April 7, 2002

12:27 PM

Uncle Sam Sez: Sheesh! Get Some Exercise!!A new National Center for Health Statistics survey shows that only seven out of 10 Americans get enough exercise every week. About four in 10 get practically no exercise whatsoever. How much do you exercise, and if so, are you one the three in 10 who do so enough? Is the report full of it? Should I go swimming now, or in an hour? Ride the bike there or take the car? Isn't driving a car to a nearby gym kinda stupid? But I digress. (Pauses, gets his bearings.) Isn't this pathetic?
posted by raysmj (71 comments total)

Well, over the last decade, I have to admit that I had adopted an increasingly sedate lifestyle and generally poor eating habits.

However, my eating has gotten better in the last two years and since the beginning of this one, I go to the gym almost every day and feel much better for it. Cardio, 6 or 7 times a week, which is on a variable incline treadmill, burning about 750 calories. Weights, a circuit of 13 machines, 3 times a week.

My incentive? Improve my self-esteem (working) and to be in better shape for my daughter to be born at the end of May. I started thinking it would be cool not to have the heart attack before I was 50 and that getting in shape was going to be an integral part of that.

Once I got into the routine, it's been much easier to stick with it, especially as I grow more pleased with how I look and feel.
posted by warhol at 12:41 PM on April 7, 2002

It's part of the whole "toxic environment" that leads to epidemic obesity, high blood pressure, and adult-onset diabetes. Americans work more, eat more (and worse) food, and daily life doesn't cause them to excercise much -- even if they wanted to get out of their car and walk, many neighborhoods don't have sidewalks and have no interesting/useful place within walking distance even if they did. So people work at sedentary, high-stress jobs 60+ hours a week, come home tired, so they eat convenient (high-sodium, high-fat, high calorie) food, and have no where to excercise except some stupid place where they pay someone hundreds a month to recreate farm labor. Little wonder USA is becoming Tubbyville.

A lot of people say, well, who wants to live forever? But the point isn't living forever -- it's not having years or even decades of illness, discomfort, and misery before you die. My relatives are getting knee replacements because they're too fat, are disabled by heart disease, take shots five times daily due to diabetes (and have failing eyesight and diabetic neuropathy -- which feels like a fiery burning sensation on the skin).

My message to MeFiers is: don't wait until it's too late. Swear off fast food, commit to living someplace where biking and walking is an option, where there are things to bike and walk to, and go home before 7P. They'll learn to live without you staying till 9 -- I've done it. And when they can't learn to live without it, dump 'em. I've done that too.
posted by lisatmh at 12:44 PM on April 7, 2002

To deal with my insomnia, I take an 10 mile hike `round the neighborhood every night.
I still don't get to sleep very much, but I can eat globe encircling end to end cheesecake if I like, without gaining any fat.

Pisses people off.
posted by dong_resin at 12:45 PM on April 7, 2002

Well, I am on the Atkins diet, and have been losing lots of weight. I've added an exercise routine to my weight loss program, but my exercise is the 18th century 'constitutional' stroll around the park taking in the wonder of nature and composing verse in my head along the way. So it's not vigorous, but it's still exercise. I also have the problem of being slightly reclusive, so I don't like to be out in public that much, especially panting and sweating in exercise gear. That also crosses the gym out as an option. Home gym is perhaps the only way.
posted by evanizer at 1:19 PM on April 7, 2002

"only seven out of 10 Americans get enough exercise every week. About four in 10 get practically no exercise whatsoever. "

So does that mean for one in ten Americans, practically no exercise whatsoever is enough?
posted by howa2396 at 1:20 PM on April 7, 2002

Read this book and you'll swear off fast food. Worked for me.
posted by gramcracker at 1:21 PM on April 7, 2002

"Secretary Thompson released the report on World Health Day as he prepared to join a 10-mile walk and run to draw attention to the proven benefits of physical activity."

People know exercise is good for them, they're just lazy or extremely busy. They don't think it's worth their time. And the potential threat of death is balanced out by the rapid advancement of medical technology, so most people decide to take their chances.

Prevention is unpopular(American eating habits, drinking habits, and smoking habits serve nicely as proof). Why waste 3.5 hours a week exercising when you can just buy some pills?
posted by insomnyuk at 1:21 PM on April 7, 2002

I was always skinny and even scrawny until my 30s, and then when I was 33 I looked at myself and the scale and, while I was far away from being someone you wouldn't want to get on an elevator with, I definitely weighed more than I'd ever weighed before, and then I looked at other women in my family and realized I'd better get moving p.d.q. This was about 4 years ago, and after discovering I hate running I've settled into a nice 3-to-4-to-5 days a week routine of aeorbics and weight training which I can do in the comfort of my own home. Lost about 20 pounds (and one dress size) initially, over the first year or so; now I'm more or less in a holding pattern.

The thing about exercise is: yes, it makes me feel more energetic, and yes, I'm happy about the health benefits, but I have to tell you, if exercise had no bearing on weight, I would never do it. For me, vanity is the driving force, plain and simple.
posted by JanetLand at 1:21 PM on April 7, 2002

I've always been kind of heavy, due to eating wrong and not excercising. A lot of people use the "I don't have the time" excuse, and I realized that the excuse really is true for a lot of people.

