Childhood Obesity: Why Are Kids Getting So Fat?

When I first saw this picture it struck me as a joke, but the more I thought about it the less funny it got.  The kid on the right isn't just a caricature, I see kids like this all the time.  Why?  How did it get this way?  What are we doing about it?

I think the first issue is that most kids don't do ANYTHING.  Why would you want to go outside and play something like football when you can play the video version of it sitting in your room eating Doritos and drinking Mountain Dew?  After all, you can be a superstar and not even need to have the slightest bit of physical ability. Not to sound like one of those old guys that say "Back in my day", but back when I was a kid you were expected to be outside playing until it was time to come in for dinner.  I don't think my mom was thinking about mt physical fitness, she just wanted me out of the house and away from her.  Regardless of the logic behind it, it worked.  Even the kid that was our "fat" friend wasn't fat by today's standards.  It is said that kids get about 30 hours a week spent either playing video games, watching TV, on the internet, or some other form of electronic media.  That's almost a full time job.  This is leading to an increase in Nature Deficit Disorder , which is a real thing and not something I made up.  Now, all we need is to get Erwan Le Corre to develop school Phys. Ed. programs and maybe we can eliminate this.

Now lets look at what we feed kids.  Our government programs stress a diet heavy in "healthy" whole grains, low-fat dairy, and plenty of other crap that serves no purpose other than to make people fat and dependent on the medical "professionals".  I'm not sure, but I think most of the "professionals" are the same ones helping to form those government policies, but that is another issue.  I saw a sample menu that the government recommends.  For breakfast is a bowl of whole grain cereal with skim milk and a slice of toast with margarine.  I don't think anyone in the Paleo/Primal community needs to be told what's wrong with that.  In fact, the biggest problem would be the arguing what is worse, the grain filled cereal or the rancid PUFA filled margarine.  If you don't know why those are bad, you can learn about it here and here.  So even when people try to feed their kids what they think is healthy, it is just helping to make them fatter and sicker.  The fact is though, a lot of parents aren't trying all that hard to make sure kids are getting the most nutritious foods.  Walk around any grocery store and take a look at what is in people's carts and see what they are feeding their kids.  To drink we have sodas and sugary fake juices and cool-aid.  For breakfast we have pop tarts, donuts, and frozen waffles.  To go on top of the frozen waffles is margarine and what they call syrup, but is nothing more than high fructose corn syrup with artificial maple flavoring.  What is that maple flavoring made out of, I wonder?  Continuing on with the rest of the menu we have an assortment of hot pockets, macaroni and cheese, and frozen pizza.

And lets not even get started on school lunches.  It would take too long to cover it all, and I'm not a skilled enough writer to do it justice.  Here we are using tax money to feed kids the worst assortment of fake foods that are based on horribly flawed nutrition guidelines.  The real shame of it is that most of the kids getting school lunches on the free lunch program are the kids that aren't getting much in the way of nutrition anywhere else.  This could be a way to see to it they get one or two good meals a day in at school, and maybe even show them what a nutritious meal looks like and they could take that bit of information home with them.

I personally pack my daughter's lunch, and I'm always wondering if and when we will get the letter sent home or the call from the school concerned about the nutritional value of her lunch.  "It's just meat, vegetables, and fruit.  Don't you think that's to much meat and fat?  Where are the whole grains?"  If it happens I hope they are ready for all hell to be unleashed.  I will walk in the office with every scrape of documentation from every study explaining why what they think is total bull shit and politely invite them to kiss my ass.

The last part of the problem is many parents are waiting for someone else to step in and be the parent.  "The schools have cut P.E. so what am I supposed to do?"  What you are supposed to do is be a parent.  It is your responsibility to see that your kids are getting what they need.  YOU make sure they go outside and play.  YOU make sure they don't spend unending hours in front of the TV or attached to a video game controller.  YOU feed them healthy food.  And maybe most important is YOU lead by example, and show them what it means to live a healthy lifestyle.

