16 oz. Soda Ban Approved By NYC Board of Health

at leats in my (somewhat outated) experience with primary school lunches?

Its usually of the "white flour dough square with highly oily cheese and no toppings either meat or vegetable with fries on the side" kind.

So it's crap pizza. that makes sense (I'm also now getting Pizza express adds).

edited 26th Mar '13 2:16:08 PM by Silasw

Hey, I've been getting the weight loss snake oil ads every time I come in here.

Though I still am scratching my head as to why Gab thinks we're arguing against the soda ban. I support the ban and I thought Midgetsnowman did too. The only people speaking out against it are people who are already healthy. It's actually rather hurtful that she's lumping us into one group and saying that we shouldn't get healthcare, when the lack of healthcare is what put me in this position in the first place.

I've got to say, I've lost a lot of respect for her just now.

edited 26th Mar '13 2:22:50 PM by DrunkGirlfriend

@ Silas: yep. crap pizza. But less crap than broccoli steamed to the point where all flavor and nutrients are long gone and covered up with what can best be described as white, near-watery "sauce" that is supposed to be cheese.

This is why it took me years to decide broccoli was good. My initial exposures to it were..awful. I suspect this is part of the issue. between books and childrens cartoons always calling vetegables awful and yucky, and the fact school lunches have a bad tendency to live up to that..

and I'm totally for the ban, yep

edited 26th Mar '13 2:27:46 PM by Midgetsnowman

No. The people against the ban are the majority of American citizens.

If TV Tropes could vote on social issues there may be more progress.

The thing is that New York, healthy and unhealthy alike rejected the ban as a restriction of their freedom. It's almost identical to the proposed food stamp reforms.

The revolt against Obama's educational reforms were nationwide.

Hence why I said Americans have a selective culture of government involvement.

As myself and many others have said it's a cultural thing so how are we going to debate that culture when government intervention is being shot down left and right?

I'm fine with the ban being dead in the water. I'm wondering we can't have the first lady's plan and improve the schools health and fitness options though, other than the fact that some don't want to listen to her or don't think this is a problem. I also don't see the problem with disability payments other than the abuse the system takes.

I'll just say....I totally did NOT get that from her posts.

Such broadbrushing is truly beneath someone of your reputation DG. Those of us who are against the ban are against it for many reasons, but to my knowledge NONE of them include this "Well I guess it sucks to be you fattie" bs that keeps sprouting up.

For my part, I know what it is to eat poorly, spend money you don't have on nasty shit, and suffer for it. I am also aware heathcare is straining at every end to keep up with all the unhealthy living Americans do.

We care about civil liberty. Not just for shits and giggles, but because it's necessary a truly fulfilling and empowered society. It's something we'd like to see preserved; not destroyed.

I'm probably in the minority when I say I want to help people who got heart conditions because of obesity, or who are addicted to food or even drugs. I'd rather my tax dollars go to helping them if it threatens their lives than most other things.

The thing is. IO kn ow you dont intend it to.

But thats how it reads every time you say "get some willpower" or "You just have to decide to do it" because the people on the other end of the equation tend to have long since left being at a point where they believe themselves capable of it.

edited 26th Mar '13 2:49:50 PM by Midgetsnowman

They are capable of it though. Most of them, even the ones who have lost hope. People can change their own habits with enough practice.

Yes.

But that doesnt make "you can do it if you try, I did" translate any less to their minds as "fuck off and die if you cant summon the willpower to be as awesome as me"

How could we say it better than? Honestly I'm asking.

I dont really know, to be honest. Its mostly a problem that once you've convinced yourself that you cant do it, thats kind of going to color your view of every statement about the subject no matter how encouraging.

Drunk Girlfriend I highly recommend you reread my posts if you think I am lumping people together.

There is a big difference between someone with a thyroid condition or someone who has to be on a steroid medication that prevents them losing weight and some lazy person who sits on their butt and eats junk without moderation.

Again, I don't expect anyone to become an IFBB pro anytime soon, but I don't think there is anything wrong without expecting the average person to walk 500 yards and not die.

Again, I would love to see more community fitness programs, educational reform, and more across the board involvement.

Again, I have no problems with government regulations of size, porportions, and ingredients. I am the mother of a 6 year old boy. I refuse to go grocery shopping with him so he's not tempted to start begging for crap because the box looks cool or more accurate, a kid at school has that food.

But-

What I do have a problem with is people not trying to help themselves. Again, if you have enough realization to know you have a problem, no matter what that problem is, you have some responsibility to try and be proactive in your solutions.

What I do have a problem is the social backlash against government reforms that actually could do good like Obama's school plan. Again, how can we combat this culture of obesity and complacentcy when all attempts of government intervention have faced enough common backlash to stop it.

