Weight Control
Thyroid extract may be used to supplement the thyroid's secretion, and weight
will return to normal-if the patient is not overeating on his own. But the fact
of the matter is that in the vast majority of overweight people no thyroid
dysfunction or other physical cause is detectable and treatable. There is an
old story about a pound person who used to claim that he wasn't overweight at
all-merely too short for his weight. And, of course, he was right-by the
charts, he should have been 12 feet tall.
And there are, of course, many people
who insist that they never eat too much; indeed, they claim, they eat like
birds. But if they do, it is like inactive birds. According to all the
available scientific evidence-and overweight has had a considerable amount of scientific
scrutiny-the problem of excess poundage is a problem of too much intake for too
little outgo.
WHY DO PEOPLE EAT TOO
MUCH?
Overweight is a common problem in this country not just because of
affluence but because of our inventiveness and way of life. For most of us,
eating is no longer something done for survival; it's a social function, and
everywhere around us are invitations to eat. In addition to family meals, there
are coffee breaks with doughnuts or Danish; candy counters and peanut, soft drink,
and other types of vending machines in office buildings; business and club
luncheons; popcorn and soft drinks in movie houses; and on ad infinitum. And
while we have thrust upon us opportunities galore for consuming calories, we
have to make opportunities for calorie expenditure.
The way we live-riding in
elevators, riding to work, being bused to school, even riding golf
carts-discourages exercise. We are, we might well say, victims of the system.
Clearly the only way to lose weight or to keep from gaining it is to outsmart
the system. And that includes the whole of the system, including the fad diet
part of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment