My Rant on Modern Life page

[doublehelix]

I think with how I have been eating and exercising, I should be a damn rail.
I eat meat and vegetables. I cut out fruit awhile back, I had one piece of fruit in weeks. No grains. No dairy for months. Nothing processed.

Now, I eat meat, and fat sources, and lots and lots of vegetables. I don't eat like the standard, pizza-n-coke grabbing American. I exercise daily, even if sometimes, it is just walking and some hand weights.

I wondered if there is something else going on. Is there something in the water? You look around, and there are people dieting and living off lettuce, and they are OBESE as hell. This all might sound "paranoid", for lack of a better word, but it seems like something else is at play. Oh believe me, I won't stop Paleo. I feel much better eating this way.

With how I eat, I feel like I should be a lot slimmer. I really think I need more than 1 hour of strong exercise per day. I agree with the sources that say we are not meant to be sendentary. I think of long ago, and how people worked farms all day, how people had to work for their food, etc. Now, with all of the modern conveniences, it appears that technology isn't really helping our physiques. Yeah, with modern conveniences, we have more time to "exercise"...but it seems stupid to run in place on a treadmill, when it's wasted energy, because we don't get enough motion in our daily lives. Sit all day at work, then walk or run in place to offset it.

I ask why my body is so sensitive. How can other people eat the standard American diet and be so slim? I don't drink soda, no diet soda, never did. I don't eat sandwiches, pizza, etc. I am a weirdo. I never got wisdom teeth. I am an Rh negative. My body is just too sensitive. Would I be one of the survivors, or would the people who can eat pizza for every meal be the survivors?

I remember in college having to walk everywhere and not having enough money for food. Somehow, all of that seemed much healthier. If you've sold it all and moved onto a farm, I envy you. Because growing one's own food seems like the the most intelligent thing one could do. It's survival.

Now, I will shut up.

[PrimalPumpkin]

I agree with the sources that say we are not meant to be sendentary. I think of long ago, and how people worked farms all day, how people had to work for their food, etc. Now, with all of the modern conveniences, it appears that technology isn't really helping our physiques.

I think you have the answer. We were not built to sit in an office all day. Sit in a car for an hour a day. Then come home and reach for a box of something from the cupboard and sit on our ass all night in front of the tv. We were meant to toil in the field and forest for our food and survival.

[PrimalPumpkin]

Side note...when I was working physical jobs it was very easy to stay slim and build muscle. Now I am working in a law office and as a librarian. I am plumping back up and losing muscle tone very fast. I was better off when I was lifting heavy things, running around outside, and cleaning barns!

[Credodisi]

Do you know how many calories you are consuming? If you are not tracking your food intake, my best advice would be to start. I resisted this for a long time because I loath tracking anything. But once I started, the results were pretty eye opening. I found I could make adjustments to my foods - eat more fish instead of red meat all the time, ditch completely nuts .. etc to finally get the scale moving downward again.

Calories do matter. I think listening to your body is really smart too... but if like me, you have overeaten as a rule for the majority of your life, your body may need some re-education on what just eating what you need really means.

[sbhikes]

There IS something in the water. There are compounds from plastic manufacturing and other industrial and chemical processes (PCBs, dioxin etc) in the environment and in the food supply, such as BPA lined cans. There are also residues of prescription drugs in the water and environment. There's also a preponderance of soy in our diets, having been touted as a healthy food. All these things are estrogen mimics and in some cases, tiny doses can have extremely profound effects, sometimes a smaller dose has a more profound effect than a larger one. Add to that that most people's gut flora are out of whack and they're eating mostly refined, processed and adulterated food (food containing flavors and msg rather than actual food) and you've got a perfect storm.

[counterpuncher]

You need to make sure your food intake is HIGH enough as well.
Many make the mistake of cutting their food intake too low, and piling daily intense exercise on top of that, thinking that they'll lose weight.
The problem is that your body will down-regulate your metabolism to compensate for the food shortage. The scale won't move, and you'll actually store fat because your body thinks that food is scarce, and it will store fat to be used as energy in case of famine.
Also, stressing about it like you are is making your body produce cortisol, which won't help the scale to move in the direction that you want it to either.
I'll tell you, I eat as much as it takes for me to be sated, keeping fruit and sweet potatoes around my workouts, and going low carb when I'm not working out. Never count calories.
As long as I'm eating natural, primal foods, and staying away from anything processed, I have no problem staying lean.
This is not a diet, and people would do better with weight regulation by not treating it as such.
Get your workouts in, eat plenty of good food, have fun in your life, and relax.

[doublehelix]

I had a job where I drove 1.5 hours each way. And worked nights. I am sure that messed me up. I didn't eat processed or prepared foods though, I had nuts and berries for snacks...
I agree, we are animals, meant to toil and work....

[doublehelix]

You need to make sure your food intake is HIGH enough as well.
Many make the mistake of cutting their food intake too low, and piling daily intense exercise on top of that, thinking that they'll lose weight.
The problem is that your body will down-regulate your metabolism to compensate for the food shortage. The scale won't move, and you'll actually store fat because your body thinks that food is scarce, and it will store fat to be used as energy in case of famine.
Also, stressing about it like you are is making your body produce cortisol, which won't help the scale to move in the direction that you want it to either.
I'll tell you, I eat as much as it takes for me to be sated, keeping fruit and sweet potatoes around my workouts, and going low carb when I'm not working out. Never count calories.
As long as I'm eating natural, primal foods, and staying away from anything processed, I have no problem staying lean.
This is not a diet, and people would do better with weight regulation by not treating it as such.
Get your workouts in, eat plenty of good food, have fun in your life, and relax.

Thanks for the information!
I agree, it's a lifestyle, not a diet. I have been done with dieting.

The problem is when I am working ( lost my job), I am working nights, weekends, really upsets the body with a mentally and physically stressful job. The stress never goes away. Now I have the stress of finding a job...
I've tried all sorts of relaxation. Doesn't offset the stress.
I think work stress and life stress does produce the cortisol, because it is mainly belly fat
I am using up all of my savings to live and can't find a job. Well, I am the only person I know
who is unemployed, so things must not be that bad... but working is very hard, constantly have
hard criticisms and they constantly threaten your job.

I haven't had a smooth ride and I worked very hard, but things haven't gone smoothly for me.
I do believe exercise does help, maybe I need a lot more.
Maybe a new life...

[counterpuncher]

I'm very sorry to read about your situation, and I hope that things get better for you.
Keeping up with your exercise will help your stress levels. Imagine what a basket case you would be if you didn't exercise....
Don't overdo the exercise, though. That will only add stress for you, and, combined with your calorie defecit, will run you right into the ground.
Good luck.

[noodletoy]

you're eating clean and primal and although your diet previously was good by cw standards, it was years of eating grains and crap seed oils and such. that damage can take a long time to fix. so can the metabolic derangement of upsetting your circadian rhythms with night or shift work. i have worked nights for decades and it is wreaking havoc with me, so i feel your pain.

don't worry about other people eating pizza and soda. their health will manifest the results of this sooner rather than later. just worry about yourself.

i was unemployed 6 months in 2009 and finally took a job i basically hate to pay the bills. i have been looking for a new one since march. it's a tough slog. allow yourself a certain number of hours per day to job search -- say 2 hours after breakfast. then go do something, even if it's a 5-hour walk someplace. you have plenty of free time, ya know? don't sit home fretting, get active. try thinking outside the box for income possibilities too.