fat kids

[Fuzzy Dice]

Why are these kids so goddamn fat? I'll tell you why, it's not because of video games and fatty foods, it's because of their inneffective parents. I had a nintendo. McDonalds was definitely in business at the time, hell - the food was just as greasy, there were less quality controls in place and they actually served you more of it. My parents didn't take me to mcdonalds. fast food was a rare treat. And if mom figured i'd been playing nintendo too long, she fired me out the back door into our yard and made me play out there. Ah yes, how cruel it is to be forced to play. Sure i was mad at her. For about five minutes, until i started to run around and have fun. And so what if I had friends over? She fired them out too. Standup gal, my mom. The only time i got pop and or chips was if we rented a movie, or if there was company over. Most of the time if we rented a movie, we made popcorn and could have juice, milk or water. Snacks were apples. Oranges, bananas, cucumber slices, peanut butter and jelly sandwhiches.

Now, what we've got here is an entirely dfferent situation. These kids are babysat by tv. As long as they're not making noise, mom and dad are happy. So these little bastards, raised on "time outs" as the main disciplining action, just throw a tantrum to get their way, as mummy and daddy throw fast food and movies at them to sedate them for a little while. You know what? If you make a kid run around for a while, then they get TIRED. And they want to sleep. Time outs. God. My dad would take "Time out" of his busy day to blister our butts. My pop used a leather slipper. My friends volunteer stories about belts and i know a few kids who actually had switches used on them. What good is sending a kid to his room, if his room is where all his toys are? What good is grounding a kid who never leaves the house because he spends all his time sitting in front of a box that flickers and makes sound? And why does he spend all his time in this manner? Because you're a piss-poor excuse for a parent.

And what's with all this safety gear? okay, maybe a bike helmet, MAYBE. But dammit. If you get hurt a couple of times, you learn not to do what it was that resulted in getting you hurt. Although what you learn may just be to not fuck up what you were attempting to do, you still learn. It's how we grow, damnit. People who've never felt pain don't really believe in it and they certainly don't understand it. Kids are resilient. They're tough little pricks who can take, and recover from, injuries pretty damn easily.

Damn the fucking media and their blaming what the kids eat and how they play as the causes of their fat-assed misplaced aggression. These maladjusted little butterballs don't need personality altering drugs (okay, MOST of them don't) they need parents whose heads aren't so far up their asses that they think that just because all the other parents are doing it that it makes it right. The problem with majority rule is that the majority of people don't have the slightest idea what's best for them, let alone for their children.

[Scumbag]

I think we need to setup a mass steralization program in Ultra Bourgeoisie nations with fat kid problems.


problem solved!

[Scythe]

The problem is that contraception is directly related to intelligence and level of education. Which means that the dumb people, who thing that television is a good babysitter, are the ones populating the world.

Pleasant thought, isn't it?

[nosedog]

No, no, no, Fuzzy Dice.

Why are you blaming the parents when it's easier to shift the blame onto corporations such as McDonalds, Coke, Sony and Microsoft? Your 'parental responsibility' attitude is laughably prehistoric.

Now go and sue somebody and think about about it.

[oracle]

I agree with nosedog... PA hit the nail on the head here (http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2003-08-11&res=l) a few weeks ago.

[angel_b]

Nice post, Fuzzy Dice. All true. I was also whacked with a slipper (rarely) and look how well adjusted I turned out. :p

[Phlexor]

I think all the media hype surrounding child molesters has scared parents into letting their kids play outside like I did back in the 70's. I know it's on my mind, but at least my kids aint fat. (chips and lollies are for parties only, and dont take shit from your kids)

[kleph]

no no no no no... it's the suburbs (http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/09/030901091400.htm) that are making them fatasses.

actually, one of the things i noticed when i went over there and tyrany pointed out on his jaunt over here was there is an inordinately large number of fat people in the states. it's most likely the result of a battery of factors but the rapid increase in methamphetamine addiction promises to slim them all up real quick.

[Sodapop]

beacuse of my upbringing I can fit into airplane seats. Huzzah!

[nosedog]

I think the answer lies with bikes. I was a BMX hero as a kid, and was as skinny as a mosquito's dick.

