Trim the fat the old-fashioned way
Trim the fat the old-fashioned way
The day after the second day of the post-fasting month holiday of
Idul Fitri, I was already bored. So I did what other city folks
do when they have a full week's vacation on their hands.
I went to a mall.
Sad, I know. But anything other than another hour of an E!
Celebrity Yearbook special sounds good enough. At the mall, my
weight-conscious pal and I were confronted by the fact that
Jakartans, and probably other big city dwellers, are getting,
well, larger. Much, much larger.
I read somewhere that one of the reasons foreigners like
Michael Moore so much is that, other than the Bush bashing, he's
so predictably American -- that baseball cap probably came at
birth and he's fat.
Aside from America's stick-thin socialites and most movie
stars, people the world over view Americans as huge. And not
without reason; the obesity rate there is staggering. Sadly, the
world is catching up.
Recent studies confirm that Europeans are getting fatter and
the obesity rate among Beijing kids is at a record high. It is
easy to point a finger at fast food (fat food, more like it).
After all, it is of course no coincidence that waistlines have
started expanding as fast food outlets sprout in every corner of
the globe like fungus during the wet season.
A lot has been reported on the bad side effects of fast food.
Several years ago, America was rocked by the book Fast Food
Nation by Eric Schlosser. This year, people are buzzing about the
documentary Supersize Me.
Most people know about the horrors of fast food, but they
still eat it -- gorge is sometimes a more appropriate term --
anyway. Which brings us to the real culprits in why we tip the
scale: greediness and laziness.
Growing affluence means one can afford more luxuries in life,
including that extra helping of rich, moist, chocolate cake with
smooth vanilla buttercream frosting. But since the world has
regained a new kind of sensitivity, it is more politically
correct to say "overweight" rather than "fat", "have a hearty
appetite" than "he/she is a pig".
It is kinder to the ears but less so to the arteries.
A friend who had gained at least 20 kgs in six years often
complains about her weight and deteriorating health. But consider
this: I spent two hours at lunch with her and in that time, she
polished off a bowl of chicken noodles, half a serving of wontons
covered in chili oil, three cream puffs, one scoop of chocolate
ice cream, three chocolate bars and some sweets.
She also preferred the elevator than the escalator because the
escalators because "less walking is needed." Oh, she also has
cheeseburgers delivered to her home every day for lunch.
People always say that they eat fast food because they lack
the time to cook fresh, wholesome food. But then they spend hours
glued to the TV watching the latest reality show. In Asia, there
is still an abundance of cheap restaurants for take-away, not to
mention the maid who will dutifully whip up lunch and/or dinner
so you don't have to lift a finger or break a sweat in the
kitchen.
To top it all off, the only exercise most people do is sitting
on a desk all day typing (or pretending to be), or flicking the
remote for hours at home.
After the pounds start to pile on in all the wrong places, a
new kind of hell breaks loose. I'll give you a hint, it's the
dirty four letter word. Diet.
Some go to slimming clinics or resort to acupuncture. Some
shun rice and only eat boiled vegetables for days. But unless you
are a vegetarian or were a goat in your past life, most likely
you will never survive this diet and seek some solace in the
thickest, juiciest steak by the second week.
Browse through any women's magazine and you will see so many
types of diet: food combining, Atkins, South Beach, Zone,
macrobiotic, raw food, the whole lot. Do they really work? For a
while, maybe.
A few months ago, almost everybody in my office bought tins of
Chinese slimming tea because a colleague purportedly lost 13 kgs
in the course of a month by drinking it. It turns out the
slimming tea was really a laxative. The fad died after nobody
really got to their desired weight.
It was not surprising since everybody kept on their usual diet
of high calorie food. When it comes to losing weight, when it
seems to good to be true, it usually is.
So if you're really desperate to lose weight, the old-
fashioned way is still the best way. Get your butt off that couch
and start exercising. Eat a moderate amount of food. And just as
you make time for your daily dose of The Apprentice, make time to
cook your own food. The heat from the kitchen will put you off
from stuffing yourself anyway, so that's another good reason.
Easier said than done? At least it's easier than trying to fit
into that favorite pair of jeans!
-- Krabbe K. Piting