Re: Science: Vaccines Work, GMOs Are Safe, Everything is a Chemical
Beating obesity, what I see as problems, and what I did to defeat them. (In December 2003, I weighed 396 lbs)
1. We have sedentary jobs, then we're encouraged to come home, kick our shoes off, and watch Netflix until bed. We don't exercise. When I started losing weight from 396 pounds, I had to start with 30 minute walks on the treadmill. Now, sitting at 201, I'm ready to run my 14th marathon this Saturday, and completed a 33.5 mile ultra in April.
2. Growing up on the lower income side of things, I distinctly recall my vegetables at home coming from Del Monte, and when they weren't falling out of a can, the only other vegetables I got was the lettuce, tomato, pickle, and onion on my McDonald's hamburger, or the tomato sauce from Pizza Hut/Domino's. When I got to NMU, in January 2004, I started making use of the salad bar and sandwich counter, which was better than the options I had at home or in high school.
3. Healthy eating was not modeled in my home. Ice cream was bought on a weekly basis, and we added to the noise by going out and ordering double scoops. Not to mention... we LOVED Little Debbie snack cakes. Got to college and listened to my fit friends instead. Ice cream was reduced from every day to once a week, if that.
4. Cooking from scratch? Processed food says that all we have to do is add water, bring to boil, and stir, or cut a hole in the paper, then microwave for 5 minutes. It wasn't until I got home from college that I started buying groceries and learning how to cook that my family started eating healthy. I still recall the arguments I had with my mom over Kraft Mac and Cheese.
5. Even our shows about food aren't modeling healthy eating. Remember Man vs. Food? And shows like Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives show you where to get an obscenely sized burger. I started watching America's Test Kitchen instead.
6. Referring to point 3, hardly anyone modeled a healthy relationship with sugar with me. When I was fat, I ate dessert every day. But when I was anorexic (146 lbs in November 2009), I couldn't bear to touch the stuff. When I reintroduced the stuff in February 2011, no one showed how to add it back in, and to paraphrase Jurassic Park, I was so preoccupied with realizing I COULD make baked goods and candy that I didn't stop to think if I SHOULD.