The Doctor will see you now..

[The Curmudgeon]

Go on then - how healthy are YOU?

The Curmudgeon doesn't know what its like elsewhere, but over here in the good ol' U of K we're all in a bit of a health panic.

Our kids are too fat! We're too fat! We don't exercise! We use too much salt!

On and on and on. The thing is, I kinda admit that my diet sucks. I don't eat the right things, I don't exercise - basically everything I should do - I don't. It's not like I have a Super Size Me diet, but, see, I am a notoriously fussy eater. Hoo boy, you wouldn't believe it. You name it - I don't eat it.

I try to compensate though, by not eating vegetables, I eat a fair bit of fruit and I drink a fair bit of milk (not BA Baracus standards or anything) and hey, I had a complete medical check-up a few months ago and passed with flying colours, so I must be doing something right). And anyone who's lucky enough to have caught sight of a pic of The IHM will know I'm not exactly fat. I don't smoke, don't do drugs and, whilst I've been known to get absolutely wasted with booze, it's not nearly half as much as I used to a few years back (oh my poor liver..).

Regardless, it's hard not to get worried about it all, especially with the media blitz telling us we're basically all doomed by a death by Burger King. So - this is where you 'fess up, to The Fortress and to yourself - just how healthy ARE you......?

[InvisibleWolfMan]

I must admit, I'm not eating right. My weight is not at a good level. Funny thing is, I have a build that is as such that unless you were to look at me with a shirt that's a little too tight or completely off...it's hard to figure I have such a weight problem. I gain all my excess on my stomach. I have no body fat anywhere else...

Go figure.

[Tumuli]

Not very... although I have lost 50 pounds in the last 18 months. I walk when I can, but have long since abandoned the daily exercise routine (sit-ups, push-ups, etc.) to which I adhered in high school...

[trashcanman]

My diet is crap, though I've damn near managed to cut fast food out of my diet. Still, I eat pretty much red meat and anything fried washed down with Pepsi for every meal. And I consume more candy than any other person I've met. It's my drug of choice, what can I say? It's good to know that the fat ol' USA isn't the only place where we're constantly beaten over the head by the media for our crappy eating habits. Soda, candy, and other junk food is now illegal in school vending machines here and they're even starting to outlaw cupcakes for children's birthday celebrations. Health nazis, indeed. I think the anti-smoking craze has officially been replaced. Funny place, America; we love to pick on groups of people we feel superior to. Smokers, fatsos, muslims, gays, the french; we've always got at least two classes of people at one time that it's perfectly acceptable to harass and discriminate against for a while. Then we turn around and the same group becomes a sacred cow for a while and we move on to another bunch of people to annoy. This bizarre cycle of behavior is almost always instigated and perpetuated by our bored and inane media. The way people lap it up no matter how bizarre and retarded it gets is what gets me the most. "Freedom Fries", anyone? (cringe)

[The Curmudgeon]

Freedom Fries?! Explain that to me, please.

Health-Nazi's is a pretty good analogy, Trashy. We're being told what to eat and how to eat and all the stuff that's happening in your schools is happening here too.

Losing 50 pounds in 18 months seems pretty good to me, Tumuli. I would actually love to do a bit of exercise but I never have the motivation to do it.

I think it's the burning rage inside that keeps me slim...

[hackersanonymous]

Hello..

I like to think I eat not too badly, but that's not what I'm here to discuss..

Curmudgeon mentioned the media frenzy that our kids are fat..

As someone who works in a school (not a teacher, though), it both amuses and pisses me to hear about this..

Parent A...
"Our kids are fat. School - it is YOUR responsibility to make sure our little rugrats get x amount of hours of PE every week. Yes, we know that means less periods available for "proper" subjects but that's not our problem!"

Parent A (again)...
"School - your car park is too small, and the road too narrow for me to park my enormous people carrier when I drop off and collect my little rugrat at the school each day. Yes, I know I only live 1/2 a mile from the school - I'm not having my precious child walk along those wide pavements with numerous crossing points, that's just not on!"...

Yes, it's this real-life example of crass stupidity and jaw-dropping hypocrisy which we've come to expect from the parents nowadays.

We live in a blame society. Perhaps more of the finger of blame should be pointed back at the parents, as well as the bone-idle brats themselves? It might also mean it doesn't take me quite as long to try to get to work in the morning, but that's another story.

Toodles!

[trashcanman]

The origin of the term "freedom fries" is a black mark in American pop-culture history and prety much proves the stupidity of the common man; like American Idol's ratings numbers. Believe me when I say I did not make any of the following up; this really happened. When ol' George W. pointlessly invaded Iraq, you may recall that the French disagreed with our president's course of action and refused to commit any troops to the supposedly multi-national force. Well, the media had a field day over the whole affair and touched off a rash of anti-French sentiment (not a difficult thing to accomplish) that included boycotts of French perfumes, bakeries and other primarily American industries that people associate with that country. The culmination of this stupidity was when the American military changed the name of a certain food on their menu, our beloved artery clogger the humble french fry. Paying no attention to the fact that there is NOTHING French about a french fry ("french" is also a verb meaning to cut into thin strips) our favorite side order became known as "freedom fries" in American military mess halls. As if the media reporting on this little nugget of stupidity from our military wasn't bad enough, the name actually caught on with maniacal conservatives and pop-culture sheep and became fairly common for a while. I was actually at a restaurant once and heard a waitress ask a man if he'd like french fries for his side and the man huffed and puffed and loudly announced for all of his fellow diners to hear that he didn't want any FRENCH fries, he only ate FREEDOM fries!!! Oi. Way to ruin a man's appetite, asshole. Within a few month, the late night talk shows turned the whole thing into a joke by ridiculing it endlessly and everybody, embarrassed, pretended to forget about the whole thing. Many people refer to 9-11 and the emotional and physical horror of that day and say "never forget". I look at intellectually horrors; days where people insist on celebrating their ignorance and treating our media's perpetually slanted points of view as gospel and I say, "Freedom fries. Never forget."

[The Curmudgeon]

God, I'm glad I don't live in America. I think I would have been beaten to death by a "patriot" by now over that one. Unreal.

[Ben]

Well, being a high schooler, I'm in the best shape of my life. 3 miles a day and weights. Plus football practice. AND I eat whatever I feel like, although I am good with fruits and veggies. I'm enjoying my fast metabolism while it lasts.

As for the media telling us what we can and can't eat, they're always coming up with new diets and such. I don't pay any attention, the diet that works this month won't be the diet they're raving about next month. Plus, seeing the fatties at Subway downing two foot longs can't make them any skinnier than eating two big macs, it has more to do with the quantity, not always the nutritional value, of what you eat. That's my take on it at least.

[The Curmudgeon]

Training? Weights? 3 miles a day? Fruit and veg?


Ding ding ding - We have a winner. Ben is the Official Fittest Member Of The Fortress Of Solitude!