Patrick is right, food and calories in general are an economy of scale, where small decisions can add up to something huge down the road, whether for the better or worse. And while I am a political person I really hate to bring up politics or religion with people I don't know that well but I have to say that obesity is less in European countries that have more of a focus on quality of life as opposed to being slaves to the allmighty dollar. Even the Germans, who are put on a pedestal as the example of what hard work and dedication can accomplish have more paid time off and just free time in general to relieve some of the stress of every day life. I agree that using food for comfort can be just as dangerous as drugs or alcohol but again the drive to work more and more means less time to actually talk to someone or take a breather and go for a bike ride or read a book. We are taught from an early age that food is "comfort" and that exercise is "grueling" so it is easy to see why so many Americans are obese, but much harder to reverse this trend.
On Thu, Oct 11, 2012 at 10:49 AM, Patrick in VT <swing4...@gmail.com> wrote: > On Thursday, October 11, 2012 1:30:19 AM UTC-4, Patrick Moore wrote: >> >> Don't be silly. Be reasonable. There are millions of people worldwide who >> happily and healthily eat diets largely composed of carbs with few health >> problems. Please don't be totalitarian. >> > > Exactly. blaming carbs in the context of obesity smacks of willful > ignorance. People that stay weight neutral tend to have a healthy > relationship with food regardless of carbs, fiber, grains, meat, > vegetables, whatever. To Peter's point above, I don't vilify people who > choose to an extra meal of potato chips and ice cream - but if that's an > everyday thing, it's a very good example of what it means to have a poor > relationship with food. Food should be nourishing, yet daily extra meals > with no nutritional value is the norm for a lot of people because it > comforts them. Using food for comfort or stress relief should be a huge > red flag - that's an eating/lifestyle problem, not a diet/carb problem. > Just like using alcohol to cope is a huge red flag. > > I recall reading that keeping a food journal is one of the top ways to > lose weight - it forces one to be honest and accountable with respect to > what and how much he/she is eating. it makes a lot of sense to me because > it also gets to the "why" am I eating this or that if it's not nourishing > and I'm not hungry. the extra food adds up quick - do the math on an extra > 250 calories/day over 2 years. then do it over 5 years. if that extra 250 > calories/day (a couple beers or a bag of chips or a bowl of ice cream) is > the norm for two thirds of Americans, then the fact that two-thirds of > Americans are overweight/obese makes perfect sense. > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/gfSeWMV4nkYJ. > > To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
