Obesity by Richard Fast
Are you kidding? Is it just me, or are you also amused by a book on better understanding obesity written by a guy named “fast”?
Actually, for anyone who has fallen for the myth implied above, that the easiest way to combat obesity is to stop eating, then it is highly suggested that you read this book, Obesity…It’s Not What You Think It Is, by Richard Fast.
The Global Obesity Epidemic
On the subject of obesity, Fast can hardly ignore the matter of food and its effects. In fact, he opens his chock-full-of-info book with the line, “Our relationship with food is broken. Consequently, so is our health.”
And that’s the essence of this most unique work, in its engaging tone, mountains of advice, and observations about how savvy marketing and an avalanche of media misinformation have led us astray.
“The media has become a never-ending stream of studies, warnings, contradictions, conspiracies and retractions,” Fast writes. “What was good for us a few years ago suddenly isn’t. What wasn’t unexpectedly is.”
Yet obesity is real. In fact, according to the World Health Organization, worldwide obesity tripled between 1975 and 2016. In 2017, one in five adults in America was classified as “morbidly obese.”
The Cause, the Culprit and the Cure
Fast breaks down his book into three segments: The Cause, The Culprit and The Cure. Is the culprit any big surprise? “The global obesity pandemic is a direct result of what we eat — too much ultra-processed, nutrient-void garbage.”
Any diet that revolves around “cheap, fast and convenient” can’t be all that good. Fast argues that Big Food (like Big Tobacco) tries to give us the illusion of social responsibility but not at the expense of their own bottom lines.
The book is loaded with research reports, scientific studies, charts, graphs, quotes, product information, corporate strategies and personal observations of how we got to where we are. While the findings are often harrowing, Fast presents them in a compelling and entertaining manner.
A Change in Perspective
But he doesn’t stop with history lessons and societal influences.
In part three, The Cure, Fast reemphasizes his focus on health rather than weight. And while he talks about a number of ideas and strategies, underneath it all is the belief that the solution lies in the proper mindset, or perspective. And you can’t get there with gimmicks.
Fast says he experienced both sensational success and colossal failure, but that failures are the greatest teachers. “After enduring a string of them because of horrible decisions, I was determined to discover if there was an identifiable cause of poor choices or if it was merely the result of genetics, circumstances, and maybe just random luck.”
He notes how he tried everything from willpower to hypnosis to acupuncture to nicotine gum, exercise bikes, New Year’s resolutions, you name it, only to find he came out the other end as the same person. It was not until he viewed things from a different vantage point, changing his beliefs, that he could hurdle his obstacles.
A Powerful Wakeup Call
In the end, while Fast can help educate readers, the decisions as to what choices they make are strictly up to them.
“The obesity pandemic is no illusion. We urgently need to wake up from our ‘food’-induced trance because whether we realize it or not, we’re in a fight for the highest stakes possible… our health and the future health of our children.”
Some powerful food for thought. Obesity…It’s Not What You Think It Is might be the best wakeup call you’ll find.
About Richard Fast:
For more than 30 years, Richard Fast has pursued his passion for unraveling the riddle of human behaviors to learn how to take greater control of the hidden forces that shape our lives. As an entrepreneur, he is the creator of the best-selling board game “MindTrap®” and more than 20 other puzzles and games that have sold millions of copies worldwide. Both The Challenge of Choice and OBESITY … It’s NOT what YOU THINK it is! are the culmination of years of research to show that simple conscious choices — and how to make them — will largely determine a lifetime of health, happiness, and success.
Richard is also an American Council of Exercise certified trainer, Weight Management Specialist and Health and Wellness coach. He and his wife Michele live in Ontario, Canada and share a mutual passion for health, fitness and food.
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