Thin=Unhealthy?

You know we can all get upset about this that and the other but the bottom line is" ARE YOU HAPPY "? And if not then try and do your best and try to do someting about it. My mom had to work out to build muscles to look bigger then she was. it took a lot of effort on her part. Yet i have to exercise to maintain. And I could loose 5 or 10 but if I don't? Oh well I still think I look pretty good for 37 year old hard working women. I just try and that counts for a lot! Besides my husband still like my body and that really counts for a lot after 19 years. And he saw me at my prime. Things have changed a bit. lol

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Originally Posted by Brandi

You know we can all get upset about this that and the other but the bottom line is" ARE YOU HAPPY "? And if not then try and do your best and try to do someting about it.

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Brandi you hit the nail on the head. I'm pedaling my way through all the weight I have still to lose, and I'm happier than I've ever been, in spite of a pretty rough year. Sure I'd love to have been blessed with a speedy metabolism and a functional childhood, but too bad - I got what I got, and I'm just thankful I finally got in gear (heh heh) to become healthier, and as a result happier. It's a journey, that's for sure - now I also have to contend with feeling like I want to do my 20s and 30s all over again, as a new, more active, me, but whoops - I'm in my 40s! Many more miles still to go!

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Originally Posted by maillotpois

Wow - great post FGG!

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I think fixedgeargirl and maillotpois pretty much have it right. Nicely said.

Not sure any of us have enough knowledge to make accurate assumptions about why others weigh what they do, on either the large or the small side.

Yes - what the recent gals have said - I don't think many of us are critiquing the small sized women here for being "thin" or "small"

What has come to be in the dock on trial is the perception foisted on us that thin/small is fit and fat/large is unfit...

I think this board is a living testimony to the absolute fact that fit and healthy comes in many shapes, at many ages and from sizes 0 (I didn't know you could get a size 0 in adult size) to the XXXXXs....

Fitness is a lifestyle and life choice, not a tape measure or a set of scales

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Originally Posted by Brandi

You know we can all get upset about this that and the other but the bottom line is" ARE YOU HAPPY "? lol

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I'm not sure the bottom line is "are you happy" i could be happy eating 2 lbs
of chocolate every day but my arteries are going to seize up.

at age of 54 now, the bottom line is; am I healthy? I find that exercise
makes me feel better, a total flip from when i was 20 and exercise was something i considered unpleasant and something to avoid.

I think as you get older the game rules change. What good is it to have everything but your body doesn't work anymore?

and an aside to those that blame obesity on medical factors; check out the
obesity rates among the poor in countries like Zaire and India. It is becoming more and more apparent to me that health problems in our country (obesity, cholesterol, joint issues, etc) are brought about by our unhealthy life style of sitting, driving and eating.

But hey, that's why we're all here right? Happy bike to work day!

mimi

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Originally Posted by CR400

Until I went to the gym a few nights ago and easily put up 410lbs on the leg press and could have done more. Apparently that 7lbs of other based on body fat was muscle. I had stopped lifting in February and could only do 290. So on some occasions heavier can mean healthier.

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Muscle begins to degrade after 3 days of non-use. You can't gain muscle by sitting around. Gaining 7 pounds of muscle in a few months without lifting weights is impossible. Heck, gaining 7 pounds of muscle in a few months is impossible unless you're on steroids.

I have a 22 year old daughter who is 5'4" and weighs 100 lbs. She wears a size 0, sometimes, her ring size is a 4, maybe. She has very fine bones. Versus my other daughter, 15, size 9, 5'2", is more meaty, size 8 ring. People always think my eldest must throw up all the time to keep so thin, it is kinda insulting. She is just naturally thin. I am in the middle in size of my girls. As a mom I make sure they eat healthy, I love to give them wheat pasta, juice with no sugar, turger burgers instead of beef, lots of green beans, etc. I agree with you all, society encourages women to be thin by the clothes they sell and then at the same time can't believe when someone is that thin. Or if a woman has a naturally full bosom she must have had surgery, she couldn't be born with those breasts that big! I struggle to keep my girls self image balanced all the time. It is exhausting! Be happy with who you are!.... Now back to looking at my big, muscular 2 tone legs.

haha, once my husband looked at some size two clothing and asked if that's what I wore when I was 13. Nope, I started at size 8 (weighed 105 lbs, 5'3")

now I am all growed up, 54, 125 lbs, 5'3 1/2" and I'm still a size 8.
what's changed is what a size 8 was.

