Ok, so some things in the golden era were not too cool...

[V.C. Brunswick]

Westminster, Garden Grove and Santa Ana, which are among the more low income areas of Orange County, is home to numerous Asian and Latino (in the case of Santa Ana) supermarkets where meat and vegetables are much cheaper than "regular" supermarkets and the quality is quite good. I live not too far from the Little Saigon area and I often shop for meat and produce at the supermarkets there.

 

[Angus Forbes]

I guess that every internet forum needs to have a thread where the self-righteous beat up on the overweight. Above, someone mentioned the caloric count of a light beer (96?), and noted that 500 extra calories a day will put on a pound a week. Suppose the overweight person has accumulated 30 extra pounds over the course of 30 years. This means, approximately, that he has consumed (what, an ounce or two?) of light beer a day over the intake of the normal-weight person. And this a glutton makes?

 

[Atomic Age]

Westminster, Garden Grove and Santa Ana, which are among the more low income areas of Orange County, is home to numerous Asian and Latino (in the case of Santa Ana) supermarkets where meat and vegetables are much cheaper than "regular" supermarkets and the quality is quite good. I live not too far from the Little Saigon area and I often shop for meat and produce at the supermarkets there.

I regularly shop at an Asian grocery store. I spend about half of what I do in a regular store and there is a much wider selection.

Doug

 

[Atomic Age]

I guess that every internet forum needs to have a thread where the self-righteous beat up on the overweight. Above, someone mentioned the caloric count of a light beer (96?), and noted that 500 extra calories a day will put on a pound a week. Suppose the overweight person has accumulated 30 extra pounds over the course of 30 years. This means, approximately, that he has consumed (what, an ounce or two?) of light beer a day over the intake of the normal-weight person. And this a glutton makes?

Don't get me wrong. I'm not beating up on the over weight. Hell I could stand to lose a few lbs myself. I'm just saying that people make choices in their lives and they should be responsible for those choices. Its no ones fault but your own if you or your children are over weight.

We used to be a country where people took care of themselves and took respectability for themselves. Now we seem to think that the government should make sure that we don't over eat, or should regulate the kinds of foods that we can eat. That to me is a VERY sad day.

Doug

 

[amador]

Sucrose is a Disaccharide with the Monosaccharides Fructose and Glucose bonded together therefore 50/50. High Fructose Corn syrup has been modified to contain more Fructose in vaying amounts. Fructose is absorbed directly into the liver and ends up as a Triglyceride, a fatty acid. Therefore Fructose produces a fatty liver as evidenced with the lab rats I mentioned priviously. Humans are not rats of course. Intermediary Metabolism is mostly the same in all mammals tho.
As I used to tell students of Biochenistry: Not elementary my Dear, intermediate.

Point taken that a light beer a day does not a glutton make. Which is why Obesity is so insidious.
Studies have shown that operating in a caloric defecit extends life span, again in rats.
Limited studies and anecdodal cases on periodic fasting by Diabetics indicate improvment in insulin sensitivity and glucose intolerance.
I cannot get any Diabetic or Obese patient to attempt a 48-72hr fast. I ask what is the longest period of time you have gone without eating and I usually get 3-4hrs. So these people have been eating continuously ALL of their lives.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

We used to be a country where people took care of themselves and took respectability for themselves. Now we seem to think that the government should make sure that we don't over eat, or should regulate the kinds of foods that we can eat. That to me is a VERY sad day.

More recent examples of this disturbing trend are L.A.'s moratorium on new fast food restaurants in South Central L.A. and San Francisco's ban on Happy Meal toys.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Many low income families use low cost carbs (rice, pasta, beans, etc..) to stretch their food budget. That type of diet will put weight on a person.

Precisely. I've lived entire winters on macaroni and cheese -- home made, not the Kraft stuff, using good but inexpensive cheese and store-brand macaroni. A casserole dish full will last three or four days, which makes a real difference, but it doesn't do any service to your mid-section. There are people up here -- and yes, working people, often with multiple jobs, -- who have to choose between buying groceries and buying fuel oil in the winter, and dodges like macaroni are often the only option they have.

I think a lot of urban middle-class people have no idea what it's like to be poor and small-town. Those "cheap Asian markets" don't exist here -- your choice is to get gouged by Supermarket Chain A or Supermarket Chain B, or pay gourmet prices at the co-op. Or learn to like macaroni.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I can't recall ever seeing this term posted on the Lounge.

There's another example of society in decline right there.

 

[Atomic Age]

Sucrose is a Disaccharide with the Monosaccharides Fructose and Glucose bonded together therefore 50/50. High Fructose Corn syrup has been modified to contain more Fructose in vaying amounts. Fructose is absorbed directly into the liver and ends up as a Triglyceride, a fatty acid. Therefore Fructose produces a fatty liver as evidenced with the lab rats I mentioned priviously. Humans are not rats of course. Intermediary Metabolism is mostly the same in all mammals tho.
As I used to tell students of Biochenistry: Not elementary my Dear, intermediate.

Yeah in the 70's I was told that margarine was better for me than butter. Then it wasn't. Then I was told in the 80s that Alar on apples was going to kill me, oops that was untrue also too. Oh eggs are going to raise your cholesterol . Opps eggs don't raise your cholesterol....etc....etc....etc.....I stopped listening to medical scare reports a long time ago. They are almost invariably bunk, or at least GREATLY exaggerated.