Look at Japan - all skinny arses - all bike riders. We simply need a new BMX craze to sweep the world. Old skool BMX, that's where its at.

[nosedog]

Look at this skinny fucker! Look at him!!!

I propose an immediate nationwide fitness program based on old skool bmx:
http://www.roostbmx.com/om1_files/fmf-scot.jpg

[thingy]

What, you mean like those BMX games on my PS2?

[nosedog]

No, I mean the ugly thing in your garage that everyone in the neighbourhood has ridden ..... and I'm not talkin bout yo mumma.

[RASPUTIN]

I so agree with this post. As a dad of two healthy lads I too blame parents for fat kids.

If my kids had their way they would never leave the computer. But in our wisdom we give them 1 hour a week to play games weither it be playstation computer or gameboy.

Now in reality they get about 6hrs a week in but for the rest of the time they are out and about playing.

Same deal with food. Snacks are fruit or fruit or fruit. Drinks are water or water or juice.

Myself and my youngest are chocoholics and so we go halves in a large block of the stuff every fortnight. That is all the crap we have.

[King_Crud]

Plus fat boys have boobies. Who would want their son to have boobies!!!

[Fuzzy Dice]

Based on the strength of that post alone, i find myself with a great deal of respect for you Rasputin. Well done.

[BtrFly]

I recently did an assignment on this for one of my uni courses and, yes i did find a direct corellation between the amount of food and the video games that a kid were allowed to consume/play. However some of the blame must be shifted to the corporations that make parents work over time so that they can survive in this world, and the corporations that make the food that will be
bought because the parents are too tired to cook a decent meal.

Dont forget that it is no longer safe to play in your back yard, or on the road because of the "Stranger Danger" and the fact that the cars these days are going at a million miles an hour up and down these said roads.

I also looked at the contribution that these corporations (such as McDonalds and KFC) give to the community - what i found out wast that these corporations contribute a lot of their time and money on programs for children, and on helping people who are sick as a result of cancer and other such diseases.

One must not forget also the genetic factors that go into teenage over weight kids. Some kids are genetically disposed to being overweight, no matter how much sport/exercise they do, or how little they eat. I myself am one of these people, and it is only now that i have been diagnosed and placed on the correct treatments, am i starting to lose the weight that you so like to call "laziness".

So please, before you go ranting and raving, put a little research into the true reasons as to why a particular person is over weight, because otherwise one day - we may just come and sit on your scrawny ass... Then who will have the last laugh?

BTW - discipline is a WHOLE other issue that shouldnt be raised with the fat kids one.

[Fuzzy Dice]

I'm a biochemist. You're right, there are definitely correlations between obesity and certain genes. However, in this case, environment plays a much, much larger role than genetics (with, as you said, some rare exceptions). I was commenting on obesity that results directly from lifestyle. Surely not all of these children are genetically inclined towards obesity?

Now certainly, a person's metabolism has mitigating effects on how they gain weight, but you can't place sole blame there. Metabolism as an adult is affected greatly by how you live as a child.

The point of this rant really wasn't about obesity and i can see that i should have named it differently. The point was about the general shoddy parenting that is going on in many parts of the world.

My mom quit her job to stay home with us kids until i was 8 years old. I know that this is not an option for many people these days, and i respect her immensely for stalling her career for so long to be with us.

[LauraleeBug]

Not that I'm taking a serious stand, but look on the other side...

What's so fucken bad about having a little extra meat on your bones?

The problem is that we come from a prosperous society where it is even *possible* to both a) get fat; and b) have enough time on our hands to worry about the asthetics of it...

Not that I'm trying to tell a hard luck story but when I was a kid, I was always skinny and underfed because my family was fucked up. It also meant I was overworked as well. Sure, I became really strong but I also never grew properly either, and was always sick as a child.

To this day I am only 4'11" and I pretty much never have to worry about my weight. I also found out that ppl that were starved as children actually turn out to live longer. Seems that lack of quantity of food (not quality) tends to help you live to a very old age, while appearing to stay younger than average....
strange, huh?

