I’m not in good shape. I used to be a stick, but now I feel like I’m stuck in whatever chair I’m sitting in. I’d like to say it’s because I just turned 30, but that would be a lie. I’ve been this way for quite a while.
Take too much junk food and too little exercise, and you get one outspoken editor of a fledgling local publication. Some say drugs or booze lead to great spurts of inspiration and creativity. Some say folks look cool with a cigarette in their hand. Some folks say you should be able to eat whatever you want as long is it tastes good. I say I’m sick of this crap. I don’t need it.
My first love was baseball. I played up through high school, from about age 4. I didn’t have a lot of power, but I hit for average, had a good glove, and threw one of the only change-ups ever seen thrown by a 14 year-old. You have to be in good shape to play baseball. And baseball kept me in good shape, too. And during the off season, I kept in shape in endless games of pick-up basketball, glorious games of padless tackle football, and hours and hours of beating myself silly behind (my other love) my set of drums. I grew up in a beach town, swimming all summer, and biking to friends’ houses.
Then it was off to college. No baseball, no drums. I jogged, and played softball, and some intramural stuff, but my freshman fifteen became the sophomore twenty-five, the junior thirty, and the senior forty. Working for a top-notch downtown restaurant during my college years didn’t help, either, as I was subjected to generous portions of some of the most delicious food you could imagine. I moved from that job to two others where I spent my days behind a diet debilitating desk, before arriving here at Pulse, again camped in a chair behind a computer, trying to compile a paper worthy of your interest.
Like anything else worth having, a great body takes work to achieve. It’s not easy, and fad diets don’t often work—mostly because they’re just that, fads, and most people abandon them. If they truly worked, people would be even lazier than they already are.
This Atkins diet craze is a bit disturbing. It reminds me of other disconcerting obsessions flocked to by the mouth-breathing masses: Wal-Mart, Cher, Nascar, The Purpose Driven Life, Oprah.
People have flocked to this diet with a scary, ignorant glaze in their eyes. And the diet commands them to eat stupid things like burgers wrapped in lettuce, burgers on lettuce, and burgers wrapped in lettuce wrapped in bacon. It’s symptomatic of our lazy, impatient culture. We want results, now, and you better make them delicious! Ask any dietician about the Atkins diet, and you’ll probably find yourself loving bread again.
Unless Provino’s can make a carb-free version of their glorious garlic butter rolls, I have no interest in following the crowd. I like my carbs. I know why I’m out of shape, and I’ll do something about it. But I also know it’s going to take a little time. To do it the right way, that is.
We were made with teeth for both grinding grains and ripping into meats. Our bodies are meant for work and exercise. And our brain is designed to learn, among other things, how to take care of our bodies. The proper balance of food and exercise—called moderation—is the key to being in good shape. Period. The potential damages to your health caused by the Atkins Diet are only beginning to be seen. I mean, even its creator is dead.
My wife has recently started taking aerobics classes, and is encouraging me to do the same. She wants us both to get in shape. I’ll do it if you will.
Posted by colrus at February 10, 2004 09:32 AM | TrackBackAtkins died as a result of injuries sustained after slipping on an icy sidewalk and cracking his head. Incidentally, he weighed 258 pounds when he died and had a history of heart disease. However, it is believed that his heart disease was caused by cardiomyopathy, a condition that can stem from a viral infection, and not obesity. If Atkins did have cardiomyopathy, much of his weight could be attributed to the bloating common to the disorder.
At any rate, Atkins was 6 feet tall, and would have qualified as obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s body-mass index calculator.
Atkins fatkins.
Posted by: ron at February 10, 2004 10:12 AMI highly recommend yoga to supplement any cardio routine you take on. It’s both relaxing and intense. Additionally, I think it would help you dispense your pent up anger.
Posted by: PMAN at February 10, 2004 04:01 PMDr. Atkins gained about 60 pounds of that weight while in the coma preceeding his death. It was due to water-retention from IV fluids, typical of coma patients in his situation. That would leave him at right under 200 lbs pre-injury, considered "overweight" for a 6'2" man.
I hate how the media mis-represents what Dr. Atkins said. A year ago I read 2 of his books, as well as extensively studying atkins.com. What he stresses most of all: cut out all refined sugar, all white/refined flour, and all trans-fats. Eat a diet consisting of whole foods, and eat in moderation. (4 oz of meat is a serving, for instance.) I just don't think that's bad advice, and it's certainly not how the media portrays his message. Misinformation is leading people to the "low-carb aisle" in the grocery store to get their junk food instead of the usual "potato chips and cookies" aisle.
Perhaps we can credit the media for the annoying "low-carb craze", but we can't blame them for our ignorance. Everyone I know who has been on a "low-carb" diet hasn't read a book on the subject, by Atkins or anyone else. Subsequently, they've not lost any real weight, and have concluded the Atkins' plan doesn't work.
After studying his work and following his advice, I lost 40 pounds, slowly, over the course of 2003. More importantly, I enjoy the benefits of having a stable blood sugar level: I don't have the hunger, dizziness, headaches and irritability I used to have when eating the USDA recommended 300 grams of carbs a day. Increased concentration has been an added bonus. Dr. Atkins' approach has changed the way I live and eat, and I feel and look like a new person for it.
Posted by: angie at February 11, 2004 03:23 PM