weight loss & traveling

[summerprincess]

Alright. I suppose my observation regarding Ni leads and their exercise habits mostly applies to Self-pres blindspot Ni types, then.
All you Sp instinct IEIs got really upset over me suggesting fitness is not natural for IEIs, haha. I guess I also poked at your Si Role. That was not my intention.

Maybe it is just me, but I find Intuitives in general do not come across as proficient in reaching physical fitness as much as Sensors (esp. Se leads), even if they are Sp instinct. They will care for it as Sp instinct types, but it will often still look like some kind of weakness.

Anyhow, the best bet to find the SLE person of your dreams as an IEI who values the Sp instinct would be to meet them at a gym or some fitness related convention, or even some kind of health store (though the latter are more often frequented by health-conscious Si valuing Sp instinct people, mostly EIIs and SEIs).

Personally I hate the gym and find this newfound American obsession with going to the gym, esp for women, irritating. People will definitely dislike me for this opinion but women in most European countries don't go jogging all the time and they haven't gotten fat. It's called walking everywhere and eating in moderation. Exercise is good for you of course but going to the gym isn't the fix-all americans think it is. - end rant
I might start going again soon though just out of boredom

[Sol]

It's called walking everywhere and eating in moderation.

And more quality food in Europe. For example, McDonalds cheap fat meal is less popular. Generally more restricting laws about health safety for food.

Exercise is good for you of course

Human body was done to have some regular physical load. Some everyday body exercises are good for general endurance, including for brain, blood and hormone systems work worse without them. As result you feel better. How much physical load is needed - is other thing, some people seems spare to much time on this.

[Pink]

Personally I hate the gym and find this newfound American obsession with going to the gym, esp for women, irritating. People will definitely dislike me for this opinion but women in most European countries don't go jogging all the time and they haven't gotten fat. It's called walking everywhere and eating in moderation. Exercise is good for you of course but going to the gym isn't the fix-all americans think it is. - end rant
I might start going again soon though just out of boredom

Yeah, but you must keep in mind that the lifestyle here in North America is drastically different in comparison to European countries (Excluding larger and major cities). Europe is more condensed and pedestrian friendly compared to North America.

Where I'm from (A city in Canada), it is designed for driving and it is not pedestrian friendly. Also, there is a lot more open space here (Not pedestrian friendly land, at least where I'm from). Winters are also brutal, so "Walking everywhere" is not really an option for us. So if one works a more sedentary career, going to gym is a great way to stay in shape.

I understand where you are coming from, but I wouldn't be so quick to label the gym as such a bad place as you're making it out to be. A little bit of exercise is better than none. I also yearn to live the more "European" and "Asian" lifestyle, but the environment makes it difficult for a lot of us North Americans.

[Beautiful sky]

Personally I hate the gym and find this newfound American obsession with going to the gym, esp for women, irritating. People will definitely dislike me for this opinion but women in most European countries don't go jogging all the time and they haven't gotten fat. It's called walking everywhere and eating in moderation. Exercise is good for you of course but going to the gym isn't the fix-all americans think it is. - end rant
[B][I]I might start going again soon though just out of boredom

It's good to stay healthy. Yes the vanity aspects of going to the gym are there

[glam]

Personally I hate the gym and find this newfound American obsession with going to the gym, esp for women, irritating. People will definitely dislike me for this opinion but women in most European countries don't go jogging all the time and they haven't gotten fat. It's called walking everywhere and eating in moderation. Exercise is good for you of course but going to the gym isn't the fix-all americans think it is. - end rant
I might start going again soon though just out of boredom

lol, have you ever struggled with being significantly overweight? as someone who is easily prone to gaining fat (i'm primarily endomorph body type), it's been a lifelong struggle to lose or maintain my weight - exercise is basically mandatory for someone like me if i don't want to be huge. yea you do have Americans who are "obsessed" with going to the gym and such, but for me frequent exercise isn't an obsession, so much as an obligatory activity if i wish to be at an ideal weight. i wish i had a body type that allows for easier maintenance of weight, but i'm not that lucky.

every time i have visited Europe i have lost weight, because i am walking everywhere all day long, and the food tends to be better quality. but like some others said, "walking everywhere" isn't really an option in many places in America. i live in the metro Atlanta area and you can't get anywhere outside the city if you don't have a car. even though my local shopping center is a 7-minute walk away from my place, i usually don't walk because there aren't even consistent sidewalks around here. if there are even sidewalks to begin with, they will go on for a bit then just randomly end in an inconvenient place. lol

also, Europeans are fatter than you might think: http://www.npr.org/sections/health-s...like-americans

