Sick of the Stupidity : Low-Carb War Zone Forum : Active Low-Carber Forums

#16 ^

Wed, Jun-01-05, 06:41

H20Goddess H20Goddess is offline

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Posts: 247

Plan: Modified Atkins
Stats: 158/136/140 Female 5ft 10in

BF:
Progress: 122%

Location: Dartmouth, Nova Scotia

Quote:

Originally Posted by ItsTheWooo

Supersize me in a nutshell:

I'm going to prove to the world computers are bad with a sensationalist propaganda piece disgused as an unbiased documentary!
I am going to do this because I'm some breed of an environut, and I want people to be anti-technology, furthering my insane cause!

I am going to take my minitower, misuse and abuse it for a month! I will download viruses, kick it, throw it, pour water on it, and other weird/abnormal behaviors! I'm going to lead people to form negative emotional associations between computer usage / reliance on technology! I'm going to cast a lot of fear (MACHINES WILL TAKE OUR JOBS), doubt (HOW SAFE IS DATA ON A HARD DISK?), and shame (YOU ONLY USE COMPUTERS BECAUSE YOU'RE STUPID AND LAZY TO DO WORK YOURSELF) -- the whole NINE YARDS -- to further "The Cause" (aka my religious like belief in the superiority of a simple gaget free life).

I am going to document my abusive, abnormal, and wholly unnatural behavior toward this piece of machinery in lurid detail! I will likewise document the subsequent and obvious deterioration of performance and it's negative effect on my life that will ensue!

This will then lead people to form irrational and completely stupid conclusions about whether or not using computers - as intended - is a good idea!

Here's the funny part though: THE CONCLUSION IS RIGGED! The experiment and it's conditions are ridiculously flawed from the outset so that only the conclusion I want to be reached can possibly be reached! Once my "scientific experiment proves my point", I'll run wild using the data to further "The Cause"! I'm a smartee pantz!

(The one significant difference between this scenario and the spectacle of SuperSizeMe, is the unfortunate fact that obesity is a HUMAN condition, not the condition of an inanimate object. It's terribly unfortunate this pathetic worm has chosen to single out and exploit the obese to further his animal rights propaganda BS. Joseph Goebbels would be proud. Although on the other hand, he's doing an excellent job offering evidence to support my theory that ideologically extreme individuals are that way at the expense of empathy/tolerance/compassion for fellow human beings...)

I simply could not have summed SuperSizeMe up any better than you have here. Your take on this piece of propagandist garbage is by far the best one I have heard yet and is my interpretation of the film to the letter. I just couldn't think of the proper analogy. I am amazed at the the amount of people whom upon watching the film come away claiming how horrible MacDonald's is and that they will never eat fast food again, yada, yada, yada, and I am not knocking these views. But to base such decisons on an unrealistic, contrived experiment conducted by this type of extremist is frankly, quite ridiculous, imo. No one in their right mind would eat the way he did during the film, therefore his theory is baseless.

I see this movie as nothing more than an inept "film maker's" attempt to make a name for himself by catering to the lack of self-accountabilty already prevalent in our society by using this piece of garbage as a vehicle to do so. The fact that he attempts to present the film in a Michael Moore-esque fashion does not negate this.

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#17 ^

Wed, Jun-01-05, 09:35

jedswife

Senior Member

Posts: 472

Plan: atkins since 1-21-03
Stats: 210/155/125 Female 5 ft. 3 in.

BF:
Progress: 65%

Location: Texas

the failure of people to recognize the OBVIOUS absurdities of their claims is what really bothers me. it seems people (the herd mentality) just believe whatever they see - no questioning no logical discussion just blatant acceptance of complete BS.

i think there is a virus going around called "terminal stupidity" and it has spread worldwide. you know the old saying "a person is smart but 'people' are stupid". it just seems like no one (this is not directed at any of you but 'people' in general) thinks for themselves anymore. a group of people get together and the intelligence level just seems fall.

#18 ^

Wed, Jun-01-05, 09:36

jedswife

Senior Member

Posts: 472

Plan: atkins since 1-21-03
Stats: 210/155/125 Female 5 ft. 3 in.

BF:
Progress: 65%

Location: Texas

oh! i read somewhere that the sky is purple so it must be true!

