Food

This is a great article (op-ed, of course) in the NYT about the farm bills that subsidize farmers in the US. I always knew that these bills were outdated and made the rich richer, but I didn't know much about them. I like this author's slant that we are subsidizing high fructose corn syrup in a country laden with cases of diabetes and obesity. Basically, we are subsidizing the terrible way Americans eat, and with reform of the farm bill, we can change the way we eat. Change to a system in which we eat what are now "specialty" crops, such as carrots and green beans. The point is that high fructose corn syrup (the corn that produces it) is a staple of our diet, and other veggies are specialty foods, which is a twisted view of any kind of diet. Just another reason our politics are f***ed.

Overeaters Anonymous

After writing the last post ("FAT people"), I went to the OA website, and now I'm fascinated. Like I said before, I have and irrational fear of becoming fat, and it comes with an unhealthy obsession with fat people. I stare, I lack tact, I overreact. Like the woman at the Snoop Dogg show with her vagina at her knees. I mean, how do you ignore such a thing. Anyway, I'm off track. This is supposed to be about OA. Here is the quiz to see if OA is for you:

1. Do you eat when you're not hungry?
2. Do you go on eating binges for no apparent reason?
3. Do you have feelings of guilt and remorse after overeating?
4. Do you give too much time and thought to food?
5. Do you look forward with pleasure and anticipation to the time when you can eat alone?
6. Do you plan these secret binges ahead of time?
7. Do you eat sensibly before others and make up for it alone?
8. Is your weight affecting the way you live your life?
9. Have you tried to diet for a week (or longer), only to fall short of your goal?
10. Do you resent others telling you to "use a little willpower" to stop overeating?
11. Despite evidence to the contrary, have you continued to assert that you can diet "on your own" whenever you wish?
12. Do you crave to eat at a definite time, day or night, other than mealtime?
13. Do you eat to escape from worries or trouble?
14. Have you ever been treated for obesity or a food-related condition?
15. Does your eating behavior make you or others unhappy?

Have you answered yes to three or more of these questions? If so, it is probable that you have or are well on your way to having a compulsive overeating problem. We have found that the way to arrest this progressive disease is to practice the Twelve-Step recovery program of Overeaters Anonymous.

BTW, I answered yes to three or more. And sometimes I feel like a compulsive overeater. But I'm only pudgy, not FAT (size 12, 5'8," pretty reasonable, I think). But it scares me, that's for damn sure. Trembling in my boots, scary, makes me feel funny, not ok scares me. I'll say it a third time- irrational fear.

FAT people

As you may know, I have an irrational fear of getting fat. Fat fat, as in obese (though I don't really want to be just regular fat either-gah!). Here is an article about a 900 pound man (that would be nearly 6 of me all bundled together). This man had not left his house since 2003 (four years for those of you bad at math). A nurse became worried about his health, and so in order to get him to a hospital firefighters had to come and had to rip a hole in the side of the house, build a platform for a forklift, forklift him out, and transport him by flatbed truck. That's right folks. Flatbed truck. Like the kind used to move cars, or better yet, large farm/construction equipment. Humiliating, eh?

As a sidebar, this guy does have Prader-Willi syndrome, the genetic disorder that causes what I thought of until today as "legitimate" obesity. I am revising my opinion about that. This disorder causes people to constantly feel really hungry, which can lead to "overeating and life-threatening obesity" (from above linked article). To me, that sounds just like how regular people get fat. They keep eating and eating and eating (and eating and eating and so on), never apparently feel "full." And most of these people don't have Prader Willi. Why can't those with the disorder to what compulsive overeaters must do, and just STOP. They have OA, gastric bypass, you name it. I believe there are more effective treatments for obesity than for alcoholism and other addictions. I don't care if you're still hungry, if you're enormously FAT, you're costing me money in your unreasonable medical expenses, all for something that you brought upon yourself. So put down those cheetos, that ginormous Pepsi, and the bucket of ice cream. Take a walk, join a gym, hell, just walk to the fridge and throw out all your crappy food. It's a start.