Don't worry, be fat.

[MikeK]

Bill,
Enjoy this one.

Obesity now a 'lifestyle' choice for Americans

[Bill Glasheen]

"But the nasty side-effects of obesity aren't as nasty as they used to be," Finkelstein said.

"When you have a first-rate medical system that can cure the diseases that obesity promotes, you no longer need to worry so much about being obese," he told AFP.

What a crock of donkey doo.

You do not CURE hypertension; you treat it with $$$ drugs for a lifetime - with side effects (such as impotence).

You do not CURE hyperlipidemia; you treat it with $$$ drugs for a lifetime.

You do not CURE Type II diabetes; you treat it with insulin.

You do not CURE osteoarthritis; you replace damaged joints with artificial ones that themselves need to be replaced every so often.

You do not CURE a heart attack; you crack the chest and re-do the coronary plumbing, only to have it happen again in a decade.

***** OR *********

You could save $$$ by not eating all that crap, lose weight, and watch your need for supplemental medication diminish or go away.

Lifestyle choice indeed!



- Bill

[TSDguy]

That book was written to make money off of fat people in denial. I see this attitude among them all the time, as they try to get over the depression being obese causes.

On that note, I'm going to go toss around a few weights. Thanks for the motivation.

[Glenn]

There was a billboard health-care ad I saw a few years ago, something to the effect of:
'death is the first symptom in 50% of sudden heart-disease related deaths'

I cannot find a copy of the ad online, but here is a news article with the same stats:
Oils in Fish Cut Risk of Sudden Death

Each year, about 220,000 Americans experience sudden death, collapsing and dying within an hour, often before they get to a hospital. In most cases, an abnormal heart rhythm arising from heart disease is believed to be the cause. In about 50 percent of the cases, however, the victim is unaware of that heart disease. There is no chest pain or previous heart attack. Instead, sudden death is the first symptom of the problem.

Admittedly obesity is not the only cause of heart attacks, but this certainly is no argument for adopting obesity as a lifestyle choice. Even if there were cures for obesity-related issues, there is no cure for death if that is the first issue you experience!

[tigereye]

You do not CURE hypertension; you treat it with $$$ drugs for a lifetime - with side effects (such as impotence).

You do not CURE hyperlipidemia; you treat it with $$$ drugs for a lifetime.

You do not CURE Type II diabetes; you treat it with insulin.

You do not CURE osteoarthritis; you replace damaged joints with artificial ones that themselves need to be replaced every so often.

You do not CURE a heart attack; you crack the chest and re-do the coronary plumbing, only to have it happen again in a decade.

***** OR *********

Lifestyle choice indeed!

- Bill

Can emotions influence the symptoms?
Well,maybe some of them make effort to lose weight,change their bad habit but not able to
maintain it on the long run. Partly because of missing motivation and mostly because of negative thinking.
When the immediate result is not coming they think nothing can help.
These thoughts are standing in the way of changing lifestyle. The only possible outcome is that they give up.
Can the feeling and thoughts being fat make change of hormones and on nerve cells in the body?
If well,don't they need in the first place psychologist support for emotional control?

[chef]

I know the opposite is true, Eva. When you work out consistently and stop, the result is being down, irritable, not happy with yourself possibly.

It seems like that would be ten-fold for someone who is obese because they see that body in the mirror every day. That would depress me.

Just an opinion.

Thanks you Richard Simmons for motivating obese/morbidly obese that any weight loss is success.

Regards,
Vicki

[Bill Glasheen]

Eva

You ask excellent questions. And your questions show a significant depth of understanding of the problems associated with obesity.

A few years back, women were having enormous success being treated for obesity with the combination of fenfluramine and phentermine. The combination (also nicknamed "Fen-Phen") resulted in an enormous amount of weight loss for a lot of men and women.

Do you want to know what these two drugs do?

• Fenfluramine increases the level of the neurotransmitter seratonin. SSRI's (selective seratonin re-uptake inhibitors) are commonly used to treat depression.
• Phentermine is an amphetamine

Too bad this combination caused heart valve damage in some people.

So basically one of the best ways to suppress appetite is to get up and go, and to fight depression. The best way to spiral out of control is to do the opposite - sit on your butt and feel sorry for yourself.

Everyone has the formula for success right within themselves. Drugs aren't necessary. The real question is whether or not they want it badly enough. No doubt some people need help, just as addicts need serious intervention.

Part of the problem today is the ready availability of junk food. Humans were on this earth for tens of thousands of years without fast food, Twinkies, sugary sodas, and other processed foods. Our brains were tuned to understand hunger and satiety with "natural" food. The processed foods with the concentrated sugar and fat calories really screw our self-regulation up.

The best thing to do is to avoid processed food altogether. Re-discover the art of preparing food from whole-food ingredients.



- Bill

[tigereye]

Thanks Bill!

Humans are amazingly foolish! Not only destroying the nature but they do destroy themselves too.
My lifestyle may appear extreme for many. It is strange enough but for many reason I made my choice 15 years ago and started organic gardening with my family . Our organic gardening is the practice of growing vegetables and fruits .
It is gardening without harmful and artificial chemicals.
Out of our own products we try to purchase other organic products as much as we can afford.
No junk food,no fast food in my kitchen!
I love to cook and make time to prepare food
every day.

