The Fat Shaming Blog

The United States has a big problem and it's not just the narcissist we have as president.  It's huge, really huge.  It's fat.  The US is the most obese/fat country in the world. The US may not just be the most obese but also the most overweight with over 70% of Americans in that category.

You can walk down any street in our country and in front of you will be a large group of people who are waddling off to buy a 1,000-calorie latte.  When you get on a plane to fly off on vacation, you know that secretly you’re praying that a fat guy doesn’t sit next to you and take over half of your seat as well as his own.  

Likewise, when you have a ticket to a football game, you attempt to get there first before that overly plump fan arrives to try and take your allotted few inches of hard metal bench (unless you have a pricey ticket which may have separate seats). 

I know you remember an earlier blog and are saying, “Coach Jay, you’re biased because you have a degree in Physical Education.”  What you don’t know though, is that I got that degree partially because it bothered me to run into PE coaches with bellies that looked like they had tucked a bowling ball under their belts.

Okay, I’ll be honest too, I could use shedding a few pounds.  I’ve gained more weight than I’d like lately, but I’m obsessed enough about the issue to want to do something about it.

It all began years ago after I read “Fit or Fat?” by Covert Bailey.  I was working as a study hall monitor as I attempted to break into the Austin ISD click as a PE teacher.  One of the biggest points I remembered about that book was Bailey explaining one big reason why we gain weight as we age.  It’s because we eat like we're still kids.  As a child, you probably ran around constantly, driving your parents wild but naturally burning off lots of calories.  

 As we age, we do less running around.  Unfortunately, most people don’t adjust how many calories they take in daily.  In other words, people are still eating the tons of food they could get away with as a child once they have passed college or high school and have joined the workforce.

Let me interject here that—as you can guess from above—it’s a myth that you naturally gain weight as you age.  No, it’s not part of the aging process.  Although your lean muscle mass declines with age (thereby not burning as many calories as in your younger years), the real problem is that it’s part of Americans' habit to eat too much and not exercise.

One of the things I did after reading that book is that I decided to just eat an apple for lunch.  Yeah, that’s a little extreme and I began to do a little more later in life (probably why I could use with losing a few pounds now), but that was the idea.  I no longer was as active as previously, so I cut back on a lot of calories. 

There are charts that give you estimates of how many calories you should consume (also Body Mass Index charts to see where you stand) and you’ll note that it’s less as you age, and also it’s less if you’re female. For example, an 18-year-old moderately active male should consume 2800 while a female 2000.  Once you hit 55, a male should take in 2400 cals, a female 1800. 

Of course, Americans don’t do this.  They do not cut back calories, instead preferring to amp them up.  Ergo, fat Americans.

I am often perplexed when driving home late at night and notice big crowds of people in fast food places.  I always wonder why people are eating supper so late, but subconsciously I know that they’re not eating supper—they’re eating a snack that has as many calories as supper!  That’s insane!  If you want a snack then eat an apple (50 calories) rather than that 1,000-calorie double-meat hamburger covered with cheese and sour cream and maybe an extra piece of bacon thrown on top.

Of course, that won’t happen.  Greasy food is too alluring, especially compared to an apple.  It’s also super cheap.  Plus, often it’s hard to find an apple because many cities have food deserts.  They don’t have a grocery store nearby, instead they have 20 fast-food joints. 

Fast food isn’t the only culprit in our national disgrace, we also have an easier life than previously.  Now people will drive to the corner fast food place instead of walk down the street to the Mom and Pop grocery store.  Obese children are a big problem in the US nowadays partially because they find it more fun to play games on the computer, rather than tag or hide-n-seek outdoors.

Admittedly, it’s difficult to make lifestyle changes once you’ve gotten into a well-worn and comfortable rut.  However, if you are tired of folks like me trying to shame you into changing, then maybe you should give it a shot.

There are a few simple things you can do to start the process.  One is to weigh yourself every morning.  Buy one of those cheap digital scales and hop on it when you get up.  No, it won’t take pounds off you, but it will begin to make you think about your weight more seriously.  If you weigh yourself and notice you gained a pound since yesterday, it may not stop you from grabbing that donut during a coffee break that morning, but you may begin to think twice.  And that’s a start.

