| |
| |
| KeralaClick.com | Weight Loss Information | |
| Supersizing America
For some of us, food is warmth and love. We associate it with home and childhood: tempting smells that greeted us after school on a cold December afternoon. The kitchen served as the center of the house under the kindly direction of the Captain in the apron. If we were good, we might be allowed to stir the pot. If we were very good, we got to clean out the mixing bowl. As we grew up, we found wonders elsewhere: the coffee shops and diners where adolescents gathered and food was only a platform for the real business of talking, bonding, and flirting. We drank cola and root beer and discovered sundaes, pizza and french fries. But real food was what we ate at home. Later, we moved on to the pale imitation of food represented by college cafeterias and underground cafes that were heavy on music and political rebellion and light on the menu. We returned home for the holidays and again ate real food, as good as we remembered. Some of us moved on to the non-food of C rations and swore we'd never enjoy eating again. We moved into the world of work: automats and deli lunches or expense-account steak and martinis where even the most exquisite fare took a back seat to table discussions. We married, moved into new homes, rediscovered the warmth and intimacy of a family kitchen and embraced the delights of gourmet cooking, homemade bread, and nouvelle cuisine. At the same time, just below our level of awareness, the fast food industry started to blossom into the billion dollar gorilla it is today. At first, it was small hamburgers and hot dogs with french fries and a drink. At first, it was an occasional visit to "get mom out of the kitchen." At first, it was just something fast that avoided interruptions in our race to the top. The menus expanded to encourage more frequent visits. Drive-Thrus that sat closed and empty until noon suddenly discovered how to make breakfast items that could be eaten at the wheel. Chicken, fish, and ribs were added, soon followed by Mexican specialties, baked potatoes, fried vegetables, and sandwiches. The burgers got bigger and so did we. Somewhere, a brilliant light bulb exploded in an ad man's brain and "Super-Size" was born. If a burger was good, why not make it bigger for just a little more money? If fries are the staff of life for American teenagers, why not make the portions bigger? Why not make the best purchase value a whole meal, combining everything the customer wants (and maybe something they don't)? Why not Super-Size the whole meal and really make money? Rather than an occasional change-of-pace, the Drive-Thru gradually assumed a predominant place in our diets. Astute marketers targeted their sales pitches to the most responsive and easily manipulated niche of the population: children. Tired, time-strapped parents yielded to tearful pleas to visit Ronald or Jack. And our children grew fat. Teenagers, with their deep-seated psychological preference to live in their cars existed on a diet made up, almost exclusively, of fast food, turning up their noses at the thought of a home-cooked meal. Active and full of energy, they ignored the almost imperceptible puffiness that their intake triggered. What was there to worry about? The Drive-Thrus were a gift from heaven: tasty food, fast access, car-proof containers, cheap satiation. Then we woke up. We looked at a world where even the average individual was clearly overweight and more than a third of us were obese, even our children. In a culture obsessed with the appearance of being thin, we were become permanently, indisputably, fat. The few earlier voices of criticism increased to a low roar. The tasty creations of yesterday became the now-maligned culprits of our condition. To keep the money-machine viable, the fast food moguls adapted to the cries for change: the oil used for frying was trumpeted as unsaturated, salads appeared on menus, substitute sides for french fries became available, and "Super-Size it?" was no longer the order taker's standard refrain. The industry breathed a sigh of relief seeing that a few changes made everything all right and the world could return to its infatuation with the Drive-Thru. We beamed with a sense of satisfaction that we had prodded the market in a healthier direction. Then we noticed that we were still fat. Where had we gone wrong? Well, the "small" burgers were still big: two to three times the size of their relatives of forty years ago. The salads were healthy until drenched with several hundred calories of creamy dressing. To maintain the taste we had come to love, toppings were added: more kinds of cheese, butter, relishes and dipping sauces. And everything was still primarily fried: breakfast, burgers, chicken, potatoes. Even high quality, frequently-changed deep fry oil is loaded with calories to be deposited on our waistlines, hips, and internal organs. Fast food has taken us out of the kitchen into a world where the demand for productivity makes us work harder and longer and steals away any notion of spare time. We run to keep pace with a society spinning ever faster and we eat on the run because to pause is to fail. Is there no escape? This is the Twenty-first Century -- returning to the food regimes of fifty or a hundred years ago is improbable. The old fashioned "made from scratch" meals require too much time and effort, except for special occasions, in our fast-paced, two-working-parents, long-work-and-commute lives. What we can do, if we seek to withdraw from the enormous herd of heavyweights, is to remember that the way to health, slenderness, delayed aging, and increased longevity has been demonstrated repetitively by our little friend, the laboratory rat. The secret is consistent, prolonged, cheat-proofed, under-eating. Once that core concept has been adopted, and completely internalized, the pathway to a new, thin you becomes clear: eat whatever you want but a LOT LESS. We're not looking at the old adage of "eat moderately and move around a lot" because we know, from experience, that it doesn't work. When I say a "lot less" I mean it. You may be eating three times a day, plus snacks. Cutting out a snack here or a dessert there may eventually help you lose weight - if you have twenty years to invest in the attempt. Don't "cut back." Slash, sever, pulverize your portions. If you eat three meals a day, change to eating just one. If you like to graze on six mini-meals or snacks, cut to two. Reducing your overall intake by two thirds should bring you into the zone of your actual daily needs. Yes, it would be nice if you opted to make those reduced calories all highly nutritious but we all know that you are going to eat what you are going to eat, no matter how much the health gurus nag you. So go ahead and eat what you intend, just one third of your usual rations. To keep your energy on an even keel, you