Posted on 11/26/2007 12:46:45 PM PST by MotleyGirl70
And Here, for everyone’s entertainment, and maybe a wake-up call, is a musical version of this article.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cn52Px_h7_8&feature=related
“Flame away if you feel the need, but this is the reality where I live.”
No flames here because you are dead on. I worked at a C-Store through college that was by a section 8 apartment complex. My experiences were the exact same as yours.
The welfare queens shop at expensive c-stores and buy crap. The reason being, they think if they aren’t spending a lot of money at once, they are saving money. Many just don’t go to the market and buy a bill of groceries. The same people who do this are the same ones who would put $2 worth of gas in their cars every two days instead of filling up once every two weeks. They simply do not have a clue how to manage even a little money. Why would they? More is coming next month and they don’t have to do a thing for it.
In short, it’s just plain laziness and ignorance. How are we to expect people who literally drag their feet when they walk and lie down when they drive to be fit and healthy?
There is a lot of talk here about Southern cooking, etc. That is just a sorry argument. We eat healthier today than ever before in history. What we don’t do is MOVE as much. According to many posts on this thread, I should weigh 300 lbs. I cook with real butter. I fry stuff all the time. I drink sweet tea and enough Coke to keep a factory open. I weigh 160 lbs and am 6 feet tall. I can also drop and give you 51 right now.
Southern heat, my butt. Sweating is good. It’s all I can to to keep weight on during the summer. Know what I did during the heat of the summer? Rented a jack-hammer and broke up all the concrete surrounding the pool in my yard, tossed all the brken concrete (almost a foot thick in some places) and filled in the pool. I dug up 6 LARGE pompus grass plants (weighed over 500 lbs each) and hauled them off. I had to use an engine hoist to get them in the back of my truck. I also rented a skid-steer and leveled the back yard where I filled in the pool. I also installed gutters on my house and built two large flower beds.
To hot to go outside, my butt. Too lazy. Anyway, sorry about the rant.
When humidity is really high and temperatures are well in excess of 90 degrees it’s kind of hard to get outside and get all physically active. If you have air conditioning, as most of us southerners do, you’d be really tempted to stay inside most of the time during our hotter months. Our states tend to be poorer states too. People eat a lot of junk food because that’s what they can afford, and they don’t tend to have a lot of money for gym memberships and fancy activities. Education levels tend to be lower too. Consequently, we are inundated with grossly obese people who sit in their homes avoiding the heat, eating McDonald's and all you can eat buffets and when they do cook at home it’s often BBQ, fried foods, etc., not so healthy stuff.
Southerners may be the worst about it, but Americans in general are too heavy. Travel around the world some and you’ll know your back in America when you land at one of our International airports. On average the people you see will be a lot heavier than those in the airport in the foreign country you were coming from. I went to Brazil a not long ago and was just blown away by how many fat people I saw in the Miami Airport when I got back. Hardly anyone in Brazil is overweight, but here most people are. You see the same thing in other countries too, not just Brazil although people there may healthier than in a lot of other countries. Most anywhere you go though you’ll see far fewer “cows” walking around, far fewer really fat people. You’ll also likely see far less junk food being pushed on people, fewer all you can eat buffets, smaller portions being served at restaurants, and so on.
Agree with you FIL, it is all about in versus out. None of us exercise they way we should for various reasons (excuses) and that is where I point the finger.
Not so much "what you eat", it's how you burn it off.
If you toss out all the illegals in San Antonio, not only would the obesity level drop but also the traffic, and the tremendous drain on social and school system dollars. It went from being a nice, mid-size Texas city to #5 in the US - just from the illegals!
I became allergic in my early 20s. It sucks because I love shellfish. Never had lobster before I became allergic but I've had crab legs and shrimp and miss not being able to eat it anymore.
The Queens aren’t going to change until we (the people buying their damned food) make them, and the only way to do that is through legislation. You sure as hell aren’t going to “embarass” them into it.
