No More Fatties

So I just finished the book Fat Land. Honestly, I thought it would end better, and also as a whole, I thought the book might've been more engaging. At the beginning I was very excited to read it because the book starts in a very appealing way. Towards the middle - end, I was so bored that I even started counting off the pages and got to the point of impatience were I couldn't wait to turn each page over. Basically the last 40 pages of the book talk about a lot of facts and recommendations on what people can do to burn calories. It just gets too textbook-ish and that's what makes it so boring. Textbooks can be fun, such as Thank You For Arguing which really engages the reader due to it's quizzical tone. However, in Fat Land, things get too scientific and it becomes quite monotonous at times. 

I did like a couple of things, though. There's one phrase that stood out to me when I was near the end and it's: "More Americans are obese than smoke, use illegal drugs, or suffer from ailments unrelated to obesity" (pg. 147). This just portrays exactly how serious of a problem obesity has become. Another very interesting thing that I noticed was that in page 165, the word "TV" is written eleven times. In this part, they are talking about how to incentivize people to lose weight and well leaving the TV and couch is definitely the major idea. If people stop watching so many hours of TV, they will 1) look for other activities to do 2) watch less commercials that advertise junk food and 3) they will snack less because they aren't at that comfy couch with a bag of chips right next to them. 




The last vocabulary word that I found in this book was inveighing, which is to protest strongly or attack vehemently with words. 

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So JLo Comes Up...Again

Unkempt: (adj.) not combed; messy;
uncared for.

In the next set of pages of Fat Land, I had two major flashbacks. One of them was when I read about an analogy that related the human body and how obesity works with a four cylinder car that has to pull a trailer full of bricks. This reminded me of that time in 10th grade biology with Ms. Blesgraeft that we had to do an analogy of how a cell works. My partner and I chose to relate it to a pizza parlor, and I remember that we got a 3.8 because we forgot to include one of the functions. I realized though, that with analogies everything IS clearer. When I had to write the assignment with my partner, I actually felt that it was hard, and it was complicating my understanding of the subject. However, when I read the car analogy, I really understood how bad obesity is for every part in your body. As Critser says, "It's 'cylinders' - the heart and its ancillary arteries and veins - are not built for pulling the extra weight, and so must work harder, straining to accommodate the load" (pg. 134). With examples like this, it is easier for me to visualize and understand exactly what is it that is so malignant about obesity.

Derriere: (noun) the buttocks.

The other major flashback that I got from reading this set of pages was when I read about the way that obesity is mainly seen in poor black and poor latino populations. Critser mentioned that black girls felt more comfortable being fat than Anglo American girls. He said there are two main reasons for this. The first is because black guys accept "thick girls" more than guys from other races. The second was because of celebrities. But not any type of celebrities. Ever since 1999, there has been huge polemic on Jennifer Lopez's butt. Being a beautiful and voluptuous woman with latino background, many people questioned why she would show off a big derriere in a Vanity Fair issue back at the time. As some where skeptic of the photo, many young girls felt motivated and identified with JLo's curves. This type of celebrity influence brought me a flashback. When I read Bossypants back in October, Tina Fey talked about society's pressure on women and how celebrities affect the way we girls want to look like. Fey said, "I think the first real change in women’s body image came when JLo turned it butt-style. That was the first time that having a large-scale situation in the back was part of mainstream American beauty...All Beyoncé and JLo have done is add to the laundry list of attributes women must have to qualify as beautiful" (Bossypants, pg. 27). Fey adds to Critser's point: JLo was one of the women who revolutionized the idea of beauty. From skinny and boney size zero models, to thick-butt, curvy women. Of course this can be a good thing. Girls would now stop starving themselves to death. However, it wasn't great because with the growing obesity epidemic in the United States, fat girls would now feel comfortable with their oveweight bodies and the guilt would disappear; they thought they could still be considered beautiful just like JLo. This only lead to more consumption of fatty foods and less incentive to go outside and do some exercise. Quite complicated for those fighting the epidemic.

I only have 40 more pages left of Fat Land, and I am still hoping to get to know Critser's story in detail. We'll see what happens in my next blog post. 

Fat vs. Fit

For these next 30 pages, Fat Land became quite monotonous. For approximately 20 pages, the only thing going on in the book was how one theory on fat proved the last one wrong. It talks about how at first, it was believed that the only way to legitimately lose weight was by cutting down calories. Then one epidemiologist proved that theory wrong and said that in order to lose weight successfully, intense exercise was the real solution. Then came another person and said that "high intensity exercise affords little additional benefit," (pg. 90) and that doing longer low-intensity exercise was what brought more benefit. Then someone else came and said that being fatter didn't kill anyone but being thinner did. This theory was then proved wrong and along came a new one. This kept on and on, and it bored me for a while.

Akin: (adj.) of kin; related by blood

Until I got to a part where this man, Steven Blair, explained his theory and also talked about his life story. He described himself to be "fat, fit, and bald - and none of those things are likely to change" (pg. 103). He sought to convince Americans that, "they should not focus on fat at all - that they should forget about dieting and losing weight and instead learn how to be 'fit and fat'" (pg. 103). This man has been fat all his life, and as Critser explains, no matter how hard some overweight people try, they won't be able to lose weight if their condition of being fat is due to genetics. Blair is probably one of those cases. However, Blair is incredibly fit despite the fact that he is fat. He has ran "more than 80,000 miles over the past thirty years" (pg. 103). He runs marathons, triathlons and is quite the sport man. What he truly believes, and definitely proves is that in order to be fit, one does not have to be thin. He compared his resistance and cardiovascular health risk with thin and fit people, and the results were quite similar. Like any thin and fit person would have, his rate of mortality was kept low. Another person like him was Dave Alexander, who regardless of his 260 pounds of weight and average height (5'8") swam 5 miles, ran 30, and cycled 200 per week, while he competed in four triathlons per month. These people can really be an inspiration. I find them very motivating, and I know that next time that I go to the gym I'll be thinking about them. 

Those Dark PE Times

While I read Fat Land, I was actually laid back and "chilling" with my book in hand. However, I got to this part that got me all uncomfortable. I sat up straight and even laid down my book for some time while these terrible flashbacks came up to my head. 

Cadre: (noun) a small group of
people especially trained for a
purpose or profession.

Yes, I was one of those girls who DREADED the famous "Fitnessgram" test here at CNG. The test consisted of running laps as the speed increased, doing a certain amount of push ups, burning fat in your abdomen by doing sit ups, and the only easy part for me which was stretching for the flexibility test. I just couldn't be successful at it, especially when it came to the "pacer", or laps. Teachers had to beg me to run the pacer, for I just simply refused every time I had to do it. I always preferred to get a 0 on it than to actually embarrass myself in front of everyone by running slowly. I remembered of all of these things because as I was reading the book, the author mentions the creation of fitness tests around the nation. The American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, and Dance (AAHPERD) was responsible for throwing these tests into American schools. As time passed, a new test replaced the older one, until we got to and stayed in the "Fitnessgram". 

I am incredibly blessed for not having to take that test again. It just seemed so unfair to me because the athletic kids would make you look like an idiot. My ethos was completely hurt by it. I do understand that these tests had to be implemented in schools, simply because American kids were getting fatter and fatter and by 1975, "about 50 percent of [girls] could not run a mile in less than 10 minutes" (pg. 78). There is proof that these tests do make a difference in american children, but still, I just hated them. 

I guess I shouldn't even whine about it. Those days are over, and now it's my responsibility to get some exercise. I need to try and stay far away from the fat land.