Hunger sucks
 

The thread title "Hunger is a good thing" is stupid. Hunger sucks. Ask
starving people in third world countries if hunger is a good thing. I've
been holding back on a lot of things I've wanted to post lately, because
I've been going through nicotine withdrawals and it's hard to tell
sometimes if my feelings are valid and appropriate, or just the withdrawals
making me crazy, and I didn't want to say anything I'd regret later.

But I have to say that lately I have been really depressed about just the
fact that obesity exists. It's such a ****ing stupid thing that we have so
much food we actually get fat, when for the vast, VAST majority of human
history the primary struggle was to get enough food to survive. And it's
still that way in many parts of the world. I swear, if God came down from
heaven today and solved all of humaniy's current problems, we'd invent a
whole batch of new ones the minute his back was turned, and probably be
worse off than when we started.

I had an epiphany today at the grocery store, while visually drowning in
the obscene variety and abundance of food available. Our culture is
screwed up. A lot. When there's so much food available it loses its
value. We forget how important it is. We view it as the enemy, the thing
that keeps us fat, when it isn't the fault of the food, it's the fault of
our perceptions and values.

Even though I am not a religious person, I am going to start a ritual of
giving a silent thanks before each meal. Since I don't believe in god,
I'll thank the animal I'm eating or the agricultural workers who grow my
produce, I'll thank the truck drivers, and the stock boys, etc. I'll just
remind myself in general to be grateful to live in an age and country of
abundance, remind myself that it wasn't always this way and it still isn't
this way everywhere in the world, and remind myself not to take even one
bite of food for granted. Having to struggle to lose weight is a luxury in
the eyes of those who are truly hungry.

--
Michelle Levin
http://www.mindspring.com/~lunachick

I have only 3 flaws. My first flaw is thinking that I only have 3 flaws.

Hmmm.....

You're practicing your writing. Better than watching the tube, huh?

:)

Luna wrote:
|| The thread title "Hunger is a good thing" is stupid. Hunger sucks.
|| Ask starving people in third world countries if hunger is a good
|| thing. I've been holding back on a lot of things I've wanted to
|| post lately, because I've been going through nicotine withdrawals
|| and it's hard to tell sometimes if my feelings are valid and
|| appropriate, or just the withdrawals making me crazy, and I didn't
|| want to say anything I'd regret later.
||
|| But I have to say that lately I have been really depressed about
|| just the fact that obesity exists. It's such a ****ing stupid thing
|| that we have so much food we actually get fat, when for the vast,
|| VAST majority of human history the primary struggle was to get
|| enough food to survive. And it's still that way in many parts of
|| the world. I swear, if God came down from heaven today and solved
|| all of humaniy's current problems, we'd invent a whole batch of new
|| ones the minute his back was turned, and probably be worse off than
|| when we started.
||
|| I had an epiphany today at the grocery store, while visually
|| drowning in the obscene variety and abundance of food available.
|| Our culture is screwed up. A lot. When there's so much food
|| available it loses its value. We forget how important it is. We
|| view it as the enemy, the thing that keeps us fat, when it isn't the
|| fault of the food, it's the fault of our perceptions and values.
||
|| Even though I am not a religious person, I am going to start a
|| ritual of giving a silent thanks before each meal. Since I don't
|| believe in god, I'll thank the animal I'm eating or the agricultural
|| workers who grow my produce, I'll thank the truck drivers, and the
|| stock boys, etc. I'll just remind myself in general to be grateful
|| to live in an age and country of abundance, remind myself that it
|| wasn't always this way and it still isn't this way everywhere in the
|| world, and remind myself not to take even one bite of food for
|| granted. Having to struggle to lose weight is a luxury in the eyes
|| of those who are truly hungry.
||
|| --
|| Michelle Levin
|| http://www.mindspring.com/~lunachick
||
|| I have only 3 flaws. My first flaw is thinking that I only have 3
|| flaws.

Disclaimer: all pronouns are generic

Luna wrote:

The thread title "Hunger is a good thing" is stupid. Hunger sucks. Ask
starving people in third world countries if hunger is a good thing.

Starvation sucks, but hunger, the true signal that it is time to eat, is a
good thing. The ability to allow oneself a bit of time to feel that their
stomach is indeed truly empty, is indeed a *good* thing. The reason being,
because being NOT in a third world country, chances are high that the
hunger will soon be gone. It's still even then, not a true hunger, because
it's wayyyyy more temporary than those in 3rd world countries experience.

But I have to say that lately I have been really depressed about just the
fact that obesity exists. It's such a ****ing stupid thing that we have
so much food we actually get fat, when for the vast, VAST majority of
human history the primary struggle was to get enough food to survive. And
it's still that way in many parts of the world.

Exactly my point. We have so much food that the notion that we should have
a *short* period of time (waking hours) that we have an empty stomach
freaks us (the colloquial 'us') out. It's a mindset pounded into our brain
so much that we've become fat. (I'm in Canada, but the availability of
food is pretty much the same as the US).

