a normal weight but just cant so i think we should give them a break.
I'm not a hater of overweight people, but I do at times resent the intrusion into my space, especially when travelling. In all fairness, airfares should be based on weight, and the airlines should provide an oversized seating section to accommodate the oversized people paying the higher airfairs. I tremendously resent having to sit next to a significantly oversized person on an airplane. It is an outright infringment upon the seating space that I paid for.
At work, I hate getting caught behind an overweight person who waddles down the hall, blocking may passage and wasting valuable minutes of my break time. Few of the waddlers have the good sense to pull over and allow healthy people to pass.
I see very few overweight people in my gym ( I tip my hat to the very few who do work out! ), which seems to suggest that they won't and don't take the time to exercise properly. I see very few overweight people at at vegetarian restaurants and natural food grocery stores that I frequent ( I tip my hat to the very few who do eat healthy food! ), which again seems to suggest that they won't and don't take the time to eat a healthy diet.
Even though I agree with the poster who made reference to Big Brother controlling what people eat by taking choices away, it is also a fact that junk food is so cheap compared to healthy food becasue the government ( big brother ) subsidies most of the crapy ingredients. So let's get rid of the subsidies and allow the junk food crap to be sold at its real cost. If a Snickers bar was the same price as a Cliff Bar, more people would choose the Cliff Bar, if it was even available as an option. Most vending machines provide NO healthy choices, just choices between various junk food items. So, in reality Big Brother is already controlling food choices by making junk food so cheap.
blessings....Franco
Last edited by CosmicWizard; 12-30-2007 at 03:10 PM..
Don't be fooled- Cliff and Luna bars are almost as bad as candy bars. Check the sugar content on them.
I'm overweight and people seem to think it's OK to come up to me on the street, in a store, etc and insult me. I have been 80 pounds overweight since early high school to a yet undiscovered health problem. My doctors have NO idea why I can't lose weight. I haven't had anything to drink but water since 8th grade (before I even really gained all the weight), I'm pesca-vegan unless I can get organic meats, I don't eat gluten, I don't eat refined carbs, and I eat about 10 servings of leafy veggies a day. Over the summer, I walked about 5 miles round trip to work in addition to packing my lunch and walking around a park during my lunch break. Now at school, I walk up and down about 1000 steps a day due to living on the 4th floor and most of my classes being up a huge hill. I also walk at least a mile a day beyond that and I go to the gym at my school.
Yet when I'm on my 3 mile round trip walk into town from my college campus to the grocery store to get carrot sticks, broccoli, stuff to make my own hummus, and other healthy snacks that my school doesn't offer, people feel the need to lean out their car windows and moo at me. Since I have to go into town for groceries often, my friends often give me requests for things to pick up for them (and hey, extra weights for me on the way back!). Once that included fudge and sugary cereal and an elderly man came up to me and told me that I "really need to cut that out".
But healthy food is much more expensive. At my college, for instance, we have meal equivalences at one cafeteria so instead of the all you can eat deal, each item is a la carte and you can spend up to a certain amount. To get something HEALTHY like grilled salmon (which is fresh, grilled right up in front of you, and uses no oil or salt) and a steamed veggie side, you use up your entire meal. However, I could get pasta, a hamburger, fries, and ice cream for the same amount! That's why college kids get the freshman 15... or 50. Over the summer was when I found out I had celiac disease (before that I'd eat whole wheat everything) so I just stopped buying all grain products besides the occasional, once or twice a week quinoa or brown rice. Just for me, I was spending over $100 on groceries because I was more or less only buying fresh fruits and veggies. Who can really afford that? Even though I was going all over town to the various farmer's markets, it wasn't that much cheaper than the grocery stores.
NewAgeRedneck- the reason you probably don't see overweight people at the gym is because people at the gym are just downright rude to overweight people! When I was in high school, I went to the local Y and there were tons of overweight people- even many of the workers! It was a really comfortable environment as an overweight person. Last summer I was in a city working an internship and I got a trial membership at the cheapest gym I could find (and even that was very unaffordable). I was the ONLY overweight person every time I went and I got the dirtiest looks from people. It's not as if I was walking around in a sports bra and short shorts! People even made snide remarks to me in the changing room. After the 3rd time that happened, I stopped going and just upped my exercise beyond walking to and from work which was 4 miles round trip anyway. It's not worth the ridicule.
Yep, common sense works if we've not been too brain-washed by all the advertising driving us to the chips and ice cream...have you noticed there are not too many advertisements for cauliflower or swiss chard??
The French Paradox of how the French remain (mostly) slender and yet eat butter and pate and other high fat things was revealed to be simple-- their portions are tiny compared to ours--and they don't eat snack/junk food--and they walk more! Now that makes sense to me...
Yes, I've heard that, too. They even interviewed a few French women on 20/20 at one time. They walk everywhere and that does burn up a lot of calories. The thing I remembered most was their discussion on dessert since sweets are my main downfall. The French lady said that you only need two or three bites of it and your taste buds are actually satisfied so she said to leave the rest. Yea, right~like I'm going to leave my dessert.
I've just got to say though that I found it sad reading a few of the posts that were written by people who are battling with their weight. The saddest part is the fact that they actually do feel that people are prejudiced against them. I don't know if it's paranoia or if it's real, but if it's a fact, I think it's disgraceful to treat someone that way.
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