Gang, as a fat person who struggles with arthritis badly- 3 surgeries - read that chronic inflammation I found this quite interesting. I have no idea if it's true, but it sure sounds right lol - I hijacked it from another site I follow. The crazy thing is we have really been trying to clean up and eat healthy - the wife is one of those folks who just doesn't change, never has to watch what she eats, but not me.. I can look at food and pick up 3 pounds.

But cleaning out processed junk, refined sugars and such, eating real home made sour dough bread and exercising has sure made a big difference the last year. I've not lost much weight, but feel so much better and can actually walk a good bit now pain free. I've picked up a good bit of muscle tone from riding the bicycle so that's a plus. 8 miles this morning and it wasn't a struggle and no pain. I also did a 3 month ivermectin protocol in January and started on marshmallow root tincture and nascent Iodine. Been an absolute game changer for my back, hip and knee pain. FWIW.. Lot of us on here are getting older and stiffer, might give you all some relief..

But this excerpt blew me away when I read it.

The FDA didn't fail — it was never designed to protect you. Since 1958, the GRAS (Generally Regarded as Safe) loophole has let food corporations self-certify their own ingredients as safe without a single federal review. The result? Thousands of chemicals, banned across the civilized world, remain legal in American food. This is not negligence. This is a business model that monetizes your slow sickness. The same companies that poison your bread, your soda, your snacks, and your kids' cereal fund the studies that exonerate them, write the regulations that shield them, and pay for the ads that gaslight you into believing this is normal. They engineered a food supply that hijacks your biology, overrides your satiety signals, and keeps you hooked, inflamed, and exhausted — then they call it "personal responsibility" when your body breaks. You are not weak. You are a survivor of a deliberate, decades-long assault on human health. So reject the lie. Read every label as if your life depends on it — because it does. If an ingredient is banned elsewhere, it doesn't belong in your body. Eat food that rots, not food that resists decay. Filter your water, cook on cast iron, refuse the thermal receipt, and for God's sake stop microwaving plastic. The system will not save you. So save yourself — loudly, stubbornly, starting right now.

what a damning commentary on our food supply and government..

Interesting. Would like to see the source of this.

I believe nearly every word of that. Big pharma has a similar MO in my opinion.

Absolutely I believe it.

Try cutting carb. My wife was geting insulin resistant. They wanted her to start taking the shots or cut carbs to less than 40 a day.. it was rough at first. I cht carbs to suport her. That was w years ago. She lost 35 lbs fixed her insulin resistants and I also lost 25 lb I didnt realize I had to loose.

All the added sugar and processed food is not natural and bad for you.

I try to eat stuff with only 3 ingredients, lol, can't always do it but you gotta try...and stay far away from fake sugar!

Weight loss is simple in theory. Burn more calories than you take in..... but, people find it hard to lose weight even when working out. Why? American diet and carbs. When these people exercise, they burn the carbs which is in the form of sugar in their blood steam from the high carb intake and never burn enough to get to their fat reserves. Then they replace that burned off sugar with their next high carb meal. The cycle continues. They may even keep calories low, but the sugar is the problem. Of course there are people with other health issues that cause their weight problem, but for most, eat clean, reduce carbs and sugar and the weight will come off. Also make sure your protein goals are met eat day. Protein plays a big part in weight loss.

The average American gets far more protein than they need. Fiber...not so much.

Our health is very related to the gut organisms we maintain. Lots of refined foods, (sugars and starches) and you have the ones responsible for more inflammation in your system. Lots of veggies, fruits, and whole grains (read that high quality fiber) and you get the ones that tamp down on inflammation.

Eating right is the first step, the next is exercise, exercise and exercise
Get off of your far arse and do something, anything to get the blood flowing
I have some fat friends that have developed health issues from just sitting around feeling sorry for themselves.
That only makes the problem worse and the end closer

A few of my friends don't like that I tell them the truth
Just like on this site also, some don't like me because I tell it like I see it

You guys do realize the extra years added to your life are not years when you are active and bullet proof. They get tacked on to the years you are in the nursing home. I try to eat healthy, but I also like to enjoy what I am eating so I do not have all the answers either. I do know what people older then me have said. Pete told me "Eat right exercise..... still die." And my 106 year old neighbor Lily said. " Living a long time is a blessing, but it is also kind of a curse." She passed away recently reading her obit where it said she buried all of her kids and a grand kid or two. I started to realize what she was referring to. G.