Case in point: when I hit college I suddenly found that 3 hours of school a day, compressed into nothing but morning classes left me a tremendous amount of free time. What did I do? I started exercising. Why? I had the time. Exercising has also pushed me to eat better, but my diet is still kind of poor. I eat a lot of junk, but I am also pretty liberal when it comes to food so I also eat a lot of vegetables. I'll try anything.

I tried to like running and managed to keep up a steady routine for 4 months, but I just can't do it. I don't enjoy it. After quitting on running for a few months I found weight lifting, and I haven't turned back. I lift 5 days a week at home, and the feeling it gives you after you're done is awesome. I've got more energy, the muscle growth is noticeable and I feel better.
posted by tomorama at 1:32 PM on April 7, 2002

I'm a 53 year old overweight man. After retiring from the Air Force 4 years ago, I stopped doing any sort of exercise or watching my diet and gained 50 pounds inside of a year. Last July I decided I wanted to live to see my grandkids, so I started getting up an hour early every morning and doing 45 minutes on a treadmill.

If I don't feel like it, I tell myself that I'll just do a little; maybe 1 mile or 15 minutes, whatever. Usually once I've started, I don't have any problems continuing.

Frankly, I still pay little attention to my diet and haven't lost a pound yet. One thing at a time, I tell myself, I'm in for the long haul. I figure that if I can quit smoking, I can lick this thing too.
posted by norm29 at 2:03 PM on April 7, 2002

I can't run just for the sake of running; I need to be running away from something or running after something, so I play soccer two or three times a week. I try to supplement that with a brisk 2-mile walk, which I don't do as often as I should. And just yesterday I went to the gym for the fourth time in the last year (lowering my per-visit cost to $120!).
posted by kirkaracha at 2:06 PM on April 7, 2002

I'm all for doing exercise but I don't think it's the government's job to police its own populace in this manner. It's a lifestyle choice and should remain that way. When you live in a supposedly free country you shouldn't dictate how people live their lives. Also, the driving to the gym thing - that makes perfect sense to me. In the gym it's warm and dry and you can watch TV. Outside is cold and often wet and full of criminals. It is round my way anyway.
posted by Summer at 2:22 PM on April 7, 2002

Summer, I hear ya... but let's face it, obesity affects us all. Sooner or later, we'll all have to pay the rising costs associated with the huge increase of overweight people in the U.S. It's just like smoking in that regard.

'Sides, it's not like you're being chased with a cattle prod.

As for me, I've always been a skinny lil' d00d. But recently, a move to Philadelphia, a steady diet of cheesesteaks, and a spate of cold weather kept me inside for a few months. Now, I'm far from being fat, but I gained weight quicker than I ever thought I would. Very odd. I joined a gym, but it's not convenient, so I almost never go. Instead, I've been running in the park near my house, and it's rad. It was painful at first, but now that I've gotten into the routine... it's not as painful. The gut has begun disappearing, though.

All normal variations in body weight aside, whenever I see a fat person waddling along, I always want to ask, "Don't you have any self-respect?"
posted by ph00dz at 2:40 PM on April 7, 2002

I seem to be in the same boat as dong_resin. I eat like a hog and the only exercise I get is doing 12-ounce curls with a can of Schlitz and I'm thin as a rail. I've actually checked out weight-gain diets a time or two, but that just seemed nutty.
More and more I'm believing that health is a matter of genetics than anything else. Exercise is great if you have fun doing it or if it makes you feel good, but I don't exert myself unless I'm being paid.
posted by jonmc at 2:44 PM on April 7, 2002

*Clinks Schlitz can with jon*

The few. The proud.
The irritating.
posted by dong_resin at 2:48 PM on April 7, 2002

All normal variations in body weight aside, whenever I see a fat person waddling along, I always want to ask, "Don't you have any self-respect?"

Ah, there's nothing like the smell of purebred, vicious, bigoted hate in the morning.
posted by aaron at 2:50 PM on April 7, 2002

All normal variations in body weight aside, whenever I see a fat person waddling along, I always want to ask, "Don't you have any self-respect?"

All normal variations in reasoning ability aside, whenever I see such an idiotic and truly hateful comment being made I always want to ask, "Don't you have any intelligence?"
posted by daveadams at 3:08 PM on April 7, 2002

Oh, that was seven out of 10 do not get enough exercise every week. But I've had mine now - riding a bike, lifting weights and swimming. No more stupid errors like that for the rest of the day!

Oh, and who said the government was policing anyone's behavior here? That would mean being arrested or fined for not working out.
posted by raysmj at 3:18 PM on April 7, 2002

All normal variations in body weight aside, whenever I see a fat person waddling along, I always want to ask, "Don't you have any self-respect?"

Go ahead and do it, ph00dz -- say it out loud. You might hurt a few feelings, but it will be worth it for the greater good: sooner or later you'll run into a fat guy like me, who will crush you like a bug.