Also, consciously think about those calories you consume.  We were supposed to have menus at restaurants and charts at food stores showing the calories available by now, but sadly, Trump in his anti-regulation craze has delayed (if not stopped) this from happening.  So you’ll have to either guess or look it up somewhere.  Do it though.  Find out how many calories are in that Big Mac before you buy/eat it.  Like the scale idea, it may not stop you from consuming, but again it may begin to change your perception of what you’re putting in your mouth. 

Another thing to try is to find snacks you might enjoy and that are low in calories.  For example, years ago I read an article about what are the best fruits and discovered that watermelon was #2 (guava #1).  I like watermelon.  So I decided to buy a seedless one and cut it up into small chunks and have it sitting around to snack on instead of something like calorie rich chips or M & Ms. Find one you really like and snack away.

And don't get me started on exercise. Of course you need to do this (as well as watch your calories).  Not just for weight, but because it will improve your health and mental well being.

Lastly, don’t give yourself or your friends a pass.  Don’t say “she’s naturally big-boned” or “he is too busy to exercise” or any of the hundreds of apologies/excuses you or your friends may use.  Sure, some people gain weight because of medications or other unavoidable occurrences—but those are the rare occasions. This epidemic won’t resolve itself until we all resolve to fix it. 

So next time your coworker invites you to lunch at some diner or fancy establishment, counter-offer that he/she join you on a walk to the park a few blocks away and present him/her with half of your apple.  Tell them Coach Jay insists. 

Fit in!

The other night while channel surfing, I ran across Nightline. They had a news report about people who were getting harmed by doing too much exercise. As a former PE teacher this seemed hilarious to me. Oh, I felt sorry for the people who developed problems, but this new malady that ABC was pushing just didn't make sense.

Basically what they were raving about was that people who exercised too much could be more prone to injuries or suffer from affects of anorexia. Sure, these could be an outcomes from to much exercise, but to make it an issue worthy of national exposure went too far. 

The US may be the fattest country in the world. I believe the last report I read said about 60% of Americans were overweight.  It also said that of those, 35% were obese.  Of these fat people, men are the worst at over 70%, compared to women’s 60%.

Because of this overabundance of overweight people about 1/2 million people develop heart disease, while close to that number also suffer from diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney failure and more. The list of complications that relate to being overweight is incredible!

So a few thousand people suffering injuries from being in shape is laughable. Sorry Nightline.

Oh, I understand how news organizations have to sensationalize the news to get noticed. But blowing up something like fitness defies logic. Sensationalize all you want, but at least show some balance. Nightline did not. Oh, they briefly mentioned the obesity epidemic (yeah, I’m sensationalizing too), but it was almost like they said it under their collective breaths. 

I didn't see the whole show, so maybe I missed it, but I didn't see one interview with a doctor. If they did interview one earlier, did she say something like "oh, people need to cut back on exercise?"  I doubt it.

The real problem with reports like this though, is that I think it feeds into Americans ideas that they don't need to exercise. Oh, around the holidays when they really overeat (I mean more than they usually do, because a majority overeat all the time) they might think they need to exercise a little to work off a few of those holiday pounds. But then if they hear of reports like the one on Nightline they'll just say, "why bother? I could get injured."

It's bad enough that Americans have all sorts of other misconceptions. Things like it is natural to get fat as you age, or that if they just walk around the block once in a while it will be enough. Or that sitting at a desk for eight hours in the day is acceptable and part of American lifestyle.

For thousands of years, humans were hunters and gatherers. This meant that they moved a lot. (Exercise, if you will) they weren't naturally skinny, they were skinny because they moved a lot and didn't eat too much. This was the natural state of being. We got away from this by deciding it was okay to be sedentary. 

It is not.

I’m not saying everyone needs to go out and do intense exercise for two hours every day. However, I am saying you DO need to go out EVERY day and get some exercise. If all you can do is muster 30 minutes, then make it a good 30 minutes. And it should be as much of your daily routine as brushing your teeth (you do brush every day, right?) or eating breakfast. In other words, if you don’t exercise, you should feel that something is wrong. If you have a family—take them with you! That’s right, everyone needs to exercise as this country has a childhood obesity rate that is disgusting.