Because they are so overweight and slothful, they have a ton of medical problems. They go to the free clinic or the ER at the hospital. No problem for them. Guess who pays for that? Then there’s dental. Their “super healthy” diet makes all their teeth fall out. No problem. We’ve got a free dental clinic also. Again, guess who pays for it?
Then, around this time of year, the local bleeding hearts flood the local airwaves (and personaly solicit me) for donations so “I” can have the privelege of buying their children Christmas presents!!!
Sheesh! don’t get me started.....
Several posters on this thread have indicated that they don't exercise because going to the gym is too time consuming with work, kids, and family commitments. But as you have just illustrated, a person does not have to go to a gym to get the kind of exercise needed to lose weight. Park the car and WALK! I park my car in the furthest corner of my office lot even though I have a private space right next to the building. I walk to the four or five blocks to the diner or deli at lunch, rather than drive. I walk up three flights of stairs rather than take the elevator. I still cut my own grass, trim the hedges, rake leaves, and shovel snow, rather than hiring someone else to get exercise. I stand and pace when I am on the phone at the office, rather than sitting with my feet up on the desk. Although I do belong to a gym, I go there not just to exercise, but to exercise at a higher level. And even there I have to laugh at the fat people who circle the parking lot looking for a space right next to the building, rather than parking in the far corner and walking. If a person really wants to lose weight, then they need to exercise, but they don't need to join a gym. WALK!
The bottom line is that 99% of fat people are fat because they eat more calories than they burn. They are essentially lazy, and their excuses are self-created life style choices that they are unable or unwilling to change because they are -- LAZY!.
Out of the park!
we've been eating healthier, and i have found that healthy food is more expensive... i'm not complaining... i think the expense is worth it... but the food is not cheaper... (i'm comparing unhealthy "eating in" food with healthy "eating in" food)...
“a person does not have to go to a gym to get the kind of exercise needed to lose weight. Park the car and WALK!”
I don’t think walking an extra 30 seconds is really getting you much exercise. I don’t think you can compare it to spending a reasonable amount of time at the gym.
What's up with that?
How’s your waste level? That’s the biggest problem I’ve found with buying healthier food for home, when you’re used to shopping for prepackaged stuff you tend to shop for 1 or 2 weeks at a time and you just can’t do that when you’re buying fresh fruits and vegetables, they don’t keep that long. But once we retrained to buying for 2 or 3 days the cost dropped. Of course now there’s a mid ground, there’s prepackaged fresh (mostly salads), which might be cheaper over the long haul but is pricier in the short term. Part of it is also where you go, mainline grocery stores tend to have more expensive fresh sections, not sure if it’s to keep equity with the rest of the store or what. Smaller places, like Trader Joe’s, the selection is smaller and more sporadic but the price kicks butt.
We have a HUGE welfare population, and they eat a lot of unhealthy foods.
Its not the same as the exercise that I get a a gym, but it is exercise and reflective of a healthy life-style. All those "30 second" walks add up throughout the day. I average 10,000 steps a day before going to the gym. At two feet per step, that's 3.78 miles a day! Although I am not walking long enough or fast enough across the parking lot to achieve any meaningful aerobic benefit, I am burning calories, and those calories add up over time.
It must've been a while since you last checked. Fruits and veggies aren't cheap. That's why WIC recipients don't buy them. They can get more for their money with junk food than healthy food.
Personally, I love veggies and always need celery and/or carrot sticks in the frig to munch on especially later at night. Keeps me away from the Oreos--most of the time.
” I am burning calories, and those calories add up over time.”
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What you said. Most people don’t realize that certain forms of exercise are cumulative. The exception is strength training, IIRC. Because of my age, I do yoga for some of that — a milder form than Bikram’s to be sure, but it’s a very effective way for me. Things will get more strenuous later, as I heal...
We also have to know when to push the plate away. Once you get used to it, it’s really very easy to do, and you don’t feel deprived. You’ve eaten what you want, just not too much of it.
As big as I am, I’m seeing results where it counts: on the scale. As long as I’m taking a (mostly) downward track, I know I’m doing the right thing.
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