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