PSA: Be More Than Just a Couch Potato

What you eat is such a huge factor. It is apparent to me that what we've been told to eat for decades is completely wrong. I'd like to think it wasn't intentional, but I'm not sure that it wasn't. There are a lot of interested parties that gain a LOT by having a population that doesn't eat well and is in poor health.

There are so many "healthy" ways of eating that are in direct conflict with each other that its hard to know which one is the right one to choose. They all tend to have one major thing in common which is a good place to start- trade heavily processed foods for more whole foods. Almost any whole food diet seems to work pretty well, even as different diets may work better for different people.

I don't think most doctors really know much more about nutrition than their patients do. I've been told that they get just a few hours of nutritional training in medical school and the source of that training is questionable. Certainly, most are not doing ongoing practice in this area.

So many ailments- physical and mental, seem to be able to be helped with diet alone for so many people. It is positively criminal that this isn't the first recommendation for people who want to "get better." Instead, its always "take this pill" or "ask your doctor" or "your surgery is two months from thursday."

I also agree that you can completely screw your head up by consuming negative news with any regularity. I am much happier if I get up and go outside in the sunshine for a while.
 
Ron_R said:
Here's my story. Just to give pause, as it's not just about healthy eating and living. Yes, those are extra-ordinarily important, but not the whole story.

I was an elite level athlete as a kid, young teen and early adult. Martial Arts and downhill skiing. I always ate well, and was very physically, but was always a bit portly due to genetics. I also gain muscle mass easily, which is a plus for my activity level, but the scale never really was kind to me.

Even throughout my adult life, I was very active, and always just a slightly bit overweight on the scale. At a time in my life when there was a lot of stress, and I was working a lot to support a young family, my health crashed. Mentally and physically. I was in the hospital at 36 years old, wife pregnant with our 3rd. I had had a hypertensive crisis, and they thought I had had a stroke. Turns out, those issues were 100% genetic. So at 36 years old, i had to commit to a taking a handful of pills every day for the rest of my days. It took my doctors two years to figure out the proper concoction of pills to avoid serious complications, which I had every one, and to make sure I was mentally and physically sound. It then took another hand full of years before I felt good enough to return to heavy physical activity.

That was about 3 years ago. Since then, I've returned to being active, eating right, avoiding stress and being the best me. It was a tough road, but I made it happen. Eat well, exercise, take your meds, and find doctors you trust. Those are the paramount for healthy living. Happily now, I am in the best shape of my life. And feeling great.

I'm not trying to prop myself up, but mine is a cautionary tale. Most people don't know what "eat right" actually means. I was a bodybuilder and personal trainer with a background in exercise physiology, and even though I was doing all the right things, my body, and its programming let me down.
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Thanks for your comments! Sorry to hear about how your life has been filled with medical issues. I was hoping that the issue about couch potato would not turn into one about bagging on people who have poor health or may just be genetically disadvantaged because of their family history, their environment, or what they take in.

I've noted that much of the time there is a preoccupation with junk or fast foods being very tasty, but bad choices over the long term. You can see this for yourself on TV, and how it is promoted to a younger audience. It really only perpetuates the growing population's health issues because it doesn't teach about good nutrition, adequate exercise, staying clean, or enough sleep.

The cautionary tale is very real, and sadly, this is why I find TV not to be a good source of reliable information regards helping people prevent health issues. There are infomercials which promote buying such-and-such a book or using such-and-such a diet or exercise program.

But I'm happy for you that you were able to find a healthier way to live. While I don't suggest to show people how to live (the Audioslave song), it really is just common sense and knowing how your body reacts to certain foods, and how to maintain or lose the extra weight.

As I've said before, I think we all would like to live long healthy lives free from sickness as much as possible. Avoiding the doctor may not be an option, but using preventive measures so you don't need to be treated as often might be of benefit.
 
Chris Hurley said:
What you eat is such a huge factor. It is apparent to me that what we've been told to eat for decades is completely wrong. I'd like to think it wasn't intentional, but I'm not sure that it wasn't. There are a lot of interested parties that gain a LOT by having a population that doesn't eat well and is in poor health.