[summerprincess]

lol, have you ever struggled with being significantly overweight? as someone who is easily prone to gaining fat (i'm primarily endomorph body type), it's been a lifelong struggle to lose or maintain my weight - exercise is basically mandatory for someone like me if i don't want to be huge. yea you do have Americans who are "obsessed" with going to the gym and such, but for me frequent exercise isn't an obsession, so much as an obligatory activity if i wish to be at an ideal weight. i wish i had a body type that allows for easier maintenance of weight, but i'm not that lucky.

every time i have visited Europe i have lost weight, because i am walking everywhere all day long, and the food tends to be better quality. but like some others said, "walking everywhere" isn't really an option in many places in America. i live in the metro Atlanta area and you can't get anywhere outside the city if you don't have a car. even though my local shopping center is a 7-minute walk away from my place, i usually don't walk because there aren't even consistent sidewalks around here. if there are even sidewalks to begin with, they will go on for a bit then just randomly end in an inconvenient place. lol

also, Europeans are fatter than you might think: http://www.npr.org/sections/health-s...like-americans

Idk I have to walk everywhere because I'm a student; yeah Atlanta is probably one of the least walkable cities so that does suck. No I never struggled with being overweight because my parents raised me pretty healthfully and neither of them were overweight in their youth (my dad is now but that's because he eat junk all the time traveling for work, and ofc as he ages metabolism slows). But honestly I do gain weight pretty easily and when I see myself gaining weight, the thing I have to do is portion control. Cut down on my portions, stop eating fried food for like a week or do a water fast one day per week for a little and I'm perfectly fine. Europeans are becoming more and more obese yep but obviously they didn't go to gyms in the past much either. Anyway I definitely understand going to the gym if you have few opportunities to walk or exercise outside!
The uniquely american/western culture of being 'fit' gets on my nerves sometimes bc it seems like a new ideal for women. It's not gyms themselves that irritate me it's this new (late 2000s) ideal in the US that women should lift and have low body fat. This has no historical basis and literally makes no sense. Womanly ideals in the past were not muscular or fit, just slim and healthy. So this is why it bothers me.

[Beautiful sky]

People place too much emphasis on weight. Character is more important.

[FDG]

also, Europeans are fatter than you might think: http://www.npr.org/sections/health-s...like-americans

europeans who live in cities are generally normal weight in the countryside there's a lot of overweight people.

[Myst]

every time i have visited Europe i have lost weight, because i am walking everywhere all day long, and the food tends to be better quality. but like some others said, "walking everywhere" isn't really an option in many places in America. i live in the metro Atlanta area and you can't get anywhere outside the city if you don't have a car. even though my local shopping center is a 7-minute walk away from my place, i usually don't walk because there aren't even consistent sidewalks around here. if there are even sidewalks to begin with, they will go on for a bit then just randomly end in an inconvenient place. lol

Hehh food quality, I actually lost some weight since I've been in the USA since August. Now how do you do that going from EU to the US. I'm a mesomorph type that easily gains both fat and muscle - though I do always keep the body fat in check - and I'm really surprised at this, lol. I do walk to the shopping center and stuff, though, there are sidewalks alright.

[Olimpia]

People, at the end of the day, it actually is mostly just "Calories in, Calories out". Some people can stay thin with only eating candy. People have lost weight while eating Twinkies only. Sure, they will be unhealthy and not in good shape (just smaller in size), but they will have lost weight on bad nutrition.

How that has anything to do with getting SLEs... Eh.
Staying in shape helps, I guess.

[glam]

Hehh food quality, I actually lost some weight since I've been in the USA since August. Now how do you do that going from EU to the US. I'm a mesomorph type that easily gains both fat and muscle - though I do always keep the body fat in check - and I'm really surprised at this, lol. I do walk to the shopping center and stuff, though, there are sidewalks alright.

guess you're in a better area than i am for that stuff idk how you lost weight, is that good or bad for you? lol

and yea food tastes better to me in the European countries i've been in (quality of meat, dairy, bread, etc. is noticeably better than what i'm used to), and doesn't make me feel as gross even when i stuff myself lol. and then when i come back to the US, a lot of food tastes far too sweet, too fatty, etc. and i have to get "used" to American food again. i don't think i'm imagining this, idk.

