Why do you think it is such an effort to stay slim these days?
I’m slim but I seem to be permanently on a diet and need to exercise about 4 or 5 times a week.
I think it’s because modern lifestyles are so stressful and people don’t feel they have time to do exercise and want the quickest, easiest meal options.
What do you guys think?
Cue dodgy diet scheme spammers –
There we go. So predictable.
September 13th, 2010 at 10:33 am
People have evolved and made food much easier to get. We use to hunt for food and be fit, and now we can drive to the nearest fast food place and eat foods that are processed with hundreds of chemicals.
We all have time to exercise since it takes no longer than a day but we choose not to. People go on the computer and chat and myspace and watch TV and then complain to others they don’t have the time when they just rather do something else. It takes a commitment to lower the pointless amounts of sitting down and do more moving, like humans and animals are suppose to do.
September 13th, 2010 at 11:07 am
I don’t think the goal for most of us is to be slim. It’s to be healthy.
Some of us are built “round” but there is still a limit to how round one can be. Only your physician can tell you if you are overweight and how much you are overweight.
The nation’s desire to be skinny is causing health problems for many people. I wish they would listen to their doctors.
I also wish they would understand that it’s the inner person that matters most. Spend more time on building character and personality and less time on what size you wear.
September 13th, 2010 at 11:58 am
Yeah, I agree with you. I think there are way too many easy options for food – ready prepared meals / takeaways etc – and so people become lazy and rely on them. Also, people don’t know how to cook – some people never learnt the skill and in the olden days there was no choice – all meals had to be prepared from scratch and were therefore probably relatively healthier. There didn’t used to be the overwhelming choice of food either – it was all pretty much the same – so people didn’t think of trying this new chocolate muffin or that new pizza.
I am the same as you – I am slim but I sure wouldn’t be if I ate whatever I wanted to! I have to make an effort each day to not eat too much. I enjoy eating healthy foods but I stop myself having desserts / alcohol etc too often due to the calorie content!
I also think you are right re exercise. Before everyone had cars etc, people had to walk everywhere so exercise was part of daily routine. Nowadays, people have to make an actual effort to go to the gym etc and it can seem like way too much effort after a day at the office and then you come home and maybe have children to look after. I do take regular exercise and I often look forward to it – but sometimes I really have to force myself!
Sorry for the long answer – I could write a book on this topic!
September 13th, 2010 at 12:57 pm
I think that it’s mainly because there are so many things that we do that are just lazy, instead of cooking a nice nutritous meal, people buy something ready made which has more sugar, salt and fats in than is good for us. Instead of going out walking or doing something for entertainment people sit on the sofa watching telly or sit on the internet just not moving much and snacking. Instead of walking into town or to work people take the car, and it’s amazing just how many lengths someone will go to just to get that little bit closer to where they want to be without having to walk! I’ve seen it where there is a fairly empty free car park just down the road to a pay and display which is full. People will pay to park just to be that little bit closer to the shops!
Also people have unrealistic ideas about how thin they should actually be, so many people who are actually a good natural size feel the need to slim. That’s the influence of the media and peer pressure for you.
I don’t actually think it’s got anything to do with stressful lifestyles and not having time, life is what you make it, and if you are really motivated you will always be able to make time for what you want to do.
September 13th, 2010 at 1:51 pm
Is it because some “sweetie” is out shining you ’cause that gal has more time and money to beat you at the mirror?
Look at your question. “you are thin” “life is stressful” “permanent diet and exercise . . . . . trying to reach some elusive goal ?
Exercise = stress reduction. If it does not then some thing is wrong.
Do some thing in moderation, easy yet effective. You are not cave girl where you need to do “effort” all the time. Use your human gift (umm brain maybe) Step back and observe what you are doing. Use the ‘ol pro v/s cons on a sheet of paper and evaluate.
Life is tough, it can be taken in bits. Not too tough and not too slack.
Ah yes, did you know you will forever be stressed out no matter how beautiful and thin you may be? It’s the mind dummy . . . .
September 13th, 2010 at 2:21 pm
Your right leah m aka princess paradox 🙂 its all down to the food we eat and laziness.People cant be bothered to cook a healthy meal and prefer the taste over the result.Meaning,if you had a choice between a juicy cheeseburger or a health soup or sald ,most people would go for the juicy fattening delicious cheeseburger all because of the taste.People need to be introduced to healthy delicious food that doesnt make you fat but thats very hard to do when we have kebab shops and fast food restaurants all over the place.They should be shut down and made into salad bars or somthing lol