Re: My longest winded post to date - SUBJECT: OBESITY VS DM

rleone@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:

Dear David:
   In retrospect, I owe you an apology -- and not a mild one either. I
didn't read your post carefully enough to understand what set off your
"Longest winded post to date" -- and that is definitely NOT a problem
with your writing style! I had a bad case of "woke up on the wrong side
of the bed this morning" syndrome. I understand your points more
completely now.
   Unfortunately, for those affected by them, there are several
barriers in the way of effective weight loss and maintenance. One of
them is "lose weight quick" syndrome, which feeds all those
hoodia/hgh/nostrum-of-the-month spam. Another is really bad diet advice
from, oh, "diet doctors," the cash register jockey at the "health food
store" and "my cousin's hairdresser's aunt's sister's girlfriend."
  If I can have some fun with diet doctors, let's just say I find it
significant that, of famous diets known by name, with the exception of
the Bernstein diet (a special case because it's not a general
population maintenance or weight loss diet, but a diet specifically
designed for people with diabetes type 1 and type 2), none seem to come
from Endocrinologists, the medical specialty with "Metabolism" right in
the description. They all seem to come from cardiologists and lately
dermatologists. In the professional category, let's not forget Dr Phil
and his weight loss book -- should one really look for weight loss and
diet advice from a man who has his suits cut THAT fully?
   A friend who's been through enough food related grief to be able to
write a book is very bitter about the "diet industry," which she
characterizes as having a 95% failure rate.
   Knowing what to do may be easy, especially after a trip to a
registered dietician to get an idea of portion size, but it takes time,
and work. In a world where the headline "Easy Diet Helps You Shed
Pounds" sells magazines and newspapers, it's just too easy to come
across bad impressions about how diet and exercise work, even if the
advice IN the article might be accurate and helpful.
   Then there are family/societal pressures -- ranging from "Honey, you
haven't cleared your plate" to "And what makes you think you'll look
slim this time?" to "Whatever it is you're doing, it's not working."
   Then there's exercise. Routine exercise seems to threaten, or at
least baffle some people, and not just the ones who are trying to
routinize the exercise. Storytime here: Visiting parents, nearest
coffeehouse is one hour away by foot (one way), and they have a 85 lb
Golden who could use a little exercise himself. Problem of what to do
after breakfast is solved. Next visit, the parents (who are off
caffeine) have dusted off the ol' coffeemaker and gotten beans ground
just for me. "You shouldn't have gone to the trouble" is all I could
say.
   Still, and despite that, I do you you, David, a big apology for a
HUGE misunderstanding of your motives and the antecedents to your post
-- please treat yourself to the internet equivalent of a shredded
cabbage and red bell pepper salad with an UNSEASONED rice vinegar (the
"seasoned" stuff is sweetened with sugar) and walnut oil dressing,
topped with some fresh pomegranate and/or chopped peanuts with a
beverage of your choice, on me.

Robert Leone, rleone@xxxxxxxxxxx





David wrote: 

snipped my long winded post...


Robert, I heartily appreciate your sentiment (gracious apology) and accept it thankfully. It's refreshing to read a post from someone with above average intelligence and lucidity on the subject. Most of my previous threads have been so widely misquoted that casual readers will be grossly mislead as to what my position is.

I love the way you turn a phrase-- (paraphrasing)"exercise...baffles..people". You'd think some of them were being asked to kill their first born when they are told to get off their behinds. When I was in Vegas, I can't count how many people were hobbling around with a variety of infirmities. I was impressed with those folks who don't let adversity put them in a corner, retreating from life and participation. Granted, there are PLENTY of DM's with serious and sometimes multiple problems that might preclude activities such as walking any appreciable distance. But for every ONE of them, I'd venture a wild ass guess that there are at LEAST 5,000 others who just can't muster the motivation. They've gotten really, really good at coming up with excuses. I've heard them, time and time again. It doesn't take a social scientist to realize that mankind is a downward spiral of laziness. There's plenty of factors today to encourage inactivity: TV, video games, PC's, permissive society (as compared with 30+ years ago), multiple vehicle families so that mom can drive the kids 3 blocks whenever they are asked by Junior. Heaven forbid that he should actually WALK that far. I'm not talking about driving a 6 year old, who shouldn't be unsupervised, I'm talking teenagers.

Thanks again, Robert, for taking the time to research the genesis of my "long winded post". I hope to hear from you again.

I'm glad I kept my previous post to you quite short.  :)

Dave
.