There are a lot of asians in my community and they wear the bulk of the size 0's 2's and 4's. some of us are just too WIDE!

what sadden's me deeply is that yesterday, a girl that I work with came in with diet pills. She is 5'10 and weighs 151. When I was younger, I was a size 5 and thought that I was fat. Life then happened and circumstances beyond my control allowed me to gain weight. After the death of my daughter, I could not walk up a flight of stairs without being short of breath. I decided that that was enough. I was to young to have that problem. I was also facing my husbands health issues at the time. Exercise was and still is my escape from my problems. Yes, I am fat, but I am one that exercises. The fact that I am fat does not make me unhealthy.
My point is, it does not matter if you are fat or thin, what matters as many others have said, "Are you happy?" Unfortunately, society makes us have threads as this debating what the "ideal" weight is.

I've been thin most of my life. Some have said too thin 'cause I'd have to "pass twice to cast a shadow." Being active probably contributed to my size. My metabolism has been faster than most. I was continuously hungry and felt like an empty pit often so I've eaten copious amounts of food.

My worst diet, a junk food diet, only gets my cholesterol into the 190's. So genetics play a big role in this as well as age, level of physical activity, mental well being, emotional stability, etc.

When my early 40's arrived, that all changed. But I'm still happy with who I am. I have had opportunities and accomplishments in life that I never could even dream of as a child from small town Louisiana. Think below poverty level.

Unhappiness is another form of stress. Stress is very hard on the body and causes the body to do some very strange things. After I left a very stressful job, shed the beau from Hades, and completed a master's, it took months for my body to "get back to normal." Things had stressed so gradually, I hadn't noticed those changes. I thought I was handling the situations pretty well. Imagine my surprise to realize things were changing from what I thought was normal to where they had been functioning prior to all the stress.

As long as you are happy and living life to your fullest potential, don't sweat size. Stressing over size/weight is counter-productive and unhealthy from my perspective.

Life is all about balance for mental, emotional, and physical well being, which takes thought, work, and, sometimes, courage.

Thanks for all of your replies.

Historically, women have done crazy things to achieve their generations ideal of beauty. In the 1800's thin waists were popular, women wore corsets so tight they endangered their organs and cut off their breathing. In the 1920's there was the flapper, the 1950's was big breasts and curves, (Jayne Mansfield and Marilyn Monroe), 1960's was Twiggy. 1980's was Jane Fonda. A few years ago it was Kate Moss. There have been tons of fad diets, the grapefruit diet, Scarsdale diet and I remember my mom and my friends moms eating cottage cheese with a half a pear or peach for lunch, they were dieting.

Teenagers are prone to self-image problems due to the changes in their bodies but women of all ages have self-image problems, specifically with breasts, hips and stomachs.

In my case, I weighed 85lbs when I graduated from high school in 1966. I had terrible a self image because I was constantly being told how I had no figure, no breasts, hips, etc. When Twiggy appeared I finally had someone to identify with. And about that time my Aunt told me "don't worry about gaining weight, you'll gain it when you get older" So, I just started accepting myself as I was.

I remember my freshman year in high school my friend had gotten big enough to wear a Junior size 7. That was so exciting! No more kids clothes and I couldn't wait. There were no petite sizes. During those years my mom made my clothes or everything had to be altered to fit. I learned to sew and I made my prom dress so I had something that fit decently. Not only that, I learned to alter the patterns because they were to big for me.

Junior petite clothing surfaced around my senior year but the smallest size was a 5. Still too big, but getting closer. In my mid twenties size 3's came on the market and they fit perfectly. From then on, I had plenty of clothes to chose from and so I stopped making my own.

Today, even though I'm 15lbs heavier than those high school days, I wear a size 0 or an XS and sometimes they are too big. Waistlines are too big, shoulders run to wide, pants are too long. I'm almost back to making my own clothes for proper fit!

In my late 30's, I started exercising, Jane Fonda influence. I didn't do it for my health, to lose weight, etc. I started because it was the "thing to do". I continued because I love movement. I spent hours as a kid riding my bike, jumping rope, roller skating, dancing. So aerobics reminded me of all this. I also felt better, handled the stress at work better, skied and biked stronger.

