Guest guest Posted December 3, 2003 Report Share Posted December 3, 2003 I would have expected them when they noticed how large she was getting to have taken her to the doctor; to have put her on a diet; and to have encouraged her to exercise. In the article, they said that AFTER she was diagnosed they bought her a bicycle and make her ride at least an hour a day. If they had done that BEFORE she was diagnosed, and/or enrolled her in (say) karate classes she not only might have avoided the diabetes (at least for some years), but would probably have been generally healtier as well. There may be a genetic component to obesity, but to throw up your hands and say " I can't help being fat, it's all genetic. " is a cop out. Re: TIME's poster girl Bruce A. wrote: > What exactly would you have her parents do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 3, 2003 Report Share Posted December 3, 2003 AJ wrote: >Teaching kids to eat properly. This means that parents have to eat >properly. If you get a kid to eat healthy from the time they're little, >they will probably continue that trend. No, that doesn't mean no pizza >or candy. It means teaching them that they are treats and not the norm. > And what's your advice for the 240 million adults who are fat? Edd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 3, 2003 Report Share Posted December 3, 2003 AJ wrote: >Start eating healthy. It's the only way we're going to overcome this. > People have to start taking responsibility. No, I'm not saying that >all overweight people are lazy and just stuff themselves. There are >medical issues. We need to learn what to eat and what not to eat. I >had to. I will be the first to admit I ate the wrong things and too >much. However, by going lo carb I've not only got my BGs under control >but my BP and cholesterol too. > > Are we talking about being healthy or losing weight? By all means, eat low carb and control your BGs and perhaps your cholesterol. Eat a heart-healthy diet, if they can decide what that is. If you've got gout, avoid purines. If you've got hemochromatosis, avoid iron. By all means, eat healthy. And there are millions of people out there eating healthy. But eating healthy has nothing to do with losing weight. If it did, there would be millions of ex-fat people walking around telling us how they lost all their weight. But they're not out there. I'm not running into the am the shopping mall. Are you? My personal advice for weight control is get more exercise. Wish I could follow more of my own advice. Getting exercise is hard because it's being engineered out of our society. When I was a kid, I walked to school and carried home bags of groceries in my arms. Sure haven't done either of those things in a long while. And I sure don't see others doing it either. Edd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 3, 2003 Report Share Posted December 3, 2003 We quite agree about the old food pyramid being passe. You might enjoy reading our nutrition piece about Dr. Willett's study at Harvard in the Winter 03 issue -- it is on our website under the Nutrition tab. His work more than anyone else is focused on toppling that pyramid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 3, 2003 Report Share Posted December 3, 2003 Congratulations! I really enjoy reading emails like this...because what you have done is not easy...I am losing weight, but not that fast. That is wonderful news. Eleanor Re: TIME's poster girl Me, too! Me, too! I forgot to tell everyone about the last blood test I had last month! (I'm not diabetic, my husband is, but I'm very overweight.) My total cholesterol is 217 from 244 before Atkins. My HDL stayed the same, my triglycerides are 117 (were really high, like upper 200s) LDL is down to 133 (can't remember what it was, but the doctor was impressed.) I started at 317 and weighed in at 276, I believe. That's all since August. My doc took me off of blood pressure medication because it's well in the normal range (can't remember exact number) and cut my cholesterol medication in half! Thank you, Dr. Atkins! I'll probably be off Tricor by my next blood work in three months. That just leaves the anti-depressant and Prilosec! Now, about the obese children, my husband and I grew up together and hung out together as kids. We were always outside, running, jumping, playing football, wrestling, climbing, always on the move. We noticed that we rarely see children out playing anymore. IMHO, we adults have to take control of ourselves, start eating correctly, turn off the TV and get moving to set a good example for our children. I can't speak for every fat person, because many do have medical issues. *This* fat person made herself fat by overeating and undermoving. BTW, I ate too much at Thanksgiving, but didn't eat anything loaded with carbs! This is the first time in as long as I can remember that I didn't go " off the wagon " at Thanksgiving. didn't, either and we both feel great! I sure didn't lose any weight, but for the first time, I didn't gain any! Thanks for listening. Becky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 3, 2003 Report Share Posted December 3, 2003 Unfortunately, the real or percieved dangers in modern society means that many parents don't want to leave children unsupervised; accordinly, unless a parent can also go out and keep an eye on them, many children aren't allowed to go outside anymore. Re: TIME's poster girl Now, about the obese children, my husband and I grew up together and hung out together as kids. We were always outside, running, jumping, playing football, wrestling, climbing, always on the move. We noticed that we rarely see children out playing anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 3, 2003 Report Share Posted December 3, 2003 Bruce A. wrote: >I would have expected them when they noticed how large she was getting to have taken her to the doctor; to have put her on a diet; ... > Put her on a diet. What good would