Serious question, not meant as a flame.

Buddee wrote:
My question is...I see fat people everywhere, how does this
happen? I truly don't understand how somebody can let themsleves get to the
point of obesity. I'm not talking about the folks with glandular issues or
other medical related obesity problems, I'm talking about those who eat too
much crap and don't exercise. With all the benefits of being fit; health,
self image, being treated better, attractiveness, etc, I don't understand
why there is such an epidemic in north america.

Well, one reason is that not everyone thinks the same way you do. They
value different things. If what they value is greasy food, the
entertainment value of eating pringles and watching tv, in lounging around
with friends in the livingroom, in drinking beer and hanging loose, well
they will become fat. In olden days a monarch was expected to be
fat: that's the life of riches and leisure.

Some people consider that vanity is a sin. Being obsessive about your
workout needs doesn't fit with everyone's life. For example, I got fat by
exercising less and sustaining multiple blows to my metabolism associated
with pregnancy and the subsequent subsummation of my life to the children.
It's not like one day I had trouble fitting in my jeans, it's more like
for 9 months I wore maternity clothes and my body wasn't shaped the same
ever-after and I didn't have time or energy to do anything about it.

You saw your pants getting tight and several things came together:

You cared and considered it a problem.
You realized that you needed to eat less.
You knew how to eat less and still be satisfied on those foods.
You changed your habits.

If any one of those four steps were different then you would have had a
different outcome.

Wendy

Ok, I have lowbody fat, always have. I noticed around 4-5 years ago that I
actually had to start eating right because my youthfull metabolism was
slowing down, (I'm 28 now). I work out and eat very well now, lots of
protein, whole grains, no refined sugar, get plenty of vitamins and
minerals, etc. To me, being fit has always just seemed to be the obvious
thing to do. My question is...I see fat people everywhere, how does this
happen? I truly don't understand how somebody can let themsleves get to the
point of obesity. I'm not talking about the folks with glandular issues or
other medical related obesity problems, I'm talking about those who eat too
much crap and don't exercise. With all the benefits of being fit; health,
self image, being treated better, attractiveness, etc, I don't understand
why there is such an epidemic in north america.

Again, I really do not mean this in a mean way to anybody who is overweight
or obese. I am simply curious and would like to understand the problem
better.

Buddee.

Because people are taught that they don't have to make hard
decisions, somebody will come up with a pill to fix whatever
is wrong with them. Hence all the people who take pills to
lose weight -- and wind up sick one way or another.

Behind it is the notion that if people know how to make hard
decisions, they won't buy 80% of the things American commerce
wants to make money from.

Read back through the postings and you will see not only spam
but also some postings from people who have bought the fantasy.

Buddee wrote:

Ok, I have lowbody fat, always have. I noticed around 4-5 years ago that I
actually had to start eating right because my youthfull metabolism was
slowing down, (I'm 28 now). I work out and eat very well now, lots of
protein, whole grains, no refined sugar, get plenty of vitamins and
minerals, etc. To me, being fit has always just seemed to be the obvious
thing to do. My question is...I see fat people everywhere, how does this
happen? I truly don't understand how somebody can let themsleves get to the
point of obesity. I'm not talking about the folks with glandular issues or
other medical related obesity problems, I'm talking about those who eat too
much crap and don't exercise. With all the benefits of being fit; health,
self image, being treated better, attractiveness, etc, I don't understand
why there is such an epidemic in north america.

Again, I really do not mean this in a mean way to anybody who is overweight
or obese. I am simply curious and would like to understand the problem
better.

Buddee.

Well -- just a short answer to a complex question: In my case -- and
in that of many people I know -- appearance and fitness have now
always been major concerns. My self-image has, for most of my life,
been more invested in being smart and successful. And being
overweight didn't have a significant impact on that self-image. It
was only after I got involved in weight-lifting (whole long story that
I won't recount now) that I became concerned with other aspects of
fitness and appearance.

Many of my friends and colleagues (mostly all in the
computer/engineering business) have a similar mindset.

Chris
262/172/???

On Sun, 23 Nov 2003 00:20:10 GMT, Chris Braun
wrote:

Well -- just a short answer to a complex question: In my case -- and
in that of many people I know -- appearance and fitness have now
always been major concerns.

Correcting myself: that should say, "have NOT always been major
concerns"!

Chris

Actually I'm in the computer special effects field myslef.

Buddee.

"Chris Braun" wrote in message
news
Well -- just a short answer to a complex question: In my case -- and
in that of many people I know -- appearance and fitness have now
always been major concerns. My self-image has, for most of my life,
been more invested in being smart and successful. And being
overweight didn't have a significant impact on that self-image. It
was only after I got involved in weight-lifting (whole long story that
I won't recount now) that I became concerned with other aspects of
fitness and appearance.

