Fat Vs Fit?

[Rick Denney]

If we're looking for things that could have driven an increase in obesity in recent generations, can't disregard environmental exposure to, for example BPA, or steroids in meat animals. Or similarly, pervasive changes in food technology, like high fructose corn syrup.

I would suggest that if you build a diet based on these claims, you will not lose weight. They may or may not have effects, but even if they do, it's working at the margins. But our society is full of people who take marginal effects and build vast conspiracy theories about them, usually for some other reason. You are looking for fine effects (so fine they get argued about endlessly with no resolution, even by experts), when there are more than enough gross effects available to explain the problem.

Rick "who likens worrying about high-fructose corn syrup, which looks to the stomach just like cane sugar, to blaming the presence of lacquer for a thin tuba sound" Denney

[Rick Denney]

Or drugs - I hate it when people try to shift the blame for kids' behavior onto narcotics dealers, why not take some responsibility for once?

Strawman fallacy. Hamburgers and cigarettes are not illegal for adults because adults are supposed to be smart enough to know they aren't good for you. Drugs are illegal for a range of reasons, not least that using them undermines the intelligence needed to recognize the damage they are doing, and most drugs are difficult to use in anything resembling moderation. I sometimes think kids can get several kinds of drugs a lot easier than cigarettes, to worse effect, with less negative comment from society's do-gooders. That is what the British would call a lack of a sense of proportion.

Rick "the laws are made by the people you and your neighbors elect" Denney

[Donn]

Rick "the laws are made by the people you and your neighbors elect" Denney

So it pays to have enlightened neighbors. Maybe after my state follows Alaska on that, we'll do something about McDonald's.

I would suggest that if you build a diet based on these claims, you will not lose weight. They may or may not have effects, but even if they do, it's working at the margins. But our society is full of people who take marginal effects and build vast conspiracy theories about them, usually for some other reason. You are looking for fine effects (so fine they get argued about endlessly with no resolution, even by experts), when there are more than enough gross effects available to explain the problem.

Rick "who likens worrying about high-fructose corn syrup, which looks to the stomach just like cane sugar, to blaming the presence of lacquer for a thin tuba sound" Denney

These effects get argued about endlessly with no resolution, even by experts, for the same reason that happened with tobacco. Industry can pay for experts, and I don't think it takes a conspiracy theorist to see that the tobacco industry paid for their share. Do read that link about high fructose corn syrup, wherein you can find the claim that it does not look like cane sugar to your system.

My idea of "build a diet" is "don't put that in your mouth, you don't know where it's been." Make the majority of your own food from scratch, and "steer" clear of the livestock industry. It's kind of like the Paleolithic Diet, but we're going back only 100 years, not 10000. I believe we can all get along pretty well without BPA, steroids, and HFCS, and my guess is that 20 years from now we'll look back on one or more of these things like we look back at lead in paint.

[Rick Denney]

These effects get argued about endlessly with no resolution, even by experts, for the same reason that happened with tobacco. Industry can pay for experts, and I don't think it takes a conspiracy theorist to see that the tobacco industry paid for their share. Do read that link about high fructose corn syrup, wherein you can find the claim that it does not look like cane sugar to your system.

Don't for a second think the people who built the site you are trying to get me to read have any less of a hidden agenda than the experts hired by the corn producers. In fact, their agenda is even more deeply hidden behind several false fronts of pretending concern for your health. Follow the money. If you can't find the money trail, then it's time to be really concerned. It's there somewhere!

Rick "who avoids excess amounts of all sugars" Denney

[Donn]

What gives...???

Well, just as `Rick Denney' correctly observes, you aren't guaranteed to lose weight if you avoid BPA etc., and same with going to McDonald's. If that's all the better you can do, you should probably leave these things to the scientists.

[Donn]

Don't for a second think the people who built the site you are trying to get me to read have any less of a hidden agenda than the experts hired by the corn producers. In fact, their agenda is even more deeply hidden behind several false fronts of pretending concern for your health. Follow the money. If you can't find the money trail, then it's time to be really concerned. It's there somewhere!

This made me laugh, after your comment about "vast conspiracy theories". Better not read that Seattle Times article, then. I guess you'd have known better, anyway, knowing that Seattle is one of those west coast dens of progressives plotting to undermine the American Way of industrial food products for all.

[fairweathertuba]

Well this sure has been one heckuva interesting read.

Now back to the OP. Yes, fit is better for tuba playing but fat looks a whole lot better according to generations of
American cartoons and sitcoms, am I wrong here? (gives us a bit of an unearned negative image)

Certainly some ideas have been brought forth that could possibly broaden my horizons, but I'm not giving up on low carb eating just yet. Low carb eating did do what I wanted and then some, so I cant' just chuck it out overnight without due cause. However, some good alternative readings have been brought up by Jhardisk and I will put some time into looking at and considering them.

[Biggs]

If that's all the better you can do, you should probably leave these things to the scientists.

...the "man-made climate change" crowd...or the "we've flat run out of oil, coal, and natural gas, and we can generate perpetual-motion power to run our cars buy attaching windmills and solar panels to their roofs" crowd...??

I believe I would rather just guess.

I think part of the problem you're experiencing is being unable to discern who, exactly, is credible. This can be tricky, but shouldn't discourage you from continuing to read and explore. Dismissing all research-based knowledge because a fraction of the people involved aren't credible is ridiculous. That line of thinking would be like me refusing to take my tuba to an excellent repairman just because some shithead repairman in Itasca, IL closed a truck hatch on it.

All blokes are repairmen, but not all repairmen are blokes.

This is also why science and critical thinking need to be compulsory parts of education, but that's a complaint outside of the realm of TubeNet

[Trevor Bjorklund]

Wow... way to go, TubeNet. Way to turn a perfectly honest question into something totally un-useful!