that do? What good has the last 50 years of dieting done the adult population? They look fatter than ever to me. Dieting only gives temporary weight loss. >There may be a genetic component to obesity, but to throw up your hands and say " I can't help being fat, it's all genetic. " is a cop out. > And pointing fingers and blaming people is a cop out too. That's like the people who believe we must have laws to control illicit drugs. We have plenty of laws, but what good has it done? Accept reality. The reality is that obesity is mostly genetics. The other component is exercise, which our society has made harder and harder to get. Edd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 3, 2003 Report Share Posted December 3, 2003 Glory33 wrote: >I lost my weight at age 10 and did not put any back until the 40's. Diets do work. My cousin went on one diet and has stayed slim her whole very long life. G > Okay. You know one successful dieter. I grant there are a few. How many others do you know? Do you know hundreds of other examples? Thousands? I'm more impressed with the millions of Americans who spend there lifetimes dieting and remain fat. When the vast majority of people have a common experience, then that's the norm. You lost weight when you were ten and then gained weight thirty years later. Why did that happen? If dieting works, why didn't you just relose the weight? I think the answer's biological. I don't think it's because you suddenly began " eating wrong " after thirty years of eating correctly. Edd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 4, 2003 Report Share Posted December 4, 2003 I'm enjoying all the reminiscences of our active, athletic, outdoorsy lifestyles. My five sisters and I enjoyed lives just like that. We lived on farms, then on lakes. We water skied and swam and skated and ran and played sports and we had phys. ed. in school and were on the synchronized swim team. And we didn't have an automatic clothes washer or dryer, or dishwasher, and we dipped the clothes in starch water then wrung them out before hanging on the line. Then we took them down and sprinkled them with water (7-Up bottle with a baby nipple on it), folded them up in a basket, then ironed them all before they dried out. We even ironed sheets and pillowcases. Clothes weren't wrinkle-free back in those days. I'm sure our diabetes genes were there, lurking in the background, but we held them at bay - and maybe could have for a lifetime if we had maintained that active lifestyle. Susie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 4, 2003 Report Share Posted December 4, 2003 >What is it that Shakespeare said about 'we must be cruel only to be kind'? >. . . but in the long run it would have been 'kinder' to see that she ate >what was good for her, rather than what she wanted (except as a special >treat, of course.) As Shakespeare also said, " ay, there's the rub " . . . I completely agree with what you were trying to say but the final parenthetical phraseology is indicative of a basic problem of eating habits and obesity in our culture. That is, anything that is connoted, denoted, described, saved and/or withheld as a " special treat " is elevated to " more/most desirable " status simply by virtue of its enforced scarcity and perceived status as " special " and/or " treat. " A reward! Treating something as " forbidden fruit " only allowable as a " prize, " makes the item more coveted. So long as we use (and teach our kids) this perception and continue/promote use of foods that are not really good for us as " rewards, " the problem will remain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 4, 2003 Report Share Posted December 4, 2003 After 13 years of treadmilling my feet have given out much to my dismay, at least for the time being. Exercise is all well and fine if you can engage in it, but so many people with diabetes are older and not in terrific shape with a multitude of problems. As for me, I am hoping that given six months of resting my feet that they will heal (Morton's neuromas and damage from breaking ankles numerous times). But I suspect that I have developed an awkward manner of walking on the treadmill and will have to find something different. At the moment I am attempting to find alternative exercise to fill the gap that will work for me. But, I am not going to ruin my daily life with excessive worry over it. The low carb diet is the only thing though that keeps my diabetes under control...the exercise didn't and I was at normal weight when diagnosed. I have gained a bit of weight since having to give up exercise but the exercise never affected my blood sugars and the weight didn't either. linda ----- Original Message ----- From: Edd I recommend not dieting at all, although I agree that low carb is the most promising thing I've seen. I recommend exercise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 5, 2003 Report Share Posted December 5, 2003 Too bad it doesn't work like that.!!I had typed " they balance you on your heels " , and then changed the pronown " they " to " me " but didn't change the other. If you get some like them then they can balance you on your heels. LOL Was this the site that had never ending post about spelling and such? (That was just a reading test, and you pass.) Anyway the shoes do help. But I can't do enough walking to do me much good. I need a treadmill or bike in front of the tv. Now I mostly " march in place " in front of the tv. Gives me the benefit of walking on the carpet. If I walk out much, like in the stores and such, I have so much pain come night I can't handle it. Betty > > > > > > >Try to get a prescription for orthotics made just for your feet. > > > > > > > > > > > > > Could be a good suggestion. I wear orthotics myself. > > They > > > help a lot. See a podiatrist to get properly fitted. > > > > > > > > > Edd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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