If you ever get hold of a history book, flip through and pay special attention to the body shapes that seem to be the norm for each time period. Body weights and ideals have changed over the years, as they continue to do now. What’s in fashion can be judged by the type of clothing in vogue – some styles only require a slim frame to be put on correctly. Some cultures will worship large members because it is a sign of affluence- only the rich can afford to be fat. Americans have that backwards – only the rich are spread very thin here.
Why so? Is it because the rich are being fed some “magic” food that allows them to stay ultra-skinny? In all reality, the rich are living this way because they are being fed teeny-weeny, designer meals produced by private chefs and have trainers, nutritionists and others working round the clock to keep them that way. Are. There is no magic involved.
For hundreds of years, thin and fat have knocked each other off the top of the popularity charts. View creations from some of the world’s most famous artists; Check out the models he chose to work with. Ruben would be laughed at by the art community if he were alive today and still choosing the same model. Her plump and juicy lassies were definitely not the waif-skinny and malnourished girls who pass off as models these days, right?
Now look at another era. Look at flappers for example. Knock-kneed, flat-chested and very thin, flappers were the norm for the time. Of course, there were probably Rubenesque women who longed to shine in a sheath dress as well, but history certainly isn’t showing them that. Yet, it was the body type that reflected the standard of the day that received notice while others were ignored, or worse, ridiculed.
When skinny was in fashion, dieting became the norm. The most extreme diet is then the most extreme diet – fasting. Religious leaders and their devoted followers would fast for days on end and experience the potential for visions, along with weight loss (of course). If the fast went on too long, the weight loss would be followed by death, so fasting people began to put two and two together. Not eating equal to losing weight, but can also be equal to death. The aha moment is quickly followed by an adaptation to fasting: a modified fast.
In the course of occasional fasting and modified fasting and starving and dying, science discovered the calorie and the dieting industry was born. Now, the doctor and snake oil salesman had a word to shout at you as well as a number to recommend. No one fully understood the diet and daily requirements had not yet been discovered, so no one knew exactly how many calories a person needed or what foods those calories should come from.
Early dieters caught themselves starving because it killed them. Eating less has worked so they’ll stick to an extremely low calorie count; Around 1000 calories. The problem with living so low is that it is impossible to keep the body healthy, whole and fit. What they found is the same thing that any dieter trying to subsist on that calorie count will find now: You can’t survive on it.
As more studies were done and science began to reveal the concept of metabolism and the body’s own processes, smart dieters put a twist on the 1000 calorie diet to stop the body’s self-destruction. They would remain at the magic number but all those calories would come from protein and the first extreme protein diet craze was born. The problem here was the same as with all the protein diets that followed, and the one after that, as well as the problem with all other extreme diets in general: any diet that allows you, forces you, or allows you to eat only one food group. or type of eating and restricts, limits, or ignores all others, is unhealthy and ultimately predisposed to failure.
Remember a few years ago when the protein diet reared its head again? Suddenly everyone is eating burgers, but not buns. You can have a pan full of bacon, but you can’t have toast to soak up the grease. Eat a pound of beef at every meal, but don’t you dare touch your lips with a potato. The list of vegetables that were on the no-no list for this diet was untrue and—worse—fruit was as taboo as slabs of death by chocolate cake. Fruit was forbidden on the Protein Diet and as reviled as any dessert. All fruits all the time.
But, extreme protein diets, modified fasting and other weight loss efforts are not easy and even at that time, humans were looking for easy ways to lose weight. Before anyone thinks the modern man has cornered the market for weight loss gadgets and gimmicks, know this: One of the first weight loss pills was developed in the 1900s, as well Tonics, elixirs and other products were created to tone and trim. Without the fatigue of actually watching what you ate or exercised. was one of the first pills that contained benzocaine, which would not only dull the taste buds but create a strange, tingling sensation in the mouth that would make it harder to enjoy food, hopefully causing the user to eat less. Well, yes it would work because most people wouldn’t eat food if they couldn’t feel their mouth, but it would have the side effect of chewing with your tongue on a daily basis. Of course, there are still people who do a modified version of this concept even today. They brush their teeth after every meal or whenever they feel hungry. The concept is that nobody wants to waste that squeaky clean feeling in their mouth and besides who wants mint fresh potato chips?
Everyone wants us to think differently about weight loss. The doctor wants us to believe we are in dire need of metabolic help so he can prescribe us the latest prescription drug. Gym gurus and gadget gods want us to exercise, but only using their equipment. Infomercials want us to use their pill, powder, potion, cream or what have you. Authors become experts or vice versa want us to buy their books. watch my videos, listen to my motivational tapes; Buy buy buy buy In the end, the only thing that’s going to slim down is your wallet and all the gear and accessories in the world won’t help you if you don’t learn the basics of weight loss. You have to exercise. You need the right amount of calories and you need to understand what a calorie is, where it comes from and how it functions in your body. The next chapter will get you started on that knowledge.
Source by Graham J Sheppard
