So ready to leave the "city"...

[James Burke]

It's been a hell of a (bad) place to live, and even harder to leave. My parents lived there...and sadly, died there...the fast growing "city" in America.

For those of you unfamiliar with the struggle, be an encouragement to somebody you know.

JB

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Obecity, USA is a public health advocacy campaign developed by Pennington Biomedical to address the nation’s growing obesity epidemic.

visitobecity.org

 

[balstestrat]

At least thats peoples own choice they make. Just need to start thinking about themself and start making a change.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

People look at me like I'm the crazy one when they see what I (dont) eat and say I'm weird and concerned about my "protein". I look at them and want to say "should you really be giving food advise considering your obvious weight issue? Seems you're the one with the problem"...but I don't.

A guy I work with is fat and has all kinds of health issues... he eats complete garbage from fast food places and I never eat from those places. He decided to go on a 30 day (mostly) juice fast and was asking advise. I never said anything about his food or brag about what I do is better...he saw my health and took it apon himself to make a change which I thought was really great.

 

[Gino]

Ya gotta die from something . Might as well be something ya like & enjoy, rather than being miserable. Miserable people go on shooting rages, road rage, all kindsa verbal and mental abuse on those around them, drugs, vaping, or go political. Yep, there are worse things than being pleasingly plump.

I don't know why people are so addictive to things, but that's the basic problem. People don't know when to quit doing most anything. Most people do things to the nth degree. That's our true problem.

 

[rjssigns]

Trimmed 17 pounds by walking our dog seven days a week. Stopped drinking 1-2 gallons of milk per week too. Had to do something to stay off statins and so far it's working.

 

[SignMeUpGraphics]

Wow your bones must be as strong as titanium... I get sick of the thought of that much milk. 1 litre lasts me a whole week.

Going off soft drinks lost me ~8 pounds over 2 months with no extra effort. It's been water for the last 5 years or so. Don't feel any different but know it's better in the long run.

 

[James Burke]

...I don't know why people are so addictive to things, but that's the basic problem. People don't know when to quit doing most anything. Most people do things to the nth degree. That's our true problem.

I grew up in a denomination that overlooked food addictions, process addictions and the rest. As long as it wasn't drinking, drugs, or gambling, it seemed like fair game.

JB

 

[James Burke]

Don't feel any different but know it's better in the long run.

In all honesty, you don't realize how good you feel. It's only when you go back to feeling crummy that you notice the difference.

JB

 

[Notarealsignguy]

Moderation is the key to everything.

 

[Stacey K]

I eat the same thing every week day. 2 eggs for breakfast and a nice salad for lunch, makes packing food for the day supper easy. Relatively healthy food for supper. Weekends are more fun, we grill out all different things.

My teenage son eats a lot of food. He's gotta be almost 230 and strong as an ox from football, lifting weights and baling hay. It's a challenge sometimes to keep him fed LOL He LOVES salad so a big salad with grilled chicken is one of his favorites...of course I need to add some pasta on the side or he's in the fridge 5 minutes later LOL

I'm lucky, my boys LOVE fruits and veges.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

Moderation is the key to everything.

That's one of my mom's favorite sayings. Moderation in everything (with the exception of moderation itself it seems).

I eat the same thing every week day. 2 eggs for breakfast and a nice salad for lunch, makes packing food for the day supper easy. Relatively healthy food for supper. Weekends are more fun, we grill out all different things.

My teenage son eats a lot of food. He's gotta be almost 230 and strong as an ox from football, lifting weights and baling hay. It's a challenge sometimes to keep him fed LOL He LOVES salad so a big salad with grilled chicken is one of his favorites...of course I need to add some pasta on the side or he's in the fridge 5 minutes later LOL

I'm lucky, my boys LOVE fruits and veges.

My grandmother never meet a veg that she liked. Huge fan of KFC (at least she isn't around to see them going the 3D printed food route) and she lived to be 101.5. Go figure. Talk about some helluva 11 herbs and spices.

Speaking of eggs, when I was growing up eggs went in and out of favor at least half a dozen times it seems. I can't remember if they are in favor or not (although makes no never mind as we have 17 layers, so we all like it around here). Of course, I can't say the chorizo with the eggs still makes them healthy. But oh well.

A lot of issues that we have, health wise, can be traced back to diets that people have.

