Showing posts with label thoughts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label thoughts. Show all posts
My Thoughts On Obesity
Sunday, April 13, 2014
The conventional model of obesity is as follows: Eat more calories than you expend and youll gain weight. To paraphrase my professor, it really is just a simple math equation. And for weight loss, burn more calories than you take in and youll lose weight. Thats not the part I disagree with. That is an established fact. But the problem is that conventional obesity paradigm ends there. Really?? Thats it?? Im paying for a top quality nutrition education, and were not going to delve any deeper than that? I would expect this in a high school health class; you dont need to bother high schoolers with the finer details that they likely wouldnt even care about. But this is an advanced course in nutrition... I expect more than the "all you need to lose weight is a calculator" mentality.
This calories in, calories out model of obesity says that if youve gained weight, youve consumed more calories than youve burned, but it does nothing to explain why someone has consumed more than theyve burned. Imagine walking into a room full of people. You ask someone, "Why are there so many people in this room?" And the response you get is, "Because more people entered the room than left it." That would be a stupid answer, something a 2nd grader might tell you when they first learn about addition and subtraction. But that is essentially the same as telling someone they got fat because they consumed more calories than they expended. Its obvious, but it doesnt really tell us anything about why that is the case. While excess caloric intake causes obesity, you can go much deeper than that (thats what she said).
Lets run through a quick history of obesity shall we? A little knowledge of the past is essential for a complete understanding of the present. In 1985, the earliest data we have for obesity in America, no state had an obesity rate of over 14%. Fast forward to 2010, and not one state has an obesity rate below 20%. Many states have rates over 30%. It is not at all a stretch to say, then, that obesity rates have more than doubled in the past 25 years.
While there is no concrete data before 1985, it is probably safe to assume that obesity wasnt a problem. Just watch any old movie, television show, or news footage, and youll likely have a hard time picking out the obese people. Sure, they existed, but not in the numbers that they do today. And check out this ad from the 1800s, courtesy of Whole Health Source...
Its a product called "Fat-ten-u", designed to "make the thin plump and rosy with honest fleshiness of form." In other words, it makes you fat. This is fascinating on two levels. Firstly, its interesting that women of that era actually wanted to be fat. Social norms have clearly changed. Just a little bit. But social aspects aside, the existence of this product indicates that women in the 1800s couldnt get fat if they tried. Imagine that! Was there a food shortage? Were they too busy to eat? Were they diligently tracking their caloric intake and expenditure on their iPhones? No, no, and... yes, maybe. There was plenty of food to go around, and I cant imagine their lives were as hectic as ours today. Yet they couldnt get fat if they tried. What gives?
If you want to go way back to ancient times, even prehistoric times, the fossil evidence shows that obesity was extremely rare. In some cases, like in Ancient Rome, being overweight was considered a symbol of power, and so nobles would deliberately overeat. But aside from those rare cases, people didnt generally gain weight. And again, food was plentiful. Even in hunter-gatherer times, food was normally plentiful. Tribes wouldnt choose to settle in an environment with no food, they werent stupid. Modern tribes like the Kitavans reenforce this idea; they have more than enough food to feed themselves and plenty of free time, yet obesity is extremely rare.
The question is this: If food was plentiful throughout much of human history, why didnt we overeat and become fat? We didnt even know what calories were, but that didnt keep us from staying lean. And why do we overeat today, knowing all that we know about the caloric content of food? It is estimated that, on average, each of us eats a whopping 523 calories more today than we did in 1970, despite our ability to accurately track our caloric intake. If anything, our knowledge of calories has only made us consume more. In a sea of new low-fat crackers and cookies, 100-calorie packs, and skim milk, we are largely missing the point... we have forgotten completely about hunger and satiety.
