I just read an article in the newspaper about the latest diet craze. No, it's not Atkins, The Zone or South Beach. People have suddenly discovered that the best way to lose weight is to cut down on unhealthy junk food while increasing their intake of fruits, vegetables and whole grains as well as adding exercise to their weekly routine. Wow, quelle discovery! As my kids would say ... duh!
According to the article, health practitioners are confident that this latest craze might catch on. Yes, so people can only put into practice what they've known all along once it becomes fashionable?
Maybe I'm being overly bitchy and insensitive. I've been blessed with a great metabolism and have been thin to average build all my life. Even though I now bemoan the fact that I need to lose a few pounds and get into shape, I realise that I'm nowhere near being morbidly obese, and that my need for change arises from personal preferences rather than from health threatening issues. But also, I was raised by parents who never ate nor served processed foods. We were taught to snack on fruits or nuts. We ate a lot of tofu before it ever became fashionable. We went for walks after dinner. We rode our bikes to school. We limited our intake of cholesterol rich foods.
And I suspect that we weren't an anamoly. It's not as though only my parents were possessed with the knowledge that healthy living came from healthy eating. So why suddenly is it like a huge revelation that we should eschew en masses the fad low carb diets and ephedra-free pills in favour of the lifestyle we are meant to lead? Are we a society that can only do what is trendy?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
I wonder if it took someone with a MBA in the Obvious to come to that conclusion. I still thing the fastest way to lose weight is large quatities of Mt Dew and video games. I just need to find a way to market it.
Sister: We live in a society that is really into instant gratification. No one wants to admit that the surefire healthy way of losing weight and keeping it off is a combination of a healthy diet and exercise.
Greg: lol I'm sure it's all in the way you present it. Sales is all about advertising and packaging, no? Mountain Dew never worked for me (not that I tried it really), but I did lose a lot of weight eating sour licorice and Cheesies one year. Actually, I'm thinking of writing a book on how to lose thirty-five pounds in one month -- I did it ... just give birth to a seven pound baby and breastfeed it every half hour. Works like a charm. I bet if I published it with a really nifty title and a great jacket cover, it might actually cause stupid women worldwide to get pregnant on the offchance that they'll lose weight.
Okay, so will R. knock me up? That way after I lose the weight I can give the baby to you and your kids will be related. Oh wait...who you calling stupid?
I'm also perplexed by the diet fads, but I have realised that Common Sense isn't in everyone's gene pool. I was watching Discovery Health Channel the other day about the 1 tonne man (1255 Lbs) who's theory on losing weight was to just eat intake less calories, and not worry about what he was eating. Instead of fruits and healthy foods, he would just eat 1 or 2 bags of chips instead of 4-5, or 3 grilled cheese sandwhiches instead of 6.
Epi - Holy crap! Imagine being that weight... but you know, maybe for him that's at least a start that he can handle. Let's face it, he could probably lose 100 pounds that way, and then start focussing on truly changing his habits. Now, for everyone out there, do you remember the Harvard study where I believe that overall, for people to keep the most weight off, the key was exercise? I seem to recall that, but don't remember the details. And EM, we were given pop or Koolaid (never milk) with dinner, but we did eat healthy choices otherwise and were always outside playing. I agree with you that our parents naturally had healthier lifestyles.
Snooze - I do recall that study, and my first response was "duh"...lol
Not to bring up the 1 tonne man again, but when you are so big that your body begins to pool excrement and body fluids underneath the skin and excrete it through your actual skin, then it is a sign that you need to change...somehow.
Epicurist: Ewww ... the visual on that one tonne man made me shudder. But you know, as stupid as his theory sounds, at least he's on the right track. i.e. reducing calories as opposed to thinking that it's a matter of not food combinations, so you can eat a pound of butter a day so long as you don't eat it with bread. Plus his body would probably go into shock if he was suddenly put on a diet of fruits, veggies and whole grains without any bacon, chips, etc.
Snooze: lol I'm sure R. would be most happy to oblige, especially if it involved more than a bottle of his sperm and a turkey baster. And we'd gladly take a babe that I didn't have to bear ... just make sure it's a girl because that's what our daughter is desperate for.
Seriously, my mom did tell me once that she lost all of her baby fat after having given birth to D. (the pics show her model thin and I don't think they had Photoshop back then, versus the shots when she was newly wed and had some extra padding everywhere).
Post a Comment