Fuck you very much.
posted by sennoma at 3:22 PM on April 7, 2002

I'm like jonmc, I had trouble gaining weight to my skinny bod, and I did try for many years, obviously my metabolism just burned the calories. I would select foods I knew had high calories... cheesecake I remember was one of them.

I've picked up a small gut (nobody notices except me) these last few years since I passed 30 which persuaded to get into a regime of sit-ups and a few weights every morning.

Daveadams: spot on
posted by selton at 3:24 PM on April 7, 2002

health is a matter of genetics than anything else

That may be true. But just because you're thin doesn't mean you are healthy. Everyone needs exercise, not just overweight people. Weight may be generally correlated to overall health, but weight does not equal health, good or bad.
posted by daveadams at 3:26 PM on April 7, 2002

Like dong_resin and jonmc, I seem to be blessed with genes that keep me skinny no matter what my diet or level of activity. Yes, I'm the kind of woman other women hate. I've even resorted to drinking excessive numbers of milkshakes to put on a few pounds when friends started accusing me of being bulimic (a practice that completely revolts me).

That said, I also came to realize that just because I'm lucky enough to naturally tend toward our culturally idealized female body type, that doesn't mean my insides are what they should be. Exercise can help prevent heart attack, it's good for muscles, it boosts energy levels, well, you know. So I try to get in some good walking around my neighborhood in the winter and some hiking in the summer. Not having a car makes this more a matter of necessity and that's fine by me. Since I'm a smoker, I'm especially conscious of the need to give those poor, abused lungs a workout. Also, though I can live on junk food and not gain an ounce, that crap is still clogging my arteries. I have to remind myself that what I see in the mirror doesn't reflect what junk food and inactivity are doing on the inside.
posted by gutenberg at 3:32 PM on April 7, 2002

I went shopping at a huge suburban grocery store last night for the first time in a couple years (I had been limited to small city stores (like rainbow grocery and trader joe's) and health food stores since I last hit a big chain store). We were there to shop for our new place, which basically had empty shelves. Now, cruising around the store looking to buy anything and everything, we had problems filling up our cart.

The reason? Everything was unbelievably over-processed and filled with sugar. I couldn't find any normal looking snack food like wheat crackers, without "extreme ranch 'n onion" added to it. I couldn't find a single cold cereal to go with my rice milk (which wasn't in the cooler but instead delegated to a health food section) in the morning. I haven't seen a cereal isle in a few years and I couldn't believe what I saw. Oreo brand cereal? Twinkies cereal? Had the world gone completely mad? It took a while, but I eventually found some sort of nut flake thing that wasn't coated entirely in sugar. Even canned vegetables contained sugar as the most popular ingredient after the vegetables themselves. I was surprised to see the abundance of packaging. Plastic, pre-made, wasteful containers were made for everything from doritos chips to macaroni and cheese (pre-made, room temp mac 'n cheese? Is boiling water and noodles for ten minutes really that hard?).

Overall, the nutrional value of everything in the store seemed to be on the downward trend, while added processing, flavoring, sweetening, and packaging seemed to be on the rise.
posted by mathowie at 3:41 PM on April 7, 2002

Twinkies cereal?

Where did you see this, matt? I realize you were decrying it, but I simply must have a bowl of the stuff. Yet another case of you luck bums on the west coast getting the cool products first.
posted by jonmc at 3:45 PM on April 7, 2002

mathowie: If you want an even greater shock, look at how much sodium is contained in those processed foods. It's unfathomable.
posted by raysmj at 3:45 PM on April 7, 2002

Metafilter: Had the world gone completely mad?

I completely agree, Matthowie. When I was in the US, I went shopping in the SUPER-K. I went to get some milk - just normal, past-yer-eyes'd, homogenised, milk for one person. Instead I was offered milk+Vitamin A, milk+Vitamin A + D, 4% fat, 3% fat, 2% fat, 1% fat, .5% fat, 0% fat, soy, rice, "natural"... etc etc. And they were all in massive gallon tubs, no little 500ml cartons. Just for me, I had to buy and entire gallon of milk, and there was no way, milk lover that I was, that I was going to drink all myself - most of it got thrown away.

Excessive choice, huge sizes, and often not the healthiest food. Soon it won't just be that 1% of the population hold 90% of the wealth - it'll be that 1% of the world population each 90% of the food.
posted by Neale at 3:49 PM on April 7, 2002

dong_resin, jonmc - you're both under 30, aren't you?
posted by yhbc at 3:55 PM on April 7, 2002

Rice milk?

I understand that some people don't want to consume dairy products, but the whole soy "milk" and rice "milk" thing baffles me - why go for a bizarre vegetoid simulacrum of a dairy product?

At least milk from a mammal starts from a natural base (yeah, yeah, it's got hormones, antibiotic residues, and other assorted nastiness unless it's organic).

Next thing you know, they'll be making faux cheese out of wheat germ or something nasty like that.
posted by beth at 3:56 PM on April 7, 2002

Related to Mathowie's horror, there was an interesting bit of the the PBS documentary "People Like Us: Social Class in America" where a health-oriented food co-op in Burlington, Vermont was rejected for Shaws supermarket because people wanted their white bread rather than wheat, and feared for their twinkles and such.