[Myst]

People, at the end of the day, it actually is mostly just "Calories in, Calories out". Some people can stay thin with only eating candy. People have lost weight while eating Twinkies only. Sure, they will be unhealthy and not in good shape (just smaller in size), but they will have lost weight on bad nutrition.

How that has anything to do with getting SLEs... Eh.
Staying in shape helps, I guess.

Lol sorry for contributing to the off topic.

But uh, you have not really provided any new information here as to why I lost weight if you were talking to me.

guess you're in a better area than i am for that stuff idk how you lost weight, is that good or bad for you? lol

and yea food tastes better to me in the European countries i've been in (quality of meat, dairy, bread, etc. is noticeably better than what i'm used to), and doesn't make me feel as gross even when i stuff myself lol. and then when i come back to the US, a lot of food tastes far too sweet, too fatty, etc. and i have to get "used" to American food again. i don't think i'm imagining this, idk.

Is LA a particularly good area for it?

Guess it depends what exactly you eat, some foods seem pretty much the same here while other ones don't and I'm not surprised at that.

[glam]

derailed the thread, so it's no longer off-topic

Is LA a particularly good area for it?

not sure, because most of my life i've lived in the southeastern US, mostly Georgia and Florida. but my mom lived in LA years ago, and she said that in more affluent areas, people are pretty health-conscious and stuff - basically the closer you are to the beach, the "healthier" people are (or seem to be at least).

[glam]

People, at the end of the day, it actually is mostly just "Calories in, Calories out". Some people can stay thin with only eating candy. People have lost weight while eating Twinkies only. Sure, they will be unhealthy and not in good shape (just smaller in size), but they will have lost weight on bad nutrition.

well of course this is true. when i'm talking about weight loss, i'm not only talking about reducing the number on the scale, but doing it in a healthy way. this generally involves exercise (or at least frequent movement) and eating right. and with endomorphs (my body type), building muscle is especially key to weight loss, in order to burn more fat.

[lemontrees]

i like exercising b/c it ground me in my body. i feel a lot more serene after, and more confident as well. there's something about exertion that makes me a lot more physically present than i would otherwise, and the endorphin high is super nice. when i walk out onto the street leaving the gym everything feels even more suffused, and i can feel my feet pressing into the ground.

[Olimpia]

Lol sorry for contributing to the off topic.

But uh, you have not really provided any new information here as to why I lost weight if you were talking to me.

You have simply burned off the calories you've consumed; likely mostly through walking around.

[marooned]

and with endomorphs (my body type), building muscle is especially key to weight loss, in order to burn more fat.

this reminds me of a documentary about weight @Starfall posted a while back, in which people consistently of healthy weight agreed to eat way more food than they need for some length of time. a couple of the people didn't actually gain all that much fat, because their bodies apparently converted some of the excess energy to muscle in order to adapt, which increased their BMR. i wonder if they were more mesomorphic in nature. so for these sorts of people, the body takes care of this on its own (there are internal processes to do that), but for more endomorphic types, you have to do work to create the process as you don't naturally build muscle, which sadly is the case for me probably.

[marooned]

Lol sorry for contributing to the off topic.

But uh, you have not really provided any new information here as to why I lost weight if you were talking to me.

perhaps it has facilitated an emotional/spiritual change which has either affected your behavior, your metabolism, or both. for instance, if you've been feeling happier since your move, or alternatively, more stressed out... either could be reflections of a 'deeper change.' i notice when things are going really well for me, or i'm more emotionally fulfilled, it feels like i don't need food to live anymore.

[Suz]

Yeah, but you must keep in mind that the lifestyle here in North America is drastically different in comparison to European countries (Excluding larger and major cities). Europe is more condensed and pedestrian friendly compared to North America.

Where I'm from (A city in Canada), it is designed for driving and it is not pedestrian friendly. Also, there is a lot more open space here (Not pedestrian friendly land, at least where I'm from). Winters are also brutal, so "Walking everywhere" is not really an option for us. So if one works a more sedentary career, going to gym is a great way to stay in shape.

I understand where you are coming from, but I wouldn't be so quick to label the gym as such a bad place as you're making it out to be. A little bit of exercise is better than none. I also yearn to live the more "European" and "Asian" lifestyle, but the environment makes it difficult for a lot of us North Americans.

i was gonna say the exact same thing...

[Suz]

People place too much emphasis on weight. Character is more important.

I agree, and weightwise, it's really only worth discussing in terms of health so when discussing weight, it should be more about fitness as opposed to actual weight.

