What is a "normal" eating and metabolism?

[not2late]

I agree with you liv. It can be difficult. I used to work 12 hour shifts---with a 1-2 hour commute round trip. So that cut my time to run errands and personal things like eating and sleeping to 10 hours 6 days a week. If I don't get 7-8 hours of sleep, I'm a total zombie the next day, so I basically had 2 hours to do everything and that wasn't easy!

That's why batch cooking on weekends, slow-cookers, microwaves, etc. were a lifesaver for me. And at that time I had to cook that way because I was a vegan and there wasn't a wide variety of vegan-friendly grab-and-go foods (except potato chips) available. Plus, eating out every night was too expensive and I couldn't afford it.

[Aways2Go]

I believe if one was to research the start of all the push to make carbs the base of the food pyramid, it might have something to do with the fact that corn/grains are cheap to produce in massive quantities and easily grown in the central farmland regions of the US. No quicker way to have a revolt on your hands as a politician than to have a truly hungry public as was the case during the depression and the dust-bowl days of the early 1900s. Push cheap carbs as the staple of the standard diet, then subsidize the income of the big corn and grain producers - this results in plenty of cheap food for the masses. I have read many times that the U.S. spends, on average, less as a percentage of their income on food than basically any other country. No wonder - we are mostly eating subsidized cheap carbs. A huge percentage of this corn and its byproducts now also goes to feeding cows penned into overcrowded fattening lots - an unnatural way to raise a cow, and an unnatural diet for the cow. But this makes a cow fatten quickly, which equals cheap meat for the public also. Inactivity (due to cramped conditions) and an unnatural high carb diet makes for rapid cow fattening - it also makes for rapid people fattening, does it not?

As to the incidence of obesity among native americans, I'm pretty certain studies have shown that native americans and mexicans are far more likely to develop diabetes on the "standard american diet" than other groups in the US population. Obviously they must develop insulin issues easily on a high (refined) carb diet with lots of added sugars (corn syrup - gotta find a use for it, what with all that corn that gets grown). My guess is that this tendency towards insulin issues would relate directly to the high incidence of obesity among native americans who are not eating a traditional diet.

I can state that in my own family, I had one parent (1/8th) and one grandparent (1/4) of obvious native american decent - both became overweight/obese AND diabetic, and somewhat in proportion to how much processed, quickie-type high carb/sugar foods they ate. I had other overweight relatives of European decent, many who ate the same basic diet but didn't become nearly as overweight/obese and none of them became diabetic (not that they couldn't have, obviously they could - I just find it interesting that they didn't).

This is, in part, what drives me to lose weight and be healthier. I do not want to be diabetic. I take strongly after both of them and have little doubt I was headed right down this path before I switched to a whole foods diet several years ago, eliminating processed foods and nearly all sugars, and then on to controlling my other carbs now also. I hope to avert this condition with these changes in addition to restoring myself to a normal weight.

Interesting discussion.

[chinadoll]

That's one plus for living in exotic places. There are no convenience foods. You have to cook. And you are right--most foods take no more time and effort to prepare than the packaged stuff, ONCE YOU GET IN THE HABIT OF COOKING. I am truly amazed and horrified at how few people of my generation cook back in the USA. My mom and m-i-l both cook real dinners every night, as have I. My kids got hot breakfasts most mornings and a home packed lunch when they were younger (they wanted cafeteria food like their friends in middle and high school) So many people don't even know how to cook even the basics!

Both my college boys can make eggs, pancakes, french toast and oatmeal for brekkie as well as chili, spaghetti sauce, and a half dozen other dishes for dinner. It's nothing to brag about but it's a lot more than many of their friends can do in the kitchen.

I think the desire for INSTANT everything has fueled this. We want to look younger instantly, thinner instantly. We want to eat the second we walk in the door. We want all fruits and veggies in all seasons. This wanting has been counter productive and (I have said this before) ruined us for understanding that worthwhile things (including weight loss) take work, time and patience.