Hunger and satiety are opposing forces in humans, along with all other mammals. Hunger, obviously drives you to eat, while satiety signals that youre full and that you should stop eating. When the system works correctly, your body will let you know when to eat and when not to eat. This is why, historically, we have had no problem maintaining a relatively lean body. As another example, just look at any wild animal and youll see that they are almost never fat. Why? Because this biological mechanism of hunger and satiety is working effectively. When we gain weight by overeating, however, the hunger/satiety system has malfunctioned, and the true cause of obesity lies in finding what caused this system to break.
The answer to that question is a bit more complex, and I dont have a concrete answer. A variety of factors come into play, including behavioral, psychological, social, and physiological elements. But in a nutshell, here is my take. I believe it is largely a food quality issue; ined foods like sugar, industrial vegetable oils, and processed foods dont satiate us, and hence make us overeat. Most of us dont even eat real food anymore, even those of us who are trying to eat healthy. We opt for quick and convenient boxed foods over healthy fresh foods. We try to save calories by opting for fat-free crackers, or diet soda. And weve fallen for the fallacy that a low-calorie food is a healthy food. A lunch consisting of a 100-calorie pack of oreos, a diet soda, and a couple rice cakes sounds great until youre starving again an hour later. We need to come to terms with the fact that cookies and soda are, by definition, unhealthy foods, and theres nothing you can do to them to change that. Throughout human history, our diet has been made up of real, natural foods like fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, potatoes, full-fat dairy, nuts, seeds, and limited grains... foods that are near impossible to overeat. We as a society are so far removed from nature that we often dont see the obesity problem in this light. But when you take a few steps back and get a good look at it in the context of evolution and biological systems, it seems pretty obvious to me: processed food is killing us.
Thoughts on Quitting
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Hi,
As I walked on my Airofit (discovered that Ive been spelling it incorrectly) machine for a 3-minute jaunt after having been on the computer for a while I recalled what I had said in my last post about "quitting" -- or really the "fear of failure." I thought about the experience of quitting.
Quitting makes you feel bad. I think sometimes we think we feel bad, then quit -- but if you feel bad and keep going, you can get past it. If you quit, you just stay there and feel bad.
I think my thoughts previous to that were to recall that I had been introduced to juicing and Jay Kordich (The Juice Man) many years ago. I had even bought a juicer which I used a few times and quit using because it was such a nuisance to clean every time you used it. I thought about where I would be now if I had not done that.
I thought about that scripture that says: "Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." 2Ti 3:7
Of course that is about the truth of Jesus Christ, but I think it applies to life in general, too. At least it appears to apply to my life in general.
When I saw the Juice Man infomercial so many years ago, I was hooked but I was not, shall we say "baptized" in it. It was only good information to me. I was convinced that I should try it, but not convinced that I should continue it. I see that I relate to a lot of things that way.
I notice it going on with my physical therapist right now. She is telling me that I need to get a few tennis balls and put them in a sock so I can place them on my body and apply self therapy to the parts of my body that need to have the "fascial layer" adjusted. This layer, as I understand what she says, is like the thin skin under the outer skin on a chicken. Im sure you must have run into that very thin nearly transparent layer of very thin skin that is outside the muscles. My PT says humans have this too, and she has a whole system of adjusting and releasing this "fascial layer" of skin. She is in earnest and teaches this as if it were the truth. It does not seem anything but one more wacky alternative therapy idea to me. I listen to her. I watch what she does. I see how it feels when she does it to me as a therapist, but... really? I dont get it. So I have not actually gone out and bought any tennis balls or socks to put them in. I more or less humor her but cannot picture that this is going to do anything long term. She still does it for herself. Im not sure it is something that I would actually incorporate. I need more evidence, or something. But what if, I just did it? What if, I let go and simply trusted her word? That would be different.
Ive been watching the "Sick, Fat, and Nearly Dead" video again. As I view it over and over Im seeing things that I did not notice on the first viewing. Ive begun to see that there is a real commitment needed to stick with it. Joe had had experience with it before but this time he committed to not going back to his old ways when the fast was finished. He continued to eat vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and to exercise and he went on to lose the excess weight and get off all prescription drugs. He no longer suffers from outbreaks of his uticaria, an autoimmune disease that affects the skin.