I had an epiphany today at the grocery store, while visually drowning in
the obscene variety and abundance of food available. Our culture is
screwed up. A lot. When there's so much food available it loses its
value. We forget how important it is. We view it as the enemy, the thing
that keeps us fat, when it isn't the fault of the food, it's the fault of
our perceptions and values.

Right on the money, Luna.

Having to struggle to lose weight is a luxury
in the eyes of those who are truly hungry.

And for us to have an empty stomach for a few hours is not the agony that
our culture would love for us to believe.

Luna wrote:

I swear, if God came down from heaven today and solved all of humaniy's
current problems,

Even though I am not a religious person, I am going to start a ritual of
giving a silent thanks before each meal. Since I don't believe in god,

hmmm. what's wrong with this picture?

On Mon, 23 Aug 2004 00:26:05 GMT, (The Queen of
Cans and Jars) wrote:

Luna wrote:

I swear, if God came down from heaven today and solved all of humaniy's
current problems,

Even though I am not a religious person, I am going to start a ritual of
giving a silent thanks before each meal. Since I don't believe in god,

hmmm. what's wrong with this picture?
It is an interesting juxtoposition ain't it. VBEG

Lee Rodgers
Lowcarb Retreat http://www.lowcarb.org
CHAT http://www.lowcarb.org/parachat.html
Low-Carb Connoisseur http://www.low-carb.com

Luna wrote:
---------
I had an epiphany today at the grocery store, while visually drowning in
the obscene variety and abundance of food available. Our culture is
screwed up. A lot.

I've always thought that there was something fundamentally weirdass about
a country where some people pay a premium for low-calorie foods and others
can't afford to buy enough calories to feed their families.

Dan
325/211/180
Atkins since 1/1/02 (yeah, it was a New Year's Resolution)
Besetting sins: good beer, German bread, and Krispy Kremes

Luna wrote:
---------
I had an epiphany today at the grocery store, while visually drowning in
the obscene variety and abundance of food available. Our culture is
screwed up. A lot.

I've always thought that there was something fundamentally weirdass about
a country where some people pay a premium for low-calorie foods and others
can't afford to buy enough calories to feed their families.

Dan
325/211/180
Atkins since 1/1/02 (yeah, it was a New Year's Resolution)
Besetting sins: good beer, German bread, and Krispy Kremes

In article ,
(The Queen of Cans and Jars) wrote:

Luna wrote:

I swear, if God came down from heaven today and solved all of humaniy's
current problems,

Even though I am not a religious person, I am going to start a ritual of
giving a silent thanks before each meal. Since I don't believe in god,

hmmm. what's wrong with this picture?


Huh, maybe I should have said that it's a BIG if in the first statement.
But I thought it was pretty clear that it was not meant literally as
something that was actually likely to happen. I could just as easily have
said if aliens came down and solved our problems with superior technology,
or if a sorceror appeared and solved our problems with magic, both of which
are still illustrations, not actual scientific hypotheses. On rereading
yet again, I still think it was obvious that I wasn't being literal in my
first statement. Obvious to anyone who isn't hard of thinking, anyway.
I'll try to be more sensitive to your disabilities in the future.

--
Michelle Levin
http://www.mindspring.com/~lunachick

I have only 3 flaws. My first flaw is thinking that I only have 3 flaws.

Luna wrote:
---------
I had an epiphany today at the grocery store, while visually drowning in
the obscene variety and abundance of food available. Our culture is
screwed up. A lot.



I grew up poor. Very poor. We had commodity foods (before foodstamps). Not
much choice. But I got fat on that food. High carbs, high fat. Cheap food.
It was years before I ate fruit, vegetables, and meat. It's easy to be fat and
starving.

And many people are obese because buying starches is cheaper than meat. I'm
not talking about junk food. I'm talking about rice, potatoes, and flour.
It's not all black and white.

Yvonne

Luna wrote:
|| In article ,
|| (The Queen of Cans and Jars) wrote:
||
||| Luna wrote:
|||
|||| I swear, if God came down from heaven today and solved all of
|||| humaniy's current problems,
||||
|||| Even though I am not a religious person, I am going to start a
|||| ritual of giving a silent thanks before each meal. Since I don't
|||| believe in god,
|||
||| hmmm. what's wrong with this picture?
|||
||
|| Huh, maybe I should have said that it's a BIG if in the first
|| statement. But I thought it was pretty clear that it was not meant
|| literally as something that was actually likely to happen. I could
|| just as easily have said if aliens came down and solved our problems
|| with superior technology, or if a sorceror appeared and solved our
|| problems with magic, both of which are still illustrations, not
|| actual scientific hypotheses. On rereading yet again, I still think
|| it was obvious that I wasn't being literal in my first statement.
|| Obvious to anyone who isn't hard of thinking, anyway. I'll try to be
|| more sensitive to your disabilities in the future.

It was obvious.