Unfortunately, the site I linked to doesn't really do justice to the threat people felt from what they saw as having health food forced on them.
I hope they rerun this show soon, because it was a hoot.
posted by dong_resin at 4:00 PM on April 7, 2002

just over, yhbc, I'm 31. But I'm firm beiever in the belief:

eat healthy-exercise-die anyway.

So I'm not forsaking any of my earthly pleasures. What's a long life worth if you don't enjoy yourself during it?
posted by jonmc at 4:01 PM on April 7, 2002

Through most of our evolutionary history, we've had living conditions that have forced us into regular intense physical activity in order to survive. At the same time, high calorie food was hard to come by. Therefore it makes sense that we evolved natural instincts to rest when we can and eat high-calorie food whenever we can. Those are survival instincts. Unfortunately, those instincts don't serve us well in an environment where we can get by with no physical exertion and have an almost unlimited food supply. I think the best solution is to find some form of physical exercise that you enjoy for it's own sake. I don't have the discipline to do calisthenics every day for the sake of fitness, but I love the martial arts. Because I enjoy the arts so much I can spend hours engaged in intense exercise, but it doesn't feel like a chore, it feels like a treat. If it feels like a treat, you'll do it consistently. If it's a chore, you can always find an excuse to put it off.

BTW - I'll second what others have said above. This isn't really about weight. I'm a naturally skinny person, no matter what I eat or how much exercise I do. I'm not a naturally fit person. It took years of training before I started to feel like I was in pretty good shape. (On preview - yhbc, I'm about to turn 38 and I'm still naturally skinny. Some of us are just genetically stuck with it.)
posted by tdismukes at 4:03 PM on April 7, 2002

I've never seen Twinkie cereal and googling gives up nothing. I think mathowie had a brain fart.

ABC news covered this and raised -- but failed to answer -- the interesting question, if we're bombarded with images of health everywhere (infomercials for Abalyzers, health clubs, diet foods, etc.) why are we all still fat? Other than changing all our neighborhoods around again and making people do farm work, what can we do to make exercise more integrated into our culture?
posted by dhartung at 4:04 PM on April 7, 2002

Its an old saying that when you go shopping stay to the edge and avoid the middle. The edge has all the real food like veggies, meats, fruit.. while the middle isles are packaged processed junk.

Check out ReBar which continues to win lots of awards, one bar is 5 servings of raw organic fruit and veggies. Health food for the lazy.
posted by stbalbach at 4:04 PM on April 7, 2002

Like dong_resin and jonmc, I seem to be blessed with genes that keep me skinny no matter what my diet or level of activity.

by the by, how old are you guys?

I'm in my late twenties and my enviable metabolism has been slowing down a bit recently... you know what they say about the "appetites of teenage boys" etc - it applies to lotsa girls too, and often extends through the twenties... but at some point, you may have to put the effort in.

At least milk from a mammal starts from a natural base

dude, are you trying to say soy beans and rice are artificial? And that "yeah yeah" about hormones & other nastiness is pretty dismissive of a pretty yucky situation. Plus to begin with, it means sucking a cow's tit. I mean, I drink regular (organic) milk too (well, I put it in my coffee and granola, i should say - never could handle drinking milk) but the only thing that makes "soy milk" bizarre to you is that you knew cow milk first. The "milk" of soy beans has been used in asian cultures for ages - often used warm as a soup base, or to make tofu etc. And even if it were invented as a replacement, why would that make it baffling? It's healthier, tastes better, and doesn't involve squeezing the boobs of hyperfed beasts. If you really try to think objectively, which is weirder?
posted by mdn at 4:19 PM on April 7, 2002

(On preview - yhbc, I'm about to turn 38 and I'm still naturally skinny. Some of us are just genetically stuck with it.)

But you've already disclosed that you work out. Those guys were talking about eating whatever you want and not working out at all and still being skinny.

What I meant above is that I don't have the unlimited appetite I used to have, and I exercise regularly now, (not to lose weight, but because it makes me feel good and I enjoy it (also martial arts...)) so even if I'm in decent shape, my metabolism isn't pissing anyone off, since i'm "earning" it, so to speak.
posted by mdn at 4:25 PM on April 7, 2002

Rebar sounds interesting, but they tout it's having "the same texture as fruit leather." Ewww.
posted by kirkaracha at 4:27 PM on April 7, 2002

Hmm, you guys are odd. I find great non-processed food all the time at the markets here in NYC. Heck, go to the Union Square Greenmarket, and almost all is unprocessed (though there is some cheese, bread, and wine... mmm mm good). I try not to buy things that have more than 4 ingredients in them. Let's look at my rye bread wrapper -- oh, 7 ingredients, my bad. But two are flours (rye and wheat), one is water, one is yeast, and one is salt. I'm trying to figure out what rye chops and natural sour are. Hmmm. Of course, some "natural" unprocessed food are horrible for you in great amounts (liver - it's what's for dinner!), but it beats Extreme Nacho Doritos any day for nutrition.