#19 ^

Wed, Jun-01-05, 11:06

JPaleo

Senior Member

Posts: 147

Plan: My Own
Stats: 154/141/- Female 61.5 inches

BF:
Progress: 0%

I liked Super Size Me. His film was not about the evils of meat or low carb or Atkins. It was about the evils of processed food. I think that anyone who subsists on a diet of only processed foods would most likely suffer the same sort of health issues as he did eating only McDonalds. Processed food is all refined flours and sugar and preservatives and hydrogenated fats. And isn't that what has made so many of us ill?

The movie did not push any animal rights stuff (other than the girlfriend). It pushed getting rid of junk food. And what is wrong with that?

He is quoted in one interview as saying, "The one thing I had hoped that would happen with this movie, was it would make people start to think about how they eat, how they live. Nobody walks out of this movie and calls their lawyer to sue McDonalds. People walked out saying, 'I need to pay more attention to what I eat. I need to pay better attention to how I live. I need to exercise more.' Parents are walking out saying, 'I need to be a better role model to my kids. I need to cook more at home. I'm going down to my kids school Monday morning and see what the hell they're feeding my kids, because I have no idea.' "

I don't see any evil PETA pushing in that.

Also, at the end of the film it said that Morgan followed a vegan diet for a few months and lost some weight then stopped doing vegan and continued to lose the rest of his weight.

Just my two cents . . .

-J

Last edited by JPaleo : Wed, Jun-01-05 at 11:13.

#20 ^

Wed, Jun-01-05, 11:28

HappyLC

Senior Member

Posts: 1,876

Plan: Generic low carb
Stats: 212/167/135 Female 66.75

BF:
Progress: 58%

Location: Long Island, NY

Quote:

Originally Posted by JPaleo

His film was not about the evils of meat or low carb or Atkins. It was about the evils of processed food. I think that anyone who subsists on a diet of only processed foods would most likely suffer the same sort of health issues as he did eating only McDonalds.
-J

Not true. Spurlock didn't just eat McDonald's food - he stuffed himself to the point of sickness at every meal. There's another guy with a website who decided to put the "McDonald's diet" to the test. He lost weight and got healthier. And he wasn't eating salads, either, but burgers and fries. I don't have the link right now, but will post it if I find it. (Anybody else know who I'm talking about?)

#21 ^

Wed, Jun-01-05, 11:38

JPaleo

Senior Member

Posts: 147

Plan: My Own
Stats: 154/141/- Female 61.5 inches

BF:
Progress: 0%

I honestly cannot imagine that eating all your meals at McDonalds could ever, ever make you healither. Maybe someone could lose weight eating only McDonalds if they really watched portions and maybe the weight loss would lead to some short term health improvements. But in the long term? Not going to happen. The hydrogenated fats alone would have adverse effects on your body not to mention the acrylamide in the french fries.

#22 ^

Wed, Jun-01-05, 15:42

Lisa N Lisa N is offline

Contributing Member

Posts: 12,028

Plan: Bernstein Diabetes Soluti
Stats: 260/-/145 Female 5' 3"

BF:
Progress: 63%

Location: Michigan

Quote:

There's another guy with a website who decided to put the "McDonald's diet" to the test. He lost weight and got healthier. And he wasn't eating salads, either, but burgers and fries.

Yup. His name is Don Gorske but he ate once a day and not a large amount, either. While he brags that his cholesterol is enviably low and he certainly is thin, those are not altogether reliable indicators of health as many thin people with low cholesterol have strokes and heart attacks and get diabetes as well.
Even though he appears healthy, I can't imagine that a diet that consists of nothing but 2 Big Macs a day and some Coke can be good for anyone long-term. Then again, he may just be one of those people who can abuse their body their whole life and live to a ripe old age. Sort of like that Uncle that so many people claim to have who smoked 2 packs a day and live to the age of 98.

#23 ^

Wed, Jun-01-05, 16:01

kwikdriver kwikdriver is offline

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Posts: 2,581

Plan: No grains, no sugar.
Stats: 001/045/525 Male 72

BF:
Progress: 8%

To tack on to the above posts, I lost probably about 90 pounds between August and February by eating only fast food, chips and candy. I'd bet my bloodwork looked better than when I started. But I only ate once a day. In that time, I didn't go into a supermarket once, for any reason, and never prepared a meal of my own. Prior to that, I had lived on fast food for many years, and gained a frightening amount of weight.

