Sunday, January 3, 2010

Where do they think this stuff up? Or, more scientific reasons why we´re so fat...

I'm just starting to realize how many really good lines that Jim Wendler has spouted from time to time. One of the guys at Rosstraining's forum has a great one for his signature: "You want science and studies? Fuck you. I've got scars and blood and vomit." These days, things have a way of being paralyzed by the necessity of having scientific proof about why things are the way that they are while ignoring information gained by experience and good sense.

Take eating right for example. We all know that Americans are increasingly a pile of fat bastards that just can't drop the extra weight. Those of us serious about training know exactly why that is: most Americans eat shit and don't do shit. Unfortunatly, the mainstream fitness world hasn't exactly been helpful in this fight and instead of bluntly stating the obvious, they seek out excuses for the common fat body.

Have you heard the latest about our food being so badly tainted with chemicals like pesticides, pollutants, and animal-bulking steroids that disrupt our endocrine system to the point where it's making America fat? It´s in this month´s Men´s Health magazine, if you dare buy it (Go easy on me, BTW! It was a long airplane ride!) Um, okay, maybe some of this has merit. Maybe it doesn't help that a lot of that junk makes it into our food. Let me ask you this though: I don't eat orgainic all the time (maybe a third of my food is organic, at best). I eat the same tainted meat, fruits and veggies as the next guy. So, why am I not fat as hell? If you´re eating kind of like this, then are you fat as hell too? I'd love to hear from my non-organic eating readers who somehow, miraculously, beat this curse on this. I´ve got a gut feeling that I´m far from alone.

I've always loved the genetics excuse too. Apparently, Americans have a fat gene that few other countries have. I find that kind of funny since we're a conglomeration of people from all countries. Let's get something straight here: Our bodies were designed to hold onto surplus calories for bad times. The idea 100,000 years ago was that food was so scarce and the body valued surplus calories so much that it would store as many calories as possible as fat. That's not the case now. Frankly, the life of plentiful food is in complete defiance of our genetic programming; ALL OF OUR GENETIC PROGRAMMING! So, as a result, we´re getting fat.

2010 is here and we´re all making resolutions, many of the fitness-related. Do yourself a favor and dedicate (or re-dedicate) yourself to being skeptical of the LATEST SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH about obesity. We all know what it takes to get in good shape and stay there. Don´t take the word of science because it´s, um, like.. scientific! You know what you have to do and don´t look for excuses disguised as worthwhile information.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I couldn't agree more. Every time I travel internationally I am reminded how much more obese the USA is when compared to every other country. Although hormones and antibiotics in meat may have small effects, I think our culture of overeating processed foods and little to no exercise is to blame. It also doesn't help that fitness marketing has led people to believe that getting in shape is quick and easy. Obviously it isn't, but people want quick results with little effort. When they don't get those results in "30 days or less," they give up.