This is my great grand daughter at her first horse show. No point in deliberately destroying your health either. Don't have to get old to go through a few tragedies.

How do you feel when you sit down and eat a nice fresh steak? I'm guessing pretty good, atleast I know I do. I don't feel "Bloated" or "stuffed" despite eating a good amount of protein and calories.

Now how do you feel when you eat a bunch of cheap Pizza?

My wife recently made Pizza. Homemade crust, homemade tomato sauce my mom canned from her garden. Homemade cheese made from the Milk from our cow. Sausage my dad made. I ate a ton of that Pizza as it was excellent. After eating I looked at my wife and said "I feel great, like I just ate a steak". It made me a bit of an instant believer in "real" food.

All you need to do is read the ingredients in anything you buy.
Natural food has no additives.

Thought I missed a word or two but, no. Where did I say "destroy your heath" I said I try to eat healthy and did not encourage anybody to eat anything they were opposed to eating. Just stated a few bits of info shared with me by people with more experience then I have had. G.

Not true. It's all a crapshoot. Genetics plays a role too. However, I'd rather live without type 2 diabetes and that's pretty easy to not get if you eat healthy.

While being genetics is true, there would be a lot less health problems eating natural foods.
Same with medicines , natural remedies are far better than chemists remedies .
Pharmaceuticals cause more problems than they will ever cure.
Have a headache , take this Tylenol , or Anacin instead of pure aspirin .
Your choice, loose your liver and kidneys over a headache .
There were few cases of diabetes in the 50'and 60's , but now it seems more and more cases by the week today.

My grandfather died from complications of type 2 diabetes in 1942. He was 62. I'm not overweight like most sufferers of the condition, but have also had it for the last decade. My diet has been pretty decent and I exercise a lot but I have a strong genetic propensity for the malady. Having said that, if I completey were to avoid sugars and carbs I probably could have skated past it.

Pizza shop pizza is hands down my favorite food. So I feel pretty dang good after eating it. It's what I had for supper tonight, in fact.

I can’t speak for Mexico but Canada and the US are a mess when it comes to obesity and overall health. I know you Americans are really anti Europe but I’m actually sitting drinking coffee in Europe right now on day 12 of a vacation here and my biggest takeaway from the trip is how much of a mess we are in North America comparatively when it comes to fitness and overall appearance.

Inactivity and a poor diet are the reasons. The amount of processed food we eat in comparison is huge. A sample size of 100 average men from the Netherlands would absolutely clobber a sample size of the same amount of Canadian or American men in a brawl or any physical feat. The same could be said about the women but you could also add in that the Dutch ones are the ones the Canadian and American men would be staring at.

Eating healthy is a big part of it. Eating too much of something is another. Personally I don't think every meal is supposed to feel like you just had a Thanksgiving feast. I feel like there are three feelings. Hungry, not hungry, and full. I think too many people are full too often. Its ok to be a little hungry throughout the day. When you eat stop eating when you aren't hungry anymore, not full. That's different. Its all consumed calories vs burned calories. If you make the calories you do consume healthy ones it helps with weight and makes you feel better too.

I really helped me watching that ALONE show and the weight they lose on that show. Just realize its a "lifestyle". Your body takes the shape it does and settles into the shape it is b/c of your daily routine you have over long periods of time. Its an average. If that routine is maintaining less calories then it should in turn maintain less size too.

The trick is getting your brain to believe you. You have to convince it that the "not full" does not mean "hungry" and that not being hungry and not being full is actually just right.

That "full" feeling and comfortableness after you've gorged yourself is just as addictive as everything else in life. I try not to get there too often. Good luck.

One chemical that has been a thorn in my side is Aspartame. How is it that so many other countries have banned it, yet here in the US, it's seems to be untouchable. If you google it, the reviews are scary.