If You Are Fat, Whose Fault Is It?

Quote from: Caroline on March 19, 2006, 11:01:40 PM
I decided last June to get off the sugar altogether - no cakes, cookies, candy, ice cream, sickly-sweet yogurt, sugared cereal, sugary breads, etc. etc.
Yikes.  How can life be worth living under those conditions?  How would our bodies find the raw materials to make endorphins?
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In answer to your question, Nords, my mother's a type-2 diabetic.  Watching her inject the insulin with one hand and eat a donut with the other has altered my thinking.

One thing that I don't think has been mentioned is the two-income family.  When I was a kid my mother stayed home and cooked healthful meals.  All four of her children reached adulthood in great physical shape. 

Today, we need two incomes to support ourselves. I know that when I've completed a busy and stress-filled day I don't have a the mental energy to cook. I sometimes walk right past a full fridge on my way to the local Chinese restaurant.

This is in contrast to those times when I was "between jobs."  I shopped for, cooked, ate, and enjoyed healthy meals every day.  This took time and planning, though.  I cannot even imagine how an exhausted, two income couple trying to get ahead in their jobs and pay the mortgage find the discipline to eat well and exercise, much less help their kids to do the same.

Which raises a question:  Do you retired folks out there eat more healthily and exercise more now that job stress is gone and time has (theoretically) increased?  Or do old habits tend to hold sway?
 
It depends.

When I worked in san francisco, walked to all my customers, and never had time to eat due to a long commute and too much work, my waistline fell to nearly the point where I could have put my old high school pants on.

When I worked in a big building with no nearby food, didnt have the time or inclination to make and pack a lunch, and the cafeteria featured taco bell, cheeseburgers, and machines full of jimmy dean sausage sandwiches, I wouldnt be looking at any old pants.

When I was ER'ed and single, I spent about two hours a day rollerblading, kayaking, swimming, snokeling, skiing half days on a regular basis, etc. Thin, thin, thin.

Married with a baby and managing a household...not as many opportunities to exercise, but we eat what I cook and thats mostly healthy, and as Gabe becomes more outside active, so will I.
 
Caroline said:
Which raises a question:  Do you retired folks out there eat more healthily and exercise more now that job stress is gone and time has (theoretically) increased?  Or do old habits tend to hold sway?
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You are right Caroline that it is hard to find the oomph to fix healthful meals or exercise when you are physically, emotionally and morally exhausted from a day in the pit. Being retired, or having a job that gets you home earlier and in better shape is much easier.

When I worked, my wife was home. She was an excellent, healthy cook, so it was no problem. When I had to start caring for myself, it took a little while to get my act together. (I would put dirty dishes in a plastic dishpan, for washing later. Every day I would add a dash of soap and a dash of bleach, to keep down the smell. Finally one day about 6 weeks later I decided to wash the dishes. Ha! All the knives and forks looked like little rusty nails. The dishes were so stained that I had to throw it all away and vow to do better in the future. After that I washed my dishes, and I fix good meals, and get some good exercise, every day.

Ha
 
Martha said:
Ah, but did you clean the toilet?   ;)
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The guy with a dirty toilet was bad old Mikey. Ha does a much better job; though I fear it still might not pass close inspection.

One day not long ago my older son and his GF stopped by. He was obviously pleased that she used the bathroom and was not vomiting when she came out. We celebrated with shots of Akvavit all around.

Ha
 
Caroline said:
One thing that I don't think has been mentioned is the two-income family.  When I was a kid my mother stayed home and cooked healthful meals.  All four of her children reached adulthood in great physical shape. 

Today, we need two incomes to support ourselves.  I know that when I've completed a busy and stress-filled day I don't have a the mental energy to cook. I sometimes walk right past a full fridge on my way to the local Chinese restaurant.

This is in contrast to those times when I was "between jobs."  I shopped for, cooked, ate, and enjoyed healthy meals every day.  This took time and planning, though.  I cannot even imagine how an exhausted, two income couple trying to get ahead in their jobs and pay the mortgage find the discipline to eat well and exercise, much less help their kids to do the same.
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Caroline,
I've never done this but have read that some people prepare several meals on the weekend, and freeeze them.  Then, when they get home from work, voila!  Healthy and tasty and easy. 
 
Yeah, Eagle43.. it's developed into a whole cult. OAMC (Once-A-Month-Cooking). There are several cookbooks out there.. check amazon reviews, though, to see if the recipes fit in with your style of eating.

There are even cooperatives that get together and cook en masse, sharing the meals for more variety. You need a lot of freezer space! Good for those who like Costco shopping. Another suggestion: the tried & true Crock-Pot.

At least a couple times a week you can try and make things in quantities sufficient to last 2-3 meals. Another trick I have tried is to measure things out in advance and/or keep 'prepared' stuff in the freezer.. chop 2-3 onions or peppers instead of one and put the rest in the freezer for another dish, so you cut down on prep time and cleaning up.

Another trick for boneless chicken breasts: slice them horizontally in three 1/4"-1/8" slices. They will cook in 1/3 the time and won't be unevenly cooked. Use the flat of your hand to bear down and keep the chicken from sliding around while using a big sharp knife. Do a bunch of these and freeze them when they are on sale.

A chicken marsala takes about 5 minutes cooking time (heat butter in pan on high, salt & pepper chicken, dredge in flour, saute, when a bit golden brown on both sides throw in a few tablespoons of marsala and voila'!). The entire dinner 10' including boiling up some frozen string beans.. maybe 15' with prep/cleanup.

