Obesity

    

 

Tucson Weather Today

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I'm learning a lot about the culture of weight loss. I didn't know there were bloggers out there who were proud to be fat.
--Mick Cornett

Lately I have been feeling listless and, at times, nearly devoid of energy and enthusiasm, And I am wondering how much of this malady is caused by my being subject to the necessity of carrying around almost thirty pounds of excess fat, most of which resides atop my stomach, much of it drooping down around a most unsightly and growing gut.

WHOLE HEALTH SOURCE is a website I visit often. It's owner, Stephen Guyenet says" "I am an obesity researcher and neurobiologist by trade. In my spare time, I read, write, and speak about obesity, metabolism, nutrition, and health. I received a B.S. in biochemistry from the University of Virginia in 2002, and a Ph.D. in neurobiology from the University of Washington in 2009. Whole Health Source is a free resource I publish to communicate science to the public."

His entry for today begins:

Calorie Intake and the US Obesity Epidemic

Between 1960 and 2008, the prevalence of obesity in US adults increased from 13 to 34 percent, and the prevalence of extreme obesity increased from 0.9 to 6 percent (NHANES surveys).  This major shift in population fatness is called the "obesity epidemic"


Now, I know that one cannot lose weight by reading books (or blogs) about obesity and dieting. But I read them anyway. And I agree with much of what is written, especially the scientific material such as that presented by Strphen Guyenet.

The best solution (along with eating very little) is for me is to increase my physical activity, not indulge in more repetition of what is essentially passive research.

Damn!

I just gotta get with it.

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Did You Know . . .?

The remains of a 47 million year old turtle pair fossilized while having sex were recently found.

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HISTORICAL EVENT

On April 10 in 1866, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) was founded in New York City by philanthropist and diplomat Henry Bergh.

Bergh had been appointed by President Abraham Lincoln to a diplomatic post at the Russian court of Czar Alexander II. It was there that he was horrified to witness work horses beaten by peasant drivers.

Bergh’s dramatic street rescues of mistreated horses and livestock served as a model for those trying to protect abused children. After Mary Ellen McCormack, 9, was found tied to a bed and brutally beaten by her foster parents in 1874, activists founded the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children.

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WORD FOR TODAY

active  [AK-tiv]
adjective
1.  Being in physical motion: active fish in the aquarium.
2.  Functioning or capable of functioning.
3.
a.  Marked by energetic activity; busy: active stock and bond markets; spent an active day sightseeing.
b.  Involving or requiring physical exertion and energy: an active workout at the gym.
4.
a.  Being in a state of action; not quiescent: active hostilities along the border.
b.  Erupting or liable to erupt; not dormant: an active volcano.
5.
a.  Marked by or involving direct participation: took an active interest in politics.
b.  Currently in use or effect: an active membership.
c.  Openly acknowledged or expressed: an active dislike of the new neighbors.
6.  Producing an intended action or effect: active ingredients.

Activity as a synonym for physical exercise is described by Wikipedia as:

Physical exercise is any bodily activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness. It is performed for various reasons including strengthening muscles and the cardiovascular system, honing athletic skills, weight loss or maintenance, as well as for the purpose of enjoyment. Frequent and regular physical exercise boosts the immune system, and helps prevent the "diseases of affluence" such as heart disease, cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and obesity. It also improves mental health, helps prevent depression, helps to promote or maintain positive self-esteem, and can even augment an individual's sex appeal or body image, which is also found to be linked with higher levels of self-esteem. Childhood obesity is a growing global concern and physical exercise may help decrease some of the effects of childhood and adult obesity. Health care providers often call exercise the "miracle" or "wonder" drug - alluding to the wide variety of proven benefits that it provides.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Peter C. MacNichol
(born April 10, 1954)

Peter MacNichol is an American actor. He is known in films for his roles of Janosz Poha in Ghostbusters II, Stingo in Sophie's Choice, and David Langley in Bean. For television he is known for the roles of the eccentric lawyer John Cage in the FOX comedy-drama Ally McBeal, as Tom Lennox in the sixth season of action-thriller 24, Alan Birch in the medical drama Chicago Hope, and as physicist Dr. Larry Fleinhardt on the CBS crime drama NUMB3RS.

 

 

Chyler Leigh West
(born April 10, 1982)

Chyler Leigh is an American actress, best known for her portrayal of Dr. Lexie Grey on ABC's medical drama Grey's Anatomy. She also portrayed Janey Briggs in Not Another Teen Movie.

Michael Carmen Pitt
(born April 10, 1981)

Michael Pitt is an American actor and musician. Pitt is known in film for his role in Bernardo Bertolucci's The Dreamers. In 2014, he played Mason Verger in Hannibal. In television he is known for his role as Jimmy Darmody in the HBO series Boardwalk Empire.

Laura Bell Bundy
(born April 10, 1981)

Laura Bell Bundy is an American actress and singer who has performed in a number of Broadway roles, both starring and supporting, as well as in television and film. Her best known Broadway roles are the original Amber Von Tussle in Hairspray and the original Elle Woods in the musical version of Legally Blonde.