There are so many "healthy" ways of eating that are in direct conflict with each other that its hard to know which one is the right one to choose. They all tend to have one major thing in common which is a good place to start- trade heavily processed foods for more whole foods. Almost any whole food diet seems to work pretty well, even as different diets may work better for different people.

I don't think most doctors really know much more about nutrition than their patients do. I've been told that they get just a few hours of nutritional training in medical school and the source of that training is questionable. Certainly, most are not doing ongoing practice in this area.

So many ailments- physical and mental, seem to be able to be helped with diet alone for so many people. It is positively criminal that this isn't the first recommendation for people who want to "get better." Instead, its always "take this pill" or "ask your doctor" or "your surgery is two months from thursday."

I also agree that you can completely screw your head up by consuming negative news with any regularity. I am much happier if I get up and go outside in the sunshine for a while.
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You may find that it's lifelong journey trying to find the correct diet or foods that provide the most nutrition at least cost. Obviously, there are health risks that are comically described by what's on TV. Choosing the balsamic vinaigrette over the Caesar salad dressing, for one. Thinking that that huge salad will leave you hungering for more later on. The humor is endless. Getting munchies from smoking that joint, and trying to justify your cravings when you light up.

Anyway, the point is, if we realize that certain behaviors contribute to weight gain which can cause health problems later in life, why would a grown adult still treat his body like he was a teenager? No one learns a harder lesson when someone has a cardiac event and requires surgery.

Perhaps the gist of this thread was based on the fact that my younger brother, although healthy and takes care of himself, recently underwent cardio-conversion twice after he was given some A-Fib meds which he had a bad reaction to. Nearly lost my brother. So, yeah, I'm concerned not only for him, but all of you folks who live life on the edge and treat yourselves like we're still in high school.

If may be our life, yet the fact is, let's take a good look at ourselves and tell each other wouldn't we like to look younger and healthier? I think we all would. Not with surgery. With preventive care.
 
bleujazz3 said:
You may find that it's lifelong journey trying to find the correct diet or foods that provide the most nutrition at least cost. Obviously, there are health risks that are comically described by what's on TV. Choosing the balsamic vinaigrette over the Caesar salad dressing, for one. Thinking that that huge salad will leave you hungering for more later on. The humor is endless. Getting munchies from smoking that joint, and trying to justify your cravings when you light up.
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And since people can have different outcomes from the same foods, it is very much an individual's journey.

The journey is made harder when the food supply is largely adulterated with industrial processed "garbage". Thats probably a generous description because garbage implies that its just worthless but I suspect it is worse than worthless, its toxic.

Its very disheartening. One of the guys on youtube that I watch put it simply: If there is an ingredients label on it, watch out!


bleujazz3 said:
Anyway, the point is, if we realize that certain behaviors contribute to weight gain which can cause health problems later in life, why would a grown adult still treat his body like he was a teenager? No one learns a harder lesson when someone has a cardiac event and requires surgery.
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Its the issue of something being a chronic toxin instead of an acute toxin. The chronic toxin will hurt me eventually but it probably won't hurt me today.

If I'm addicted to whatever it is, I've got a powerful obstacle to discontinuing the behavior when I know it probably won't get me today. This is likely why so many people still smoke.

I'm convinced that people get addicted to processed foods. Something as simple as soft drinks can be really hard to kick. Maybe not heroin hard, but pretty hard. Food is a source of major enjoyment for most people, so the "why" has to be big.

bleujazz3 said:
Perhaps the gist of this thread was based on the fact that my younger brother, although healthy and takes care of himself, recently underwent cardio-conversion twice after he was given some A-Fib meds which he had a bad reaction to. Nearly lost my brother. So, yeah, I'm concerned not only for him, but all of you folks who live life on the edge and treat yourselves like we're still in high school.

If may be our life, yet the fact is, let's take a good look at ourselves and tell each other wouldn't we like to look younger and healthier? I think we all would. Not with surgery. With preventive care.
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I'd like to say that we need a lot more emphasis on health and less on medicine, but I think that is happening already. Sadly, the stuff we're being told seems to mostly be wrong (at best) or criminally fraudulent (more likely.) The coke machine has a label that says "All calories count. Balance what you eat, drink or do." That is utter horse $@#@ and they know it. Its poison but you can't prove that since it takes a long time to hurt you and I feel good when I drink it- at least for a little while.