can spread your one meal throughout the day. If your usual lunch is a cheeseburger, fries, and a shake, split it up: a shake for breakfast, a burger for lunch, a dinner of fries and a slice of cheese. Are you then on a diet? Are you using your precious time on specialty shopping and food preparation? Do you have to think about what menu items fit into your prescribed weight plan? No, none of these apply. You are simply eating the way you have always done except one day of your prior food plan now last three days. If you're worried about your health, take a multivitamin (funny, you weren't worried about your health on the same fare in the past, were you?) If you are a tall, large-boned individual or you feel (genuinely and persistently) faint, take a canned nutritional booster like Ensure. It is almost too simple and too easy IF you have really internalized the concept of under-eating and have adopted a "can do,will do," attitude - the key to everything. P. S. You'll save a lot of money too! Virginia Bola is a licensed psychologist and an admitted diet fanatic. She specializes in therapeutic reframing and the effects of attitudes and motivation on individual goals. The author of The Wolf at the Door: An Unemployment Survival Manual, and a free ezine, The Worker's Edge, she recently completed a psychologically-based weight control book: Diet with an Attitude: A Weight Loss Workbook. She can be reached at http://www.DietWithAnAttitude.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Do You Make These South Beach Diet Mistakes? The South Beach Diet works, for most people. Its low fat, low carb approach helps you lose weight quickly and easily. To Lose Weight, Feed Your Brains When was the last time you focused so much on a task that you forgot to eat? You did not really forget, but you were too much interested in what you were working on to stop doing it and go to the fridge. Years ago, when your body was slim and your head swollen with projects, did you ever think that to be a grown up would not mean to be responsible and free? Stop looking for somebody to sue: nobody shovelled food in your mouth. Walk Your Way to Weight Loss "The sovereign invigorator of the body is exercise, and of all the exercises walking is the best." Thomas JeffersonThe problem of obesity is growing (pardon the pun) in America and it doesn't appear that dieting alone is helping people with their weight loss goals. Weight Loss in Children What is "too young" to begin a weight loss program with children? Is there actually such a thing? There are many different opinions on the topic of child obesity but one thing everyone can agree on is that it is becoming an epidemic in North America. Many reports show that obesity now kills more people in a year than smoking does. The Psychology of Weight Loss: Part 1 - The INSIDE OUT Mindset WHAT DOES BEING FIT REALLY MEAN?The "INSIDE-OUT" approach to fitness differs from that of conventional wisdom. Most programs work on diet and exercise alone. How the Protein Diet Works Protein is an essential nutrient necessary for maintaining good health. In its basic form protein consists of amino acid chains. 4 Tips for Fast Fat Loss Part II Fat Loss Tip #2) Drink More WaterI know, I know, we've all heard this one over and over again. But how many of us really drink enough water? I'm talking at least 10 8 ounce glasses of water a day, minimum. Weight Loss Surgery - The Benefits and Financial Cost Generally, weight loss surgery such as the gastric bypass will cost between $20,000 to $30,000 - the clinics do make substantial profits, which is why some you see advertised offer free chauffeurs and even airplane flights to the city and clinic. As in all lines of 'business', some surgeries will do all it takes to coax you there, within the law of course. Are You Losing Weight and Getting Fatter? Your Can Turn Fat into Muscle.. A Weight Loss Secret - The Art of Detachment! Have you ever worried about something so much it paralyzed you from doing something about it? Have you ever been so obsessed with your weight that nothing seemed to work?I have and I think you have, too.Yesterday I sold my car. Weight Loss - I Lost 40 Pounds I did it without starving myself or taking pills. How did I do it you ask?Well, over a year ago a friend of mine told me about the South Beach Diet. The TRUTH About How to Lose Weight The huge companies stealing your money by promising impossible results if you just drink their shake, take their pill, or do 10 minutes of exercise on their wiz-bang machines are abusing your trust in the name of profits and market share.The real truth is that most (if not all) the products they're peddling are worthless - to you, that is. Diet and Weightloss -- Start Your New Year Off Right! FINDING THE PERFECT DIETArriving at the Perfect Diet is no quick, simple task in today's world of fast-paced living. For example, there are several different educational food pyramid plans. A Better Body - 5 Easy Steps That Anyone Can Take If only there were a 'better body boot camp', we'd be there every February - before spring started to show itself and those lovely winter jackets had to come off.Although this isn't a better body boot camp, we can offer you 5 practical steps to a better body. An Incredible New Weight Loss Product - Your Brain! I would like to introduce you to an incredible new weight loss product: Your brain? I discovered this technique for weight loss many, many years ago from a great New Thought teacher. When I posted it on a business forum last year, a member publicly thanked me for her weight loss a short time later. A Holistic Approach to Weight loss & Fitness World Health Organization has observed that obesity has now reached epidemic proportions globally. More number of people are dying due to obesity and resultant disease. The Truth About Weight Loss: The 6 Biggest Myths About Dieting! All of our behavior results from the thoughts that preceded it, so the thing to work on is not your behavior, but the thing that caused your behavior, your thoughts. - Dr. Anger: The Unexpected Emotion After Gastric Bypass Surgery The words I read made me furious. There it was, in black and white, the story of a fussy baby who was spoon fed ice cream to keep her quiet. Malnutrition Causes Obesity Axiom Number One - Nourish your body.Probably the most important and least understood axiom of successful weight loss is that you have to nourish your body. Can I Eat Sugar Alcohols On My Low Carb Diet? "Polyols" or sugar alcohols are a number of different carbohydrates that are neither sugars nor alcohols--and are commonly used as artificial sweeteners in a range of products, from ice cream to chewing gum.While these tasty sweeteners appear to be the perfect solution for both low-carb dieters and low-carb food producers, recent studies of sugar alcohols have painted a somewhat different picture.
|
| © KeralaClick.com 2006 |