Many of my friends and colleagues (mostly all in the
computer/engineering business) have a similar mindset.

Chris
262/172/???

On Sat, 22 Nov 2003 21:48:13 -0800, "Buddee" wrote:

Actually I'm in the computer special effects field myslef.

Buddee.


One difference between us is that I'm much older than you are -- 55.
And most of my friends are at least 40. Perhaps there's a different
mindset among younger people than among those who grew up in my
generation? Though I see just as many overweight younger people as
older ones.

Chris

For me..
It's much like being an alcoholic or an addict. How does an addict
become an addict? Because they think they can control it even if it's
"just this once" - Since some serious self discovery I have learned that
I can not take that path. There is no "just one snickers bar" for me, or
"I'll skip working out just this once" It *has* to be a reasonable
conscious effort on my part on a daily basis to stop all those bad
habits and replace them with good. It's getting easier yes.. but it is
still a very prevalent part of my day. To make good choices that will
eventually get me to a goal, and I'm not talking about a physical goal
alone but a mental and spiritual one as well. I don't know if this is
how it is for others. But that's how it is for me.

Susan
260/202/160

---
2month 2weeks 20:21hours of being smoke-free, 3,040 cigs not smoked,
$562.40 saved, 1wweek 3day 13:20hours of my life saved

"Buddee" wrote in message
...
Ok, I have lowbody fat, always have. I noticed around 4-5 years ago
that I
actually had to start eating right because my youthfull metabolism was
slowing down, (I'm 28 now). I work out and eat very well now, lots of
protein, whole grains, no refined sugar, get plenty of vitamins and
minerals, etc. To me, being fit has always just seemed to be the
obvious
thing to do. My question is...I see fat people everywhere, how does
this
happen? I truly don't understand how somebody can let themsleves get
to the
point of obesity. I'm not talking about the folks with glandular
issues or
other medical related obesity problems, I'm talking about those who
eat too
much crap and don't exercise. With all the benefits of being fit;
health,
self image, being treated better, attractiveness, etc, I don't
understand
why there is such an epidemic in north america.

Again, I really do not mean this in a mean way to anybody who is
overweight
or obese. I am simply curious and would like to understand the problem
better.

Buddee.

On Sat, 22 Nov 2003 14:45:51 -0800, "Buddee" wrote:

Ok, I have lowbody fat, always have. I noticed around 4-5 years ago that I
actually had to start eating right because my youthfull metabolism was
slowing down, (I'm 28 now). I work out and eat very well now, lots of
protein, whole grains, no refined sugar, get plenty of vitamins and
minerals, etc. To me, being fit has always just seemed to be the obvious
thing to do. My question is...I see fat people everywhere, how does this
happen? I truly don't understand how somebody can let themsleves get to the
point of obesity. I'm not talking about the folks with glandular issues or
other medical related obesity problems, I'm talking about those who eat too
much crap and don't exercise. With all the benefits of being fit; health,
self image, being treated better, attractiveness, etc, I don't understand
why there is such an epidemic in north america.

Again, I really do not mean this in a mean way to anybody who is overweight
or obese. I am simply curious and would like to understand the problem
better.

Buddee.

I'm very sceptical about people who claim "glandular issues or other
medical related obesity problems" but I know there are some who will
tell me I'm wrong.
The answer for me is simplistic (not to be confused with simple!)
For myself, I've spent most of my adult life overweight because I eat
too much.
I eat too much because I have a compulsive eating problem which I
have never been able to conquer for a sufficient length of time to get
to my goal.
I take a considerable amount of exercise, especially walking,
swimming, etc., but it would take a heck of a lot of exercise to work
off the calories some people eat, including me on a bad day.
It could be that some of this applies to the people you are referring
to, although I agree there are some who take no exercise and who
really don't care about what they eat.
Of course, exercise and eating well is the obvious thing to do. It's
doing it that many people find difficult almost to the point of
impossibility.
janice

There was a time when I didn't give a flying fig if I was fat, thin, or
otherwise, as long as I got to eat WHAT I wanted, *when* I wanted.
There *were* situations in my life which embedded this mindset when I
was younger, of which I acted on later in my life. My choice, My deal.

Sometimes, seriously, food is tasty, and that taste is addictive for
some, and they'll go through ANYthing, even fatness, to just taste it
yet one more time.

Some people's addictions just happen to be more obvious than others,
that is all. While one person is engaging in overeating, another person
might be engaging in drugs, or gossiping behind someone's back, or what
have you.

Someday I will reach the point of perfection, and never make any bad
choices WRT eating, or whatever, and as soon as I do, you'll be the
first to know ;-)