So, it would appear that it would have been to my advantage even to have had such an abusive childhood....

... but would I ever want any kid of mine to be healthy at that expense? Fuck no, I'd rather have 'em fat & happy...

And yes, go buy them a damn bike to run around the neighbourhood on!! That oughta help :)

[BtrFly]

I am glad that you had such a stable lifestyle, and no i am not saying that all these kids have these particular genetic predispositions.

I have seen that some parents are able to take the time off, and these kids still turn out overweight, and there are others whose parents work, and the kids are skinny. Again, yes it is lifestyle.

Shoddy parenting can come in many forms, and it is of great detriment to the children who are being brought up in this environment. I do not agree with hitting a child for no reason, however if they have done something wrong, then they need to be punished and sending them to their room isnt always the answer. Children these days are being spoilt, and these parents are only letting themselves in for a shock when they get their "kindness" spat back in their face.

But you also must look after school activities and schools. Parents are no longer trusting that their children are going to arrive home safely after these events, so to make sure their kids are ok, they are choosing to not have them enrolled in these classes/ team sports.

Also schools these days are placing more and more emphasis on the mental learning, not so much on the physical learning. And with the fear of skin cancer and of being sued, can you blame them? Society would rather someone who was going to contribute intellectually, rather than be someone who was good at sports, but mooched off the system.

And i know you are going to tell me about the people who are great athletes - but they dont even make up a percentage of the population, and whilst they can be role models, does the child really ever aspire great enough to get to where their idol is?

[Fuzzy Dice]

Originally posted by BtrFly
And i know you are going to tell me about the people who are great athletes - but they dont even make up a percentage of the population, and whilst they can be role models, does the child really ever aspire great enough to get to where their idol is?

Are you kidding me? Proffessional athletes? What a fucking joke.

I think there are far better people for our children to be emulating than someone who is simply reknowned for their skill at sports. The fact that there ARE proffessional athletes, to me, is the reason for dickhead parents that freak out at sporting events because their child is not getting enough play time, or because the reffing is 'unfair.'

Not that it's the athlete's fault, mind you, if I had that kind of prowess, I would certainly be taking advantage of the system to get my millions of dollars a year. But because of the existence of this condition.....UG.

btrfly, i agree with much of what you have said so far. I feel like you think i'm denying the validity of your points. In fact, i find your input to be very insightful.

hehe, but for a rant to be truly successful, you have to generalize :P

[BtrFly]

Originally posted by Fuzzy Dice
Are you kidding me? Proffessional athletes? What a fucking joke.

btrfly, i agree with much of what you have said so far. I feel like you think i'm denying the validity of your points. In fact, i find your input to be very insightful.

hehe, but for a rant to be truly successful, you have to generalize :P

I do believe you are taking me seriously - though i do enjoy a good argument :) but thank you for the clarification - i like to know when i am right :) as anyone who knows me will attest to!

and Lol i completely agree! Bloody professional athletes - they have their place - but their ascension to god like status (much like movie stars) is absolutely ridiculous. There needs to be a limit on how much money someone can take out of a country before they have to start making contributions to support the 3rd world! I mean - yes they are at the top of their game and they are in the spotlight, but if we didnt emolate them (right word??) would they be where they are?

i say bring on the rants - and the more viewpoints, the better!

[Fuzzy Dice]

I think you meant emulate.

emolate is not a word! HA-HA! close enough, though. :P

[BtrFly]

haha spank you :) that'll teach me for using big words :)

its been good ranting with you fuzzy- must do it again sometime!:ghost:

[Fuzzy Dice]

Love to. Your rant? Or mine?

[BtrFly]

probly yours is safer - SamBo might get a little jealous if i bring you into my rant ;)

[hazza]

blame the mothers, they are the ones being tards and "wanting to work".

men go out and work, provide for family.


women stay home, look after family.


its not being sexist, its how things fucking work.


"Sure you can raise a kid without a dad, but it aint ment to be done. Its like driving with your feet, sure you could do it, but it aint fucking right."

(paraphrased)

Chris rock - bigger and blacker.

