American Fat v. Beauty - Page 2

I think it's not just that people are eating high-calorie foods, but also how chemical-laden and processed many things are. Many Americans think that low-cal or low-fat is the answer, but there are many slender healthy Europeans and Asians who still consume lard, cream, bacon, carbs, etc. At just about any chain restaurant in America, almost everything comes out of a freezer or a plastic bag, and that's usually about all that's available in the typical American suburb. Not only can all those chemicals really mess with your metabolism, but since processing foods usually depletes the vitamins and nutrients, your body is tricked into thinking it needs to eat even more.

That's true only if you are trying to acquire some muscle. If you are losing weight and seing miniscule difference after 3 months something is wrong. Since you can easily lose over 20 lbs of fat during that time. Unless of course you have whale-sized proportions to begin with.

Yeah, all the statements about chemicals in the food, processed food, etc. seem true. I blame the automobile culture as well. People drive everywhere. Others walk. More controversially, I might implicate the drivenness of Americans. If you are working 12 hours a day, it's hard not to want some sort of reward in the form of a big steak and some high-calorie alcoholic drinks when the day ends. Frankly, all of this working out bothers me. These ambitious young things eat a big meal, drive to a climate-controlled gym filled with expensive machines, and then head to the locker room to waste water in yet another shower - not to mention all of the power drinks. The solution to everything is "add more" and "consume more." It seems like spending even more of the precious, non-working, time on something that is not enjoyable? Why not walk to work? Or save on food by fasting?

No qualms with walking, but fasting is stupid, and the gym is enjoyable for quite a few of us. You choose to drown your stress in alcohol and a food. I go to the gym and deal with it there, its just as much of an outlet as a bottle of booze.

I blame much of it on Manifest Destiny.

You can't just blame the automobile culture. If I want to walk to the grocery store I simply can't because I'd have to walk about 7 miles total with no sidewalks. Just not feasible, and a little dangerous. I would gladly walk most places, but the organization of space where I live just doesn't support it.

I agree that Americans are overly driven by work and "bottom line," but this does not entail that a "reward" is necessary. There's also no problem with steak. Anyway, some people, myself included, actually enjoy the gym, though it depends what you're doing there. If I just sat on machines I'd hate it too. I'd rather be engaged in an athletic pursuit. Lifting heavy weights requires very little technology - just plates and the bar. Some of the most hardcore gyms are the least "comfortable" ones.

"Consuming more" implies that everything has a quantifiable price, and that we should minimize costs wherever possible. I can't really put a price on the enjoyment I get from weightlifting or the health benefits I accrue from it. This doesn't mean that I'd go spend all my money to support my hobby, but these kind of things don't translate exactly into quantities because they're subjectively valued. I like the old Roman aristocratic notion of leisure. Leisure is that time when you are not working or conducting business, and it should be used to better yourself. In their precious free time the Roman aristocrats would read philosophy, poetry, history, etc., or even write some themselves. They would also participate in athletic activities and take time to simply appreciate something beautiful, whether it be the ocean or a garden. The point is that leisure was not simply about "entertainment," although they had some of that too.

Didn't mean to rag on you... this just seemed like a good opportunity to be pedantic.

Which would be my case...I should have been specific.

Jon.

all i can offer is anecdotal evidence.

A friend brought it to mu attention. He had always noticed a girls arms growing up... didnt think anything of it until he started adding girls from his high school on facebook..... (hes in late 20s now)

Every girl that he remembered had fat/chunky arms.... fatceps, if you will, is now a porker. Admittedly the pool is small (maybe 12 girls?)

There were two exceptions... One girl is anow a personal trainer, the other is a professional dancer... but guess what? they still have chunky arms.

Just something to be aware of when choosing a mate..... you love a fatcepped girl? make damn sure she loves the gym.

I would say this explains our current obesity epidemic pretty well: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/ma...ls&oref=slogin

tl;dr

I think it has a lot to do with eating. To me, it seems like many don`t even know what normal (maybe that`s not the right word) food is anymore. If you eat normal meals, in normal portions, 3 times a day, you won`t get so fat.

It seems like these days, everyone either eats a lot junk or eats like a science project (5 times a day, no carbs, little portions, or whatever the studies say). I know I am overusing the word NORMAL, but I think that is the key to long term health.

Hah, someone with my sig line deserves that, I suppose... TL;DR version: Eat food, don't eat nutrients. Basically a longer version of what Dragon said above.

I blame it on human nature.