But back to exercise.
I can try to be holier-than-y'all, snoot-in-the-air, saying I walk to my gym, but it's on my way to the subway and, in any case, I don't drive in the city. I do agree that most of suburbia is a toxic environment with regards to having a walkable (and interesting to walk) life and having reasonable food. Luckily, I live in a place with some very interesting walks and don't miss my car one bit. But then, not every place can be like New York.
posted by meep at 4:27 PM on April 7, 2002

This seems to say it all.
posted by jonmc at 4:35 PM on April 7, 2002

ricemilk and soymilk aren't "bizarre vegetoid simulacra" any more than something like apple juice is -- you can get some kind of liquid out of just about any plant; all you have to do is squeeze (mash, grind, whatever) it and leave the sediment behind. coconut milk is another example. it's not a synthesized, contrived substitute for something more natural. it's a different substance that happens to be milky in appearance and can be used, sometimes, in the place of animal milk (try making tapioca with ricemilk, though, and you'll notice some differences...).

[and, upon preview, what mdn said.]

also, while I'm not a huge fan of soymilk (I don't like the texture), ricemilk is very tasty. as a little I hated cow's milk. I flat-out refused to drink it plain out of a glass, but when there was some left over in my cereal bowl I was absolutely required to drink the dredges (wasting food was not an option in my family), even though I had trouble supressing my gag reflex. so I'd pour as little milk as possible on my cereal and ended up basically eating it dry. it didn't even occur to me until I became vegan (~5 years ago) that the liquid part of my cereal could taste good, too.

and they do, of course, make faux cheese out of all kinds of things (yeast and soy especially). some of it's gross, some of it's good. as long as there's still real cheese out there for those who want it, what's wrong with a little experimenting?

as for exercise, I dance two days a week, play rugby four days a week, and sporadically run and lift weights in the leftover time. I've given up caring about being skinnier than I am (well -- at least as much as a twenty-year-old-girl can), since I'm only a little rounder than I'd like and my body seems to readjust no matter what I eat or don't eat. I exercise because I like it. sometimes it's a little hard to get started, and I've certainly been tempted to skip the occasional rugby practice, but I always feel ten times better afterwards, with all those adrenaline and endorphins... if working out made me miserable, I have no doubt that my self-indulgence would win out over self-discipline every time.
posted by rabi at 4:37 PM on April 7, 2002

mdn - like I said, I'm 31. My dad, whom I seem to take after genetically in every other way, is 56 and still whip-skinny as well. Aside from kidney stones, he's had very few health problems. So, like I said, health often seems to come down to nothing more than dumb luck. I smoke 2 packs a day, drink beer and about 4 cups of coffee every day and subsist on burgers, subs, mozzarella sticks and frozen dinners and yet on my last checkup about 2 years ago, my blood pressure, cholesterol and all other indicators were better than average according to the doc. Seeing as I've been genetically blessed, I may as well treat eating as a pleasure and not a chore. But hey that's just me.
posted by jonmc at 4:49 PM on April 7, 2002

I am 19 and 6'3" and around 160 pounds and I eat what I want! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA.

And keep in mind it was more like 140 a few months ago.

Wanna slim down? Sell your car and eat amphetamines every morning. I do, and it makes me SLIM. Seriously, way better for you than caffieine.
posted by Settle at 4:52 PM on April 7, 2002

Back in the 1950s, things like "real butter" were the norm. If the Cleaver family walked into a supermarket today they'd have a whole bunch of heart attacks. So what's the norm? People lived okay for centuries eating crap. It's only been the past few decades that scientists have claimed pretty much anything we put in our mouths causes cancer. I think the world's gone mad cuz we think everything Pillsbury sells is poison.

I don't think it's what we eat so much as how little we move around. Again looking back at history, walking used to be a more usual activity, now it's the exception instead of the rule. People used to get together on weekends and play baseball. Now people order pizza delivery and watch baseball on television. We've gone insane as a people.
posted by ZachsMind at 4:58 PM on April 7, 2002

Dong_resin, the PBS show on class that you mentioned really did touch on an important issue - the subconscious connection between health/exercise/whole foods and class. The show points out that lower class folks often see homogenized food choices like fast food and sugary cereal as "Good" because they see it as a signifier that they are middle class. (It's the same everywhere, and not home-made.) Then there is little opportunity to exercise because of the # of hours they have to work just to put that crap on the table. On the other hand, some middle class people exercise in part to send a metamessage that they are part of the leisure class. Many middle and upper class people develop highly specialized and expensive diets for the same reason - in part to send the metamessage that they can afford the time and money to "be healthy" or worry about "quality of life." Whole Foods Market openly admits it only opens new stores in neighborhoods where the average income is above $50,000/yr.
posted by pomegranate at 5:00 PM on April 7, 2002

stbalbach: "Its an old saying that when you go shopping stay to the edge and avoid the middle"

I think of that every time I walk into a supermarket. In the center aisles, everything is packaged in boxes and bags - the chips, cookies, cereal, cake mixes, etc. I have a friend who won't eat anything that comes in a box, and (Twinkies cereal aside ;), not much good food really does come in a box, when you stop and think about it. It's either all sugar or it's loaded with preservatives or chemicals or something. Along the outer perimeters is where it's at.