[nosedog]

Originally posted by BtrFly
some of the blame must be shifted to the ... corporations that make the food that will be bought because the parents are too tired to cook a decent meal.

Bullshit.
That is the biggest fucking cop-out I've heard in a long time. You're seriously trying to blame the makers of the food that you bought for making you and your children fat.

Jesus Christ, buy some fruit and veges, and take some responsibility for your own frigging life.

[BtrFly]

thank you very much for leaving out the part where i did say that the junk food is bad. and that the companies push it on the kids.
i was making a point that it isnt all the parents fault in the society we live in today. to survive we must have a 2 income family and that can mean that there is no one to cook sometimes. so - BITE ME - :swear:

[nosedog]

- BITE YOU - which part?

By the sounds of it, that could take ages.

As for the rest of your post, it just confuses me. Must be too much cholesterol shorting out your brain connections. My point is, you cannot blame the makers of food for making you fat. After all, no-one forces you to buy it.

[SamBo]

ok, since in my relatively short life, I have gone from being incredibly skinny, to very overweight, back to skinny (kinda) I am gonna throw in my 2cents here
When I was growing up, going to fast food restaurants was something that happened very rarely, like for birthdays etc. To be honest, it didn't really worry me.
Anyway, I used to play alot of sport when I was growing up. I played soccer, cricket, roller hockey and tennis. Because of this and the fact that we had very little junk food in the house, I stayed pretty skinny. So my parents did a good job there.
BUT.... my parents (I love them dearly, but sadly they fucked up here) offered me no encouragement for the sports I played, only criticism. Tell me, how is a child supposed to enjoy playing sport when his own parents bag him out about it?
So yeah, I stopped playing sport. Became reclusive. Miserable. So, I ended up sitting around eating, watching TV and playing computer games instead of playing sport. That's when I put on a lot of weight.
Those who have seen me know that I dont have a huge build, yet about a year ago now, I was almost 100kg in weight.
Since then I've started being more responsible for my eating and exercise and now weight 73kg. I still eat food from places like KFC and Maccas. But I also drink lots of water and get a lot of (fun ;) ) exercise.
So really, we can't just blame the parents, or the fast food restaurants. It seems everyone wants to blame them, but no one is blaming the individuals who are fat. If you're a fat kid (and I dont mean by genetics) you CAN lose the weight if you put your mind to it and work hard. Blaming parents and junk food corporations will get you no where.

[hooptieride]

If we didnt have fat kids who would become the shoddy lebanese builders that rip off our Aussie Miracle mums??

[thingy]

Originally posted by nosedog
No, I mean the ugly thing in your garage that everyone in the neighbourhood has ridden ..... and I'm not talkin bout yo mumma.

Nahh, yours!

[hazza]

i used to be fatter than i was, and this was cos i used to get bored at home and eat...

this occured when my neighbours left. we used to do heaps of stuff in the arvos, always running round, playing footy e.t.c. when they left i got bored and ate.

but eh i grew got taller, lost some of the weight, and ive done sport since i was under8's.


sometimes you just get fat

[Cassa]

I used to be somewhat heavier than I am now, back when I was a teenager and a bit shorter (65kg and 5'4). Technically I wasn't overweight but I did look a bit on the filled out side. I didn't have a bad lifestyle but I was fairly sedentary and didn't have a great diet. It wasn't a conscious decision to lose weight but I decided to make changes in my diet because I was feeling unhealthy. It really is the little things that can make a difference in your diet (assuming you don't eat KFC five times a week). Stuff like don't butter your bread, have skim milk and no sugar in coffee, say no to extra helpings at dinner, diet coke instead of normal. It sounds kind of stupid and obvious I know, but I remember my old housemate complaining all the time about not being able to lose weight while at the same time slathering extra butter on her bread and having a mars bar after dinner.

Oh and if I hear one more person say they don't have the time to exercise I will slap them.