I don't understand why health insurance companies aren't in this fight more. They have a vested interest in keeping me out of the hospital.
 
Ron_R said:
Reactive care is always much more difficult.
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Reactive everything is. But it seems this is human (and animal) nature. We are adapted to a relative steady state, whatever that is, even if it might be stressful or slowly killing us (or nature).

Chris Hurley said:
I don't understand why health insurance companies aren't in this fight more.
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They still make $$$ on Rx, acute care, labs, scans etc.

Chris Hurley said:
The journey is made harder when the food supply is largely adulterated with industrial processed "garbage".
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Really, in the West anyway, we are domesticated animals eating what society "provides" us -- I mean what average person could actually live w/o grocery stores. Mass produced food is a money machine both on the food consumption front end and on the health consumption back end. Win-win for "society".
 
bleujazz3 said:
You must be a devoted Lee Ritenour fan. You'll find exactly the song I'm speaking about in his collection.

TBH, this is gonna sound strange, but it's designed to be a preventive measure where one prevents health symptoms from occurring instead of paying doctors to treat the symptoms. My feeling is, if a person could prevent health issues from occurring, which might ultimately require major medical procedures, wouldn't you agree that preventive care is better than palliative?
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You might want to double check your understanding of the definition of “palliative care” and keep in mind I’ve got a degree in genetics and had a year in medical school before you contemplate continuing to lecture me about health & medicine.
 
bleujazz3 said:
And what have you done recently that warrants commendation?
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Short answer: Levity.

Why does life need to be this sober and serious analysis of what we are doing wrong all the time? How
many people feel immense guilt and shame over their bodies, and their lifestyle choices? It's brutal. Maybe
none more so than for young people, especially young girls. They are crushed under the burden of how
they "should" look.

If I have learned anything in life it is that bludgeoning ourselves (and each other) with superego driven
machinations about what we "should do" in the name of health can rob us of our light-heartedness and
joy faster than a 30 minute, sweat-your-ass-off Bikram Yoga class.

Life is short, and the last thing that is gonna help me (and those around me) is to be an uptight ass about
what I put in my mouth and how many steps I got in today.

If that works for others, though, then by all means embrace and enjoy the pedometer. But above all love yourself
and embrace who you are, and how you are---whether or not that measures up to anyone else's standard of
well-being or not.

I think it all starts there. Love and levity. :)
 
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USMC_Trev said:
You might want to double check your understanding of the definition of “palliative care” and keep in mind I’ve got a degree in genetics and had a year in medical school before you contemplate continuing to lecture me about health & medicine.
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With due respect, my intent is not to lecture people about health care, just to consider how we treat patients by offering preventive solutions, or treating the symptoms. Those are the two current options available, and unless there are known treatment plans which can solve health care problems entirely, I am not suggesting we always need solve them with pills or patches.
 
bleujazz3 said:
With due respect, my intent is not to lecture people about health care, just to consider how we treat patients by offering preventive solutions, or treating the symptoms. Those are the two current options available, and unless there are known treatment plans which can solve health care problems entirely, I am not suggesting we always need solve them with pills or patches.
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Have you looked up the definition of “palliative care” yet? After you do, don’t get to me. I’ve had quite enough of high school debate club, thanks.
 
USMC_Trev said:
Have you looked up the definition of “palliative care” yet? After you do, don’t get to me. I’ve had quite enough of high school debate club, thanks.
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My apologies if your profession or background was questioned or any implication was made that dishonored either. And yes, sir, I did check the definition of palliative care before I typed. Thank you for reading.
 
All this talk about eating right, and doctors struggling to figure out what that means... it might be time to consult a dietitian.

Not a "nutitionist." Anyone who can print up business cards can be a nutritionist. But an actual registered dietitian. They've got at least a four-year dietetic degree from an accredited university, served an internship in a hospital or skilled nursing facility, and passed the board exam. And they have experience analyzing diagnoses and reducing that to actual food choices.
 
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