So don’t believe crazy news reports about the dangers of too much exercise. Worry more about what happens if you don’t.

Whew, the PE teacher in me just had to get that out. 

 (Yes, I exercise)

Next time, I’ll talk more about the War Between Men and Women as usual. You know, something like, women exercise to look good to impress other women—which is why men do it too.

 Exercise together!

(images courtesy of http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/)

Close Encounters, Part I

Hawkeye’s was a bar on Austin's Sixth Street in the early days of that avenue's transformation into the city's premiere entertainment location. Typical for Sixth Street at that time, it had the laid-back, friendly atmosphere as opposed to today's loud and obnoxious. 

Not really that much different than the other bars downtown, but my friends and I liked it best because of the beer specials and, most importantly, its free happy hour snacks. Typically, this consisted of finger sandwiches, chicken nuggets, etc. Nothing fancy, but for us poor college students a life saver as we could go in and order one beer, then stuff ourselves for the next hour.

It was often my only real food for the week (I was a really poor college student).

However, the main reason I always wanted to go there was because of the wait staff.  I was particularly taken with Susan. A thin brunet who always reminded me of the girl in the Semisonic music video "Closing Time." Her eyes were mesmerizing, her smile tantalizing. I was smitten.

 So I would drag my roommates down to Hawkeyes whenever I had a few dollars and they were desperate for food.

In those days, I was pretty good at picking up females. It probably was my sky blue eyes and sandy blond locks (which I really miss).

 

(miss that hair)

 However, for some reason I could never get up much nerve to talk to Susan in anything more than brief comments. My friends Ace and Lance thought it was funny, but at least they always tried to help me. Often deflecting conversation with Susan my way. But I never got much more than little tidbits about her life.

Finally I got the nerve up to ask for her phone number. I think she had been particularly nice to me that night, so it probably got my courage up to take a chance. With a cute smile, she wrote it out on one of the bar's napkins (this was before cell phones). After finishing my beer, I told her I'd call her the next day and with my prize in hand my friends and I headed home.

Unfortunately, when we got home my brother was there, having made an unannounced visit from Houston. He wanted to go out and since he had money, how could I resist? So out we went again (not to Hawkeye's) and promptly got blitzed.  When we got back to the apartment much later that night, I did the polite thing and let him sleep in my bed. He did after all pay for the beer. I slept on the floor. In my clothes. I have a feeling it was not the plan, as much as it was just the easiest thing to do.

So when I woke up the next morning, a little taken aback that I was on the floor and in my clothes (it was a lot of beer), as soon as I had recovered enough senses, I checked my back pocket for the napkin.

It was gone!

I panicked. I checked again, then checked all my pockets. I crawled around the floor looking under everything. I scoured the entire apartment, even all the wastebaskets. Completely gone.

I wanted to head down to Hawkeyes immediately, but my friends convinced me that it would be better to wait two days (still don't know how they came up with the time) otherwise I'd be seen as desperate. Which I was of course, but I sure didn't want to appear that way. I admit, it's a macho thing.

So two days later we headed to Hawkeyes. Susan was gone. I knew it was her night to work (one of the few things I learned from her) so I was a little taken aback. I asked our new waitress if she knew what happened to Susan, and was shocked to learn she quit. Luckily, this waitress was a friend of hers and so let us know where she was now working.

I won't go into the bloody details, but rest assured I tracked her down at the new place, could tell she was more than a little pissed I hadn't called as promised, but the big point was that I didn't have the nerve to ask for her number again.

To this day I still think back to this incident. As a writer with a fervent imagination I dream out all sorts of scenarios, usually with us heading off into the sunset, her laughing off my little escapade and making plans for our future family. In some ways,  I'm a little glad that didn't happen, but the thoughts are still there.

So there are two main conclusions to this tale: one is to always write down important numbers in two places at least (or right away enter it in your fancy cell phone) and two, for females to not be afraid to make first contact. If you like a guy, and he hasn't called—call him!

 Of course, I know the latter will never happen, so we'll discuss it in the future in another communique from the ThurberBrigade here at the front in the ongoing War Between Men and Women. 

Why men go to bars

(Images courtesy http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/)