The war is lost, and full surrender has occurred

George K · K Klaus 5 Jan 2021, 13:00

@klaus said in The war is lost, and full surrender has occurred:

I guess their point is that "mental health" is part of health.

Exactly. I can't find the link to the original article, but that's part of what they're saying: Teh Wimmenz are not to be shoe-horned into one size expectation. Fine.

Just don't put a picture of a woman who's 250 lb (that's a conservative guess) on the cover and declare it "healthy." THAT's the wrong message to send.

@doctor-phibes said in The war is lost, and full surrender has occurred:

lots of people on the right said it was perfectly fine for kids to stuff themselves

Really? I missed that.

Loki · wrote on 5 Jan 2021, 13:14

@doctor-phibes said in The war is lost, and full surrender has occurred:

Back in 2010, lots of people on the right said it was perfectly fine for kids to stuff themselves full of pizza and fries as a way of expressing their freedom as proud Americans, and Michelle Obama should mind her own business.

Now, some PC lefty in Cosmo says it's OK, so the war is lost?

Actually the data says so. We are a very fat society. Remember that when you hear about our healthcare costs.

jon-nyc · K Klaus 5 Jan 2021, 12:47

@klaus said in The war is lost, and full surrender has occurred:

biological reality.

Haha like that’s still a thing.

Doctor Phibes · 1 May 2021, 13:19

Well, OK, maybe I slightly misrepresented the argument. A number of them sure didn't like the attempt to dictate diet.

Personally, I thought the initiative was a good idea. I'm not particularly surprised at the lack of success. There's an awful lot of people who benefit from keeping Americans overweight, and the society as a whole isn't exactly a shining example of self-control.

Loki · 1 May 2021, 13:23

If cosmopolitan needed to create a bigger audience, other than choosing men, overweight women might be the single biggest segment available.

The reaction of the readership would be interesting. Wonder what they would say about what just happened to their Mag.

Doctor Phibes · 1 May 2021, 13:27

We've had decades of them peddling the equally damaging lie that the only way to be attractive is to be stick thin. I don't see much changing. To be honest, I don't think it would be a bad thing if the covers showed a few more normal-looking people.

Jolly · 5 Jan 2021, 15:09

Look, I'm part of the problem, but I recognize what we do wrong...

Too many processed foods. Too many artificial ingredients. Not enough actual cooking.
Too much sugar, particularly corn syrup in our diets.
Some bad advice. French people are thinner than Americans and have less cardiovascular dusease. Yet, they eat a good bit of bread, butter instead of margarine and eskew vegetable oil. Maybe we need to go back and look at dietary recommendations.
Prison schools. Been in a public school, lately? They treat the kids like prisoners, without nearly as much exercise time. This helps make overweight kids. Fat cells are there for life.
Work environment. How many people have physically demanding jobs? Back in the day, a farmer needed between 3000 and 4000 calories to maintain body mass. Today, sitting in an air-conditioned tractor cab, not so much. That's one example, there are thousands.
Portion control. We need to do a better job teaching kids what a correct portion looks like on a plate. People are trained to eat large portions and subsequently, a lot more food than what they need.

LuFins Dad · 5 Jan 2021, 15:10

One thing that pissed me off during this whole nightmare was that there was no emphasis on losing weight during all of this. The single largest risk factor was obesity. You want better COVID outcomes? Collectively lose 10 pounds...

Did you hear anybody address this? I didn’t.

Doctor Phibes · J Jolly 5 Jan 2021, 14:40

@jolly said in The war is lost, and full surrender has occurred:

Prison schools. Been in a public school, lately? They treat the kids like prisoners, without nearly as much exercise time. This helps make overweight kids. Fat cells are there for life.

What really struck me when we came over here was how little free time the kids get to play. When I was at school we had breaks in the morning, and an extended break over lunchtime where we could hang out, and inevitably play informal games and ~~smoke~~ what-have-you. Over here, there's little to no time for kids to hang out, socialise, and just relax during the day. There's a lot more after-school activity, but again that tends to be very regimented.

Axtremus · wrote on 5 Jan 2021, 15:10

@lufins-dad said in The war is lost, and full surrender has occurred:

One thing that pissed me off during this whole nightmare was that there was no emphasis on losing weight during all of this. The single largest risk factor was obesity. You want better COVID outcomes? Collectively lose 10 pounds...

