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I know what the original poster means when he says s/he was disturbed by the number of obese people s/he saw traveling. I think we all get used to just seeing whatever is around us everyday and it doesn't register much anymore; I know that is the case with me. As an example, I live in Chicago, which was recently ranked as one of the most obese cities in the US. A couple months ago I went on a business trip for work where I started in Boston then went to New York, San Francisco, and finally Denver before returning home. I never really noticed how many obese people there are here in Chicago until I spent some time in other cities (Denver in particular, I felt like an elephant there and I'm far from obese currently).
I think the obesity epidemic is scary. I don't put the blame for weight gain entirely on an overweight person. I've struggled with weight all of my life, ever since I ate for comfort after traumatic events early in my childhood. Like it said in those videos, those fat cells will always be there, and I can gain weight so easily, it seems unreal.
I think there are MANY factors at play, but IMO, there are 2 really big ones:
1. Stress - As another poster said, eating is pleasurable and many people do it as a way to unwind or experience pleasure. In this country, food is easily available, it tastes good, feels good (temporarily), and it releases feel-good chemicals in the brain. It's probably the cheapest and easiest therapy out there and eating is something we all HAVE to do, so it's pretty socially acceptable.
2. The food industry - This is the thing that I don't think most people are aware of... Our government still subsidizes corn, which is used to make high fructose corn syrup, a huge culprit in the obesity epidemic. HFCS is addictive, studies have proven this, and it is NOT good for us. HFCS was not always in the foods that we consume, and I really don't think it should be there today (despite what all those stupid HFCS commercials say how it is just like sugar). HFCS is just one example, but the way our governement regulates/subsidizes food has an impact on what is available and affordable to the average American. If we get addicted to HFCS, we want more of it, we "demand" larger portions by virtue of going to restaurants that offer them to us, so everyone increases their portion sizes to stay competitive, and we become comfortable eating still more, and the cycle continues...
I really think that the answers as to why we are so much heavier today than we were 30 years ago lie in the macro level things that have changed. So what has changed in the last 30 years? Are we more car-dependent? More stressed out? Working longer hours? Are certain ingredients more common in our food? Are animals being given different hormones/stimulants? Are our vegetable and fruits being grown differently? Are we more sedentary? Why?
I obviously cannot answer all of those questions, but I think getting those answers and possibly reverting back to some of our ways from the past could make a big difference. Humans are wired to want to eat, to store fat, to enjoy sweet/salty/fatty foods, that is just how we've evolved and that is not what has changed in 30 years. Our willpower hasn't dramatically changed, but many things have. I think that's where you'll find the answers to this epidemic.
As an aside, the government does all sorts of studies saying that this, that or the other isn't harmful in whatever typical dose. I believe that to a point, but I'd love to know who sponsored any given study. Could it be that corn farmers want us to think HFCS is the same as sugar? I wonder why that would be.... Also, just because one thing alone isn't harmful or promoting weight gain, maybe 10 newer chemicals in combination are, and that's something that really isn't feasible to test in a scientific study.
Reading this thread is what convinced me to work out just now, btw, so if nothing else, there has been that benefit.
this explains the fact that Colorado is the least obese state in the nation.
Another observation I made, although Pa is #19, New Jersey is #43. This would explain why here in eastern Pa, right on the border of NJ, I do not see a lot of obese people either.
Y'all folks who are obsessive/compulsive about your weight and your health go right on ahead and eat "healthy" and work out and look down your thin, pristine noses at the unenlightened. Go ahead and deny yourself things you like in the name of health, flex your rock-hard abs, pass on that cheese cake. Knock yourselves out.
While y'all are doing that, I think I'll sit on my azz, drink a cold beer, stuff in a few more greasy enchilda's and have a smoke for dessert. Too bad y'all can't join me. I've got plenty and it sure is good!
And, ya know what? You can't prove that I'm taking a single, solitary second off my life. Nor can you prove you're adding one. Neither can you guarantee you'll have better quality of life than I will. And, you can't prove I won't. All you've got is the odds and that's just gambling on a future you have no control over anyhow. You don't even know if you'll live long enough to read this post, but you act like you can manipulate the future. Personally, I think Harrah's has better odds on their slot machines.
I'll bet if someone came on here and said, "Hey! I can see the future!" you'd laugh him off...but you're doing the same thing. If the seer who claims he can see 10 or 20 or 30 years down the road is a screwball, y'all are too.
What a bunch of sissies. To afraid of dying to enjoy life!