[kleph]

Originally posted by King_Crud
Plus fat boys have boobies. Who would want their son to have boobies!!!

michael jackson?

but count me in on the bike theory. but i was a touring bike disciple (it was the heyday of greg lemond). of course everything sucked on tv in the 80s, video games were in their paleozoic era and i didn't have a car. so i would put in hundreds of miles a week. skinny as skinny can be. whippersnapper skinny. a skinny god of love, i was. (now i'm just skinny)

[robotoverflow]

Nosedog, you hit the nail on the head with that bike idea. It's damn fun, it sure as hell keeps you fit. If i'm awake at around 5am, while it's still dark out, I usually loon about on my bike for an hour or so. Don't ask me why i'm awake at that ungodly hour, it's just that on most days I either go to sleep really early or really late. :)

[kleph]

further proof! i was doing my morning five mile run which is usually about the time the kiddies start heading to school here. (alright, alright, give me the 20 points in the How Norti Are you? (http://forums.zgeek.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=11123) thread) anyway. i noticed that the kids on their bikes - skinny. the kids at the bus stop with a gamboy - fatasses.

i think nosedog is really on to something here. perhaps you have other keeping slim tips our canine olifactory mischief maker?

[Bostonmess]

I must be at my heaviest I've ever been, near on seventeen stone now? at least sixteen and a half (edit:105k). Fuck it. I do very little all day and I eat loads. I think you can blame the corporations, they're the ones that make foods so addictive, they're the ones that add fat and sugar, or simply just make really tasty (fatty sugary) meals. Of course at the end of the day it's my own fault, being a responsible adult (or almost) I just like it too much. I'm a salad dodger, don't really like 'em.

I suppose though the thing is some kids aren't responsible and they might go out and eat loads of Big Macs and get fat/ter, then you might say that's where the parents come in to make sure they don't do that. I haven't got any kids (I've eaten them all :)), I can't imagine it would be easy trying to keep 'em on the straight and narrow.

At the end of the day it's our own fault, we have free will. However, you could use the same argument to say: "let people sell smack, you don't have to buy it."?

Sellling fatty, sugary foods makes money, no one gets rich selling salads? Throw in some sugar and fat however...? You have a winner.

Pass the pizza.

[dozer]

17 stone? sheet, no single seat economy class for you, and i was worried about hitting 10.

give the parents a break, they saw what a success the fat kid from hey dad was and just want their kids to be the same.

[deevil]

oooooh, all these strange measurements for weight...
1 stone = 20lbs? is that right?
and 1kg = 2.2 lbs? is that right?...
ooooohhhhh, my head...:confused:

(we actually do use the metric system in canada, however no one uses it for weight... we still use lbs, except on drivers licenses and stuff...)

[Cassa]

1 stone = 14lbs or close enough to.
1 lb = 428g
1kg = 2.2lbs

I never got the stones etc way of measuring weight...doesn't seem practical at all. I can say I weigh 8 and a half stone but that means bugger all if you don't get it how it works. Spose the same could be said for kilos but at least they divide evenly :D

[deevil]

Damn! I'm one tubby bitch! I weigh 19 stone... hmmm, you know that sounds a lot worse in stone than it does in lbs... (oh and i rouned UP to 19 stone...)
:aah:

[iaidoka]

Without fat kids, who are our kids going to tease in school ?

Socially ostracising (sp?!) is a very important lesson to learn. How to work in a team environment (3 kids chanting "FATTY!"), creating thinking (Hey fatty! your fat!)... im sure there is more.

[LauraleeBug]

Originally posted by Cassa
Oh and if I hear one more person say they don't have the time to exercise I will slap them.

I have the time; hell I got plenty o' time....

I just H8TE excercising!!

If you're getting enough sex, and do enough housework - doesn't that count?

I must be doing something right, I stay between 52-54kg all the time... but I used to actually be 30 kgs heavier at one point due to some meds I was taking...

I agree with Hazza - fat happens... no big deal. I don't really find overweight ppl unattractive, either... To me, it's just the package they come in. If they don't like themselves that way bad enough, they'll change eventually. If they don't - it's probably because that's just how they're meant to look and I bet they probably look just fine!

[Cassa]

Originally posted by LauraleeBug
I have the time; hell I got plenty o' time....

I just H8TE excercising!!

If you're getting enough sex, and do enough housework - doesn't that count?