Whenever I'm shopping in a large supermarket and I see the aisle called "health food", it makes me wonder - if they're calling this stuff the health food, what does that say about the rest of the food in the store?

As far as exercise goes, I get my almost daily dose, but I do a lot less of it now than I used to and the wonderful world wide web is the reason, I'm afraid. You know that saying about the best exercise you could do being the one where you extend arms firmly and "push yourself away" from the dinner table? I could use a little more pushing myself away from my computer table sometimes.
posted by iconomy at 5:03 PM on April 7, 2002

Rebar sounds interesting, but they tout it's having "the same texture as fruit leather." Ewww.

Yeah its actually not all that bad. More like the texture of the inside of a fig newton. Kind of tastes like that too. A big fig newton without the sweet cake.
posted by stbalbach at 5:15 PM on April 7, 2002

"The show points out that lower class folks often see homogenized food choices like fast food and sugary cereal as "Good" because they see it as a signifier that they are middle class."

Poor bastards. However did they develop the idea that middle-class people eat shitty food?

The key to fitness: go for a walk! It's low-impact exercise, and if you take your S.O., kids, or a friend, it gives you an opportunity to actually socialize, instead of ignoring each other watching the boob tube. It's cheap, doesn't require special equipment, and can be done without preparation.

The other key to fitness: eat better! Even if you're a 90-hour-a-week worker with no time to prepare gourmet meals, there is still a lot you can do to eat better: there are plenty of healthy, prepared foods available these days. Any day of the week, I can grab roll sushi from the deli section of my Safeway; salad in a bag; fresh, real bread from their bakery; etc.

I understand that breaking bad eating habits can be difficult. I know it, because I watch people who are completely incapable of walking down the junk food aisle without grabbing a bag of shite. Yet I can walk down the same aisle and I have no desire for any of that crap. It just doesn't taste good any more.
posted by five fresh fish at 5:20 PM on April 7, 2002

And a footnote:

Don't inflict bad health on your kids.

If you raise your kids on good food and moderate exercise, they'll probably be healthy adults who make sensible food and exercise decisions. It may be too late for you... but please don't doom your kids!
posted by five fresh fish at 5:22 PM on April 7, 2002

mdn: I'm over 30, also. I just turned 33 a few weeks ago. The weird thing is that both my parents have struggled with their weight since I was a kid. Maybe the thin gene (if there is such a thing) is recessive?
posted by gutenberg at 5:57 PM on April 7, 2002

Rice milk?

I understand that some people don't want to consume dairy products, but the whole soy "milk" and rice "milk" thing baffles me - why go for a bizarre vegetoid simulacrum of a dairy product?

To each their own, but whenever I hear someone ordering a "decaf soy cappuccino" I giggle existentially to myself.
posted by joemaller at 6:00 PM on April 7, 2002

Wanna slim down? Sell your car and eat amphetamines every morning. I do, and it makes me SLIM. Seriously, way better for you than caffieine.

*Refers Settle to Requiem For A Dream*

And damn, 6'3", 160 pounds; that's skinny. I'm 19, 5'8" and 165 pounds, and I'm by no means overweight. I never did gain that freshman fifteen though.
posted by insomnyuk at 6:05 PM on April 7, 2002

I lead a seditary life. Although I've started making changes. I drink water instead of soda. I walk more. Slowly creeping back into active life. (After all, I don't want to kill myself making myself healthy.)

At 24, as embarrassing to admit this as it is, I don't know how to ride a bicycle. Never learned. Now, at 24, I'm deathly afraid of (1) humiliation of trying to learn, and (2) falling flat on my oversized ass from not knowing how to ride a bicycle. I would love to ride one, though.

It's all about steps, I think. I'm moving in the right direction, bit by bit. I'm headed there.
posted by benjh at 6:26 PM on April 7, 2002

I had to wander off a bit sooner that I'd had liked from this thread, but I didn't mean to trivialize pomegranate, and you encapsulated it's themes nicely, but spesfic to Mathowie's discovery at the store, I found people's unwillingness to change the way they eat because they identified themselves with certain kinds of food really funny.

Maybe my initial post to the thread wasn't clear, but it's not genetics that keeps me thin, like jonmc & gutenberg, it's the (mostly ineffective, but pleasant anyway) 8-10 mile hike I take nightly to deal with my insomnia. It doesn't really get me any more sleep (I get about 4, sometimes 5 hours tops, often less) but it does mean I can suck down endless pizza, much to the irritation of the ever-expanding people around me, while remaining thin.

yhbc, mdn, I'm 28, but I can play a 27.
posted by dong_resin at 7:05 PM on April 7, 2002

hey benjh, don't worry about it.. i'm 19, and still can't ride a bike/swim/or whistle. a travesty, indeed.