[MikeK]

But then someone asks, is all this true?
He makes some good points before tipping his hand at the very end of the article

Obesity Myth

And as usual with any big story, we should always ask, cui bono?

[Glenn]

The best thing to do is to avoid processed food altogether. Re-discover the art of preparing food from whole-food ingredients.



- Bill

My wife and I love to cook, the big problem of course is affording the healthy alternatives. Not sure about the cost on the coast, but here in the midwest the salmon steaks shown in this picture would be around $8.00 each in the grocery stores, closer to $10.00 each for the tuna and shark steaks shown...and of course "fresh" is a relative term here. Not only is scarcity from over-fishing affecting prices here, but so are the increasing costs of transporting from the cost to the middle of the country. For fish we are pretty much restricted to farm-raised catfish. Not particularly the healthiest fish alternative, but in many ways more environmentally friendly.

[Bill Glasheen]

Last time I was in Nebraska and ordered fish at a restaurant, the waitress looked at me with a strange face, and then said I really didn't want to be coming all the way to Nebraska to eat fish.

We folk who live near the coasts have it made.

It's best to stay away from the shark steaks anyhow. They're relatively high in mercury.

By the way, they do farm-raise salmon these days. In fact most of the salmon you eat with that bright orange color is farm-raised. The color is partly due to the feed. Note the difference here.



The wild stuff is getting harder to get, and is much more expensive.



- Bill

[TSDguy]

It doesn't help that the cattle industry gets a free ride from the government.

One of my sister's old jobs was working for Project Bread trying to educate poor people about eating healthily on a low budget. The illuminati or KGB or someone makes it so that it's cheaper to buy an entire calorie ladden meal from Burger King than it is to buy a bag of carrots. Not cool.

[Glenn]

Last time I was in Nebraska and ordered fish at a restaurant, the waitress looked at me with a strange face, and then said I really didn't want to be coming all the way to Nebraska to eat fish.

It also doesn't help that this is such a strong beef state.

It's best to stay away from the shark steaks anyhow. They're relatively high in mercury.

Swordfish, some types of tuna, and others have the same issue. Basically this affects any of the top ocean predators. From the EPA What You Need to Know about Mercury in Fish and Shellfishsite:

"By following these 3 recommendations for selecting and eating fish or shellfish, women and young children will receive the benefits of eating fish and shellfish and be confident that they have reduced their exposure to the harmful effects of mercury.

1. Do not eat Shark, Swordfish, King Mackerel, or Tilefish because they contain high levels of mercury.
2. Eat up to 12 ounces (2 average meals) a week of a variety of fish and shellfish that are lower in mercury.
- Five of the most commonly eaten fish that are low in mercury are shrimp, canned light tuna, salmon, pollock, and catfish.
- Another commonly eaten fish, albacore ("white") tuna has more mercury than canned light tuna. So, when choosing your two meals of fish and shellfish, you may eat up to 6 ounces (one average meal) of albacore tuna per week.
3. Check local advisories about the safety of fish caught by family and friends in your local lakes, rivers, and coastal areas. If no advice is available, eat up to 6 ounces (one average meal) per week of fish you catch from local waters, but don't consume any other fish during that week.
Follow these same recommendations when feeding fish and shellfish to your young child, but serve smaller portions."

By the way, they do farm-raise salmon these days. In fact most of the salmon you eat with that bright orange color is farm-raised. The color is partly due to the feed. Note the difference here.

To help those of us who are color-vision challenged, which of these are we calling orange?

[Bill Glasheen]

The upper one is orange. The lower one is reddish-orange - like the picture of the Alaska sockeye salmon farther above.

Some types of wild salmon are actually dull colored, and not at all like the uniformly-colored farm-raised stuff with the flesh dyed from fish food additives. The color of the flesh can also vary depending upon whether or not the fish is spawning.



- Bill

[Shana Moore]

You do not CURE Type II diabetes; you treat it with insulin.- Bill

Can emotions influence the symptoms?[...]
Can the feeling and thoughts being fat make change of hormones and on nerve cells in the body?
If well,don't they need in the first place psychologist support for emotional control?

Okay, making the leap with my first post, as I have a bit of experience in this topic being a diabetic and currently overweight. I recently started Uechi because I've wanted to start martial arts for a very long time, and finally found the confidence and determination to do so.

In the last year and half, I have also lost 55 pounds (still a ways to go, just keep moving forward!). It was my diagnoses as a diabetic (a permanent diagnosis, once made, even if blood sugar/all other symptoms brought to normal) that was the catalyst to make the necessary lifestyle changes. I've just recently realized that emotions have certainly played a strong part in this process. Over time, I began to realize that I not only felt MuuuuUUUUCH better when I exercised, it was a generally reinforcing situation. The more I exercised and made progress, the more my overall mood, emotions, and self-confidence improved.

I can only speak to my personal experiences, but I certainly believe emotions are strongly influenced by the body chemistry related to obesity, and I believe emotional support helps to maintain progress. The original motivation, though, has to be found in the individual.