When I was 20, I lost probably about 125 pounds in six months by eating one restaurant meal a day: two chile rellenos, Spanish rice, and beans, five days a week, for six months. The other two days (I was off from work), I ate an enormous super burrito from a different restaurant. That was it, the only food I ate. As soon as I started adding food back in, my weight skyrocketed, and I was almost back to where I started in under a year.

All sorts of things can be done, but few people who eat fast food regularly only eat once a day. I haven't seen Supersize Me, and I seriously doubt I'd like it based on what I've read, but I have no doubt fast food is a serious threat to the health of this country. I also don't think you should blame the fast food companies (entirely). This is a free enterprise system; they can't make people eat their crap day after day after day. The problem is more complex: a lazy, ignorant public, and information sources (like the USDA) which are more interested in keeping the economy rolling than they are in protecting the public health. There's a fast food joint on every corner because that's what we, the great unwashed public, want; if we didn't they'd be out of business.

#24 ^

Wed, Jun-01-05, 16:27

steveed

Senior Member

Posts: 854

Plan: I am a leaf on the wind
Stats: 290/275/195 Male 5.11

BF:a mess of it
Progress: 16%

Location: In a box by the door

SuperSizedEntertainment

I didn't take SuperSize Me seriously as a documentery, I just thought that seeing someone making a documentary on self abuse was amusing, even if the vegan girlfriend and conclusions it made were ridiculous. If some people took it as gospel or an admonishment to stay away from McDonalds, so be it...people can read whatever nonsense they want to into it.

Still thought it was entertaining on a purely voyueristic gonzo level...I just made a shopping list in my head while the propoganda was being shoveled.

No, I'm not proud of the fact.

#25 ^

Wed, Jun-01-05, 20:27

HappyLC

Senior Member

Posts: 1,876

Plan: Generic low carb
Stats: 212/167/135 Female 66.75

BF:
Progress: 58%

Location: Long Island, NY

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lisa N

Yup. His name is Don Gorske but he ate once a day and not a large amount, either.

No, that's not the guy. The guy I'm thinking of deliberately set out to debunk "Supersize Me." He ate all his meals at McDonald's and kept track of everything he ate, his weight, bloodwork, etc.

(I'll find that website if it's the last thing I do!

)

ETA: I found it! His claim is that it's the sugary soda and not the food that made Spurlock sick. Here's HIS WEBSITE.

Last edited by HappyLC : Wed, Jun-01-05 at 20:40.

#26 ^

Wed, Jun-01-05, 20:40

kwikdriver kwikdriver is offline

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Posts: 2,581

Plan: No grains, no sugar.
Stats: 001/045/525 Male 72

BF:
Progress: 8%

Quote:

Originally Posted by HappyLC

)

Done

Notice that this person (a libertarian free marketer) actually did the same thing as the other guy: deliberately ate an unrealistic diet in order to skew the results. Of the two, my own experience with fast food suggests the other guy's distortion was the less egregious.

Last edited by kwikdriver : Wed, Jun-01-05 at 20:50.

#27 ^

Thu, Jun-02-05, 03:51

Klodo2

Registered Member

Posts: 87

Plan: -
Stats: -/-/- Female 5'7"

BF:
Progress: 63%

I'm surprised that so many people hated Super Size Me so much. I saw it pretty much as steveed did - just a bit of fun, not a serious, world-changing documentary. And I'm so not hearing the PETA black helicopters at all. His girlfriend's opinions were a small part of the movie, but Spurlock himself said he loved meat.

#28 ^

Thu, Jun-02-05, 11:01

MeBLady

Senior Member

Posts: 2,296

Plan: Maintenance (PPLP)
Stats: 216/131/140 Female 5 feet, 5 inches

BF:48.79/21.19/23
Progress: 112%

Location: Southern California

Quote:

He is quoted in one interview as saying, "The one thing I had hoped that would happen with this movie, was it would make people start to think about how they eat, how they live. Nobody walks out of this movie and calls their lawyer to sue McDonalds. People walked out saying, 'I need to pay more attention to what I eat. I need to pay better attention to how I live. I need to exercise more.' Parents are walking out saying, 'I need to be a better role model to my kids. I need to cook more at home. I'm going down to my kids school Monday morning and see what the hell they're feeding my kids, because I have no idea.' "

I don't see any evil PETA pushing in that.

Also, at the end of the film it said that Morgan followed a vegan diet for a few months and lost some weight then stopped doing vegan and continued to lose the rest of his weight.

Just my two cents . . .