Phil said something that stood out to me. It was about his having failed at a lot of things, but being committed to getting healthy and then he did all that he needed to do from juicing to exercising to consulting with his doctor.
The last statement Joe made to Phil as he was leaving him on his own to do the journey by himself after helping to get him started was: It is going to be hard, but you can do it.
I wonder how committed I am. Am I willing to do the hard part? I need to talk to my doctor (this is the week end) soon and get permission to do the fast. I believe she will give me the permission because she has actually been trying to get me to do something similar all along. She advocates a raw lifestyle coupled with green smoothies. I dont like green smoothies and all the preparations but Im looking forward to juicing. I know it has actually about the same preparations but the results are drinkable. I relate to smoothies like they are "sludge"... pretty unappetizing -- but a nice glass of green juice, that sounds good to me.
I got my bathing suits yesterday and tried them on. I am going to keep both of them. They are not the same size, but the suits themselves are identical except for the color. They are far from attractive but they fit the bill -- and, by the way, aint no 340 pound woman going to look attractive in a swim suit, so I am glad I can get it on my body and it is acceptable attire for the activity I desire to begin doing.
I had to make some adjustments to the suits. There is nothing that is more of a nuisance than swim suit straps that keep falling down so I took a piece of the useless belt and sewed it across the back connecting the straps to keep them from falling down. I also reduced the bosom area slightly with a few tucks. I feel more secure in the suits, now. We have a pool in the park I live in, but Im not ready to go out in the sun, yet. My skin burns very easily and when I was a kid I burned my back to the blister stage quite a few times. So am going to check out the indoor pool that is up the road. Will probably sign up for a membership and take a class or two, but am looking forward to simply exercising and hanging out in the pool on a weekly basis.
To go back to the main subject, Ive been looking at why I quit doing things. It is usually because things get to be a huge repetitive bother to me. I just get tired of doing them. Especially if the desired results are not forthcoming. One of the things I noticed in my last viewing of the film is that the juicing did not instantaneously make the guys slim, they had to keep juicing for a long period of time. They had to exercise and be committed to both the juicing and the activity. They were committed to doing it, and were willing to wait for the results -- counting each small milestone as enough encouragement to keep doing it.
Nothing was said about this but I wonder how often they went to the grocery store. At one point they posted how much it cost to juice every day. In Iowa when the film was made it was near $23-$25 dollars per day for fresh produce. There are shots of Phil going to the market and buying his produce in a large box. He turns into a healthy young man right before your very eyes but it takes 60 days to do it.
I wonder what will happen to me. I am already an old retired lady. My doctor told me that when you reduce using raw foods, which translates into raw fruits and vegetables, nuts, and seed, you dont get that hanging flesh like you get when you do the stomach stapling. If you reduce using fruits, veggies, and exercise, your body actually heals itself from the hanging flesh, too.
Ive seen some older folks who actually look older when they reduce because their skin is so much more wrinkly. Maybe that is how I will end up. Why should I care about a few wrinkles if I can get rid of the tires and basketballs that are hanging off of the front and back of my body right now? Ive always been a little vain about the fact that people cannot usually guess my age and some of them are actually flabbergasted when I tell them how old I am. I think I would rather be able to walk and climb stairs and sit in an airplane seat comfortably while looking my age. Who knows? I dont know how it will be, but I would like the opportunity to find out!!
Ive been thinking about the juice recipes, too. I envision celery and apples and kale and ginger and limes. I see cucumbers and tomatoes. I wonder if cabbage would be good juiced. I like cabbage. I wonder about cauliflower. I never hear about anyone juicing cauliflower. One guy said that broccoli juice is bitter. I wonder about beets and carrots. The Juiceman (Jay Kordich) healed himself from bladder cancer by juicing carrots and apples 50/50 for about a two-year period. At the end of that time, he was cancer free -- no radiation, no chemotherapy -- just carrot and apple juice. Pretty amazing.