We can only hope ;) If you can say you hate it that's cool...I just get annoyed by people that say 'oh I would exercise but I just don't have time'. ANYONE can find half an hour in their day to squeeze in a walk, I don't care how busy you are

Originally posted by LauraleeBug
I must be doing something right, I stay between 52-54kg all the time...

No way dude! That's how much I weigh and I think you'd have to be much smaller than me, at least last time I saw you.

Originally posted by LauraleeBug
I agree with Hazza - fat happens... no big deal. I don't really find overweight ppl unattractive, either... To me, it's just the package they come in. If they don't like themselves that way bad enough, they'll change eventually. If they don't - it's probably because that's just how they're meant to look and I bet they probably look just fine!

Too true...if someone's meant to look that way and they can carry it off, I haven't got a problem with it. You can't expect people to be the same shape any more than you can expect them to be the same height...just doesn't work like that.

[LauraleeBug]

Originally posted by Cassa
No way dude! That's how much I weigh and I think you'd have to be much smaller than me, at least last time I saw you.


Heheheh, thanx girl... yeah, I am really tiny in size and am skinny all over.. but I actually do have quite a huge chest for someone my size (36D) and a butt to match... so I reckon that adds a few extra pounds :D

Hey, I was a size 3 or 5 most of my life until after I was 30, now I'm a perpetual size 10 all the time... I'm happy...

For me to get into the mindset (that I believe is half of most weight-obsessed ppl's problems) that I should still strive to be a size 5 is ridiculous.

I'm actually the same size I always was.... stuff just moves when you get older LOL!

[kleph]

this actually gets close to the heart of the matter for me. i'm skinny. i'm gonna be skinny. but that has little to do with my level of healthiness. hanging around and not exercising isn't going to affect my physical appearance much but my general level of fitness is going to go to shit.

several of my ex-girlfriends felt conscious about the fact i am so thin but cook all the time and they tended to put on weight. my side of the argument was always that i never have had a scale in my house to make anyone comply to and the key is if they felt healthy or not.

this has had differing results over the years but it's still pretty much my point of view on the matter. once i got over the indignity of chicken legs and no pecs i've never seen much of a need to judge anyone else on their personal appearance. but there is just no excuse for being a slob.

[Fuzzy Dice]

heh..no pecs and chicken legs. Hey man. You're comfortable with you? Good work. That's the way to be. Physically speaking, i'm the complete opposite. Big pecs and big legs. But that's what's easy to build for me. I'm a slow metabolismed, easy to add muscle mass kind of guy. Of course, it's easy to add fat too, but hey, exercise, right?

tell you what: I'll trade you met's for a couple weeks, okay? I'll slim down, you can bulk up. Deal?

[kleph]

are you kidding? i'm 150 pounds of twisted steel and sex appeal. i got my shit goin' on and i don't need no extra shit holding me down.

i'm running five miles a day and biking about 15. i've undertaken a massive tree-pruning program in my parents yard that has me getting a pretty good upper-body workout every other day.

and it's all for the greater glory of zgeek.

[LauraleeBug]

Originally posted by kleph
...and it's all for the greater glory of zgeek.

You gotta love a man with a mission!

[utopian]

shit dudes, i swear i stopped at five cream buns today. i'll just put this one back

[geggle]

Originally posted by utopian
shit dudes, i swear i stopped at five cream buns today. i'll just put this one back go-oooonnnn... can't you hear it calling out your name? it'll be lonely all there by itself...

[Bostonmess]

Originally posted by kleph
but there is just no excuse for being a slob.

*Boston does press ups*

one.....

two.....

nrrr....three...gnuhhh!

Fuck it. I blame it on Zgeek, oh and work.

[Asmodeus]

Being overweight and being fit are two different things, but they tend to go hand in hand due to lifestyle. Some people are just plain heavy. Others have a heavy frame or build and still others are just plain fat. Fitness is a different matter. I'm 19 stones rounded down tho I can still run a mile, keep up with the rest of the lightweights in karate class, and many times can touch the rim of the basketball net with a jump and I'm 5' 10", besides about being able to lift a buick and toss it at people. But i'm a fatass.. and I smoke.

