Thursday, March 18, 2010

Who Made You Overweight?

So my friends at ACAM run a wellness blog called Community Table with a lot of great stuff. Today they posted an article from London Free Press that got me thinking. It centers around why we are fat, who or what is at the root?

Steve Siebold, author of Diet Fat or Get Tough, "Getting fat is 100% your fault. It's not partly your fault; it's completely your fault."Siebold is well aware of the tolls obesity takes as a former "fat-tub-of-lard with my belly hanging over my belt." The article, of course counters that there are medical reasons for obesity.

As you can imagine this mentality has gotten a lot of flack for its hard hitting blunt mentality.What do I think about it? Sort of a "he's just not that into you" moment. While he makes many good points about personal responsibility and us being the masters of our own destinies, you have to admit that some habits start pretty much from the crib. Sure when you're older you can decide to eat a salad or pizza, but the question is whether or not the brain is already hard wired.

But alas, am I BSing myself? Is this indignation I'm feeling caused by my own doubt? If food is hardwired into the brain, why did my cravings significantly drop when I was doing Ultimate Kettlebell Camp? Well one, the toxins started to exit my body without replenishment and what was left was head hunger. Things sounded yummy, but I didn't have the hard hitting cravings I was once a slave to; which, came back after I started reintegrating certain not-so-good foods into my life, by the way.

Lets take a look at some of the 'Die Fat or Get Fit' fundamentals

* "Fat people eat for pleasure; fit people eat for health" While this assumes non-fat people are fit, how many times have we heard, "I used to live to eat but now I live to eat" on The Biggest Loser?

* "Fat people believe there's a secret to getting fit; fit people know there is no secret" Where is the magic diet pill people have died trying to find?

* "Fat people are obsessed with food; fit people are obsessed with success." I actually see the other side, fat people are obsessed with success so much so they get in their own ways trying to find perfection.

* "Fat people believe 99% compliance is good; fit people believe 99% compliance is terrible" Well, that's a bit extreme for me, that fit person sounds a bit crazy in my opinion

* "Fat people negotiate the price of success; fit people just pay the price" Okay, I see that. Trying to find the easy way out or talking yourself out of that 1% compliance. But once again, doesn't everyone do that?

So what do you guys think? Fact or Bull? As Mr. Siebold says, "This epidemic will continue to escalate until people wake up and realize they are the problem as well as the solution."

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