I wonder if I juice fruits if I will have a gout reaction. I am not planning on drinking a lot of fruit juices. I see it as more green vegetable juices with a little fruit for flavor. I need to monitor my blood sugars if I am going to do the best for my health. I will need to check things out as I go.
Anyway. I am looking forward with a little fear and with some hope that maybe this will be the ultimate answer for me. I will be praying for Gods help to actually do it. It is the doing of it, that makes it successful. You cannot quit and do it at the same time. You have to just keep doing. Please help me Lord.
Here is to "doing." Maybe I can put an end to always being a learner and become a knower of the truth about food and my body. It takes experience to know something.
God bless you,
Be back soon,
Marcia
As I walked on my Airofit (discovered that Ive been spelling it incorrectly) machine for a 3-minute jaunt after having been on the computer for a while I recalled what I had said in my last post about "quitting" -- or really the "fear of failure." I thought about the experience of quitting.
Quitting makes you feel bad. I think sometimes we think we feel bad, then quit -- but if you feel bad and keep going, you can get past it. If you quit, you just stay there and feel bad.
I think my thoughts previous to that were to recall that I had been introduced to juicing and Jay Kordich (The Juice Man) many years ago. I had even bought a juicer which I used a few times and quit using because it was such a nuisance to clean every time you used it. I thought about where I would be now if I had not done that.
I thought about that scripture that says: "Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." 2Ti 3:7
Of course that is about the truth of Jesus Christ, but I think it applies to life in general, too. At least it appears to apply to my life in general.
When I saw the Juice Man infomercial so many years ago, I was hooked but I was not, shall we say "baptized" in it. It was only good information to me. I was convinced that I should try it, but not convinced that I should continue it. I see that I relate to a lot of things that way.
I notice it going on with my physical therapist right now. She is telling me that I need to get a few tennis balls and put them in a sock so I can place them on my body and apply self therapy to the parts of my body that need to have the "fascial layer" adjusted. This layer, as I understand what she says, is like the thin skin under the outer skin on a chicken. Im sure you must have run into that very thin nearly transparent layer of very thin skin that is outside the muscles. My PT says humans have this too, and she has a whole system of adjusting and releasing this "fascial layer" of skin. She is in earnest and teaches this as if it were the truth. It does not seem anything but one more wacky alternative therapy idea to me. I listen to her. I watch what she does. I see how it feels when she does it to me as a therapist, but... really? I dont get it. So I have not actually gone out and bought any tennis balls or socks to put them in. I more or less humor her but cannot picture that this is going to do anything long term. She still does it for herself. Im not sure it is something that I would actually incorporate. I need more evidence, or something. But what if, I just did it? What if, I let go and simply trusted her word? That would be different.
Ive been watching the "Sick, Fat, and Nearly Dead" video again. As I view it over and over Im seeing things that I did not notice on the first viewing. Ive begun to see that there is a real commitment needed to stick with it. Joe had had experience with it before but this time he committed to not going back to his old ways when the fast was finished. He continued to eat vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and to exercise and he went on to lose the excess weight and get off all prescription drugs. He no longer suffers from outbreaks of his uticaria, an autoimmune disease that affects the skin.
Phil said something that stood out to me. It was about his having failed at a lot of things, but being committed to getting healthy and then he did all that he needed to do from juicing to exercising to consulting with his doctor.
The last statement Joe made to Phil as he was leaving him on his own to do the journey by himself after helping to get him started was: It is going to be hard, but you can do it.
I wonder how committed I am. Am I willing to do the hard part? I need to talk to my doctor (this is the week end) soon and get permission to do the fast. I believe she will give me the permission because she has actually been trying to get me to do something similar all along. She advocates a raw lifestyle coupled with green smoothies. I dont like green smoothies and all the preparations but Im looking forward to juicing. I know it has actually about the same preparations but the results are drinkable. I relate to smoothies like they are "sludge"... pretty unappetizing -- but a nice glass of green juice, that sounds good to me.