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You know what the secret to weight loss is? Don't eat much.
--Simon Cowell

NASA TV

This Is Who I Am

    

Rule # 1 - Change Your Eating Habits

     

Tucson Weather Today

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'Nuff Said?

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TRIVIA

You burn more calories sleeping than you do watching television. Guess I had better take more naps.

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HISTORICAL EVENT

On August 3, 1958, the U.S. nuclear submarine Nautilus accomplished the first undersea voyage to the geographic North Pole. The world's first nuclear submarine, the Nautilus dived at Point Barrow, Alaska, and traveled nearly 1,000 miles under the Arctic ice cap to reach the top of the world. It then steamed on to Iceland, pioneering a new and shorter route from the Pacific to the Atlantic and Europe.

After a career spanning 25 years and almost 500,000 miles steamed, the Nautilus was decommissioned on March 3, 1980. Designated a National Historic Landmark in 1982, the world's first nuclear submarine went on exhibit in 1986 as the Historic Ship Nautilus at the Submarine Force Museum in Groton, Connecticut.

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WORD FOR TODAY

carbohydrate
noun
Any of a class of organic compounds that are polyhydroxy aldehydes or polyhydroxy ketones, or change to such substances on simple chemical transformations, as hydrolysis, oxidation, or reduction, and that form the supporting tissues of plants and are important food for animals and people.

A carbohydrate is an organic compound comprising only carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen, usually with a hydrogen:oxygen atom ratio of 2:1 (as in water); in other words, with the empirical formula Cm(H2O)n (where m could be different from n). Some exceptions exist; for example, deoxyribose, a sugar component of DNA, has the empirical formula C5H10O4. Carbohydrates are technically hydrates of carbon; structurally it is more accurate to view them as polyhydroxy aldehydes and ketones.

Oh come on now...  The Downhome Dictionary says carbs are things in food that ain't proteins or fats and if you eat too many of them too often you get really fat.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Martin Sheen

(born August 3, 1940)

Martin Sheen (born Ramón Antonio Gerardo Estévez ) is an American actor who achieved fame with roles in the films Badlands (1973) and Apocalypse Now (1979). Sheen has made notable appearances in films, including Wall Street (1987), Gettysburg (1993), The Departed (2006), and The Amazing Spider-Man (2012). He has also appeared in television, notably as President Josiah Bartlet in The West Wing (1999–2006), and lent his voice as the Illusive Man in the Mass Effect video game trilogy.

Sheen is the father of four children (Emilio, Ramon, Carlos, known as Charlie Sheen, and Renee), all of whom are actors, as is younger brother Joe Estevez.

Martha Stewart

(born August 3, 1941)

Martha Stewart (born Martha Helen Kostyra) is an American business magnate, writer, and television personality. As founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, she has gained success through a variety of business ventures, encompassing publishing, broadcasting, merchandising, and electronic commerce. She has written numerous bestselling books and is the publisher of the Martha Stewart Living magazine, while her syndicated talk show, Martha, is broadcast internationally.

In 2004, Stewart was convicted of charges related to the ImClone insider trading affair and there was speculation that the incident would effectively end her media empire. She began a comeback campaign in 2005 and her company returned to profitability in 2006. Stewart rejoined the board of directors of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia in 2011 and became chairman of her namesake company again in 2012.

Tony Bennett

(born August 3, 1926)

Tony Bennett (born Anthony Dominick Benedetto) is an Italian-American singer of popular music, standards, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a serious and accomplished painter, having created works—under the name Anthony Benedetto—that are on permanent public display in several institutions. He is the founder of the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts in New York City.

Raised in New York City, Bennett had his first number one popular song with "Because of You" in 1951. Several top hits such as "Rags to Riches" followed in the early 1950s. Bennett reached an artistic peak in the late 1950s with albums such as The Beat of My Heart and Basie Swings, Bennett Sings. In 1962, Bennett recorded his signature song, "I Left My Heart in San Francisco".

Jay North

(born August 3, 1951)

Jay North is an American actor. Beginning a prolific career as a child actor at the age of six, North became a household name during the early 1960s for his role as the well-meaning, but mischievous, Dennis Mitchell on the CBS situation comedy Dennis the Menace, based on the comic strip created by Hank Ketcham.

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Habit is habit and not to be flung out of the window by any man, but coaxed downstairs a step at a time.
--Mark Twain

NASA TV

This Is Who I Am

   

Overweight, Obesity, And Natural Gullibility

     

Tucson Weather Today

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We here in the United States have been indoctrinated by the food industry, aided by those loosely associated with that industry, the chefs, the TV cooking show personalities, and the profiteering charlatans who claim to know the secrets of vitamins, nutrition, and gastronomical health. The indoctrination to which I refer is the unquestioned absoluteness of the notion that the only food that should be eaten is food that has been prepared for consumption by enhancing that food's flavor or adding other elements to create additional pleasant flavors to the food being prepared.