Another quickie is to take the c. breast slices, put in a greased oven pan, throw a slice of cheese and/or ham/prosciutto on top, pop in the oven for 15 minutes. I like these with spinach. It doesn't take any longer than going out for Chinese and costs a lot less.

I have other more 'gourmet' recipes but these are the quickest. Since the nearest Chinese restaurant is about an hour and a half away, we have little choice, anyway!! :) P.S. they don't deliver. :mad:
 
Cute 'n' Fuzzy Bunny said:
There will also be none of that sitting around watching tv and playing video games crap.  I imagine I can have some influence in that regard as well.
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Yeah, no kidding.  Thank goodness Gabe's Dad doesn't do that stuff!

Caroline said:
In answer to your question, Nords, my mother's a type-2 diabetic.  Watching her inject the insulin with one hand and eat a donut with the other has altered my thinking.
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OK, good point.  My mother started smoking cigarettes again when the cancer diagnosis turned to pain control instead of cure.  20 years later I still can't look at a cigarette without thinking of her.

Caroline said:
Which raises a question:  Do you retired folks out there eat more healthily and exercise more now that job stress is gone and time has (theoretically) increased?  Or do old habits tend to hold sway?
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We'd come home from work exhausted, but we tended to not go for the fast food pickup or the deliveries because it was just one more hassle while walking around in uniform.  So when we got home and didn't want to cook, dinner would be ramen & grilled cheese sandwiches or hot dogs.  Of course if you get home after 9 PM you're allowed to eat all the comfort cereal you need want.

We didn't eat out unless we were all relatively alert & happy.  A bad day wasn't rewarded with restaurant food because we just didn't feel like going out again.

As INTJ engineering types we tend to find 10-15 meals and stick with that menu.  Crockpot chili or stews are great.  Anytime I turn on the stove or oven I cook a double batch and freeze it.  I especially like cooking a 15-20 pound turkey and having leftovers once or twice a week for a couple months.  If I fire up the BBQ I'll use almost 10 pounds of charcoal and empty the freezer. Every once in a while spouse will go on a rampage and find a new main dish.  We'll try it for a few months but somehow the classics always work their way back to the top of the menu.

We enjoy eating out, especially when we know the restaurant, but with basketball practice & tae kwon do there just aren't many free nights to eat out.  So we have a regular Friday-night pizza and the occasional Thai lunch or Chinese family takeout dinner.

I guess we're cooking more & eating out less than when we were working.  Our "dining" bill (including school lunches, workplace breakfast burritos, & office dining) was about $150/month and has now dropped to barely $75/month.
 
Cute 'n' Fuzzy Bunny said:
Big debate on whether schools should allow soda machines on campus.

We had a water bubbler when I was a kid.
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Unfortunately, it's all about $$$ ... schools figured out they could pull in revenue from selling the stuff, as well as from any advertising the local bottler would be willing to spring for.
 
Several posters have got it right. I went from 205 to 175 effortlessly by eliminating sugars (except for holidays/special occaisons), cutting out white flour (pasta/pizza/bread), and starchy foods. Voila. I feel better and have much more energy. No frequent heartburn either, unless I go off the wagon.

It's a choice folks. Do I miss chocolate doughnuts and french fries? Sure, but I like being 175lbs more than I miss those foods. Since 1970, sugar consumption per capita has almost trebled, while fat consumption has actually declined. Pretty easy to identify the dietary henchman causing obesity in the U.S.

A related thread bemoaned the rising health care costs and discussed various structural remedies to mitigate those increases. If people would adopt the above way of eating, health care costs would begin decreasing. Obesity is central to many degenerative diseases...heart disease, stroke, Type II diabetes, joint issues. The medical insurers understand this. I have an individual Blue/Cross of S.C. policy, and I would have been turned down if I weren't height/weight proportionate. People who make poor lifestyle choices should not be subsidized by those who make healthy choices, which is the way it is currently in most company sponsored group plans. The government has failed us also with its ridiculous "dietary pyramid" that advocates mega helpings of starchy foods.
 
Maybe these girls (?) have the answer...........
 

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setab said:
I think I know that one in the middle.
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As soon as I get back from where ever TH has gone, I have to ask:

"in the middle of what?"
 
(sigh) someone gave my dh a "movie" as a gag 50th bd gift and I think those two were in it.
 
Like some of the others here, I tend to focus on the children.  It's easy to talk about personal responsibility when you're an adult with good habits.  But if you develop bad habits when you're a kid, those bad habits can become as hard to break as any addiction.

That's why we need to focus on keeping kids from developing these deadly habits of eating bad food and not exercising.  Once they're adults with good eating habits, they'll be more or less out of the woods.  Eating right and exercising is so much easier when it's simply what you're used to. 

The problem is, in order to develop good habits, kids need proper training and role models.  In a society where most parents are overweight, kids aren't getting the training they need.  (Anybody ever see a fat parent serving up fast food to a fat child?  Doesn't it make you want to just scream at that fat parent?)

And on top of it all, we've got multimillion dollar ad campaigns targeting kids to get them to drink more Coke and eat more Happy Meals.

So although I'm pretty libertarian about many things, I think we need to be a little more hands-on about the obesity problem in kids.  I don't know what the answer is.  But simply barking "personal responsibility" isn't going to help much when impressionable kids are being bombarded with reasons to eat more and exercise less. 

Fat parents pass their bad habits on to their kids, and it's hurting our society as a whole.
 
Nords said:
As soon as I get back from where ever TH has gone, I have to ask:

"in the middle of what?"
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You mean there are only two? :D

setab
 
If you could laugh off weight, I'd be emaciated by the end of this thread. :LOL: :LOL: :LOL:
 
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