Who Needs a Gym

All too often we hear the same typical excuses of why someone can’t get healthy. The one that has been bugging me lately is “I don’t have the money for a gym membership, and I wouldn’t have the time to go if I did.” Well, there are no more excuses because that doesn’t fly! I have gotten into the best shape of my life and I have yet to set foot into a gym. My gym is my back yard, the park, the great outdoors, or on the bedroom floor if need be. All those locations come without membership fees.

As for equipment, one of my favorites is my own body weight. Do a hundred burpees and then tell me you didn’t just get one hell of a workout. Just a couple of weeks ago my workout consisted of 5×100 meter sprints, push-ups, pull-ups, and body weight shoulder presses. The entire workout, including warm-up and cool-down, was under 30 minutes.

My workout gear consists of sandbags, a sledgehammer, Bulgarian bags(made from a truck tire inertube), a homemade medicine ball and some kettlebells. The kettlebells are the only traditional weights that I own. I only need a couple of them, so it’s not like I had to break the bank to get them. The rest came from my favorite gym equipment store, The Home Depot. A 50 lb. bag of sand cost a couple of bucks. I wrapped the sandbag in duct tape(another couple of bucks) to give it some durability, and I’m working out for less money than a McDonald’s Value Meal. The sledgehammer cost a little bit more(still under $20), but I get to use it as tool(imagine that) to get work done too, so it is worth the extra money. The Bulgarian bag was pretty simple.  Cut open the inertube, fill with sand, zip tie closed and duct tape the handles – done!  The medicine ball was an old basket ball.  I cut a hole in it filled it with sand, and duct taped it(You may see a pattern forming here with me and duct tape).

No more Excuses! If you’ve got 20 minutes and your own body weight you can get great workout. Go outside, take a run/walk/sprint/crawl(yes, I said crawl) through your neighborhood. Head to the park and find something to climb(If you have kids they will love you for this). In short, learn to love movement again. Learn the joy of moving in a more natural way, they way we were designed to.

And here is a very important key point. You need to turn off the computer, turn off the TV, and leave the i-Phone behind. Go outside and play.

Welcome

Welcome to My Primal Adventure.  This Blog is dedicated to getting back to our true nature, both physically and mentally.  We as humans have forgotten who we really are.  To quote Erwan Le Corre of MovNat, we have become "Zoo Humans".  It is time for us to break this cycle, and get back to our true nature by getting back to nature.  To get back to where we should be physically it will take eating and moving the way we were designed to.

Eating:  Whether you call it Primal, Paleo, Ancestral, Evolutionary, or any of the other titles given to it, it is about eliminating the foods that are harmful to us(even when Conventional Wisdom tells us they are good for us) and embracing the foods our bodies were built to use as fuel(even when Conventional Wisdom tells us they will kill us).

Moving:  We need to learn to develop functional fitness.  Our bodies are amazing machines that have been developing for millions of years through evolution.  The traditional models for exercise will lead you to believe that isolation movements while lifting weights or long, tedious hours, grinding out mile after mile of chronic cardio are the only ways to be healthy.  The truth, however, is this will only set you further back from making real progress.

Mentally:  Humans have become detached from our environments, detached from nature, detached from our food, and detached from ourselves.  It may seem strange that I'm sitting here at a computer and writting this on a blog on the internet, but we need to turn off the computer, get out from in front of the TV, and get away from technology.  We need to get back into nature.


Now don't get the wrong impression.  No one is saying to put on a loin cloth and run around grunting.  We are not pretending to be cavemen.  We are simply acknowledging that we evolved in a certain way and to embrace that in order to maximize our overall health and happiness.

The transition may be scary at first, but it is completely possible and easy to do.  Once you embrace this lifestyle you will be amazed at where it will take you both physically and mentally.  I hope through this blog I can help by sharing what I have learned and by sharing my own experiences