Did you hear anybody address this? I didn’t.

You can do something about it. Start writing your local newspapers (if there is still any in business), offer to talk about this to student bodies at your local schools and colleges (maybe through Zoom or Google Classroom), write your local health departments, talk to your pastor and/or write to your church leaders about this to see if you can get them to help share this message with their flock, start repeating that all over your social media, start a campaign, start community organizing, start a non-profit disseminate this message. You have the power!

Doctor Phibes · wrote on 5 Jan 2021, 15:18

One of the big differences in North America compared to Europe and elsewhere is how easy it is to walk places. Partly, this is due to the distances being greater, but also the infrastructure isn't tailored around it. There are a lot roads without decent footpaths or decent lighting - I take the dog out pretty much every day, and even in our small town I frequently feel that I'm at risk of being run over as I have to walk on the street, particularly in the evening. Cycling is even more fun - pretty much every time I go out some knobhead yells at me as he drives past far too close as though I shouldn't be on the road.

Klaus · 1 May 2021, 16:19

@jolly said in The war is lost, and full surrender has occurred:

Look, I'm part of the problem, but I recognize what we do wrong...

Too many processed foods. Too many artificial ingredients. Not enough actual cooking.

Too much sugar, particularly corn syrup in our diets.

Some bad advice. French people are thinner than Americans and have less cardiovascular dusease. Yet, they eat a good bit of bread, butter instead of margarine and eskew vegetable oil. Maybe we need to go back and look at dietary recommendations.

Prison schools. Been in a public school, lately? They treat the kids like prisoners, without nearly as much exercise time. This helps make overweight kids. Fat cells are there for life.

Work environment. How many people have physically demanding jobs? Back in the day, a farmer needed between 3000 and 4000 calories to maintain body mass. Today, sitting in an air-conditioned tractor cab, not so much. That's one example, there are thousands.

Portion control. We need to do a better job teaching kids what a correct portion looks like on a plate. People are trained to eat large portions and subsequently, a lot more food than what they need.

That's a good start, but I think the problem is deeper. Eating unhealthy seems to be ingrained into American culture in so many ways. For instance, people seldomly take the time to eat properly and/or treat it as a family event. It's something you do "on the go", while driving, while at your desk, while watching TV or using the phone. In other cultures it's more common to "celebrate" a meal: Everybody gets together, you prepare a nice looking table with good food, the family starts and ends the meal together, eats with silverware and proper China and not fingers/things wrapped in paper, and uses the time to talk to each other. The act of eating has a low status in the American priority hierarchy.

Also, the pervasive "bigger is better" culture as well as the tendency to only choose the least healthy foods from other cultures and make them even less healthy doesn't help.

Doctor Phibes · 1 May 2021, 16:34

Americans actually managed to make good old British breakfast bacon less healthy. An astonishing achievement, rivalling that of the Manhattan project!

Copper · wrote on 5 Jan 2021, 16:53

Do you want to lose weight?

Don't eat so much.

Do you want to avoid covid?

Wear a mask.

We all have to pay for those who don't follow either advice.

Doctor Phibes · 5 Jan 2021, 18:14

I just went for a walk at lunchtime - about 2 miles. I did not come across a single other soul out there in 30 minutes, masked or otherwise.

George K · wrote on 5 Jan 2021, 18:14

@doctor-phibes said in The war is lost, and full surrender has occurred:

I just went for a walk at lunchtime - about 2 miles. I did not come across a single other soul out there in 30 minutes, masked or otherwise.

They knew you were out...

Doctor Phibes · wrote on 5 Jan 2021, 18:17

I'd never even considered that. Their feelings of insecurity at seeing somebody as awesome as myself probably keeps them indoors!

Horace · wrote on 5 Jan 2021, 18:25

You should consider wearing clothes next time.

Doctor Phibes · wrote on 5 Jan 2021, 19:54

It's 32 degrees out there, and the wind-chill is freaking nasty. If I'd gone out au naturel, it wouldn't just be my blood that was blue.

The New Coffee Room

The war is lost, and full surrender has occurred