This, to me, makes no sense. One of the most prevalent maladies in the United States is reported to be obesity. What is the most probable reason for this? I would guess that it is the ubiquitous practice of pleasure-seeking overeating. Why do obese people continue to eat more (much more) food than their bodies  actually need, and often much more than they actually want to eat?

Why?

Because it tastes so damned good. That's why. If a little bit is good, then more has to be even better.

And yet Rachael Ray, the once perky (now porky) queen of the popular daytime cooking show continues to prepare tubs and overflowing  platters of yummy, delicious, flavor-filled foods before your very eyes each weekday. And proclaims them to be healthy and nutritious.

And yet, Martha Stewart (no longer svelte and fetching) teaches you How To Bake by whipping up Cakes and Pastries loaded with tons of butter, cream, sugar, and wheat flower. And declares it to be luscious... and soooo good.

And yet, Lidia Bastianich (large and larded Italian Mama) graces the PBS television screen with recipes filled with high-calorie, high-fat, delicious food, And delicious wines.

To be fair, all of the above showmen (show-people?) appear to be cooking for a huge crowd and, of course, expecting you, the viewer, to eat only a small, normal, sensible portion of the sumptuous spread they've shown you how to prepare and present to your friends and families.

And you will. You, being the strong-willed, intelligent, in-charge person that you are, you will treat yourself to only a tiny piece of that sweet, creamy cake with the butter creme frosting.

Sure, you will.


How much do I weigh, now, at age 74? My weight varies between 172 and 175 pounds.

How much should I weigh?

Well, I felt pretty well when I weighed 160 pounds, back in 2008, 2009, and 2010... and even better a few years back when I averaged 150 pounds for about ten years. And I felt GREAT during the early to middle 1980s, when I weighed between 145 to 150 pounds.

That's about as well as I can describe myself relative to body weight.

I would like to get my weight down to somewhere between 150 and 160 pounds. Maybe I will start recording my daily weight here on the blog. And perhaps a record of my daily food intake -- what I eat, and how much of it. And eschewing, of course, all added sugars, all wheat products, and as few fats as possible.

I'll think about it.

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TRIVIA

Astronauts are not allowed to eat beans before they go into space because passing wind in a spacesuit will damage it.

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HISTORICAL EVENT

Some 35 U.S. states declared it to be Bob Hope Day on this day, May 29, in 2003, when the iconic comedic actor and entertainer turned 100 years old. Hope died on July 27, 2003, less than two months after his 100th birthday celebration.

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WORD FOR TODAY

gastronomy
-  the art or science of good eating
-  culinary customs or style

Gastronomy is the art of food eating. It is also the study of food and culture, with a particular focus on gourmet cuisine. One who is well versed in gastronomy is called a gastronome, while a gastronomist is one who unites theory and practice in the study of gastronomy.

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CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

John Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy
(May 29, 1917 - Nov, 22, 1963)

John F. Kennedy, often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his death in 1963.

After military service as commander of the Motor Torpedo Boats PT-109 and PT-59 during World War II in the South Pacific, Kennedy represented Massachusetts' 11th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1947 to 1953 as a Democrat. Thereafter, he served in the U.S. Senate from 1953 until 1960. Kennedy defeated Vice President and Republican candidate Richard Nixon in the 1960 U.S. presidential election.

At 43 years of age, he is the youngest to have been elected to the office, the second-youngest President (after Theodore Roosevelt), and the first person born in the 20th century to serve as president. A Catholic, Kennedy is the only non-Protestant president, and is the only president to have won a Pulitzer Prize. Events during his presidency included the Bay of Pigs Invasion, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the building of the Berlin Wall, the Space Race, the African-American Civil Rights Movement, and early stages of the Vietnam War.

Annette Carol Bening
(born May 29, 1958)

Annette Bening is an American actress. Bening is a four-time Oscar nominee for her roles in The Grifters, American Beauty, Being Julia, and The Kids Are All Right, winning Golden Globe Awards for the latter two films.

Bob Hope
(May 29, 1903 - July 27, 2003)

Bob Hope was an English-born American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer, dancer, author, and athlete who appeared on Broadway, in vaudeville, movies, television, and on the radio. He was noted for his numerous United Service Organizations (USO) shows entertaining American military personnel; he made 57 tours for the USO between 1942 and 1988. Throughout his long career, he was honored for this work. In 1996, the U.S. Congress declared him the "first and only honorary veteran of the U.S. armed forces."

Over a career spanning 60 years (1934 to 1994), Hope appeared in over 70 films and shorts, including a series of "Road" movies co-starring Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour. In addition to hosting the Academy Awards fourteen times, he appeared in many stage productions and television roles, and was the author of fourteen books. He participated in the sports of golf and boxing, and owned a small stake in his hometown baseball team, the Cleveland Indians. He was married to his wife, fellow performer Dolores Hope for 69 years.

Danielle Riley Keough
(born May 29, 1989)

Riley Keough is an American model and actress. She is the daughter of singer/songwriter Lisa Marie Presley and Danny Keough and the eldest grandchild of Elvis and Priscilla Presley.

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Gluttony is not a secret vice.
--Orson Welles