Get Off The Couch: Here Is Why It Is More Difficult To Lose Body Fats And Weight For A Couch Potato!!

 You've heard the term "couch potato" and maybe you are one, but do you know the phrases origination? According to Answers.com, "very few words have a birthday so precise, and so precisely known, a couch potato. It was on July 15, 1976, we are told that couch potato came onto being, uttered by Tom lacino of Pasadena, California during a telephone conversation. He was member of a southern California group humorously opposing the fads of exercise and healthy diet in favor of vegetating before the TV and eating junk food (1973). Because their lives centered on television - the boob tube (1966) - they called themselves boob tubers. Lacino apparently took the brilliant next step and substituted potato as synonym for tuber. Thinking of where that potato sits to watch the tube, he came up with couch potato".

Quite often, couch potato are stereotyped as overweight, slovenly men sitting around in their underwear watching a variety of events on TV, downing potato chips and other tran-fat-laden snack foods with the help of a steady supply of beer.

The term entered the Oxford English Dictionary in 1993 and is so well known in the UK that a plan of the Prime Minister Strategy Unit tried attempts "to combat the couch potato culture" to "[improving the UK's] international sporting performance". Athletic performance aside, perhaps more important to the general population is the impact of the couch potato on body weight and brain performance. Our body is not static. As we age, the rule of 'use it or lose it' becomes all important to your health - but improvements have been documented at every age, and even after side effects. Body's crave exercise, challenging 'out of your comfort zone' activities to thrive".

With recent advancement in technology, "body fitness" has burst into the everyday parlance of the U.S population, and along with it a burgeoning collection of products and programs, many of them making a killing without much, if any, verifiable research to back up their claims. For example, one product states, "[Our product] uses a scientifically-proven ingredients to increase mental focus, muscle mass and performance by 40% in less than 20 days. [Our product] produces rapid, dramatic, and lasting benefits, guaranteed. What this claim doesn't mention is that the data cited as evidence that this particular product/program works was not collected through the study of this product/program itself, but through the study of a similar product/program. This is referred to as "borrowed research" as opposed to "primary research". Borrowed research is considered anecdotal and unreliable, from a scientific perspective. For any such claims to be valid, they must be substantiated by the gold standard of scientific inquiry (double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized studies).

Why not get off that couch and engage those muscles, one way or another? You don't even need to spend a bunch of money on products, software or programs, though such as investment might prove worthwhile. Instead why not take a walk (exercise), during which you might stop and share a nutritious picnic lunch (nutrition) with a friend (social connection), while discussing one of the most recent activities you've both engage into.

Please note, this article has been modified with contributions and research-based suggestions

Acknowledgements

DAVID B. BIEBEL, DMIN, his website at: https://www.crosshearthealth.com

JAMES E. DILL, MD,

AND BOBBIE DILL, RN

Read also: Physiology Reasons Behind Weight Gaining

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