Change from last week : -3
Back on the horsey ride we go. Up and down peaks and valleys like one of those crazy stock-market graphs, hopefully arriving at the desired destination, which in our case is not up into the stratosphere but on a steady march downwards. In other words, mission still accomplished - I went on vacation, I ate a bunch of crap and drank like a fish, yet here I stand a week later not only back where I started but one pound lower. I got back on track and even in a week where I was very busy and only got in three real workouts, I still ate well enough to drop the stupid-weight I put on in Vegas. Damn it feels good to be a gangsta. And to have my own loudmouth rhetoric proven right :)
Switching gears now - today I saw a documentary recommended by a friend called "Killer at Large : Why Obesity is America's Greatest Threat" directed by Steven Greenstreet and featuring appearances by Bill Clinton, Ahnold, Ralph Nader, Chevy Chase, et. al. Overall my impression of the movie is that it provides a whole lot of useful information on root causes of obesity, and for that alone I would highly recommend watching it, but in the end I don't belive it does the greatest job in selling the solution. It does however, unwittingly pull both sides into the argument in a way that shows how each is screwing up, either intentionally or not.
Basically the film takes most of its time blaming the fast food industry, large corporate food empires and government complicity with it all for the American people's descent into FAT land, of which numerous examples are given. You can see the movie for yourself, I don't need to go into details here other than to say that University of Washington study I spoke about on Saturday is mentioned yet again (an additional note here - I now understand why neither side will come out and debunk that study publicly, because it's just too useful as PR in its current form; junk food companies can use it to tout value, and anti-junk activists can use it to try and drive healthy food prices lower). In contrast, the film also shows several industry and conservative types, mostly from Fox News (including Dubya), and they all mention the words "personal responsibility" in dealing with the obesity epidemic and more or less pushing that responsibility off to the individual. The funny thing is, I don't believe these two world views are all that incompatible.
Naturally, when the Bush-era people from the film say "personal responsibility", that's only half the story where they're concerned - while they say that stuff out loud, they then get into bed with every corporate lobbyist available, even giving them key government positions designed to regulate the very industries from whence these lobbyists came. These people in turn do everything they can to stifle debate, muddy the waters, and make it generally impossible for the public at large to get good health information or for the government to put into place and enforce guidelines for how food is to be processed, marketed, sold, etc in this country. So yes, there is that particular evil being foisted upon us by the marketing machine and not kept in check by the government, and this is a wrong that needs to be righted. But by focusing solely on that, I think the more liberal voices in the film are missing their chance to really pry the debate open - that is, while this corporate-run environment we currently have does play a significant role in propagating obesity with aggressive marketing to both adults and children, misleading advertising and labeling, and outright refusal to improvements or changes, the end solution HAS to be personal responsibility. And oddly enough, after all that railing against the machine, the last two minutes of the film attempts to do just that - in a really weak summation that I feel doesn't do the message enough justice.
Basically it's like I've been saying in this blog - it's up to you, FATTIE. Unless you're a baby or a kid, nobody feeds you but you. Do I believe we need healthier fare in schools and the government cooperation to do so? Hells yeah. Same goes for advertising targeted directly at kids. We regulate tobacco, firearm and alcohol ads twenty times over (and in fact there's one really shocking scene in the movie where Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble are selling Winston cigarettes in an old commercial), but we do nothing of the sort for junk food or even restaurant food. It's the kind of thing the food industry wants, to create a perfect "cradle to grave" brand loyalty by seeding the minds of children, and it's disgusting. But still, once you're out of school, out of the house and on your own as an adult, that behavior to eat or not to eat, that is on YOU. I can't believe I'm quoting O'Reilly cause I hate the man, but "nobody puts a gun to your head and pulls you inside the Burger King". You make that conscious decision to go eat a bunch of crap. I do it sometimes too. My point is that though this particular "personal responsibility" argument is most often used by the conservative side of the debate as a cover to deny ANY corporate responsibility whatsoever, that doesn't have to be its sole use. I think if the more liberal voices want to make headway, they need to take that phrase back, own it, and show how personal responsibility can be bolstered by the proper amount of regulation...otherwise we're just catering to the usual bitching and moaning about how bad and evil Big Business is, and all the other side hears is REENY REENY REENY REENY. Duh. That's the nature of Big Business - to be evilly profit-oriented until told otherwise, so let's stop pretending that's not the case and operate from there. End soapbox.
Diet for Monday 9/21/09:
Breakfast
- Fiber One original, 1 serving w/fat-free milk
- 4 oz orange juice with vitamins
- one poppy-seed bagel with butter
- work mug of coffee
Lunch
- Turkey sandwich from Ratto's
- 1 bag Sun Chips Harvest Cheddar
- 2 cans Coke Zero
Dinner
- Turkey on wheat sandwich w/fat-free cheese
- one ear of corn with yogurt spread & salt
Dessert
- 1 1/2 servings fat-free chocolate frozen yogurt
Exercise for Monday 9/21/09:
- 30-35 min walking around Oakland to get from place to place, as per usual
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