[Myst]

perhaps it has facilitated an emotional/spiritual change which has either affected your behavior, your metabolism, or both. for instance, if you've been feeling happier since your move, or alternatively, more stressed out... either could be reflections of a 'deeper change.' i notice when things are going really well for me, or i'm more emotionally fulfilled, it feels like i don't need food to live anymore.

I don't know, if there has been such a change I have not noticed consciously. I do know that being in certain states before in my life I would lose weight really quickly but this is nothing like that.

You have simply burned off the calories you've consumed; likely mostly through walking around.

No. I actually train pretty hard regularly in general and I train less here in the USA. (Due to reasons outside my control currently)

So a bit of walking is hardly going to affect this.

this reminds me of a documentary about weight @Starfall posted a while back, in which people consistently of healthy weight agreed to eat way more food than they need for some length of time. a couple of the people didn't actually gain all that much fat, because their bodies apparently converted some of the excess energy to muscle in order to adapt, which increased their BMR. i wonder if they were more mesomorphic in nature. so for these sorts of people, the body takes care of this on its own (there are internal processes to do that), but for more endomorphic types, you have to do work to create the process as you don't naturally build muscle, which sadly is the case for me probably.

Well, I do have to work out to build muscle :| though it happens easily... nice magic here for those people.

[epheme]

derailed the thread, so it's no longer off-topic

not sure, because most of my life i've lived in the southeastern US, mostly Georgia and Florida. but my mom lived in LA years ago, and she said that in more affluent areas, people are pretty health-conscious and stuff - basically the closer you are to the beach, the "healthier" people are (or seem to be at least).

I live in SD and before that in LA and the food options here are probably healthier than in much of the US. Or at least that's how it seems whenever I'm in the rest of the country, with some exception. I mean anywhere I go there are vegetarian restaurants, local (organic) produce everywhere, farmer's markets in every neighborhood, etc. When I'm traveling it's so difficult to find food that I actually like - everything seems processed or fried or bland or full of white sugar or something. The midwest seems to be the worst offender. I usually end up losing weight when travelling because I don't do fast food and it's difficult to find things I like that are sustaining (in the rest of the country people seem to think that vegetarians ONLY eat salad ).

And, off topic, here in SD we have so many local breweries - we have a whole craft beer revival. And there are the wineries.

But still my European and Asian friends say we have terrible food compared to the rest of the world. Not cuisine but literally the food.

[Olimpia]

Wait... I just realized I have ended up in an SP instinct thread. How??

Then... I saw that a post of mine was quoted in the OP. Oh no, haha.

*SP blindspot person, out*

[Myst]

Wait... I just realized I have ended up in an SP instinct thread. How??

Then... I saw that a post of mine was quoted in the OP. Oh no, haha.

*SP blindspot person, out*

Lol I also replied to you in post #24

[Olimpia]

Lol I also replied to you in post #24

I know... >_<

[FDG]

this reminds me of a documentary about weight @Starfall posted a while back, in which people consistently of healthy weight agreed to eat way more food than they need for some length of time. a couple of the people didn't actually gain all that much fat, because their bodies apparently converted some of the excess energy to muscle in order to adapt, which increased their BMR. .

Yeah, it happens but it gets more and more difficult as you get older.

[jessica129]

American food really is shitty. Like...disgusting. I get why people outside of America think that you can get in shape by just walking everywhere but do you realize how spread out and gigantic America is? Most people don't live in overly populated cities which means that their place of employment is AT LEAST 10 miles away. Everything is just so damn spread out...it's not compact and as convenient as other countries.

But yeah. I'm sick of fast food places being on every single corner with $1.00 cheeseburgers and $10.00 salads. I see obese people every where I look and it's like I can't blame them....it's so much easier and affordable to eat terrible than it is to be healthy here. Ever since I moved to South Carolina, I've been the most unhealthy I've ever been in my life. I feel gross here.

[jessica129]

Yeah, the school lunch system is epically messed up. When I was in junior high, I blame a lot of my weight gain on it because for something like $1.50, you got fries, pizza and a soda...everyday. What kid is really going to choose a salad over that at that age? I never did.Then I read these articles about how obesity just keeps rising and how people are dumbfounded as to why this is happening. If you raise a kid on terrible food, there is a very good chance they will become overweight in adulthood because it's habit and that's what they know and like.

I need to re watch Fat Sick and Nearly Dead to cleanse my soul and start eating better again.

