America: Land of the Fat

Chicago Sun-Times ^ | June 29, 2003 | Jim Ritter

[GrandMoM]

Is Dan a GrandMOM??????????

[SamAdams76]

The On The Border I mentioned is up in Nashua, NH on Daniel Webster Highway. Ironically, it sits pretty much on the Mass/NH border. There is another OTB in Woburn as well, off of Rte 128.

As for Springsteen at Fenway, I'm willing to pay as much as $200 for a pair of tickets no matter where they are - even if they are out in Section 1 in front of Pesky's Pole. Any sellers out there?

[mombonn]

I never realized just how insanely huge restaurant portions really were.

I routinely bring home enough from a restaurant to make two more full dinners.

[contessa machiaveli]

it's all about moderation and personal responsibility. this is all such BS, and seems that we're in a perpetual state of crisis here in the US (of course drummed up be bored media types starved for real issues).apparently, the gov't as parent is the only entity able to solve the problems of AIDS, smoking, obesity, and next...toenail fungus.

[Senator Pardek]

Born To Run.

[Ditter]

Parking closer to the door of the mall is safer than walking out into the middle of that sea of parked cars. Your arms are full of packages you must put down while getting the doors open. Thats what its about for me, not a shorter walk.

[southernnorthcarolina]

Is Dan a GrandMOM??????????

Well, behind our anonymity on the net, we can be anything, can we not? I thought it possible that the former VP, shamed by the "potatoe" fiasco, might have assumed an entirely new identity.

But mainly, GrandMoM, I was just havin' a little fun with you. Lord knows, I've made my share of spelling errors on Free Republic and elsewhere, so I shouldn't be casting aspersions. But the "potatoe" incident was so famous, I couldn't resist. Forgive me?

[whd23]

Sam,
Have you dined at La Carreta Mexican Restaurant, further north on D.W. Highway (near the car dealers) ?

Speedy Gonzales with soft taco makes a fine lunch, and fast too!

[boris]

"I want you to know that I have discovered your secret formula for weight loss and I plan on stealing it. I too will make something so truly disgusting in taste that it makes the victim... err, uhhh... "dieter" not want to eat anything because they're physically nauseous.

"This morning I defecated an exact replica of the bar I ate last night. I plan on taking my feces and your bar to shopping malls and asking people to take a bite of each and see if they can tell the difference.

LOL.

Before the advent of statins (cholesterol drugs) my doctor prescribed a medication which was some sort of "resin". It was supposed to bind the bile salts which are the starting point of cholesterol synthesis.

The operative words here are "resin" and "bind". Can you say "constipation"?

It looked and tasted exactly like a gum eraser. (I have not dined on gum erasers, just in case you are wondering). One day, on a hunch, I used some of it to erase some pencil marks and it worked perfectly.

Thank God for statins!

--Boris

[El Gato]

Amazing, the article spends all sorts of time talking about genetics and then details how people eat ho-ho's and double cheeseburgers and get fat. A corpse would gain weight on a diet of junk like that. Mr Neal gets no exercise and eats like a pig, but he's a victim of genetics

Sure *she* is. In a way at least. Although it doesn't really mean she is victim, but rather someone more vulnerable to the problem than others. It's not an either or situation. Genes do count, but so does behavior.

We all know skinny as a rail people who eat like that. My cousin is married to a guy like that. He ate so much at family gatherings, we teased her that she must never feed him at home... but I know she alwasy has. Their daughters were lucky and got his genes, or her mothers, who is also thin, rather than genes from our grandmothers line.

[SamAdams76]

Yes, I've been to La Carreta too. I believe I was there as recently as February and I downed some Dos Equis with enchiladas and chile rellenos. Pity those items aren't on my menu these days (but perhaps when I finish losing the weight, I can indulge from time to time).

There's also another decent Mexican restaurant up there called "Margaritas" I believe. Or maybe it's "Margaritaville." It's a pretty big place near a canal.

[boris]

"Drug addicts, obese people,high risk lifestyles are some of nature's way of thinning the herd."

A slow metabolism and a tendency to store fats were positive survival mechanisms when humans evolved. Since you might eat once and then not for a week, high-energy food and fat storage was a plus. The problem is that we have not evolved to cope with the plenty that modern agriculture and supermarkets provide.

Once people like me were more likely to survive, now we are not. I've fought obesity since childhood, and obesity won. A double bypass, diabetes, and peripheral neuropathy are the result. I do intensive exercise three times a week under the scrutiny of the Demon Nurses from Hell; I invite you to try to keep up with me.

I am still an endomorph, and "to perdition with ye" to smug ectomorphs such as (I presume) Porterville.

