Listened to an interesting stat today, apparently Americans on average eat 4500 calories on Thanksgiving Day! Unbelievable! Certainly makes sense that Thanksgiving is the most calorie-filled day for most people, as everyone gathers to eat the biggest feast and give thanks for everything they have (and waistlines everywhere give thanks for the expansion they're about to undergo), but 4500 calories is truly scary, considering the average male's only supposed to consume 1800 calories per day, and the average female less than that. (According to MJ from her nutrition class, so I believe her!)
Where does all those calories go? When I go on the treadmill the most I ever burn is 200 calories and only a percentage of that is fat burn, and that's a big portion of my calorie burn for the whole day! (if you don't count walking around, doing some other tasks, etc.) That seems like a drop in the bucket normally anyone, but a drop in an even bigger bucket.
I've lived most of my life in the "overweight" category. Even when I consider myself to be of "normal" weight nowadays, I'm still scientifically considered "overweight for my height, just at the borderline of 5'9'' and 5'10'' should be about 170 pounds. So even in this slim version of myself compared to junior high and high school days, I can stand to lose a few pounds. Most of America is overweight, can they really afford to have those extravagant Thanksgiving feasts and 450 calorie days? Is there a system to convert number of unburned calories to pounds? Last year we spent Thanksgiving with MJ's friend and it was fine having tofurkey, this year our family didn't even have a turkey. Thanksgiving, as a whole, in my opinion, should put a little more emphasis on the giving and a little less emphasis on the taking (food from the feast). I do find that exercising more helps me lose weight, but it has to be like INTENSE exercise and lots of it to make a different towards the weight. MJ's experience contributes to my opinion, but from my own personal experience too I think what one eats is more important than how much one exercises. I've come to realize this a little later in life, but better to know especially now entering the "danger years" of high cholestrol and heart problems of age 30+.
Different cultures, too, apparently have different attitudes toward being overweight, and what qualifies as overweight. Apparently in Korea, MJ is not considered skinny and constantly feels conscious about her weight, which is fueled by the prototypical image of Korean women. (Also pretty much all Asian people, to be skinny). "Overweight" probably has a scientific metric similar to US, but a completely different "socially acceptable" metric. Unfortunately, the second metric is very difficult to quantify and different for many different people. Shouldn't go overboard the other way and develop an eating disorder.
As I've grown older I've realized that being overweight isn't a reason to look down on somebody, but there is a good reason to try to avoid it. Running and walking, it feels better to run and lighter on my feet because I carry less weight around, plus there's a mental factor of liking one's body and maintaining discipline to try to look great, give oneself some positive self-esteem.
Fantasize on,
Robert Yan
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