Re: Willpower— I touched on this a couple pages back. The short answer is— "You can't." For someone who doesn't want to hear it, trying to sound inspirational is likely going to do more harm than good. It's for a number of reasons.

The following is largely hypothetical.

• "I did it, so can you!"— May sound to you like "I know what it's like to be in your position, I've been there." To someone who's already having issues, it sounds more like "I did it, so there's no reason you can't." With an implied "fatass" in parentheses. It also tends to come off as bragging.
• "You've just got to try!"— May sound to you like "It's just one small step, you can do it!", but it comes off as "You're not trying right now, fatass." To someone who's having problems even getting started, even "trying to try" takes effort, and saying that they've "just got to try" diminishes the efforts they're putting into it.
• "Don't you want to live a long, fulfilling life?"— May sound like some vaguely positive "It'll all be worth it in the end!" sort of thing, but it comes off as "If you don't try, you'll never be happy. Ever."

...and so on and so forth.

It's almost like trying to deal with an anorexic. Everything you say, any comment, can, and probably will be interpreted negatively. The best you can do is stop trying to help them. That's not the case with everyone trying to lose weight or be healthier, but when it's clear that the individual you're talking to is one of them, it's in everyone's best interest to stop, unless they ask for your help. And when they do, give straight answers, concrete solutions, and, positive reinforcement, rather than inspirational nonsense.

edited 26th Mar '13 3:19:33 PM by Wulf

Is there anything in the US where Government can set targets with industry for reductions in salt, saturated fats, or sugar in food? Or has there been anything like the "Horsemeat Scandal"?

edited 26th Mar '13 3:18:39 PM by Greenmantle

Mantle,

They can. The problem is they won't do it without popular support.

Consider as a parrallel the reforms on automobile emissions and gas milage. Congress and the President have to agree on a plan and they need social backing to be motivated to.

Midget, please answer this question, and it's a question I ask sincerely, without sarcasm; how can you continue to say that a defeatist mindset prevents you from even the mere possibility of success when you've already tried and gained results ?

@Wulf: Okay, so stop trying to help them unless they ask for it? But where is the line between motivational poster nonsense and real positive encouragement?

Because results are one thing.

Continuous results require an upscaling of effort, anbd sometimes a complete alteration of your entire exercise regimen if your body decides to get used to the exercise being done and suddenly results taper off to nothingness, and then the backsliding occurs.

You could probably do more exercise at that point. Or is it a time thing?

Its a motivation thing.

Doing some exercise, sure. Realizing you're going to get nowhere without doing more sternuous exercise? tends to be miore discouraging when you find even light exercise a pain in the ass that prevents you from goofing off/.

Midget, your issues are deeper than just fitness. That's why you're self sabatoging your own success. Get an appointment with your school counselor, set up a suport system, and get help with your goals.

You guys can call me, Barkey, Gabrael, and others mean and heartless. You can twist our words and say how "easy" it is to say "get help" but honestly it really is.

I am a counselor. I work everyday with PTSD victims and their children. I spent my first years in the field working in a state hospital in the children's ward.

If anyone in this thread keeps saying it is sooooo hard to get help or to find a support group, then by all means PM me your city and state and if you are in a university the name of your university.

I will be glad to spoonfeed you the contact information of services in your area.

But otherwise, as a society we have limited resources. For every person who got admitted to treatment at my former hospital there was a waiting list a mile long.

I firmly agree with Gabrael that I much rather give assistance in whatever form to those who are willing and eager to be as proactive and engaged with their aid. If I give you diabetic medicine I expect you to try to eat right. If I give you a disability check I expect you to do your physcal therapy.

Only 1 out of 3 social security disability claims get accepted. There are plenty of other people who need the help and don't get it.

If you're not going to let the state discipline you and you can't discipline yourself, you need to get your shit together because you're holding back on others who are willing to work with their aid for their betterment and eventually, get off of it.

My advice: start thinking that exercise itself is goofing off. For example: think of having a jog as a game that you play with yourself as opposed to "exercise". Think a pair of dumb bells and exercise machines as toys (toys some of which that can break and injure you if you do not use it properly, but still toys) to play with as opposed to things that you do exercise (best ones are the ones that you pull down a pulley in anyway you want). Forget about how much weight you lose or how good you're doing or how many miles you've run etc. Just have fun while doing strenuous activity. Goof around in ways that does not involve sitting still.

I vaguely remember that exercise was supposed to be "all fun and games" as opposed to "THIS IS WHAT YOU MUST DO ROAAAAR!!!" thing.

edited 26th Mar '13 6:15:08 PM by IraTheSquire

Perhaps so. All I remember fun and games being in elementary school was being the last kid picked for the team because I was never any good at sports, so I kind of came to equate strenous activities with "not fun"