At the same time, my friends chose not to exercise, ignored their weight gains, bought into the over indulged life of alcohol and to much food. Now they're approaching 60 and they are facing the problems of too much weight and the problems that go along with it. One friend, who was a phenomenal skier, now weighs so much and is so out of shape that she has to help herself to stand up. This year, I didn't get to ski with her but a male friend who did commented on how out of shape she is.

From these people I keep hearing, "I know I should exercise, lose weight, eat healthy, etc. but they make no changes". They yo-yo diet for a while or start to exercise, lose a little, but then gain the weight back and add on more pounds. I can't help them because they assume I don't eat. They don't think about how maintaining weight is a commitment, a lifestyle, and feeling good about who you are.

And I'm back where I started from, "you're to thin, you don't eat, that's how you stay thin", and clothes don't fit. But, I'm healthy, have muscle, average 4,000 miles a year on my bike and ski over 50 days a year, and hike. And, yes, I eat! I'm retired, so I don't need fashionable clothes.

I rehabbed very quickly from my ACL surgery which amazes my overweight friends and my physical therapist. 2 friends have stopped skiing after having acl surgery, 1 friend did not ski for 2 years. I'm riding my bike, I started 2 months before the acl protocol recommended and will ski next winter.

Oh, and have you noticed that in magazines for women over 40, it's not about weight loss, but now it's "anti-aging diets"!

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Originally Posted by Kathi

Oh, and have you noticed that in magazines for women over 40, it's not about weight loss, but now it's "anti-aging diets"!

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Noooooo! Let's not go there!!!:D

ps - Kathi, I remember having to take in every pair of pants I bought in high school; was shaped similarly to you. Finally just started making my own!

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Originally Posted by Dogmama

Muscle begins to degrade after 3 days of non-use. You can't gain muscle by sitting around. Gaining 7 pounds of muscle in a few months without lifting weights is impossible. Heck, gaining 7 pounds of muscle in a few months is impossible unless you're on steroids.

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Dogmama, I'm with you on this one. All it takes is an injury to demonstrate how quickly muscle is lost. When I tore my MCL/ACL in Jan. within 2 weeks the injured leg had lost all muscle tone. My leg shunk in size and looked horrible. PT brought back some of the strength and shape but ACL surgery slowed the progress. The uninjured leg also lost shape and strength but not as much.

While I did not lose as much muscle after surgery, I started PT immediately, it has taken a long time to regain the strength in the injured leg. At the end of April I had 85% of the strength of the uninjured leg. My injured quad still does not have the same shape as my uninjured quad, the vastus medialis muscle is not back 100% yet and I don't have the cardio or muscle endurance that I had before my injury. My hamstrings and glutes also lost strength so I'm doing specific exercises to strengthen them.

Sometimes I do leg presses and I can do about half amount of weight with my uninjured leg as I could do before the injury.

Next week, I'll be 3 months from surgery and progress is slower than what I'd like it to be, although, considering what I've been though, I've come a long way in a short time.

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Originally Posted by snapdragen

Noooooo! Let's not go there!!!:D

ps - Kathi, I remember having to take in every pair of pants I bought in high school; was shaped similarly to you. Finally just started making my own!

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Snapdragen, it's not only clothes but bras too! My Dr. told me it was not good to go braless but bras were so uncomfortable, I'd take them off as soon as I got home and since I've been retired only wore them when I exercised or went out.

It was probably due to the changes in my body, and boredom, after my ACL injury but my breasts were looking saggier than normal. I started searching the internet for an exercise bra that would be comfortable enough to wear all day. Instead, I found out I was wearing the wrong size bra! Instead of a 32C I should have been in a 30D. The only thing I can figure is that when I was measured for bras size 32 bands were the smallest so that's what they sold me.

I found an online company that sells odd sized bras, they charged for shipping but not for returns, so I tried a couple of 30D's. I love them, they are not uncomfortable, I can wear them all day right up until bedtime. Now I have a collection of pretty bras that I love wearing, my clothes look better and I don't feel old and saggy any more.

BTW, I kept noticing the low cut clothing worn by the women on the TV show's, specifically, Sex and the City, and how good they looked. So, sometimes, the media is not all bad. I may not look as good as those women but I'm now very comfortable wearing a bra! :)

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Originally Posted by Kathi

My Dr. told me it was not good to go braless but bras were so uncomfortable, I'd take them off as soon as I got home...