I agree. I also enjoyed Supersize Me and thought it put out an interesting message, even if I didn't completely agree with the gf's accessments.

I thought they had it wrong with their stance on saturated fats instead of transfats (like most mainstream does), but they exposed the entire McDonald's menu as being "bad for you". Even their salads contained sugar.

I remember that Morgan gained about 22 pounds in the 30 days, and it took him 18 months to lose 20 pounds. It was more his health rather than his weight that was a problem....his blood and liver were in the condition of someone who would be typically twice his weight.

With that said, I don't completely disagree with the vegan diet used to restore his health....the gf said, "Lots of healthy veggies with plenty of antioxidants" -- this is consistant with what I have learned through LCing. Antioxidants DO help with free radicals which are caused by transfats, the the carbs we do eat within the LC lifestyle are those in which the gf was promoting (lots of greens). I do think he would have recovered faster with eating saturated fats and plenty of protein to preserve muscle mass.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lisa N

I've lost weight this way when I was young -- 20 years of age. I ate one meal a day of whatever I wanted, which was fast food considering I was going to school at the time and wasn't really in a position to cook my own meals.

I usually ate a quarter pounder w/cheese or a whopper (only ketchup and pickle) with fries, 5 piece chicken tender w/BBQ sause, and a large coke. Took off about 25 pounds in a few months, which had been put on through a pregnancy.

I was, once, one of those people that you describe above -- someone who could eat nothing but junk and remain skinny, but I never felt good. I always had stomache problems, never had much energy, snored, was sick alot. It DID catch up with me later in life, and once I started gaining, the weight came on fast and no matter what I did, I couldn't get it off.

Now, in my late 30's and a smoker, I have more energy and less health problems with the LC lifestyle than I did as a non smoking junk food junkie 20 year old.

#29 ^

Thu, Jun-02-05, 13:56

Monica34

New Member

Posts: 9

Plan: Atkins
Stats: 292/224.6/180 Female 5.10

BF:
Progress: 60%

Location: The Netherlands

A Dutch newspaper journalist (Algemeen Dagblad) tried the same experiment last year. He ate all his meals at McDonalds for a month. After his checkup his health had improved and he lost weight.

His conclusion was that it's not McDonalds that is bad, but what and how much you choose to eat (as if we didn't know that). He ate a normal amount choosing salads, chicken, croissants, fruit and sometimes burgers.

Of course if you go to McDonalds you can stuff yourself until it comes right back out (sorry), but you can do that everywhere. The things this guy ate could be ordered just as easy as a cheeseburger. He just chose a sensible diet instead of a diet which was sure from the beginning to be very damaging to a body.

So instead of putting the blame on McDonalds, I think it is better to look at ourselves. We are the ones who choose a cheesburger/whopper instead of a grilled chicken with a salad and suffer / have suffered the consequenses.

Monica

#30 ^

Thu, Jun-02-05, 14:59

HappyLC

Senior Member

Posts: 1,876

Plan: Generic low carb
Stats: 212/167/135 Female 66.75

BF:
Progress: 58%

Location: Long Island, NY

Here's that website again. The guy is Deshan "Woody" Woods, a 30-year-old Air Force sergeant stationed in San Antonio, Tex. He wanted to do his own "Supersize Me" challenge.

His rules -
1- Eat ONLY at McDonald's and nowhere else, even at home
2- Eat french fries with every meal.
3- Supersize when offered.
4- Avoid healthy items like salads, yogurt parfaits, and grilled items
5- Consume at least one dessert every day
6- Drink NO water at anytime, only diet sodas
7- Breakfast was optional, Lunch and Dinner were mandatory

Here are the results -

(C&P from his site)

I lost 8.4 pounds...(160.6 ---> 152.2)
I lost 2" around the waist...(33" ---> 31")
I lost over 3% body fat… (14% ---> 11%)

That’s the outside…but what about the inside…let’s run
those numbers!

My cholesterol dropped 33 pts…(204 ---> 171)
My Triglyceride count dropped 24 pts…(89 ---> 65)
My HDL lowered 8 pts…(57 ---> 49)
My LDL dropped 20 pts… (129 ---> 109)
My Glucose dropped 5 pts… (85 ---> 80)
My Chol/HDL ratio dropped…(3.6 ---> 3.5)
My kidney, Thyroid, and Liver results came back all within
range! No damage to report!

These labs were conducted using a USAF medical
laboratory! So you can bet they are accurate with no
foul play!