about the only healty decision i've ever made was when i stopped drinking mountain dew. i did it just to see if i could stop depending on it's caffeine to stay awake in my classes. i am now a more tired person, but i still don't drink it, just so i can have the luxury of saying, "mountain dew? no, sorry, i quit that stuff a while ago," when people offer it to me.. and that never happens.

other than that, i live very unhealthily. i don't care if it's junk food or not, i'll eat anything that's readily available. it's not even a matter of what will be good for me, but what will fill my grumbling stomach (i only eat two meals a day though, 'cause i don't make too much time for breakfast.). i almost never exercise nowadays, as i just don't have the time to. but i'm young and skinny. though i can't run a mile without getting tired or bench too much, i'm still consider myself pretty happy and healthy. and i will be, forever... forever... forever....
posted by lotsofno at 7:06 PM on April 7, 2002

uh, I didn't mean to trivialize, the show, pomegranate
posted by dong_resin at 7:06 PM on April 7, 2002

Actually, according to rodii...the best way to slim down is....I won't say it.

I will say that CHICK DIG THE TALL SKINNY.

David Bowie?? Steven Tyler?? Peter Murphy? Otis Redding? Abraham Lincoln??
posted by Settle at 7:07 PM on April 7, 2002

I'm the same as Settle At age 24, 6'3" 155 I can eat ANYTHING and actually some how end up losing weight. I have cut back on exercise to being one who does nothing but eat and sleep and still no luck gaining weight. I used to run x-c and do 90-110 miles a week, and still was the same weight 155. Just a little shorter. After growing some, my knees couldn't take the pounding, so now I feel lazy and with the Boston Marathon around the corner, I would like to get in shape, but find the excuse "I have no time" in my favor. Maybe one day I'll pick up running again. Anyone else have the same problem?
posted by brent at 7:08 PM on April 7, 2002

but whenever I hear someone ordering a "decaf soy cappuccino" I giggle existentially to myself.

joe, several of my freinds work in coffee bars and that drink they always refer to as a "why bother?".
posted by jonmc at 7:09 PM on April 7, 2002

That's just messed up, man.
posted by dong_resin at 7:16 PM on April 7, 2002

My weight has yo-yoed a bit over the past fifteen years. I was about twenty pounds too heavy in high school (5'3'', about 143 pounds), but have settled down at around 117 for the past three years or so. However, I eat very badly (lots of carbohydrates, little of anything else). Which does go to show that there's no connection between being fairly slim and being healthy while you're at it. Primary exercise: I walk at least two to four miles per day when I'm working, and between seven to ten miles per day when I'm on vacation.
posted by thomas j wise at 7:19 PM on April 7, 2002

Good on you, Thomas.

My primary exercise, sad to say, occurs for about two months of the year, when I put 35lbs on my back and go climb mountains. Usually manage to do over 150km of hiking; sometimes over 250km.

Although, come to think of it, I also tend to shanghai my friend's kids into going on dayhikes throughout the summer. That's probably good for another 50km or so. But no pack.

This past winter I gave up downhill skiing in favour of cross-country. I can't honestly say that I burned up the trails, but I slogged along for a good 10km each time I was out. Next year I need to get out and do some night-skiing.

I share a single car with my wife, so there are times I have to hoof it about town. Every time I do walk to a client or to a task, I'm reminded just how much I really enjoy walking.

Used to cycle a lot. That's also good exercise. No-impact, and if the seat is adjusted correctly, it can actually improve knee joint condition for those of us with arthritis.
posted by five fresh fish at 7:47 PM on April 7, 2002

I do work out, but living in a city helps with the exercise factor. Suburbanites who come to visit are always surprised at how much we (city dwellers) walk every day, and they don't think about the details such as having to carry groceries home from the market instead of wheeling them out to the SUV in the parking lot.

That said, I was a multi-sport athlete from a family of athletes until my thyroid dropped me down a hole at age 26 and autoimmune problems started to damage my joints. Now I'm 32 and overweight. I work out, I eat very little, my metabolism laughs at me. I miss sports, though, so I keep working out anyway. (Elliptical trainers are easy on the joints, for example, but the experience isn't the same as, say, a fast game of tennis.)

Oddly, despite my weight and health problems, the rest of me is fine. Low blood pressure, low pulse rate, low cholesterol. I keep an eye on it, because one thing I never expected was to become an overweight adult.
posted by swerve at 8:19 PM on April 7, 2002

What's really great is the way some European cities are done. Most everything you'd ever want is within walking distance of your home -- grocery, clothing, furniture, electronics, repair, most everything. Walking is the way to go there. Especially considering the traffic.
posted by five fresh fish at 9:13 PM on April 7, 2002

What's really great is the way some European cities are done. Most everything you'd ever want is within walking distance of your home -- grocery, clothing, furniture, electronics, repair, most everything. Walking is the way to go there. Especially considering the traffic.
posted by five fresh fish at 9:13 PM on April 7, 2002

I have cut back on exercise to being one who does nothing but eat and sleep and still no luck gaining weight.