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Hey there Kathi, very interesting post - thank you for sharing...

I just wanted to add in here re your bra comment, that a sports crop top is an excellent alternative to a bra. I really dislike bras too, and tend to shed them as soon as I get home. But my breasts get cold - so I pop on a crop top, warm and supportive.

Glad you have found the right thing for you though.

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Originally Posted by RoadRaven

Hey there Kathi, very interesting post - thank you for sharing...

I just wanted to add in here re your bra comment, that a sports crop top is an excellent alternative to a bra. I really dislike bras too, and tend to shed them as soon as I get home. But my breasts get cold - so I pop on a crop top, warm and supportive.

Glad you have found the right thing for you though.

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RoadRaven, I actually wore a Moving Comfort Sports bra as an everyday bra but what I didn't realize is that bras stretch over time so when you buy a bra it should hook in the first hook from the end not the last hook as mine were doing. As the bra stretches then you can move to the 2nd and 3rd hooks. Also, bras only last about 6 mos and you should not wash them in the washing machine. I read pros and cons about the washing machine but decided to go back the hand washing method and hope that these last longer than 6 mos.

I also read that something like 80% of women are wearing the wrong size bras.
It's funny that I've worn the wrong size bra for about 30 years!

OMG... hand wash bras?

Fraid I don't have the time for that - although I do remember my ma telling me that a loooong time ago... hmmm, maybe I should have listened.

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Originally Posted by Kathi

Also, bras only last about 6 mos and you should not wash them in the washing machine. I read pros and cons about the washing machine but decided to go back the hand washing method and hope that these last longer than 6 mos.

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If you have a front loader, you can usually machine wash them in bags without very much damage. A front loader's delicate cycle is very, very gentle.

6 month life span?! oh dear.. I had bras last a good 7 years at the least! and they were not expensive :rolleyes: I take everything through the washing machine, though i rarely use anything heavier than the gentle cycle.

I'd rather be healthy, though to hear some of the folks here, I'd be considered thin! though certainly not as much as you kathy.
i think there is a preconceived notion that thin=unhealthy, and thick=unhealthy. but folks get real hazy where perfect is. if you as as thin as a super model, folks will tell you to gain weight, but yet, they desire to look that thin themselves.... :confused: the media sucks.

Like these wonderful gals have taught me, it's about being healthy and active. If you can get on your bike and put in the time and distance, and you are not hindered significantly by your weight, be it too little or too much, then you're probably just right.

Don't forget that muscle weighs more than fat. Post surgery, I lost about 7 pounds very quickly - mainly muscles in my legs. I'll never forget looking at my legs on the leg press machine first day in the gym & thinking "Whose skinny legs are those?"

Also, "thin" women can have a higher body fat percentage than normal weight women. Fat doesn't need any calories to exist. Many women gain & lose the same 20 pounds over & over - except that each time it gets harder to take off because metabolism is all messed up.

Muscles need 50 calories/day/per pound to exist. It pays to get into the weight room. Your bones will get stronger, you'll get definition and you'll be sprinting up hills before you know it!! AND - (here's the best part) your metabolism will be raised throughout the day so you can toss back that extra Hershey's kiss (or two...three.. ) and not feel guilty - or think "I'll ride it off tomorrow."

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Originally Posted by Dogmama

Muscle begins to degrade after 3 days of non-use. You can't gain muscle by sitting around. Gaining 7 pounds of muscle in a few months without lifting weights is impossible. Heck, gaining 7 pounds of muscle in a few months is impossible unless you're on steroids.

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Ok, then explain why I can suddenly lift 120lbs (410) or more, I stopped there afraide I may hurt myself before a big ride? Because I was truely shocked and mystified as to why this happened. My thought is it can only be muscle mass gain. And I don't just sit around my job requires me to stand 8 hours a day. When I rode my bike I had done lots of climbing, sprint over short hills and grind out long ones, work at trying to maintian speeds over 20mph even on long false flats.

As far as some of you ladies don't be bothered but what other people say about your size, truth is you are blessed to be small and have worked hard to stay there. People, especailly big people like myself, are usually actually jealous. It irritates me that I'll always be big even at a size 8 I have broad shoulders and the body even at its smallest to go with them.

