Comments on: Fat and fatter

By: Roy

Roy — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 22:51:04 +0000

I was at a lecture given by Dr Joel Fuhrman last winter and Dr Oz was brought up.
Dr Fuhrman stated that actually Dr Oz and his family have been on his diet for quite
a long time and what Dr Oz advocates is for the masses, but what he eats is totally
vegan. This is true….Just saying!

Interesting.

By: Max

Max — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 19:11:44 +0000

“One would think that the most activist ones of them all would gravitate to government where they could �make a difference,� but it seems that they are just there putting in their time.”

I suspect that a lot of these people were once upon a time very active in the way that makes one an activist. You join the government because JFK inspires you to. Back when folks really believed in big Gov. You maybe enjoyed working under LBJ. But then Nixon wages his war on the Civil Service. Ford not a big friend either. Carter, I dunno. Reagan modernized the benefits and did a great sales job on it, so that the unions bought in, and people given the choice of opting out of the old system (CSRS) for the new system (FERS) actually did it (even though it makes no practical sense to do so whatsoever for anyone who was a civil servant). And the Reagan years were no picnic for feds either. So, it’s probably a case of hard reality crushing the activism out of them.

But there’s the other thing. When it’s the 60’s and 70’s, and you’re having fun in your twenties, marching on the capitol and changing things, maybe you feel great about everything. Then, you marry that hippie guy/girl, move out to NoVa or Maryland, buy a house, crank some kids, get your fed job so you can change things from the inside. You get a steady paycheck, a retirement plan, health insurance, etc. And the status quo seems a lot more attractive.

Last thing: Because of low pay for middle/senior management (don’t mind the studies that say Civil Servants make more than others. Average MBA, class of 2005 makes $90K in base salary. Average MBA, Dept of Labor, class of 2005 makes under $70K, and gets no bonus), clotted culture and maybe a feeling that inside activism doesn’t work, most of the sharpest leave the profession early. It’s Jack Welch in reverse.

I have great hope for Government solutions when they’re run with good economics and the heart in the right place. I have lost some hope for this government’s ability to craft those solutions in the face of:
1- The rules that run the civil service
2- The great incentives provided by the political donor class
3- A setup where you have to be a millionaire to run for national political office.
4- A lot of little stuff that also provide improper incentives.

By: Angelyne

Angelyne — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 14:37:16 +0000

Here is a real life example for how ingrained the “move more” meme is. My ex-brother-in-law sported a huge gut. He was obese for sure. Then one Christmas, I saw him again, and he had melted away. When I asked what happened my sister explained he had changed job. He was now a forklift operator and “moved more”. Fair enough. Except that his previous job (which he did for many years) was delivering pizza. One of the perks of the job, was free food and free pizza. I think it would be more correct to attribute his weight loss to cutting out the daily carb-laden lunches and suppers.

Hi Angelyne–

I’m sure you’re correct.

Cheers–

MRE

By: Max

Max — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 18:32:34 +0000

Thoughts:
I think I’m more of an idealist (though working for the government is slowly crushing the impulse), when it comes to government. I used to have hope for large reform to the civil service due to the exit of many baby boomers with retirement, but think the culture is too crystalized, at least at Labor where I perform work like activities. That said, rewriting the farm bill on the economics is more likely than on the side benefits (I would advocate turning back to what it looked like during WWII, only with thoroughly liberalized trade, but that’s a wonk discussion for another day). But neither is particularly likely with the morons we call an electorate. Ditto for reform of the flat tax (what we essentially have currently, despite “progressive” income taxes, another story for another day).

On the data, self reported, regarding exercise: Unless we believe that there is some reason why Minnesotans tell taller tales of their exercise habits than Idahoans, New Hampshirites, and everyone else in the Union, then we can take it at something like face value. They may not exercise as much as they say they do, but neither does anybody else, so it should even out. I think it’s pretty clear than Flat Cardio is worse than useless when it comes to weight loss for most people. I think it’s reasonably clear that lifting in a structured manner and HIIT are considerably better than ass on couch.

Real Age: Hrm, I do LC, I eat tons of meat, no whole grain, and not enough veggies and I’m 11.6 years under my 34.6 years of age. It’s stupid, but in my first year of PPLP, I increased my under from 3 to 11.6. Not bad. Course, it’s the cholesterol, weightloss and exercise (plus I’m a year beyond moving, being unemployed, having grave financial worries, etc).

On low fat going out of style: It doesn’t not work for everyone, so there will always be role models. The meme is too simple to be wrong (Fat makes you Fat). I think it’s gonna be here a long time, even without Oprah, Roizen, Oz, or even Ornish. Look at how many people think the earth is 6000 years old and in basic creationism or the watered down version, design. Yeah, you need pushers, but when it comes to science versus mumbo jumbo, MJ seems to win a lot.

I’m interested in your statement that you “used to have hope for large reform to the civil service due to the exit of many baby boomers with retirement…” What I find amazing about this statement – that no doubt is true – is that the baby boomers were the hippies, and anti-war activists, the first generation in who knows how long who bucked the system and demanded change. They brought down a presidency, yet are now a cause of stasis in government. One would think that the most activist ones of them all would gravitate to government where they could ‘make a difference,’ but it seems that they are just there putting in their time.

Cheers–

MRE

By: d rosart

d rosart — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 18:27:29 +0000

I just took that real age test. I didn’t know my cholesterol numbers so I just lied and said my total was 200 and my Hdl was 70. It gave me advice about how to get my raging cholesterol numbers under control. Does that sound right?

No, it sounds like a moron giving medical advice.

By: stacia

stacia — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 17:23:01 +0000

It seems like there is often a hidden “agenda” with these studies.

There usually is.

By: Carlos

Carlos — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 15:28:30 +0000

I took the “Real Age” test from the website of Drs. Michael Roizen and the aforementioned Mehmet OZ. What a joke. I am 45, the test said that my “real age” is 43. I could be doing a lot better if I ate less red meat and more whole grain!

Jesus wept.

By: Kritik mot fetmarapporten. « Low-carb-bloggen

Kritik mot fetmarapporten. « Low-carb-bloggen — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 10:07:25 +0000

[...] Länk till Michael Eades bloggpostning. [...]

By: Neil

Neil — Thu, 30 Aug 2007 08:45:01 +0000

The cardiothoracic surgeon is a great example of what I believe is called eminence based medicine. Wish I’d thought of that one first!

Hey Neil–

Beautiful! I wish I had thought of it first, too. I’m certainly going to add it to my arsenal of pithy comments.

Cheers–

MRE

By: kristy

kristy — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 22:35:50 +0000

The low fat movement will never die as long as you have people like Dr. Mehmet Oz spouting its benefits in front on 50 million people on the Oprah Winfrey Show and on 5 different programs on the Discovery Health channel. Not to mention his books. This guy is everywhere. He is a cardiothoracic surgeon but also believes himself to be a nutrition expert and is constantly tells us to reduce our saturated fat and eat more whole grains. Today on one of his programs he showed an overweight woman examples of real plaque-filled and damaged arteries � the result of years of high cholesterol levels he said. He pop quizzed the woman by asking her the origin of the high cholesterol. She said �a diet high in fat and saturated fat�. He nodded and smiled in approval. If a �top-rated� and �world-renouned� cardiac surgeon (and clearly a marketing genius as well based on the way he markets himself) is saying that low fat is best, who are we to dispute it?

But what if the “top-rated” and “world renowned” cardiac surgeon is a moron when it comes to nutrition? Which is obviously the case, so you ignore him.

Cheers–

MRE