Contestants lost a whopping 536kg in total
Losing 61.8kg doesn’t just mean Sharon Haarhoff is a thinner person — it also means she has a new life.
“Men didn’t give me a second glance. I couldn’t even visit the Cango Caves because I was too large,” Haarhoff said yesterday, hours after winning R250000 on e.tv’s weight loss reality show, The Biggest Loser.
Haarhoff not only shed kilos, but also her “fat person” attitude.
More.
NVDL: That is exactly what we all need to shed - our 'fat person' (wasteful) attitudes. We start to do this by bothering to accept reality at face value, but not ignoring the steady flow of signals, and by responding in a constructive way - and one that is congruent with reality. It may sound simple, but to execute requires DISCIPLINE, EFFORT AND CONSISTENCY. Our 'fat world' doesn't possess these traits in abundance I'm afraid.
Another thing to point out that is once you get through the initial strain of starting to exercise (like a rocket taking off, the first few seconds require the most 'will', and burn the most 'fuel/resources') - so one quickly gets addicted to the benefits and appearance enhancing side-effect of exercise, and in particular - intense exercise. The feel good factor and the sense of well-being doesn't need hype or motivational speaking to convince you it's good and it works. Living it is evidence enough.
Showing posts with label obesity and diet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label obesity and diet. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Monday, February 11, 2008
I'm Becoming A Veggie
So I walk into my buddy's house after sunset yesterday and I am like verbally accosted by extended family and a rider even better than Alex (hobbling on crutches). Immediately they assess my weight, and immediately launch into a series of monologues on how I can lose EVEN MORE weight. From there I get assessed on my chances of going under 3 hours in the Argus (slim to none).
Solution? Go on a fruit and veggie diet for 3 weeks and...supposedly...I am meant to lose 5 kilograms. My counter-argument? Among others, ...'I don't want to be South Africa's biggest loser...'
I might be more dismissive of the veggie strategy except I was a vegan before (in the Ironman days) and at gym today my weight has ballooned back to 85.1kg (no training for the last 3 days). I know cutting out protein works, so does cutting out slightly more complex carbs.
Pass the carrots and broccoli please...
Solution? Go on a fruit and veggie diet for 3 weeks and...supposedly...I am meant to lose 5 kilograms. My counter-argument? Among others, ...'I don't want to be South Africa's biggest loser...'
I might be more dismissive of the veggie strategy except I was a vegan before (in the Ironman days) and at gym today my weight has ballooned back to 85.1kg (no training for the last 3 days). I know cutting out protein works, so does cutting out slightly more complex carbs.
Pass the carrots and broccoli please...
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Lekker Kos? Rethinking the Meat-Guzzler
A SEA change in the consumption of a resource that Americans take for granted may be in store — something cheap, plentiful, widely enjoyed and a part of daily life. And it isn’t oil. It’s meat.
The two commodities share a great deal: Like oil, meat is subsidized by the federal government. Like oil, meat is subject to accelerating demand as nations become wealthier, and this, in turn, sends prices higher. Finally — like oil — meat is something people are encouraged to consume less of, as the toll exacted by industrial production increases, and becomes increasingly visible.
Global demand for meat has multiplied in recent years, encouraged by growing affluence and nourished by the proliferation of huge, confined animal feeding operations. These assembly-line meat factories consume enormous amounts of energy, pollute water supplies, generate significant greenhouse gases and require ever-increasing amounts of corn, soy and other grains, a dependency that has led to the destruction of vast swaths of the world’s tropical rain forests.
Just this week, the president of Brazil announced emergency measures to halt the burning and cutting of the country’s rain forests for crop and grazing land. In the last five months alone, the government says, 1,250 square miles were lost.
The world’s total meat supply was 71 million tons in 1961. In 2007, it was estimated to be 284 million tons. Per capita consumption has more than doubled over that period. (In the developing world, it rose twice as fast, doubling in the last 20 years.) World meat consumption is expected to double again by 2050, which one expert, Henning Steinfeld of the United Nations, says is resulting in a “relentless growth in livestock production.”
Americans eat about the same amount of meat as we have for some time, about eight ounces a day, roughly twice the global average. At about 5 percent of the world’s population, we “process” (that is, grow and kill) nearly 10 billion animals a year, more than 15 percent of the world’s total.