Below is a link explaining exercise and its affect on muscle growth (or atrophy.)

http://sportsci.org/encyc/adaptex/adaptex.html

of note is the quote from the article:

Muscles will atrophy as a result of disuse, immobilization, and starvation. Muscles adapt to increasing levels of stress by increasing their function. Disuse leads to decreasing strength and muscle mass. Atrophy results in a decrease in both contractile and sarcoplasmic protein.

It is interesting reading if you like to learn about the science behind muscles.

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Originally Posted by CR400

It irritates me that I'll always be big even at a size 8 I have broad shoulders and the body even at its smallest to go with them.

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I've always had broad shoulders (thanks dad :rolleyes: ) and my partner thinks them very sexy...

I think of them as strong and useful for friends who need something to cry on.

I like them in summer, cause I can show them off - in fact - I think replying to your post has just made me recognise something I really like about my body...

I like my shoulders!:p

Thanks CR :D

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Originally Posted by RoadRaven

I like them in summer, cause I can show them off - in fact - I think replying to your post has just made me recognise something I really like about my body...


Thanks CR :D

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Yes, thank you CR. Because I finally see something here. I know that I stirred some unconfortable discussion last week. But when a woman realizes that there is so much to like about yourself, it is great. It does not matter what size you are. What matters is what you do for yourself to feel better and look better. "Better" is your own definition. Just do what's best for you and there is no need to please anybody else. Be proud of your effort if you make one and kick yourself if you don't make it. Just be happy with who you are!

I'm going to get raked over the coals - but here goes...

Not including genuine metabolic disorders and things out of our control...

I really shiver when I hear people, mainly women, who are overweight say, "Oh it's OK because I like myself." Then they complain because airlines make them purchase two seats. Or XX sizes cost more. Oh, God forbid, they have to use stairs because the escalator isn't working. It isn't politically correct to point out that a few less Big Macs and a few laps around the track might be a good idea.

Here's the bottom line (pun intended.)

It doesn't affect just the overweight people, it affects all of us in terms of strain on the health care system which we all pay for. When a smoker gets lung cancer, we all point to their bad health habits. When an overweight person has a heart attack (diabetes, cancer, arthritis, etc.), it is not politically correct to point out that they probably bear as much responsibility as the smoker for their health problems.

Health care premiums are skyrocketing and experts agree that most of our health problems are preventable with lifestyle alteration. I, for one, am becoming resentful of paying for people too lazy to get to the gym or too undisciplined to make a salad rather than call out for pizza.

Lots of my friends are overweight. I still love them and I don't harp on their weight problems. They know that if (when) they decide to make the change, they can come to me for support. They also know that they can't complain to me about how hard it is to find a cute skirt in their size.

OK - let the flame wars begin! But I won't be here - I'm going to the gym. :p

This is all very interesting - so many different perspectives and experiences!

DM - you're right that there are broader sociological and economic considerations and consequences bound up in this issue - and clearly these are big topics that are being talked about at a societal level. And as individual members of this society, we all have our own specific metabolic and emotional reactions to food, exercise, and self-image.

Maybe it's the use of the word "happy" that's part of the problem - does it mean content, numb, settled and safe (as it used to for me), or does it mean challenge, stretch, discovery and change (as it does now). Of course, I'm only speaking for myself. :o

I think DM makes a very valid point. Obesity is an epidemic, particularly in developed countries. It's no coincidence that this is so in countries like the US and Australia.

And I agree with Bikerz, there are a lot of factors, in this being so, including lifestyle lifestyle lifestyle. The way we plan our cities where we are encouraged to drive everywhere, the crime factor where we're too scared to walk down the street (in some communities we don't let our kids walk to school), the jobs that seem to demand 40+ hours a week, the material goodies we want to accumulate, and of course the list goes on....

We can do our small part to counter these trends, by being cycling evangelists!:D And promote the buzz we get in cycling and all the other great benefits we get including our health etc.

DM, no flame here from me. I agree with everything you said. ;)

I agree with you too, Dogmama.

no flames from me, dogmama!

I tend to agree with Dogmama.

However, from my training as a sociologist, I can't help but have a look at cross-tables showing obesity rates and socio-economic status levels.

[SOAPBOX]

First, let's note that there is a general trend toward getting heavier, in all groups of the North American society. Of course we all know rich people who are big and poor people who are thin as a rail. The general correlation though is that the less socio-economically privileged, the more chances there are of being overweight or obese.