 

[myront]

I like to eat. Easier for me to list foods I don't like than to list what I do. And I hate dieting. I make up for it by staying active as possible. I'm an early riser and stay busy cleaning, gardening, laundry, yard work, car cleaning, etc. I'm dog tired by 9pm and no problems getting to sleep. If I'm busy doing what I love I don't think about eating. My wife and I walk a lot and I run on a local track a couple of times a week. I don't drink a lot of soft drinks or sweet tea. Also on thyroid medication, high blood pressure meds too. I've lost about 15lbs over a course of 3 months simply by eating less. I figure I only need to lose another 15lbs to be an ideal weight.

 

[Bobby H]

Many Americans are "flying blind" when it comes to managing their health. By the way, being "thin" is no guarantee; skinny people can drop dead of heart attacks too. One of the keys to good health and longevity is knowing your own personal risk factors.

Around 15 years ago I discovered my cholesterol level runs high. I had no idea. My civic club chapter took part in a blood drive run by Oklahoma Blood Institute; I donated a unit of whole blood for the first time. OBI does a barrage of tests on blood donations, free of charge. When I got the results I was shocked by the cholesterol number (well above 200). Since then I've been donating platelets and plasma there about once a month to keep tabs on those numbers. I'm getting close to the 20 gallon donor level. I have to work at keeping my cholesterol at safe levels, without resorting to statin drugs. That means going to the gym on a regular basis and limiting certain kinds of foods in my diet.

My father and some of my closest friends struggle with their weight. A couple of them are making efforts to fight it. Others have accepted their current condition as if there is nothing they can do about it. I'm most frustrated with my dad's situation. He is in his early 70's, but he won't make it to 80 with his current "lifestyle." Basically he's living in denial and too hard-headed to bother having a discussion about it. If he's not going to listen to the doctor's warnings he sure won't listen to mine.

We're all going to die of something, but there is something to say about quality of life leading up to then. Choices have consequences. One of my dad's older sisters had a stroke in her mid 50's, largely due to lack of exercise and a diet of cheap and easy to make processed foods. The stroke badly affected her speech. Even after the stroke my Aunt made few adjustments. So her quality of life deteriorated more. At the end she was almost legally blind and had full blown dementia. The last 20 years of her life kind of sucked. I know people well on into their 80's that are still going strong and still have all their marbles. The key is they're staying active and taking care of themselves. They're not sitting around wasting the days in front of a TV set while nibbling on junk food.

 

[Andy D]

My biggest health downfall is beer, I drink too much and too often and it has had a negative impact on my health...No negative social impacts though, I'm a much happier
and easy going person after a couple of beers... I'm only a D-hole when sober.
On the flip side though; yeah I would like to have more energy and feel better (and stop having my Dr. lecture me), but the
only thing that truly scares the cr@p out of me, is living to an age where I can't take care of myself....
Why should I deny myself what I enjoy, when the biggest payoff would probably be an old-folks home, that would suck-up any type of inherence
I could leave behind?

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

Same.
But I thought that was a prerequisite for sign work?

One night my (then girlfriend) and some friends and I were all sitting outside getting drunk talking stupid shit... when I said, "Hey, I'm going to start my own sign company."

 

[mfatty500]

You had me at Beer....and lots of it, as far sign work and painting, my Uncle was a sign artist for many years, we go to visit on the weekends, bright and early he and my dad would crack a beer and shots of whiskey to start the day, my my Aunt would always say to him what's in that paint you're using? My cousin would paint and strip cars on the weekends, but he would have to go to the tavern bright and early @5:30 am to get his moe-jo going for the stripping jobs. My Uncle would always have a shot with every beer, he lived to be in his 80's..

 

[Andy D]

I had a buddy/co-worker who was a billboard painter, he went dry the day after he fell off a billboard.... it was the third time he had done it.

I can't stand hard alcohol & I never have a beer before 5pm m-f or noon sat & sun, but that's where my rules end.

 

[Boudica]

My motto is... it's 5 O'Clock somewhere. I only start drinking in the morning when I'm camping. A little Baily's with my coffee, then on to a bloody mary.

I think beer keeps my weight down. If I start drinking before I eat, then I forget to eat.

 

[Notarealsignguy]

I had a buddy/co-worker who was a billboard painter, he went dry the day after he fell off a billboard.... it was the third time he had done it.

I can't stand hard alcohol & I never have a beer before 5pm m-f or noon sat & sun, but that's where my rules end.

I think we're related? I do count how much I drink though. Middle aged hangovers are not much fun.

 

[Andy D]

OP, I swear I didn't mean to hijack this thread and turn it into a drunk sign maker's pissing contest!... Speaking of, brb, I have to go take my 4th p*ss since getting home.