Growing meat (it’s hard to use the word “raising” when applied to animals in factory farms) uses so many resources that it’s a challenge to enumerate them all. But consider: an estimated 30 percent of the earth’s ice-free land is directly or indirectly involved in livestock production, according to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization, which also estimates that livestock production generates nearly a fifth of the world’s greenhouse gases — more than transportation.
To put the energy-using demand of meat production into easy-to-understand terms, Gidon Eshel, a geophysicist at the Bard Center, and Pamela A. Martin, an assistant professor of geophysics at the University of Chicago, calculated that if Americans were to reduce meat consumption by just 20 percent it would be as if we all switched from a standard sedan — a Camry, say — to the ultra-efficient Prius.
Similarly, a study last year by the National Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science in Japan estimated that 2.2 pounds of beef is responsible for the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide emitted by the average European car every 155 miles, and burns enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for nearly 20 days.
By MARK BITTMAN
For the rest of this excellent and incisive New York Times article, go here.
The two commodities share a great deal: Like oil, meat is subsidized by the federal government. Like oil, meat is subject to accelerating demand as nations become wealthier, and this, in turn, sends prices higher. Finally — like oil — meat is something people are encouraged to consume less of, as the toll exacted by industrial production increases, and becomes increasingly visible.
Global demand for meat has multiplied in recent years, encouraged by growing affluence and nourished by the proliferation of huge, confined animal feeding operations. These assembly-line meat factories consume enormous amounts of energy, pollute water supplies, generate significant greenhouse gases and require ever-increasing amounts of corn, soy and other grains, a dependency that has led to the destruction of vast swaths of the world’s tropical rain forests.
Just this week, the president of Brazil announced emergency measures to halt the burning and cutting of the country’s rain forests for crop and grazing land. In the last five months alone, the government says, 1,250 square miles were lost.
The world’s total meat supply was 71 million tons in 1961. In 2007, it was estimated to be 284 million tons. Per capita consumption has more than doubled over that period. (In the developing world, it rose twice as fast, doubling in the last 20 years.) World meat consumption is expected to double again by 2050, which one expert, Henning Steinfeld of the United Nations, says is resulting in a “relentless growth in livestock production.”
Americans eat about the same amount of meat as we have for some time, about eight ounces a day, roughly twice the global average. At about 5 percent of the world’s population, we “process” (that is, grow and kill) nearly 10 billion animals a year, more than 15 percent of the world’s total.
Growing meat (it’s hard to use the word “raising” when applied to animals in factory farms) uses so many resources that it’s a challenge to enumerate them all. But consider: an estimated 30 percent of the earth’s ice-free land is directly or indirectly involved in livestock production, according to the United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organization, which also estimates that livestock production generates nearly a fifth of the world’s greenhouse gases — more than transportation.
To put the energy-using demand of meat production into easy-to-understand terms, Gidon Eshel, a geophysicist at the Bard Center, and Pamela A. Martin, an assistant professor of geophysics at the University of Chicago, calculated that if Americans were to reduce meat consumption by just 20 percent it would be as if we all switched from a standard sedan — a Camry, say — to the ultra-efficient Prius.
Similarly, a study last year by the National Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science in Japan estimated that 2.2 pounds of beef is responsible for the equivalent amount of carbon dioxide emitted by the average European car every 155 miles, and burns enough energy to light a 100-watt bulb for nearly 20 days.
By MARK BITTMAN
For the rest of this excellent and incisive New York Times article, go here.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
I Scream
Last night I did the unthinkable. I got up at about 3am, opened the freezer, and started chowing icecream. Now first off, I haven't had icecream in my fridge for yonks. I basically feel like a Jew walking around Germany wearing a Swastika: Ja vol, very uncomfortable. Why? Because my stated intention is to lose weight, do the Ironman, blah de blah, yada yada yada.
I didn't even go to gym yesterday (although I did do some exercises on the carpet - no, not those kind of exercises...)
I'm also holding back on two very gloomy stories. If you think this blog has cornered the market on gloom and doom, the two stories waiting in the dark corridors will probably propel you into a depression. Basically they amount to a probable end game scenario in this country, against the backdrop of world woe. If you read this stuff you might not be able to sleep for a while (I am struggling, as the thought originator). Do you really want to hear this?
If so let me know.