Why? Glands.. genetically underactive thyroid.. finally diagnosed, now taking pills, dropped a whole stone last month. With my frame and build, I doubt ill ever get below 15 stones without burning off a lot of muscle mass, and who would want that?

People take healthy and skinny as the same, then again, most heroin addicts are skinny too.

tho lately, last 2 generations at least, we've bred a society of couch potatos and generally sedentary people since now you sit for almost everything and be more productive or use labor saving devices. So now we sit for longer periods of time, which makes us not want to exercise, which makes us sit more, which makes us want to exercise less becuase its a pain then, which makes us exercise less, etc etc etc

[kleph]

i fully agree, asmo. the key is being physically fit, not some idealistic and possibly self destructive body type.

i'm skinny. i'm gonna be skinny. but that's totally different than being in shape.

i'm not running and biking to look any particular way - i want to run a marathon and i gotta get in shape. any egotistical satisfaction of how i look pales in comparison to how much better i feel overall. i know several folks my size that have astronomical cholesterol counts and high blood pressure.

there's a mix of mental and physical equilibrium you have to meet to make the process work that most people just give up on and watch seinfeld re-runs.

but you should quit the smoking, mate.

[Asmodeus]

Originally posted by kleph
but you should quit the smoking, mate.

i've tried a few times, but i keep going back to it for some reason or another. usually becuase it seems to settle my stomach, or keeps me from choking people.

What can i say, mama didn't raise no quitter. ;)

[angel_b]

I know the conversation has moved on somewhat but ...

The old excuse "I'm too busy to cook for my family, so we just grab maccas" is total bullshit!

How much time does it take to cut up a salad, open a can of tuna, pull out a few slices of wholemeal bread and slap them on the table? Or open a packet of frozen veggies (which are almost as healthful as fresh, sometimes more so as they're snap-frozen straight after picking) and dry pan-fry some hunks of fish?

If you have children, it's *your* responsibility as a parent to teach them good eating habits at a young age. Junk food should be a once-in-a-while guilty pleasure, NOT a way of life.

[angel_b]

Originally posted by kleph
i know several folks my size that have astronomical cholesterol counts and high blood pressure.

For what it's worth, my BMI is 25, which means I just scrape in as being "normal" weight for height.

My blood pressure varies between 90/50 and 120/80 which is low to normal. And I smoke. And devour salt by the pound.

I had my cholesterol count taken some time ago and it was on the low side.

I'm very food savvy and watch what I eat.

It's the booze that keeps me "cuddly". :D

[ShadowNemesis]

Kids just need to hear that one word when they start asking for junk food "NO". Most parents say "I just give in because they scream or throw a tantrum."

My daughter noticed with the new supposedly healthier range at maccas, they have only aimed the advertisements at Mothers, or Vegetarians. What about the kids, and the teenagers?

[angel_b]

Originally posted by ShadowNemesis
My daughter noticed with the new supposedly healthier range at maccas, they have only aimed the advertisements at Mothers, or Vegetarians. What about the kids, and the teenagers?
Very good point - I hadn't noticed. She's a clever girl. :)

[Bostonmess]

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A hormone produced by the intestines, called peptide YY3-36 (PYY), could help obese people lose weight, new research suggests.

"This is the first time that a hormone has been shown to cause a long-term reduction in calorie intake in obese volunteers," lead author Dr. Rachel Batterham, from Imperial College in London, said in a statement. "We now need to do studies over a longer period to see whether the decrease in appetite and food intake...translates into weight loss."

PYY has been shown to curb the appetites of normal weight individuals, but it was unclear if the hormone would also work for obese people. Leptin, a hormone that works in similar way as PYY, only seems to reduce food intake in normal weight individuals, not in obese people.

The new findings, which are reported in The New England Journal of Medicine (news - web sites), are based on a study of 12 obese and 12 lean subjects who were treated with injections of PYY or an inactive chemical.

Add it to tomatoe ketchup (http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=571&u=/nm/20030903/hl_nm/obesity_hormone_dc&printer=1)

[utopian]

http://members.optusnet.com.au/utopienne/exercise.gif

[Bostonmess]

http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2003410412,00.html