The 1980’s Fitness Craze, What Happened?
Remember the 1980’s fitness craze? Celebrities making Aerobics Videos, endorsing weight loss products and equipment.
The fledgling music video industry showing hot people with cut physiques having fun just being active.
Health Spas and Gyms fighting it out with fading Discos to be the place to meet “That special someone.”
What Happened?
Twenty years after the close of the decade we are a nation of lard-butts. One third of Americans are obese, not just slightly overweight, but with life threatening corpulence.
Thank the USDA.
In the early ’80’s the USDA wanted to update the “Basic Four Food Groups” with something more modern.
The USDA recruited nutrition expert Luise Light, MS, Ed.D, then teaching at New York University, to create something better and more memorable.
Luise Light and her team created a “Food Pyramid” and submitted it for approval.
Light’s “Food Pyramid” had a base consisting of large amounts of fruits and vegetables, followed by lean meats, fish and poultry. Up near the top of the Pyramid were breads and cereals, know by nutritionists to cause weight gain when consumed in large quantities.
The USDA loved the concept of the “Food Pyramid” but it wasn’t quite politically correct, so some “minor changes” were made.
Breads and cereals were moved to the base of the pyramid, they recommended eating 6 to 11 servings a day, not the two to four servings as conceived.
Wording saying “eat less” was changed to “avoid too much”. Each change in itself seemed small, but overall the results were disastrous.
After seeing the changes Light protested saying that the changes made to the Food Pyramid would lead to an epidemic of obesity and diabetes. She Was Right!
Why Would the USDA Promote Such A Flawed Pyramid?
Have you ever heard of Farming Subsidies? The USDA pays farmers to not grow crops. Too many crops mean lower prices, the farmers won’t make a profit. Pay some farmers to leave their fields fallow and still get paid. So much for the illusion of the hard working farmer.
Manufacturers of breads, cereals, and other processed foods also made out. The USDA actually endorsing eating junk food for nutrition.
Maybe the USDA thought that all the exercise people were getting would offset the poor advice.
In 2005 the Food Pyramid was again revised, into a confusing mess of what you can and should eat without regard for what you should not eat at all.
What Can You Do About It?
Ignore the Food Pyramid. It has already proven what it does to you, it makes you fat and lazy. Well, maybe not lazy but the more extra weight you carry around the less likely you are to be active.
Pay attention the what real nutritionists say. You know, the ones that actually earn a living giving nutritional advice.
Eat less refined grains, they lack the fiber and nutrition of whole grains. Eat less beef and eat more of the leaner meats like fish and poultry.
“You are what you eat” and “your body is a temple” are two sayings that need to be combined.
Build your temple with sound materials and it will last a longer lifetime. No one else can do it for you. Pay attention to what you put in your body and you will get more out of it.
I agree completly. We do need to overhaul how people eat. There is a lot of confusion out there with high carb, low carb, hit fat, low protein and everything else. Then again there is the whole idea of what exercise should be about….
Dear Michaelccole,
Thanks you for your post, For exercise enthusiasts, a workout usually means a trip to the gym, where they partake in group aerobic classes and workout among the weights and machines. But for others, the gym may be cost-prohibitive or may not suit their personal preferences or lifestyle. For such people, the fitness video has opened up a whole new world of exercise options – allowing a healthy and effective workout right in the privacy and comfort of their own home.
The fitness video has grown in popularity right alongside the workout scene and the rise of the VCR. As more and more people hit the gym and more and more people purchased VCRs, there came a realization of the availability in the marketplace for instructional videos that would allow those who were interested in working out at home the opportunity to do so.
Today, the fitness video is most often purchased in DVD format and the market is flooded with different varieties of videos meant to appeal to people of all fitness levels and with many different interests. Each year sees another crop of videos – each heralding the coming of another fitness craze.
No matter what you choose to do as an exercise program, there is a fitness video for you. You can choose cardiovascular exercise such as step classes, dance workouts – including jazz, ballet, hip-hop, belly dancing, and even strip aerobics; kickboxing; and boot camp. For weight training you will find a bevy of instructional videos meant to walk you through effective weightlifting that will speed results and prevent injury. And the ever-growing popularity of yoga and Pilates has spawned a whole new style of fitness video designed to instruct viewers and make them feel as though they are getting one-on-one training.
In fact, enthusiasts of the fitness video will hardly feel as though they are missing the activity of the gym; such videos are typically filmed in a class setting and can make viewers feel as though they are right there, taking part. Of course, this provides energy and motivation and can help you get through your workout while still having fun.
The benefits of the fitness video – aside from the convenience, privacy, and affordability that comes with working out at home – includes the ability to exercise at your own pace. A fitness video can allow you to stop and start so that you become familiar with each exercise. Not only will this increase your confidence, it will pay off in the form of physical fitness achieved.
Good Job!