I think if you're trying to gain weight, exercise is just as useful as when you want to lose weight - except you'd do strength training and skip the cardio workout. Unless you're really hoping to gain fat... but if your body doesn't put extra calories into storage right away, you should still be able to make it reinforce muscle tissue you overextend.

living in a city helps with the exercise factor
it's true, it's basically impossible to avoid walking and carrying things, and stairways are really common, even if it's just in and out of the subway. The original link defined "enough" exercise as 30 minutes of walking day, 5 days out of 7 (And said 70% of americans aren't getting that!) I doubt many of them live in NYC.
posted by mdn at 9:38 PM on April 7, 2002

oops, close parenthesis too early. i meant, I doubt many NYers are part of that 70% who can't even get half an hour of walking worth of exercise per day on most days.
posted by mdn at 9:41 PM on April 7, 2002

I'm 20, am 5'7", and currently weigh about 175. My father had a heart attack two years back, and that scared me into getting into shape. At the time, I was over 200. I'm currently trying to get near close to 150, which is my target weight. Being a poor college student kinda limits what I can eat to the unhealthy foods though =/
posted by Darke at 9:50 PM on April 7, 2002

Isn't driving a car to a nearby gym kinda stupid?
I can see where you'd want to drive to the gym to work out in bad weather or a bad 'hood. But I live near a town where they built a walking path which has been very popular with folks trying for more "fitness." And you guessed it, they drive their cars to the path, walk around, then drive home.

From what I've seen, all the really old folks seem to be skinny as a rail. But this could change, as the population ages--there are more overweight people now than there were in the generation that's now the oldest--so I'd hesitate to extrapolate that skinny people live longer. (One study in rats found that underfed rodents outlived the better-fed ones, but that's not conclusive proof either.)

I was always skinny, couldn't gain weight no matter what. In my 30s, however, I did begin gaining a little, but never did pack on enough to worry about. Lost maybe 30 lbs. a couple years back when I was sick, and looked like something straight out of Auschwitz for a while, but slowly regained it. It's nice to have an ass again; it's one of those things you don't miss until you lose it. (It's nothing anybody would want to look at, but it keeps my hip bones from grating on chairs.)

Exercise for its own sake bores the bejeesus out of me, but I do some hard-ass work that's just as boring and hateful but serves some purpose (in between the 12-ounce curls). Too bad nobody wants to drive to my house and get a workout doing my grunt work for me.
posted by StOne at 11:07 PM on April 7, 2002

But I live near a town where they built a walking path which has been very popular with folks trying for more "fitness." And you guessed it, they drive their cars to the path, walk around, then drive home.

There's a similar path where I live (unfortunately, but temporarily, ultra-suburbia) and you can't not drive to it. There are no sidewalks, so unless you live near the path (which I do, which is nice but kind of pointless (see last paragraph)), driving is the only way to get there.

In my "neighborhood" you could throw a softball far enough to hit numerous strip malls, but you can't walk to them unless vying for space on roads that don't even have shoulders, much less sidewalks, with speeding, impatient, suburbanites in their vehicles appeals to you.

The whole set-up drives me batshit, because there's this long meandering path to nowhere across the street from my house, but the only way to get to the grocery store that's 1.5 miles away is to drive.
posted by jennyb at 11:54 AM on April 8, 2002

I went from being a skinny, relatively inactive teenager to being a sort of active, not overweight getting rather doughy 20-something. I seemed to be gaining a little more every year despite a good diet and walking a lot.

Since last summer I have been doing martial arts (kickboxing and jiu jitsu) and I have lost 20 pounds and am turning into a lean, mean fighting machine. My body is in good shape, and my flexibility, endurance and strength are improving every day. Not to mention that JJ in particular is a great work out for the mind; a lot of the moves are complicated, and require you to really pay attention to what your partner is doing.

It's a regime that I love and would do more often (currently do KB twice a week and JJ 4-5 times) if I didn't need time to sleep and go to work.

Forgive the huge cliche but I think that the trick is to find something that you enjoy, and do it as much as you can. I have discovered through trial-and-error that I hate going to the gym, aerobics, jogging and stairmasters. But give me a punching bag and a partner to throw around and I'm a happy camper. Who'd have guessed? *not me, that's for sure*
posted by melimelo at 12:50 PM on April 8, 2002

Being a poor college student kinda limits what I can eat to the unhealthy foods though =/

what about brown rice & veggies, or beans... it's easy to find cheap healthy food; it's just more of a pain 'cause you have to cook it yourself.
posted by mdn at 10:05 PM on April 8, 2002

My older brother was in the "skinny as rail and doesn't gain weight no matter what he eats" camp until about two years ago. Now he's skinny as a rail with a moderate pot belly.

I started working out regularly in 2K with the goal of dropping 1/2lb per week, which with regular exercise and food is pretty easy. I talked about this for a while with my doctor and he said that if your current weight is steady, the way to lose 1/2/week (more, he said, is not so good), is to either eat 300 calories less per day or expend 300 calories more per day or a combination. Cutting the daily bagel to 1/2 a bagel and adding a walk will do it. For the first time as well, I'm doing consistent weight training as well as aerobic and I'm putting some weight back on, just not in fat.

It's actually nice to flex and see/feel a change.
posted by plinth at 5:07 AM on April 9, 2002