Yes, I know going in chronological order would make sense. But my mind works differently, either that or I am lazy, or forgetful, or ADD or a combination of awesome and fantastic... yes autistic... awe-tistic... get it? I'm combining the two words... wait... what do you mean it's not funny if I have to explain it?
Anyhooo... do you remember when you were at school? More specifically when you had an assignment to do... pick a person you admired? To be honest, I don't recall doing that, I do recall being a disruptive, under achieving, cheeky, annoying, brat. But being exposed to the North American culture, I have come to understand doing an 'assignment' is a 'thing'.
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| Free beer for imaginary friends! |
Now you would think, with my particular kind of misanthropic personality ('there are two types of people... people I don't know... and people I don't like...' to quote myself) I would not respect or admire anyone, well you would be right, I mean wrong... Wrong, wrong I meant.
Now imagine you are a 26 year old man, 5'8" (173cm ish) and you weigh in at 270lbs... on a good day. Fit...? Healthy...? Active...? Not so much. But you have a well paid, career path, government job; it is a desk job, but government...? Perks, pension, union representative, overtime, lots of holidays... six weeks holiday... (no Canada, not you, oh oh oh except teachers - they get 26 weeks) you can take a sabbatical, they will support education programs... etc etc. Your family is close and supportive, friends are great... apparently friends that 'like you' is also a thing...
You are set for life... if you choose. No, life is not 'perfect', but we are talking first world problems... (I'm overweight) not third world problems... (we have no food, water, shelter, the country is being torn apart by warlords). Given those circumstances, what would you do? What do 999/1000 people do? They choose the easy life, the comfortable life, the known, the stable, consistent, predictable safe... yes - the chubby option.
But not everyone... no.
Fast forward four years.
Wait... let me ask you a question. How many of you struggle with weight? How many have tried losing weight, how many think they need more exercise... but don't. How many try to blame other factors...? I am big boned, I am just heavy set, I am gluten intolerant... I don't each much... Let me tell you an astonishing fact - calories don't multiply in your stomach. True story.
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Eat more sugar... it is good...
for our profits. |
Of course there are things that affect our appetites, take sugar... imagine for an instant there was this drug. A drug with some particular attributes...
- Very addictive, three hours after ingesting, your body is craving more.
- Instant gratification - it enters the blood stream seconds after being ingested.
- Instant energy boost.
- Instant mood elevation.
- A source of pure expendable energy.
- Readily available globally.
- Cheap to being almost free.
- Acceptable in society.
- Promoted in society.
- Government encouraged...
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| Peter... er... taking Action. |
But what happens if we don't burn that 'drug'? Well, your body has to do something with it. Enter your pancreas. Your pancreas creates insulin which helps deal with this drug... it helps deal with the energy by storing it for later dates, yes, we are still cavemen, our bodies have evolved to store energy for famine periods, it is an efficient system - the energy gets stored as fat. Your pancreas is pretty effective, as this 'drug' enters your bloodstream, it jumps into action, floods your body with insulin, gets rid of that pesky drug. But it is a little too effective at this... quickly dropping your blood sugar level leaving you feeling weak, lethargic, tired, cranky... hungry... 'Help...! I need another donut...'
Sugar is the heroin of the western world - once sugar is introduced into a country, the consumption only ever increases. Rats will consume sugar over heroin, sugar water is the only product babies will chose over breast milk, the world health organization (despite millions spent by lobbyists to prevent) recommends no more than 5% of your daily calorie consumption to be sugar... our global daily average is 25%.
Why would lobbyists do this? Well sugar is...
- Cheap.
- A huge source of revenue (read profit)
- adaptable - you can put it in anything.
- Easy to manufacture, process, transport... not prone to degradation...
- And and and... very addictive.
Yes, a perfect product.
These sugar lobbyists strangely have an easier job than the Brussels Sprout lobbyists...
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Pic of my dog Hobbes...