--Boris

[Alouette]

Four years ago I stopped drinking soda pop. This was a very big sacrifice on my part because I (used to) love Cherry Coke! Now the only beverages that I drink are, coffee with skim milk and artificial sweetener (in the morning) and mineral water. Once in a while for a treat I will drink Perrier sparkling water, but I gave that up early this year during the "boycott France!" movement. Fortunately Faygo makes a flavored seltzer so I don't crave the Perrier.

Two weeks ago I started an exercise program, walking for 2-3 miles first thing in the morning. When I get used to this routing I will add jogging then running to this routine.

My goal: to be slim by Christmas for a grand family reunion!

[annyokie]

I'm so pleased for you! Keep up the good work. I never have had a weight problem, but my dad yo-yo's all the time with trendy diets and is killing himself, IMHO.

I worked with a guy who crossed over to 325 last fall. He is a big guy,but his knees were killing him and he had chronic backpain. He went on the Herbalife thing and lost 40 pounds and then promptly put it back on in 90 days. You are being very sensible, IMO.

Best!

[Artist]

So of course, she had a salad of baby greens (good, so far), topped with slices of blackened chicken (well... OK, if it stopped there, but...), bacon (a generous sprinkling), cheese (lots), and about a half-cup of blue cheese dressing. Of course, she had a Diet Coke.

Actually, minus the Diet Coke, the meal was an good selection if she's doing a low carb diet.

After years of eating a low fat (HIGH carb) diet, and seeing my scale head up to the high side of "normal" I am losing weight effortlessly on a high protein / fat diet. It's fantastic, and I'm going to see my wedding weight on my scale again! :^)

P.S. I haven't had my cholesterol checked yet, but all my friends that have done low carb have seen their levels drop....despite all the fat. I also have a lot more energy than I did before.

[CatoRenasci]

I cannot really claim any expertise on the upper class. While I've known some heavy-set ladies and gentlemen whom I would almost certainly consider upper class, by far the majority of the people I come into contact with are reasonably trim. Those who do office work may have a bit of a paunch, but nothing really obese. I do not see many fitness addicts, except perhaps among the trophy wives whose origins may be obscure.

I think it's a fair observation that most ladies and gentlemen are always busy with something, often something physical that they don't really have to do. Some ride, some sail, some garden or play tennis or squash, or some golf. But they're always out and about, moving, taking care of things.

It's also fair to say that one will almost never encounter Lucullian portions in a well run house; so I think your point about dietary self-discipline is also well-taken. I wonder the extent to which genetics plays a role: many thin gentlemen marry thin ladies, just as handsome men and attractive women often marry. There is a certain non-scientific natural selection of like traits.

Of course, it was not always the case that the upper classes were thin. Before WWI, say, it was common for the upperclass in this country and in England to be quite heavy. But, before refrigeration and mass production, starvation, or at least malnourishment, was a threat for the poor, and only the rich could afford diets rich in protein.

[Rate_Determining_Step]

This article attempts to blame the producers rather than consumers.

That's what that guy Jacobson from the CSPI is all about. It's their key to power and influence. He's an egomaniac.

If he could get headlines and adoration by the press from hounding fat people on a one-to-one basis like he does corporations, he would. But it's easier to target companies as they're in the same place every day, easily accessible and nearly always back down from a fight. There's a ton of reasons for the self-promoting to target producers and an equal number against challenging consumers.

Consumers are the ultimate bearer of the responsibility. If they get too fat and die early, there's nothing a changed policy or calorie listing or Jacobson sponsered law will do to make you whole again. Jacobson and his ilk won't help your family. They'll just use your early death as a drop in their stastic bucket which will ultimately fail. We're nowhere near the day when we'll give up the number of freedoms necessary to satisfy Jacobon. Nor do I ever see the day when we will be.

The bottom line, he's an evil little petty man who will make life uncomfortable for many producers. Him and his ideas should be challenged on a moral level whenever you the opportunity arises, but I don't spend any appreciable amount of time or energy worrying about it.

I'm just PO'ed that they ruined Mexican food when their hit-and-run piece caused nearly all their menus to change for the worst - causing them to drastically cut fat and lard out of the dishes.

RDS
Atkins winner since 1999. 6'1", 170 lbs - still

[PatrioticAmerican]

Americans watch too much TV? How? There is nothing on.

[PatrioticAmerican]

Americans watch too much TV? How? There is nothing on.

[Rate_Determining_Step]

> Part of the puzzle is a major revamping of the food triangle.

The "Food Triangle" as it's euphemistally phrased should be on the barn walls for pig and beef farmers. It's great for livestock who need to be fattened, but horrible for humans.