You remind me of a couple in my neighborhood. They're both unapologetic heavy smokers and she's overweight. Both of them avoided exercise like the plague. They weren't sissies at all--and really enjoyed each and every cigarette, until he had a stroke earlier this year. Now he's not enjoying much at all, because he's in a wheel chair and she's changing his diapers. She's had breast cancer and even though she's in remission, she had to quit her job because she just didn't feel good enough to do the work any more. They're beyond flat broke because they didn't have any insurance. He has applied for disability, but isn't receiving it yet.
So, while you are absolutely right that there are no guarantees, I can't help but wonder if my neighbor feels like he might have increased his odds of enjoying his later years if he had laid off the cigarettes and gotten some exercise.
You remind me of a couple in my neighborhood. They're both unapologetic heavy smokers and she's overweight. Both of them avoided exercise like the plague. They weren't sissies at all--and really enjoyed each and every cigarette, until he had a stroke earlier this year. Now he's not enjoying much at all, because he's in a wheel chair and she's changing his diapers. She's had breast cancer and even though she's in remission, she had to quit her job because she just didn't feel good enough to do the work any more. They're beyond flat broke because they didn't have any insurance. He has applied for disability, but isn't receiving it yet.
So, while you are absolutely right that there are no guarantees, I can't help but wonder if my neighbor feels like he might have increased his odds of enjoying his later years if he had laid off the cigarettes and gotten some exercise.
It sounds like they are not bright enough to put that together anyway
It sounds like they are not bright enough to put that together anyway
You know, they actually are smart, very nice people and I'm really, really sorry that they're in this situation. But either they thought they would beat the odds, or they just decided it wasn't worth it to quit smoking and take care of themselves.
You know, they actually are smart, very nice people and I'm really, really sorry that they're in this situation. But either they thought they would beat the odds, or they just decided it wasn't worth it to quit smoking and take care of themselves.
Sad,.... as I mentioned in my first post. It is sad that people can't get past whatever demons that are preventing them from taking good care of themselves.
My motivators are my three kids. They are always in my thoughts and it is what prevents me from eating a bag of doritos or a donut, honest to god!
That, and I love feeling good!
You remind me of a couple in my neighborhood. They're both unapologetic heavy smokers and she's overweight. Both of them avoided exercise like the plague. They weren't sissies at all--and really enjoyed each and every cigarette, until he had a stroke earlier this year. Now he's not enjoying much at all, because he's in a wheel chair and she's changing his diapers. She's had breast cancer and even though she's in remission, she had to quit her job because she just didn't feel good enough to do the work any more. They're beyond flat broke because they didn't have any insurance. He has applied for disability, but isn't receiving it yet.
So, while you are absolutely right that there are no guarantees, I can't help but wonder if my neighbor feels like he might have increased his odds of enjoying his later years if he had laid off the cigarettes and gotten some exercise.
Ok, here's the other side of that story:
My Mom smoked briefly in her 20's then dropped it. For the rest of her life, she had healthy foods and exercised. At 82, she had nearly perfect health and was walking at least a mile a day, every day. She rarely drank alcohol, and not at all for the past 50 years. She had oatmeal for breakfast, drank 1% milk. She took no medicines for anything. No high blood pressure, no cholesteral, no nothing.
But, she had a massive stroke which paralyzed her entire right side and destroyed roughly 1/3rd of her brain. For the past year or so, she's been in a rest home, unable to even get herself out of bed or onto the pot by herself. She must be assisted with anything which involves the use something other than her left arm.
I can't help but wonder if it ever crosses her mind that she'd have been better off just dropping dead earlier, rather than end up totally dependent on others for even the most basic tasks.
So, see? For every example of someone who paid little attention to their health having problems in later life, there are other examples just the opposite.
The bottom line is that God, and God alone, dictates our future. We cannot "help" Him keep us healthy and productive right up to the end. And, if we think we can, we're only fooling ourselves.
And that's the thing with people like you: you're so used to feeling like you do, and have gotten so out of touch with your body, that you think you feel fine and don't need to eat better or exercise. It's sad that you'll never know how much better you could feel and look.
No doubt, physical activity is thee best thing for mental wellbeing...aside from LSD of course. <--joke
"We now have evidence to support the claim that exercise is related to positive mental health as indicated by relief in sympotoms of depression and anxiety."
I've never had a weight problem, but getting my butt in gear has really helped me alot.
Quote:
Originally Posted by stillkit
And, I said playing the odds is simply gambling and the slot machines at Harrah's offer better odds.
The bottom line is that God, and God alone, dictates our future. We cannot "help" Him keep us healthy and productive right up to the end. And, if we think we can, we're only fooling ourselves.
You're right, we cannot help Him keep us healthy & productive.
And one of your activities seems to be ridiculing people who don't behave like you think they should?
Please?
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