Speaking from the Gut – Gaming is Killing Us

Let’s talk about the elephant in the corner.  You are fat.

Or, at least, there’s a high likelihood you’re overweight.  That’s because of three factors:

1).  If you’re reading my blog, there’s a 63% likelihood that you’re a United States of American.  If not, you have a 20% chance of being from Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia or Germany, in that order.  These five countries are Post-industrial nations with access to a large variety of food for cheap.  It’s true; the United States is still Number One in a few things.  For example, we lead the world in obesity.  Our English speaking cousins don’t look too hot, either.  And lest you think you’re off the hook, Germany, a 2007 report showed only 14% of Germans participate in a “completely healthy lifestyle”, and that Germany has the highest average overweight populace in Europe.

2).  You play a lot of games, either board games, or video games.  I mix it up on my blog, but let’s face it; I don’t talk about cross-country running.  I focus on board games.  And while games are a great tool to strengthen the mind and makes us better social animals, it’ a sedentary activity, with few opportunities for exercise.  It’s also a social hobby which encourages a quasi-party eating environment filled with chips, dips and emergency pizzas.

3).  You’re reading.  And while I’d love to imagine I’m the only blog you read before you head out for a morning jog, I’m guessing you do a fair amount of reading.

The world obesity rate lugs forward year after year.  In the United States, we’ve heaved ourselves over the hill where being overweight is the norm, not the exception.  Our media wants us to know it’s not our fault.  I’ve heard numerous commercials on the radio telling me I’m not to blame for my weight.  A story arc in Glee, centered on Mercedes Jones and her eating disorder, is resolved when Mercedes decides she needs to love herself for who she is, and not to live up to other people’s ideals of what’s healthy or attractive.  Obesity is something that happens.  No one chooses to be fat.

That, by the way, is a load of bull.  While it’s true I never intended to be overweight, the individual personal choices I made lead to my obesity.  No one forced me to make poor eating decisions.  Those choices were my failings to make.

And if we’re not careful, we will reap what we sow.  Obesity leads to sleep apnea, asthma, joint complications, arthritis, carpal tunnel, gout, inflammation, arterial thrombosis and diabetes.  It’s unfair that it makes us less attractive to the opposite sex, but that doesn’t make it untrue.  In the short term it may be cheaper to live off of ramen noodles and hot dogs, but over the course of our lives, it becomes incredibly expensive.  Certainly, food costs more when we eat more of it.  But the medical costs are an untenable burden to ourselves and our governments.  We also experience less energy.  That, in turn, affects our attitude, leading to feelings of inadequacy and depression.

And all these annoyances are trivial compared to the thirty years stolen from every friend and family member who died an early death due to obesity related cancer, heart attacks and strokes.  In the United States, 100,000-400,000 people die every year from obesity.  In comparison, about 32,000 people died from car accidents in the U.S. in 2011.  By the most conservative estimates, obesity is killing Americans faster than the most common means of accidental death by a factor of three.

I write an article a week at JMGariepy.com, and I don’t like missing my deadline.  When I realized the article I’m currently working on was taking too long to finish this week, I decided I needed a quick, emergency topic to talk about so I could reach my personal deadline.  Flipping through my brain, I tossed aside a number of ideas before I landed on talking to gamers about obesity.  I almost threw the idea away, immediately.  My audience has continued to show me time after time that they are interested in my opinions, but aren’t particularly interested in me.  That’s fair.  I read other people’s articles to learn something, too, not to make imaginary friends.

So, at first, I scoffed at sharing my personal struggle with my weight issues, because it’s not a fun subject to broach.  With many people, talking about their weight is like talking about religion or politics.  You’re not going to change their attitude on the subject, and can only upset them.  The subject is taboo, and shouldn’t be mentioned.

But unlike religion and politics, we have unabashed proof that we lead unhealthy lifestyles, it’s killing us, and we can do something about it.  It’s true that it is very, very difficult, but we are capable of reshaping our destiny.  And the first step to doing so is acknowledging that we have a problem and accepting that we need to address it.

I am obese.  I do not like it, and I am working hard to do something about it.

For the greater part of my thirties, I’ve weighed 285 pounds.  That’s a lot of baggage.  I escape condescension from my peers because I’m a large man with broad shoulders, so I don’t look unnaturally fat, even though I am very overweight.  I also live in a country where being overweight is normal, so I don’t stand out.  I could live my entire life pretending there is nothing wrong with my unhealthy lifestyle, but that would be a lie.

Two years ago, staring at the second half of my thirties, and refusing to die of a heart attack by fifty, I took serious action.  I wrote in my notepad every calorie I put in my mouth, and stopped eating for the day when I hit 2,200.  Eighteen months later, I lost thirty pounds.  Six months after that, I backslid, gaining back eight.

Losing weight is hard.  Losing weight is necessary.  Being healthy is a choice each of us should make, but it’s a choice each of us must make for ourselves.  And we need to be serious.  Neither you nor I will solve our problems by eating more salads and drinking less soda, with no intention of continuing that practice for the rest of our lives.  We need to find a sustainable diet that we can continue year after year.

Counting calories taught me a lot about the foods I could eat, the foods I should avoid eating, and the foods that broke my caloric bank.  It’s an option, but I don’t suggest it.  Not because the average person can’t do it, but because the average person can’t live the rest of their lives obsessing over every calorie they eat.  I’m surprised I was able to maintain my diet for as long as I did, to be honest.  Weight Watchers is a generally accepted better alternative.  With the Weight Watchers system, every food item is given a point value based on the fat, sugars, protein and fiber it contains, and you’re allowed so many points in a day.  A slice of cheese pizza may be worth five points, a cup of light yogurt worth two, and an apple worth zero points.  It’s a good system.  It forces you to be conscious about the things you are eating, but doesn’t demand a tremendous amount of mental space, only a quick tally.  Weight Watcher dues are expensive, but there are plenty of work arounds on the internet which allow you to use the Weight Watcher system, without paying the high price of being a part of their community.

Personally, I’ve been testing a new system called VB6, which stands for “Vegan Before Six”.  The idea is that veganism can be an incredibly healthy lifestyle (and it gives you super-powers, like Todd Ingram, one of Ramona Flowers’ evil ex-boyfriends), but is very difficult for most people to maintain (as Todd Ingram discovered when the Vegan Police took his powers away).  People who practice VB6 are vegan, up until dinner-time, at which point, they break their meat, dairy and processed food fast, and eat what they want.  Also, you’re allowed cream in your coffee before six, since the creator of VB6, Mark Bittman, found it too difficult to deny people that one exception.  Unlike Weight Watchers, there’s no keeping track of the foods you’ve eaten over the course of the day, which makes life simpler.  Being vegan, though, for even only the daytime, is difficult since our society is built to accommodate voracious omnivores.  Is it sustainable?  Does it work?  I don’t know.  The diet plan is very new, I’ve only just started myself, and I’m adjusting.  I’ll make sure to keep you updated in a few months.

I’m hopeful, though.  Not for VB6, but for myself.  I know that, as a gamer, I have qualities non-gamers sometimes don’t.  I live and work in a society that encourages intelligence and creativity.  Gamers love paradigm shifts of fiero.  We seek out little achievements and keep track of personal growth.  And, as a gamer, I’m part of many networks, both large and small, and I receive continuous feedback and emotional support.  I know I’m clever enough to end my poor diet habits and capable of leading a fuller life.  How about you?