[marooned]

personally i wish people wouldn't get pregnant when they're obese, as i read that it increases the baby's chances of becoming obese, and not just because of the environment - it affects the baby in the womb. i wouldn't be surprised if this is a major contributing factor in childhood obesity.

perhaps it's common (just wondering!) even for a mother who is overweight (not even obese) when she's pregnant (or has a history of it even?) to end up with an overweight or obese child... the child enters a society where food (especially unhealthy food) is everywhere along with the bombardment of advertisement and other influences, but his/her fat cells are *already* altered due to the mother during pregnancy. so the child is less protected against all of the food in their environment and less able to get rid of all the excess energy effectively and it's enough to make the child obese.

i was thinking about this when an overweight someone from work a long time ago was talking about her obese daughter and how she just didn't understand how it had happened. the kid was attending after school and before school programs that regularly offered things like candy and donuts. but that wouldn't have made me fat as a child. i remained a stick until puberty - that was when all the food started affecting me, though it *still* didn't make me obese.

basically all the food/societal influences make for a world where you have a "first generation" where a significant percentage eventually succumbs to being overweight, and they produce a second generation that is more vulnerable to it, and it just escalates by generation. i read also that the trend in the 80s/90s towards more 'low fat' food (which was often all high carb) and more and more processed foods along with that terrible food pyramid that instructed people they should be eating several loaves of bread every day (yes, i'm exaggerating), really contributed to the weight problem in society.

also to make matters worse, a generation of children who are obese and get stuff like type 2 diabetes because of it in childhood, and then have heart attacks or strokes in their 30s is kind of a failed generation... without a turn around, nature will eliminate the highly unhealthy for us.

[Animal]

By raw numbers, it is cheaper to eat healthily in the U.S. than anywhere else in the world. We spend less of our income on food than just about any other nation. I remember in college we had a student from Australia who was vegan. He was amazed how much cheaper and easier it was to maintain his diet here than back at home: fruits and vegetables were several times cheaper here, and the array of vegetarian and vegan ready-made foods was much better. In Australia, even the ubiquitous banana was expensive.

Unfortunately, it's even cheaper (and more convenient) to eat poorly. As has been pointed out ITT, we are horribly sedentary because our country is unwalkable and passive entertainment has usurped physical activity, but we're also overworked compared to other industrialized nations. Then we have another issue: Americans don't really have a cuisine or cooking culture that long pre-dates the rise of convenience foods, as in Asia or Europe. As such, what most people prepare at home in this country (when they even do prepare meals at home, because home-cooking is a dying art) revolves around pre-packaged, chemical-laden convenience items. The most popular shows on Food Network were bastions of convenience cooking: Semi-Homemade Cooking ("describe[d] as using 70 percent pre-packaged products and 30 percent fresh items") and 30-Minute Meals.

To be fair, the U.S. is huge, and different regions have vastly different food prices and restaurant options, as well as median incomes which can obviously affect what you can (and are willing to) buy. If you're REALLY poor or live in a food desert, then eating healthy (or feeding a family) can be quite difficult. But everywhere I've gone in the U.S. has food prices relatively low compared to other parts of the world.

EDIT: I just realized that this thread originated from anti-gym/exercise sentiments. Fuck that noise. I love the gym. And women should lift weights, too, since they have a higher risk of osteoporosis, which can be somewhat ameliorated by resistance exercise.

[marooned]

You also can't bee so quick to judge why someone is overweight.

i wasn't being quick to judge. i was wondering. i know you can't know from looking at someone why they are overweight (eta: also even if you know why they believe they are overweight, you actually still don't necessarily know why). that's kind of obvious i would think. i also have very little value judgment on the matter even though i think it makes more sense not to get pregnant when obese. it is true it doesn't doom one's children for sure, but i'd be concerned about it just as i would be concerned about some devastating genetic condition if i knew i had one to pass on - like your child has a 1/6 chance of inheriting x condition (that kind of thing). however, were i actually considering getting pregnant i'd research the matter first regardless... decisions would not simply be based on things i am wondering about. maybe after that the picture would look less bleak, or perhaps more so, i just don't know.

eta: i should add a disclaimer, because in a way it is like i'm saying it's all hopeless... but just as someone can work through their weight problems, one can work hard to keep their children healthy no matter their beginnings. so it's possible to make this work; just probably a lot more difficult in many cases. so i guess it's not really that it's unwise to have kids if one is obese or something, but just that one would need to be up for the possible challenge and dedicated. and many of my projections come from knowing that i am really lazy, and so then i'm not expecting much of others either?