I dunno, cos it's a good pic. |
25% of our calories that have zero nutritional value - hmmm... healthy. Zero nutritional value that creates cravings to consume more, and more...? Dld you know that there is a 'sweet' spot for sweetness levels? True - in the industry it is called the 'Bliss' level - not too bland, not too sweet. This Bliss level originated in soda, okay, not too bad except it has permeated into almost all aspects of the processed food industry... that healthy looking tomato based pasta sauce...? Full of chunky vegetables, tomatoes, low fat...? ooh ooh ooh and low sodium too... yes? Cos it's full of foggin sugar.
Why don't they make it healthier? Well imagine you are a food manufacturer and you have a choice - cheap, addictive, profitable foods that people can afford, or bland, expensive, healthy stuff that people don't buy? Ever tried feeding kids Brussels Sprouts? Exactly. (Quick topical joke - What is the difference between snot and Brussels Sprouts? A. Kids won't eat Brussels Sprouts). You cannot blame the manufacturers, they are catering to market forces... you have to take action.... take responsibility for your own decisions.
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Nutter dog. Waiting for
some nuts. |
But I don't have time? Look at American Labor statistics... here. Yes, McDonalds, Pizza, pasta sauce etc are cheaper, easier, faster, tastier... more addictive. But time is not the issue - you have lots, stop watching tv, stop being life's spectator, go and participate.
So sugar is an issue. What else? Ease of calories...? Is it easy to get those life sustaining calories...? Er... I think so...
Remember when we were cavemen (I am going to ignore the 'Creationists' belief's here), hunter gatherers? Calories were hard to get... no? Okay, famine ravaged third-world countries? Getting closer? Or, what about Venezuela? That country is now in crisis - people are struggling to eat, on average the population have lost 18lb each... My point is simpler, sitting in a sofa, watching tv, and phoning for a calorie saturated, sugar infused pizza (dough and sauce) is less challenging than spending 8-hours gathering berries... or playing tag with that sabre toothed tiger... losing not recommended.
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Aww... doesn't he look cute...?
He is not! He is a drunk
Scotsman coming out of a bar at 2am
'Am gunna firkin keel yu...' |
What about calorie burn? If you live at Big White, you may have seen that idiot riding his bike up and down the road... yes me. Why do I do it - cos I am dumb. Every winter despite my good intentions I gain a winter layer - it must be those 'multiplying-calories' it cannot be all the beer, fries, chocolate, wine, rich food... deserts, starters, take-away curry (er... yum!), chips etc etc etc. And yet I am active - ski instructor you see, 130+ days this season - true story. 130 days and I still gained 10lbs... dumbass.
10lbs is equivalent to 35,000 calories, when I ride my bike for two hours down to the junction (this is Hell by the way, capital H, hell.) I burn about 625 calories per hour. Or... two chocolate bars, four beers (+/-) almost a full piece of restaurant cheesecake (for the full two hours riding... 120 mins riding for a piece of cake... kidding me right? Nope.) so the food we eat is very calorie dense.
Anyway back to today...
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Peter - fighting the man...
and happy. |
Peter... my hero. Five years ago 270lb, today... he is much less of a man, about 90lb less. Work, discipline, and focus on a goal - making sure he had somewhere to live... yes, if you don't look after your body, where will you live? Huh? So Peter is doing it, fighting the (sugar) man... and winning.
In those five years Peter has...
- Lost a sugar load of weight.
- Qualified as a snowboard instructor (in Canada)
- Done numerous Obstacle Course Races
- This includes the 2017 Rat Race - 20 miles, 200 obstacles 7 hours 38 mins... yes, effin ell.
- Spent two winter seasons at Canada at Big White Ski Resort.
- Gained the friendship (temporary) of my nutter dog - Pixel.
Admirable eh? Yes, I can see you nodding, well the few of you that have met Pixel... and the other stuff is pretty cool too.
So Peter is 'Cos the people - 15' no longer at Big White, but he escaped the trap, fought the man, made an impact in my life... and became... a lessor man.
Sólido Properties - er... got fat again during the ski season, three times now... just you wait tho, next season will be different... maybe.
