Posted on 05/12/2013 2:37:18 PM PDT by neverdem
In the 2008 Pixar movie WALL.E, humans so clogged up the earth with garbage they had to move to spaceships. Motorized chairs ferried the obese blobs portraying people of the future, who sipped liquids from massive cups and sat mesmerized by video screens.
It was both funny and scary in its assessment of America’s throw-away, fast-food culture where convenience is everything and self-control and direction outsourced to technology. At the time of the movie it was part of an emerging chorus of voices decrying Americans’ growing girth. Five years later it is almost impossible to go a day without seeing a news story on obesity; first lady Michelle Obama has made childhood exercise and healthy eating a top priority; and even purveyors of the triumvirate of salt, sugar and fat feel compelled to make amends for selling the stuff most blamed for everything from extra pounds to diabetes and heart disease. Coca-Cola, for example, recently promised to make lower-calorie drinks and nutrition information for its products more widely available around the world.
The consensus opinion is that fast food companies and convenience food makers are to blame for the fact that 69 percent of America is either overweight or obese. 2013’s Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us by Michael Moss, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist at the New York Times, makes one of the most compelling arguments for a side that has compiled reams of evidence that Americans are victims of a plot to maximize profits at the expense of our cholesterol levels, blood pressure and body mass index.
As Moss uncovered, the processed food industry has made a science of finding the “bliss” point for sugar, salt, and fat and developed foods arguably as addictive as alcohol and drugs. It has also found ways to make it nearly...
(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...
Little Miss Lurkin came back from college and convinced me to start having non-fat yogurt and blueberries for breakfast (rather than my superb homemade corned beef hash)
She was right. I haven’t bought potatoes for over two year and don’t miss them.
Now if I could just say no to fried spam and eggs.
Health Nazi/Nanny State Ping!
Wow! There’s a fun movie that I missed. I guess I was too busy watching Fred & Ginger movies on my home screen.
Were you in the armed forces? All my male relatives loved spam. They learned about it during WWII and became quickly addicted. My mother went crazy with my father!
If Americans would start doing the jobs Americans don’t want to do, we could kill two birds with one stone.
My personal view is that the chubs epidemic is far more due the lack of physical exercise.
I go for a daily 2.5 mile walk thru a neighborhood and almost never see anybody outside, not even kids.
And all the lawns are mowed by Hispanic dudes with pickup trucks.
It IMO isn't a hunger issue, it's more an eating habit.
Went to Europe and portions were like a third of what we get in America.
I tell my younger family members now to remember to cut back portions as then get to their mid-twenties.
So, don't over-eat and exercise a little and there will be far less fat hanging around. There is no other secret solution except to sew your mouth shut or to cut on your stomach.
Our family went gluten-free about a month ago. My son has dropped weight without any effort. My husband eats mostly low carb and that is helping him keep weight off as well.
Spam is part of my disaster supplies. I try to eat what I store and store what I eat. 8^)
That deal where they put an adjustable noose on your stomach must be insanely profitable. The hospitals advertise it 24/7.
Now don’t eat it all up before end times begin!
I’m thin.
I’m going to disagree with you. You can’t out train a bad diet. Go to any fitness website and ask any experienced trainer what’s more important, exercise or diet. You should do both of course. I’ve lifted weights for 23 years and have always played some time of sport. (not organized sport always)
I’m sure you’re correct, but if somebody’s physical activity approaches a state of hibernation, how many calories can they reasonably eat?
It is a dangerous proposition.
According to a friend who is a surgeon, 1-5000 die on an operating table for not particular reason.
Dumb question, but is that rate any different than for any other major surgery?
Following some of the author's suggestions has helped me lose 23 pounds. I'm still overweight, but I'm certainly not the budding grotesquerie that I used to be.
Nanny State PING!
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