As an American who has traveled all over the world, I can never help but notice how much fatter everyone here is than abroad. It doesn't take a genius to consider the difference between the physiques of, say most of Western Europe and those of, say Buffalo or Texas. If one happened to think objectively, one might come up with the following: food and lifestyle. If you eat heavily processed foods on a regular basis, ignore things like daily doses of fresh vegetables, and then lead a largely sedentary lifestyle, you will get fat. If you sit way more than you walk, you will get fat. If you drive - rather than walk or bike - to work where you will then sit all day and eat at a restaurant (fast food or otherwise) every day, you will get fat.

When I lived in Germany, I couldn't help but notice that people were in better health and seemed to keep their health longer (little old ladies in their 80s riding their bicycles to the bakery each day to buy fresh bread). They have small refrigerators and must buy fresh food every other day, as opposed to buying mass quantities of canned/boxed/frozen stuff at Walmart or Costco. I also noticed that people walk or ride their bicycles home for a home-cooked lunch each day... even the restaurants in smaller towns close around lunchtime! In the butcher shop, you could easily find out which farmer supplied the meat, and even who the veterinarian is. They eschew foods they considered to have been tampered with, like genetically modified crops. And the Germans probably have the least interesting diet of the continent AND they drink a lot of beer. A fat German is relatively thin in much of the USA.

It's true, there is a very small percentage of people with genetic idiosyncrasies that cause their obesity, but most of us can't really claim that excuse. Likewise, there are some genetic freaks out there who can eat garbage all day and stay weirdly skinny. But that's not the norm.

Eat healthy (most of the time), move around a lot, and you will most likely not be fat.

[Biggs]

I support research scientists who respect and follow the classic scientific method.

Those who are paid by government or some private organization to "discover" agenda-driven results are prostitutes and actors.

I'll drink to that!

[sloan]

Actually (I'm NOT kidding) recent research shows that an Egg McMuffin (with bacon) is the ideal breakfast.

Fat (a moderate amount) eaten EARLY in the day primes your system to expect more, and appears to trigger the mechanisms for burning fat - when it's done burning the bacon, it starts to work on that spare tire. (that's my interpretation - the actual researchers involved are more circumspect in their claims, but the story is that half way through their study, the entire research team switched from "healthy" breakfasts to the drive-thru at McDonald's.

On the other hand...fat eaten late in the day is not good at all. Bad, even. Stick to salad, hold the Bacon Bits.

But, in the morning? Bacon & Eggs - there's a reason it's a classic.

Eat like a King for breakfast; get over the hump at lunch, and have a light supper; don't even think about a midnight snack.

and...don't forget to burn off that fat by getting your heart pumping for a significant part of the day.
If you are planning on digging ditches all day, make it Steak & Eggs for breakfast.

[Uncle Buck]

Actually (I'm NOT kidding) recent research shows that an Egg McMuffin (with bacon) is the ideal breakfast.

Fat (a moderate amount) eaten EARLY in the day primes your system to expect more, and appears to trigger the mechanisms for burning fat - when it's done burning the bacon, it starts to work on that spare tire. (that's my interpretation - the actual researchers involved are more circumspect in their claims, but the story is that half way through their study, the entire research team switched from "healthy" breakfasts to the drive-thru at McDonald's.

On the other hand...fat eaten late in the day is not good at all. Bad, even. Stick to salad, hold the Bacon Bits.

But, in the morning? Bacon & Eggs - there's a reason it's a classic.

Eat like a King for breakfast; get over the hump at lunch, and have a light supper; don't even think about a midnight snack.

and...don't forget to burn off that fat by getting your heart pumping for a significant part of the day.
If you are planning on digging ditches all day, make it Steak & Eggs for breakfast.

Don't forget, there's a big difference between an Egg McMuffin (300 calories, Canadian bacon - not the kind of bacon most people think of, poached egg, really a moderate amount of fat), and just about everything on McDonald's breakfast menu (or any other fast food breakfast meno).

I think these researchers probably are on to something - but that doesn't translate into "Eat like a King for breakfast." An Egg McMuffin (without a side of hash browns) really is a moderate breakfast.

[roweenie]

I lost 45 pounds in the last year, and it didn't change my playing one way or the other. Closing in on 50 made me think of growing old and fat, and not liking it at all - and as men get older, it becomes harder to lose weight, as you will learn if you are lucky enough to get there.

Losing weight will certainly help your chances of winning a military band audition, if that is your goal. When I auditioned for the Marine Band about 25 years ago, before I played a single note, IIRC, they measured my height and weight, and then informed me that IF I won, I would have to lose 20 pounds. If it were a choice between two equally good players and one was overweight, who do you think they might pick? Image for them is just a important as sound, I maintain.

[muttenstrudel]

I have to admit that I am on the big side of life right now. Weighing 324 lbs back in 1998 after a burn out and some hard years suffering from migrane attacks I decided to lose weight. Within one and a half year I lost 114 lbs. I was able to keep my weight but in 2009 my wife left, leaving our son and me behind. Life hasn't been very fair to me since then but, hey, other people don't have fun all the time either.
I found a new partner, and she loves me. But her ex-husband blames me for destroying their marriage (which was broke months before) and threatens to kill me since then. So I just fell back into old schemes and started to eat again to comfort myself. Result: back to 304 lbs again.
To be honest: I can't breathe like I want to. I still do sports, 3–4 hours a week. Without that I would probably already be dead.
Ergo pro meo: Fat = No Air Slim = More Air Slim AND trained = Good air
I'd still like to mention that my lung capacity is 1.84 gallons. Even before sports. But it's worthless when the belly is in the way.

[muttenstrudel]

Thank you for your kind words. I am gonna make it but, yes, it's a long, hard way ahead.