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2007-06-18 -Short Attention Span Theater-

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Posted by Bobby 2007-06-18 06:30|| || Front Page|| [11131 views ] Top

#1 We adopted a stray dog off the street. Slim, sleek and handsome, he was. Now, even on a strict diet and exercise program, he's fat. He'll practically inhale anything (even possibly) edible placed before him. Our other dog, aquired as a puppy slightly earlier, is slim and eats more food, more fattening food, and more slowly.
Perhaps some behavioral and metabolic 'switches' were set early in their lives, one for a life of hardship and scarcity, and the other for a life of ease and plenty? Is there a similar 'switch' in humans? It makes sense that there should be - fat is unhealthy in 'fat' times, but essential to survival in lean times.

Posted by Glenmore">Glenmore 2007-06-18 08:40|| 2007-06-18 08:40|| Front Page Top

#2 There's definitely something going on. It has reached "raging epidemic" proportions, and I don't buy the "just exercise more" line of bullshit that the CDC spews whenever anyone asks the question. There has to be more to it than that.

Posted by bigjim-ky 2007-06-18 09:04|| 2007-06-18 09:04|| Front Page Top

#3 Bigjim - I suspect the weight problem has its roots in youth:
1) too little physical activity (even recess has been taken out of many schools). When we were kids we were always outside, running around in the woods, DOING stuff, but now it's not 'safe', so the most kids get is a supervised hour a week at the neighborhood playground on rubber-cushioned swings and a 4' slide. Instead they sit home watching tv or playing video games.
2) too much junk food. When I was a teen I would go to McDonald's (or equivalent) as often as I could - which came to about once a week; today's teens seem to go at least once a DAY. Same applies at home - my Mom would bring home maybe a dozen cans of soda a week, for all of us to share, and that only during the summer - seems like a lot of kids drink that much EACH, year-round.
3) hormones and other additives in food. Growth hormones and antibiotics in chicken feed etc. has to get through to our highly hormone-sensitive kids; I have no clue what effect that might have, but would be surprised if there was not one.

Posted by Glenmore">Glenmore 2007-06-18 09:19|| 2007-06-18 09:19|| Front Page Top

#4 Uh, guys, it's diet and exercise. The CDC isn't spouting bullshit; they're telling us something we don't want to hear.

I lost 100 lbs purely by watching my diet. I'm adding exercise to knock down the last 16. It really is that simple.

Posted by Rob Crawford">Rob Crawford 2007-06-18 09:40|| http://www.kloognome.com/]">[http://www.kloognome.com/] 2007-06-18 09:40|| Front Page Top

#5 It's diet, exercize AND THE GOV'T NANNY STATE complex.

Hey if I get to redefine the standard I can make most anyone fat, or thin or have high blood pressure or, or, or.

The latest "index" is as much a fraud as the old charts, and they keep saying you're too fat!!!!!

As in so much of Nanny Statism there is no room for individuality or flexibility in the results or measurements...this keeps the bureaucrats in business and the lobbyists & hucksters in the black.

Posted by AlanC">AlanC 2007-06-18 09:52|| 2007-06-18 09:52|| Front Page Top

#6 Hey, thats what rice, beans, rum and cigars will do to you.

Posted by Jack is Back!">Jack is Back! 2007-06-18 09:58|| 2007-06-18 09:58|| Front Page Top

#7 It's simple: calories in less calories out equals net weight change. Several other variables influence calories out, metabolism, exercise, etc. But it is simple.

Posted by Nimble Spemble 2007-06-18 10:42|| 2007-06-18 10:42|| Front Page Top

#8 I just want a pill to make the problem go away. Is it too much to ask? The drug companies have one but are holding out on us so they can reap the benefits of everyone being overweight, I'm sure! /sarc

Anyway, the fact that even cubans are overweight suggests that it will be a good thing when grain prices skyrocket when methanol production goes into full swing. Help from an unlikely quarter! :-)

Posted by gorb 2007-06-18 11:07|| 2007-06-18 11:07|| Front Page Top

#9 I'm not fat, I'm big-boned, dammit!

Posted by anonymous5089 2007-06-18 11:08|| 2007-06-18 11:08|| Front Page Top

#10 According to the way they judge obesity most of the NBA and NFL are obese. That tells me the numbers are questionable and they need to judge body fat index or something similar and not whatever they are doing.

Another problem I have noticed personally is soda. I drink Diet Coke which is fine, but it makes me crave something salty so fighting off the chip or fries cravings that follow becomes extra difficult. Salty food then makes you want a soda so it becomes a cycle of violence.

Posted by rjschwarz 2007-06-18 11:42|| 2007-06-18 11:42|| Front Page Top

#11 There is an Al Gore effect with weather.

Has anyone considered a Michael Moore effect with fat?

