Personal willpower not to blame for obesity

brideymcbriderson

Sou Desafinado:

One thing that was nice about my mom being a teacher and getting home earlier was that dinner was served at 6 p.m. every day and we ate it at the table as a family. No TVs and all that.

I grew up eating dinner at the table with my family.  groomy and I have fallen into a terrible pattern of eating on the couch and watching TV.  I think it results in us eating too fast and too mindlessly.  Every now and then, we make an effort to eat at the table, but it only lasts for a couple of days.  I want to work on this, for sure, because I absolutely do not want to be in the habit of eating dinner in front of the TV when I have kids.

LittleMoxie

swimbikepuke:

Oh my god, I love so much of this article. 

Gym class/recess

No more corporate cafeterias.   

More family farms

Fewer grain subsidies

Tax incentives to address urban sprall

More sidewalks...

 

I mean, I'm really starting to breathe heavy over here.  If someone throws in a criticism of the 8-6 work day, ya'll see my "o" face. 

I was about to respond to mysticporter that part of the reason people prioritize convenience and time is because we have so little of it since we are working more and more and the work week is creeping up beyond 40 hours.

meshaliu

brideymcbriderson:

I grew up eating dinner at the table with my family.  groomy and I have fallen into a terrible pattern of eating on the couch and watching TV.  I think it results in us eating too fast and too mindlessly.  Every now and then, we make an effort to eat at the table, but it only lasts for a couple of days.  I want to work on this, for sure, because I absolutely do not want to be in the habit of eating dinner in front of the TV when I have kids.

The kid is what broke our habit of eating on the sofa for purely practical reasons (the high chair, that she only eats what's on my plate, the mess is easier to clean off of hard surfaces). Whatever meal we're at home for happens at the table. There's hope.

The only time we ate together at a table when I was coming up we were at one of my grandmother's houses or a resturaunt. It's kind of a wierd thing to be in the habit of for me.

snapplegirl

LittleMoxie:

swimbikepuke:

 

I mean, I'm really starting to breathe heavy over here.  If someone throws in a criticism of the 8-6 work day, ya'll see my "o" face. 

I was about to respond to mysticporter that part of the reason people prioritize convenience and time is because we have so little of it since we are working more and more and the work week is creeping up beyond 40 hours.

Seriously. Who wants to work for ten hours, commute/pick up kds from daycare, come home and cook for an hour while dealing with them, do the bedtime routine, and then hop on the treadmill for another hour?? Plus, nowadays, many people have to do more work at home after hours to put in their requisite time. 

I applaud those who do this every day, but I can't really blame the people who just aren't up for it. The expectation for number of hours worked every week is frankly getting ridiculous. 

LittleMoxie

snapplegirl:

LittleMoxie:

swimbikepuke:

 

I mean, I'm really starting to breathe heavy over here.  If someone throws in a criticism of the 8-6 work day, ya'll see my "o" face. 

I was about to respond to mysticporter that part of the reason people prioritize convenience and time is because we have so little of it since we are working more and more and the work week is creeping up beyond 40 hours.

Seriously. Who wants to work for ten hours, commute/pick up kds from daycare, come home and cook for an hour while dealing with them, do the bedtime routine, and then hop on the treadmill for another hour?? Plus, nowadays, many people have to do more work at home after hours to put in their requisite time. 

I applaud those who do this every day, but I can't really blame the people who just aren't up for it. The expectation for number of hours worked every week is frankly getting ridiculous. 

I agree with how hard it is for people who can do it all - that is very impressive.  But I don't applaud the gluttons for punishment as far as work goes.  People who just keep working more than necessary and never say no raise the bar for everyone else.  That sounds lazy, but I've had really extreme experiences.  I worked at a call service center once and we were not allowed to work a minute of overtime.  Everyone worked their 8 hours and went home happy and that was it.  Then I worked at a law firm, where it's a race to the bottom.  If everyone is "trying to go the extra mile" and they all do, then it becomes "trying to go the extra 2 miles."  7pm becomes early and you look bad for "only" working from 9 - 8.  I've heard of similar things from an architect, so I think it's not only the legal industry.

It's a race to the bottom fueled by the fact that we are all too scared to lose our jobs.  This is where I think the government needs to step in because people understandably can't stand up for themselves here.

I want to make it clear that I realize many people have no choice with working more and more.  But I am definitely annoyed at those few people go out of their way to be "gunners."  It's like you can't just be good at your job and be competent, have a good attitude, etc... it has to rise to the level of Olympic competition for some.  And that makes it harder for everyone to have a work/life balance. 

IncogNeato

LittleMoxie:

snapplegirl:

LittleMoxie:

swimbikepuke:

 

I mean, I'm really starting to breathe heavy over here.  If someone throws in a criticism of the 8-6 work day, ya'll see my "o" face. 

I was about to respond to mysticporter that part of the reason people prioritize convenience and time is because we have so little of it since we are working more and more and the work week is creeping up beyond 40 hours.

Seriously. Who wants to work for ten hours, commute/pick up kds from daycare, come home and cook for an hour while dealing with them, do the bedtime routine, and then hop on the treadmill for another hour?? Plus, nowadays, many people have to do more work at home after hours to put in their requisite time. 

I applaud those who do this every day, but I can't really blame the people who just aren't up for it. The expectation for number of hours worked every week is frankly getting ridiculous. 

I agree with how hard it is for people who can do it all - that is very impressive.  But I don't applaud the gluttons for punishment as far as work goes.  People who just keep working more than necessary and never say no raise the bar for everyone else.  That sounds lazy, but I've had really extreme experiences.  I worked at a call service center once and we were not allowed to work a minute of overtime.  Everyone worked their 8 hours and went home happy and that was it.  Then I worked at a law firm, where it's a race to the bottom.  If everyone is "trying to go the extra mile" and they all do, then it becomes "trying to go the extra 2 miles."  7pm becomes early and you look bad for "only" working from 9 - 8.  I've heard of similar things from an architect, so I think it's not only the legal industry.

It's a race to the bottom fueled by the fact that we are all too scared to lose our jobs.  This is where I think the government needs to step in because people understandably can't stand up for themselves here.

I want to make it clear that I realize many people have no choice with working more and more.  But I am definitely annoyed at those few people go out of their way to be "gunners."  It's like you can't just be good at your job and be competent, have a good attitude, etc... it has to rise to the level of Olympic competition for some.  And that makes it harder for everyone to have a work/life balance. 

THIS!  I realize some people won't believe this but I teach kindergarten and this is my life. MY daughter is at the babysitters for 10 hours a day and I'm STILL doing work at night, on the weekends, and getting dirty looks when I have to leave work to pick her up while other coworkers stay until 7 or 8 at night to show how dedicated they are. The martyrdom of the workplace is getting old...

Hence why I'm bailing and going to become a SAHM. Because there is no such things as balance at my job.