I didn't even go to gym yesterday (although I did do some exercises on the carpet - no, not those kind of exercises...)
I'm also holding back on two very gloomy stories. If you think this blog has cornered the market on gloom and doom, the two stories waiting in the dark corridors will probably propel you into a depression. Basically they amount to a probable end game scenario in this country, against the backdrop of world woe. If you read this stuff you might not be able to sleep for a while (I am struggling, as the thought originator). Do you really want to hear this?
If so let me know.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Are You Dumb Enough to Still Eat at McDonald's (VOTE NOW POLL IS CLOSING)
Another Blogger, Anja Marret has touched on this subject today as well. Is obesity our fault or not?
In short, and I hope I don't take up too much of your time in putting this in the public space, here's the answer: yes, it is. You are what you eat. And if you keep eating junk food despite all the signals, all the brou ha ha, well then you're a silly creature for doing so.
At 35 I am far from the sleek demi-god I was at 24. A lot of that ios due to having precious little time to cook, and so taking the lazy route and eating junk food. I've banned McD's and KFC, but I still go to Steers. But the answer is to go shopping, buy fruit and vegetables and go to the trouble to cook. In short, it's effort. It's discipline. And if you want to lsoe weight, it's not nearly as easy as we think.
I saw a magazine cover recently that soothed: Lose weight - it's easier than you think. Actually, it's not. Especially for a guy in his thirties. To give you an idea, I lost 6-7 kilograms 2 years ago, but only because I trained and competed in an Ironman. And the weight only started to slip off after I changed my diet in addition to all that training. I caught a cold and then a follow up flu after the race (probably picked up on the long haul to Korea), so within 6 weeks had put back all the weight I'd lost. Heartbreaking.
Meanwhile, the press shifts blame from individuals to government to fast food joints. No. The road to buff starts with you.
Energy-dense, cheap food is partly to blame, the report says
Individuals can no longer be held responsible for obesity and government must act [NVDL: re-he-heheaallly] to stop Britain "sleepwalking" into a crisis, a report has concluded.
The largest ever UK study into obesity, backed by government and compiled by 250 experts, said excess weight was now the norm in our "obesogenic" society.
Dramatic and comprehensive action was required to stop the majority of us becoming obese by 2050, they said.
The government pledged to draw up a strategy to address the issue.
But the report authors admitted proof that any anti-obesity policy worked "was scant".
NVDL: It's gratifying to note that at least the majority of people who read this blog are getting wize and blocking McD completely from your diet. Keep it up guys.
In short, and I hope I don't take up too much of your time in putting this in the public space, here's the answer: yes, it is. You are what you eat. And if you keep eating junk food despite all the signals, all the brou ha ha, well then you're a silly creature for doing so.
At 35 I am far from the sleek demi-god I was at 24. A lot of that ios due to having precious little time to cook, and so taking the lazy route and eating junk food. I've banned McD's and KFC, but I still go to Steers. But the answer is to go shopping, buy fruit and vegetables and go to the trouble to cook. In short, it's effort. It's discipline. And if you want to lsoe weight, it's not nearly as easy as we think.
I saw a magazine cover recently that soothed: Lose weight - it's easier than you think. Actually, it's not. Especially for a guy in his thirties. To give you an idea, I lost 6-7 kilograms 2 years ago, but only because I trained and competed in an Ironman. And the weight only started to slip off after I changed my diet in addition to all that training. I caught a cold and then a follow up flu after the race (probably picked up on the long haul to Korea), so within 6 weeks had put back all the weight I'd lost. Heartbreaking.
Meanwhile, the press shifts blame from individuals to government to fast food joints. No. The road to buff starts with you.
Energy-dense, cheap food is partly to blame, the report says
Individuals can no longer be held responsible for obesity and government must act [NVDL: re-he-heheaallly] to stop Britain "sleepwalking" into a crisis, a report has concluded.
The largest ever UK study into obesity, backed by government and compiled by 250 experts, said excess weight was now the norm in our "obesogenic" society.
Dramatic and comprehensive action was required to stop the majority of us becoming obese by 2050, they said.
The government pledged to draw up a strategy to address the issue.
But the report authors admitted proof that any anti-obesity policy worked "was scant".
NVDL: It's gratifying to note that at least the majority of people who read this blog are getting wize and blocking McD completely from your diet. Keep it up guys.
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