Doug

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

On a somewhat lighter note (no pun intended), January is the busiest time of the year for health clubs and gyms (New Year's resolutions I suppose lol) but after that you hardly see many of the people for the rest of the year!

 

[LizzieMaine]

I stopped eating out about a year ago, and I save close to $300 a month by not doing so.

$300 a month on restaurant food?? I eat out fairly often and I don't spend that in *six* months. If I pay over ten dollars for a restaurant meal I feel like going to confession, and I'm not even Catholic.

 

[sheeplady]

Precisely. I've lived entire winters on macaroni and cheese -- home made, not the Kraft stuff, using good but inexpensive cheese and store-brand macaroni. A casserole dish full will last three or four days, which makes a real difference, but it doesn't do any service to your mid-section. There are people up here -- and yes, working people, often with multiple jobs, -- who have to choose between buying groceries and buying fuel oil in the winter, and dodges like macaroni are often the only option they have.

I think a lot of urban middle-class people have no idea what it's like to be poor and small-town. Those "cheap Asian markets" don't exist here -- your choice is to get gouged by Supermarket Chain A or Supermarket Chain B, or pay gourmet prices at the co-op. Or learn to like macaroni.

Or to live in an urban area where they're aren't any supermarkets at all, and you have to travel 2+ bus lines and walk half a mile to get to a place that sells something decently vegetable-like. Or a place where there is a farmers market from 10am-12noon. Or to get threatened by police or a store with arrest for dumpster diving for recently thrown out produce. Or to not have access to a stove to cook beans or rice or other cheap things, in the case where you are homeless. Or live in a rural place where the nearest full grocery store is at least 60 minutes drive, and their competitor is 90+ minutes away.

I've known people who do "vegetable picking" where the grocery store lets you pick through the half rotten vegetables before they put them in the dumpster. I don't think that we should look down on people who do that to provide for their families. However, we shouldn't (in my mind) be a society that says in order to feed your family well you've got to pick through garbage. That's not the pinnacle of civilization in my mind.

 

[Atomic Age]

$300 a month on restaurant food?? I eat out fairly often and I don't spend that in *six* months. If I pay over ten dollars for a restaurant meal I feel like going to confession, and I'm not even Catholic.

You MUST live in a small town Lizzie!

The average check for dinner in the United States in a restaurant is $17.95 for dinner and $8.35 for lunch, per person.

Doug

 

[Noirblack]

Quality produce isn't a given EVERYWHERE. It isn't a given in the areas where obesity is highest.

When one is surrounded by bad food everywhere, it's harder to get healthy. Plain and simple. That doesn't mean it's impossible, but I think it's disingenuous to conclude that it's all laziness and not about circumstances from other very powerful forces.

Well, if it is unavailable, then there's nothing you or I can do about it. But I don't understand how in a city like Los Angeles it is difficult to find good produce.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I get breakfast at a little greasy spoon downtown once a week -- sausage, eggs, toast, and tea, and it's $6.07. A bit spendy, but it's a treat. If I get lunch, which I do occasionally when I don't brown bag, there's a little lunch room near the theatre where I can get a "portsider" sandwich -- fried chicken, ham, and swiss cheese -- with a pickle and french fries, and a Coke, for $5.95. Or if I really want to push the boat out, I can get a *thick* pastrami sandwich, pickle, and potato chips, at another place up the street for $7. Anything more than that, and they're robbers.

 

[Atomic Age]

I get breakfast at a little greasy spoon downtown once a week -- sausage, eggs, toast, and tea, and it's $6.07. A bit spendy, but it's a treat. If I get lunch, which I do occasionally when I don't brown bag, there's a little lunch room near the theatre where I can get a "portsider" sandwich -- fried chicken, ham, and swiss cheese -- with a pickle and french fries, and a Coke, for $5.95. Or if I really want to push the boat out, I can get a *thick* pastrami sandwich, pickle, and potato chips, at another place up the street for $7. Anything more than that, and they're robbers.

I added it to my post above after the fact, but I'll put it here too....I looked it up.

The average check for dinner in the United States in a restaurant is $17.95 for dinner and $8.35 for lunch, per person.

Doug

 

[LizzieMaine]

There isn't a meal in the nation I'd pay $17.95 for. It all ends up in the same place.

 

[Atomic Age]

Even if you got to McDonald's, a big mac meal is going to cost you almost $8.

Doug

 

[Noirblack]

I guess that every internet forum needs to have a thread where the self-righteous beat up on the overweight. Above, someone mentioned the caloric count of a light beer (96?), and noted that 500 extra calories a day will put on a pound a week. Suppose the overweight person has accumulated 30 extra pounds over the course of 30 years. This means, approximately, that he has consumed (what, an ounce or two?) of light beer a day over the intake of the normal-weight person. And this a glutton makes?

What it makes is a person who is 30 pounds overweight due to their own behaviour. It also makes a person who can lose that weight in 30 weeks by creating a 500 calorie per day deficit.

:cheers1:

 

[amador]

My Dad used to work in the oilfields in South Texas in the 20's 30's and told tales of being paid $0.50 a day and having to subsist on beans, rice and corn tortillas with some chiles and cactus fruit he would collect on his way to and from work.
He actually took my brothers and I to the area where he worked and went on a hike along the trail he used to walk twice a day to go to work on an oil rig. We were exhausted by the time we got to the end, then we had to go back. I gained due respect for my father for the ordeals he underwent in those years. Something has left us that is now vintage.