30 May 2008

Factoid -- Diets

For me a diet has always been a case of wanting to "die" with "t". Simply, want to kill yourself on a diet then go drink yourself tea until you pull up stumps and go to the big cricketer's heaven in the sky.

However, I found this interesting little factoid, strangely enough printed on the underside of a cap from a bottle of tea -- how bizarre!

The factoid is this, "about half of all Americans are on a diet on any given day". This got me to thinking, and I will explore further to test my theorem, perhaps this is true for all western or westernized cultures. It is probably true that half of the Australian population or the UK population would also be on a diet on any given day.

However, my real thinking was, would this be true in Indonesia. I wonder if anyone has done any studies on this. I am sure there are studies for things like increasing levels of diabetes, obesity, heart conditions, and respiratory illnesses attributable to such things as change in diet and pollution and the like.

Yet, what relevance would figures like this have in Indonesia anyway when so many of the population live on less that USD 2 per day. The statistics would probably reflect the fact that more than half of the Indonesian population is on a restricted food intake on any given day and this absolutely nothing to do with dieting and body image.

So, if you are a dieter then you should be thanking your lucky stars that you have the luxury to choose to restrict your food intake because there are many that do not have that luxury...

Thus endeth the sermon!

9 comments:

Unknown said...

Best diet ever, move to Indonesia drink more scotch (cheaper at the duty free than the bottle'o back home) chow down on great tasting tucker, then lose 16 KGs to boot, with no added exercise. I love this place!!!

Rob Baiton said...

You should write a book!

I would buy it! Been here 5 years and haven't lost a gram!

Rob Baiton said...

Typo...15 years :D

Unknown said...

Maybe I was just a fat bastard before, but not anymore!!!

Unknown said...

BTW how many times have you danced on the bar @ Red Square?? this might be the problem.

Rob Baiton said...

ahhhh....that must be it!

I have never been to Red Square let alone dance on the bar!

LavanyaLea said...

rob, i just found the gateway to healthy life!!! (will soon follow once i'm done from exams, fingers crossed heheh!)

open itunes, go to podcast, search for "podrunner" or "podrunner interval" (i prefer the interval run since i'm *that* unfit!!!). gives u mixes to play while u go running... the podrunner interval gears u up towards running 5K, in 10 weeks! (they expect u to run 3x a week, e.g. for week 5 there's mix 1, 2, and 3).

sounds like a good idea eh? except that in 2 weeks i'm going home to jkt and where can i find a place to run?

one thing i've noticed is that "indonesian bloggers" seem like it's growing into a cult/exclusive club (with Pesta Bloggers, invitation to meetings by ministers, etc... which don't seem to happen often in other countries!) so is there actually a blog/community dedicated to Indonesian Joggers/Runners??? (I've heard about Sudirman being closed for motorists in the weekend)

Rob Baiton said...

LL...

Not an iPod fella...Have an mp3 by Samsung :D

Yes, on Sunday mornings the whole Thamrin / Sudirman thoroughfare is closed to traffic in the fast lanes (the slow lanes still have traffic).

I guess if you wanted to run out in the open then this would be a good time. Yet, once a week is hardly what iPod has in mind.

There are plenty of gyms with treadmills. I guess if you were really brave you could hit the streets and footpaths!

Yeah, I think there is a bloggers / joggers deal and that they run around the track at Senayan...

Are the bloggers in Indonesia an active bunch, yes! Is that a good thing, yes!

I am not sure about pesta blogger as my understanding it was organized for Indonesian bloggers (and some Malaysian bloggers resident in Indonesia) and not inclusive of non-Indonesian bloggers.

Yet, I had only just started blogging as I recall so you might be better asking someone else on that front. What I can say is I did not get an invite :)

Therry said...

"So, if you are a dieter then you should be thanking your lucky stars that you have the luxury to choose to restrict your food intake because there are many that do not have that luxury..."

So true. So, so true. In fact this country would've been an excellent place to settle down - the climate is pefect for dieting, just exercise a little bit and you will sweat a ton, and top it up with hot tea and you will sweat even more!

The spicy food also increases metabolism to burn more calories!

I remember when I came back from Australia I actually lost 13 kgs within 9 months or something like that - I think it was because of the food and water.

God bless Indonesia ...