Now this is open to different explanations, but I really think that it's a bit easy to says that it's because poor people are lazy. I have really enjoyed reading Barbara Ehrenreich's book 'Nickel & Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America' and found her insight into the working-poor life extremely enlightening. In particular, I appreciated how she described her relation to cooking and food when she was working two jobs or just crazy hours, and how constituting a base for eating well (getting the basic ingredients that actually make what you cook taste like something, buying fresh fruits and produce, etc.) was expensive or plain difficult. I personally shop for groceries at small markets and I realize how much more expensive it is. When I go to other parts of town (when cycling for example) and stop at grocery stores, I am always surprised at the narrowness of the selection of fresh food and broadness of the selection of junk. I also happen to have a "food culture": I was raised on a farm, always ate fresh produce (I still cringe pretty badly at eating tomatoes and asparus in the Winter!) and basic ingredients (using almost nothing that was prepared in advance by some industry), and was taught how important it was to have three balanced meals a day. Not everyone, or, dare I say, not many people were raised like that. Hence most have a lot to learn about healthy life habits, and few have the means to make them come true.

And I won't get started about exercising.

In what I picture as an ideal world, people would not have to go to gyms or consciously 'exercise' to stay fit. They would live close to their work place and walk or bike there, run errands on foot, carry their babies on their backs, etc. I always lived in a medium-size city (Montreal) where doing this was possible. Most people around me did not exercise on purpose, but most were pretty fit and we had among the lowest obesity rates across Canada. Of course, on a nice Sunday, those who feel like going for a 100 km bike ride can do so, but others might rather stick to a good book and take a walk in the park at sunset, and stop for a few minutes to dance at the drumfest if they felt like it.

But I was a middle-class student with the means to afford such a lifestyle, in a very particular city. Most people in America life in very different circumstances, and such a lifestyle is absolutely not accessible for most.

So I tend to agree with Dogmama that obesity is a public health problem and should be treated as such. But I know we have to keep our eyes open for social and economic determinants to this public health problem. The way our cities, lives and societies are arranged at this moment do not give many chances to less privileged people to eat well and live healthy lifestyles, let alone exercise.

It is our responsibility as individuals to take care of ourselves, eat and live with care. But it is also our responsibility as individuals to work towards healthier cities and lives for all by getting involved as citizens for better cities and societies where resources of all sorts are more accessible to all, not just in principle but in fact.

[/SOAPBOX]

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Originally Posted by Grog

I have really enjoyed reading Barbara Ehrenreich's book 'Nickel & Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America' and found her insight into the working-poor life extremely enlightening. In particular, I appreciated how she described her relation to cooking and food when she was working two jobs or just crazy hours, and how constituting a base for eating well (getting the basic ingredients that actually make what you cook taste like something, buying fresh fruits and produce, etc.) was expensive or plain difficult.

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That book made a huge impact on me too. I used to live in a kind of down and out neighborhood in oakland, and there were no grocery stores within walking distance. I was lucky enough at the time to have a somewhat reliable car, but many of my neighbors were on the bus, and the only places to buy groceries without making a long excursion out of it were the mom-and-pop liquor stores on every corner. Not much in the way of seasonal produce there, but plenty of inexpensive junk food.

I live in a different neighborhood now, and I went to my local farmers market Sunday - the produce was beautiful, varied, organic - all good stuff. But I had forgotten my wallet - all I had was $5 in my pocket and I literally could not buy enough for a meal. It was definitely the opposite extreme!

In some ways, a healthy lifestyle is sort of luxury now. It's like the way being tan used to be bad - it meant you worked outdoors. Then tan was good, because it meant you had leisure time to bask in the sun at some beach.

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Originally Posted by Grog

It is our responsibility as individuals to take care of ourselves, eat and live with care. But it is also our responsibility as individuals to work towards healthier cities and lives for all by getting involved as citizens for better cities and societies where resources of all sorts are more accessible to all, not just in principle but in fact.

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Very well said!

i did notice... when we first started eating healthier... we were spending more money on groceries.... frest produce is NOT cheap! i'm used to it now.... plus have my shopping down to a science, for the most part....

it is cheaper to by a .99 frozen tv dinner than to fix a healthy meal though!