Posted by DarthVader">DarthVader 2007-06-18 12:04|| 2007-06-18 12:04|| Front Page Top

#12 Glenmore is on to something in #1. We have 'set points' where the body tries to maintain its' weight. When I was 19, it was 145 pounds. You can stuff yourself on Thanksgiving, and it'll come back off in a few weeks. If you keep stuffing yourself, or start sluffing off the exercise, your 'set point' eventually goes up.

But NS and Rob are correct, too, except as noted above. Since I quit smoking 3 times - at 25 pounds a pop - it's really hard to take it off, because my 'set point' has been raised. Aside from the 'stop smoking' part, I've only gained 25 pounds in (almost) 40 years. The problem is, the 25 is on top of the 75!

That's also why if you try yo lose weight with diet alone, it's so hard - your fighting your evolution driven, Darwin-given "set point'. Your metabolism slows down to keep a little fat for the upcoming poor harvest. Those that could store fat better lived longer - thousands of years ago, anyway.

I haven't seen a poor harvest in 40 years - tell that to my metabolism!

Posted by Bobby 2007-06-18 13:22|| 2007-06-18 13:22|| Front Page Top

#13 Mikey Moore (Sicko) told us Cuba was a commie medical paradise. Probably no friggin Santa Claus either.

Posted by JohnQC 2007-06-18 13:52|| 2007-06-18 13:52|| Front Page Top

#14 Who drinks soda? There are only three drinks: scotch, water and scotch and water.

Posted by Ebbang Uluque6305 2007-06-18 15:43|| 2007-06-18 15:43|| Front Page Top

#15 Congratulations, Rob, on that first 100 lb! I know how hard you've worked for that achievement, as your occasional little comment here over the months revealed. You are an example to us all.

It's simple: calories in less calories out equals net weight change. Several other variables influence calories out, metabolism, exercise, etc. But it is simple.

That's true for those with close to normal biochemistry and physiology, Nimble Spemble dear. In my case, however, my weight went up over the course of four years from 120 lb to somewhat over 140 lb, a bit much for my almost 5' (152 cm) frame, even as my consumption went down to a bowl of cereal with 1% milk for breakfast followed by a bowl of Campbell's Soup for lunch and two Hot Pockets or the equivalent for dinner, plus 20-90 min. on the exercise bicycle, holding my pulse rate between 130 and 150/min... daily. However, it turned out that the weight gain resulted from decreasing production of growth hormone by my pituitary gland; when that was supplemented, I dropped five pounds within days, a significant percentage for me. When a diuretic was added to offset the water retention caused by the growth hormone (side effects can be so amusing), I dropped another five pounds overnight, even though by this point I'd had to significantly cut back on the exercise. So clearly set point wasn't my issue. Supplementation of other too-low hormones resulted in the loss of a bit more... once medical science develops the ability to clone me a new pituitary all of those problems will evaporate.

Mr. Wife's offered to give me a tummy tuck or whatever for my birthday, but it seem rather pointless when my condition wants a heavy fat layer, regardless of my efforts. Besides, surgery hurts, and I've no pain threshold so speak of. ;-)

Posted by trailing wife 2007-06-18 15:47|| 2007-06-18 15:47|| Front Page Top

#16 Eat and drink all you want, walk or cycle 70 miles per week.

Posted by Shipman 2007-06-18 17:02|| 2007-06-18 17:02|| Front Page Top

#17 Although Fidel looks like he's taken off a few pounds recently. Thanks superior Cuban health care system...

Posted by tu3031 2007-06-18 17:06|| 2007-06-18 17:06|| Front Page Top

#18 And the kids don't get out anymore. There's a road near me, less than 1000 feet long, where maybe a dozen cars come up the road to pick them up when the bus drops them off. The parents won't even walk to fetch them, much less let them walk home with their friends. They go from being lined up at the computers at school to being lined up at the computers at home.

I used to roam for miles.

How children lost the right to roam in four generations

Posted by KBK 2007-06-18 17:20|| 2007-06-18 17:20|| Front Page Top

#19 That's also why if you try yo lose weight with diet alone, it's so hard - your fighting your evolution driven, Darwin-given "set point'. Your metabolism slows down to keep a little fat for the upcoming poor harvest.

True, but there's a "magic point" where you don't trip into starvation mode. Weight Watchers changed their program this year; the net result is that men get 300-400 extra calories a day. I was slowing down, even gaining a little, and changed what I was eating to fit the new program. I'm still losing, maybe slow, but it's a lot easier.

It also matters WHAT you eat. Fiber helps you feel full longer; protein helps you feel full longer; water helps you feel full longer.

It also helps to take the occasional break. I don't diet when I'm on vacation. I may put on some weight, but it lets me enjoy some of the foods I've avoided the rest of the year.

Posted by Rob Crawford">Rob Crawford 2007-06-18 19:32|| 2007-06-18 19:32|| Front Page Top

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