[not2late]

There are rumors that when the Food Pyramid was originally conceived, grains were in the middle or near the top of the pyramid. Then *PoOF* they ended up on the bottom.

The grain industry is very powerful in the USA. And for some people the grain industry's power is the reason why beef cattle are primarily fed a grain diet (not a natural grass diet).

[Maggiemuggs]

I watched a very interesting program on the knowledge channel on my satelite dish here in Canada called My Big Fat Diet, and it involved a mainly Native Canadian community in Northern British Columbia where for a year they involved them in the Atkin's diet. They reverted back to the natural fats in their diet which included a certain fish oil, which used to be a staple of their diet. Sadly it was hard to find due to overfishing in that area. What amazed me (and them) most that some of their diabetes medications had to be reversed in as little as 3 days! Previously inactive people became active again, and had a new lease of life.

[chauber]

I think one thing that is missing from this discussion is the fact that years ago one had to grow, harvest, and hunt for their foods. Even the extra effort it took to cook a meal meant that the body had to work harder. Come on...people might have to WALK miles to get food...or even water.

Technology is a great thing...but I feel that if every one of us had to live with less technology we would have to do more things for ourselves which would result in more physical activity on a daily basis. Not only would we HAVE to do more for ourselves, we might still have the ingrained purpose of teaching our children to do the same things rather than saying "here honey, I bought you some Twinkies".

The main reasons that our metabolism is able to work like the little engine that could on Atkins are because we are eating natural whole foods AND exercising. Just imagine what life would be like without TV and video games.

[Aways2Go]

"Just imagine what life would be like with (out?) TV and video games. "

I do, and have, actually, LOL! I decided that most of what I watched was not really serving any purpose other than sucking me into spending time sitting and staring at whatever was coming on next... too easy to get drawn into spending an hour, an hour and a half, two hours doing basically nothing but sitting and staring at changing pictures. And a fair amount of it was stressful or negative in some way or another.

My television sits unplugged in a closet where it has been since 2005. I missed it for a few weeks, but soon found that when I go somewhere to visit where the tv stays on non-stop in the background all the time, I find it disturbing, distracting, or a little annoying.

I do watch a few shows online from time to time, occasionally rent a series on DVD and watch that, and now that I live with someone who does have a tv at the ready all the time I do watch one or two particular shows here and there (I enjoyed "Ruby" when it was on, and watched that dance/lose weight show weekly until it went off, LOL!), but the daily automatic-ness of plopping down to see what is on television has not returned and I am glad.

I listen to music a lot, which I enjoy and doesn't interfere with whatever activity I am engaging in. I definitely get more done in general than when I watched tv every evening, but still don't get all things done that I WANT to accomplish by far.

People who think they can't do without television really should give it a try sometime, even if it is just one or two nights a week. It found it much easier than most folks think it will be, and much more enjoyable. And now if I spend an hour or two or even three each week watching television, I think I enjoy it more than I did before.

And I agree that technology in general principle is a great thing, but it also makes our lives more crammed full of stuff and things and distractions. I'm not sure that many parts of it add to our general sense of well being on a daily basis. I greatly appreciate heat and cooling at the flip of a switch, water at the tap, basic appliances, the internet, a stereo and a telephone. Beyond that, I feel much more peaceful and happy at the end of the day if I have spent a good deal of it outdoors stirring around in the garden, getting some sun and exercise, fixing something around the house, working on a hobby or project, going to visit friends in person or even just going for a walk than if I had spent the day texting and tweeting and the cell phone ringing and hearing the tv babbling on and so forth. I'm learning to pick and choose with technology so that it doesn't overwhelm my senses and interfere with my daily happiness.

And I am learning to grow and harvest some of my own food, battling weeds regularly and toting produce in the house and scraps back out to the compost pile. It definitely makes you appreciate your food more, and I think makes me less likely to overindulge in something because I know how much work went into getting it to my fridge and I don't want to just gorge on it mindlessly, LOL!