I got my bathing suits yesterday and tried them on. I am going to keep both of them. They are not the same size, but the suits themselves are identical except for the color. They are far from attractive but they fit the bill -- and, by the way, aint no 340 pound woman going to look attractive in a swim suit, so I am glad I can get it on my body and it is acceptable attire for the activity I desire to begin doing.
I had to make some adjustments to the suits. There is nothing that is more of a nuisance than swim suit straps that keep falling down so I took a piece of the useless belt and sewed it across the back connecting the straps to keep them from falling down. I also reduced the bosom area slightly with a few tucks. I feel more secure in the suits, now. We have a pool in the park I live in, but Im not ready to go out in the sun, yet. My skin burns very easily and when I was a kid I burned my back to the blister stage quite a few times. So am going to check out the indoor pool that is up the road. Will probably sign up for a membership and take a class or two, but am looking forward to simply exercising and hanging out in the pool on a weekly basis.
To go back to the main subject, Ive been looking at why I quit doing things. It is usually because things get to be a huge repetitive bother to me. I just get tired of doing them. Especially if the desired results are not forthcoming. One of the things I noticed in my last viewing of the film is that the juicing did not instantaneously make the guys slim, they had to keep juicing for a long period of time. They had to exercise and be committed to both the juicing and the activity. They were committed to doing it, and were willing to wait for the results -- counting each small milestone as enough encouragement to keep doing it.
Nothing was said about this but I wonder how often they went to the grocery store. At one point they posted how much it cost to juice every day. In Iowa when the film was made it was near $23-$25 dollars per day for fresh produce. There are shots of Phil going to the market and buying his produce in a large box. He turns into a healthy young man right before your very eyes but it takes 60 days to do it.
I wonder what will happen to me. I am already an old retired lady. My doctor told me that when you reduce using raw foods, which translates into raw fruits and vegetables, nuts, and seed, you dont get that hanging flesh like you get when you do the stomach stapling. If you reduce using fruits, veggies, and exercise, your body actually heals itself from the hanging flesh, too.
Ive seen some older folks who actually look older when they reduce because their skin is so much more wrinkly. Maybe that is how I will end up. Why should I care about a few wrinkles if I can get rid of the tires and basketballs that are hanging off of the front and back of my body right now? Ive always been a little vain about the fact that people cannot usually guess my age and some of them are actually flabbergasted when I tell them how old I am. I think I would rather be able to walk and climb stairs and sit in an airplane seat comfortably while looking my age. Who knows? I dont know how it will be, but I would like the opportunity to find out!!
Ive been thinking about the juice recipes, too. I envision celery and apples and kale and ginger and limes. I see cucumbers and tomatoes. I wonder if cabbage would be good juiced. I like cabbage. I wonder about cauliflower. I never hear about anyone juicing cauliflower. One guy said that broccoli juice is bitter. I wonder about beets and carrots. The Juiceman (Jay Kordich) healed himself from bladder cancer by juicing carrots and apples 50/50 for about a two-year period. At the end of that time, he was cancer free -- no radiation, no chemotherapy -- just carrot and apple juice. Pretty amazing.
I wonder if I juice fruits if I will have a gout reaction. I am not planning on drinking a lot of fruit juices. I see it as more green vegetable juices with a little fruit for flavor. I need to monitor my blood sugars if I am going to do the best for my health. I will need to check things out as I go.
Anyway. I am looking forward with a little fear and with some hope that maybe this will be the ultimate answer for me. I will be praying for Gods help to actually do it. It is the doing of it, that makes it successful. You cannot quit and do it at the same time. You have to just keep doing. Please help me Lord.
Here is to "doing." Maybe I can put an end to always being a learner and become a knower of the truth about food and my body. It takes experience to know something.
God bless you,
Be back soon,
Marcia
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