Litsy

The Life And Times Of The Thunderbolt Kid: Travels Through my Childhood | Bill Bryson

Had this on my shelf for a long time. Picked it up to read because of the #ToyCover prompt. It's such a hoot! Such fun reminders of growing up in the1950s as he did: No novocaine dentist, Sky King on Saturday TV, Chuckles candy (always gave my mom the black one), Fels-Naptha soap (which I still use on poison ivy), Jello "salads", "circular-spoke stitching" Maidenform bra ads, and a hilarious story about bleaching Lincoln Logs.
#NewYearNewBooks

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Perfect 👍🏻 📚 11mo

dabbe I love his books, but especially this one. I snort-laughed throughout the whole book! 🤩😂😍 11mo

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GingerAntics

Body: A Guide for Occupants | Bill Bryson

bailed

DNF
I‘ve read three books trying to avoid this book. It‘s just not happening. It‘s not me, it‘s you. This just did not live up to the hype. I‘ll probably be passing on future Bill Bryson books. I just don‘t get his popularity. He‘s just not my cup of tea. My A&P book was way more exciting to read, honestly.
#BillBryson #TheBody #Audiobook #busbook #DNF #boring #fatphobia #nonsense #snore

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GingerAntics

Body: A Guide for Occupants | Bill Bryson

A croc eats 2-5 pounds of meat a DAY. That‘s 1302-3255 calories a DAY that a croc eats. So according to Bill, humans MUST (he said must) eat 39,060-97,650 calories a day. Either he‘s got his science wrong here, he‘s got his science wrong about the dieting, or he‘s got his science wrong all the way around. I want to see some sources.
#BillBryson #TheBody #audiobook #busbook #science #pseudoscience #questionable

GingerAntics @ImperfectCJ this is even worse. I don‘t think this is right. I think this would kill the average human. 1y

ImperfectCJ @GingerAntics You're going to want to read that quote again. It doesn't say what you think it says. 1y

CBee He just means that a human should eat in a day what a crocodile eats in a whole month 😊 1y

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GingerAntics @CBee which is 2-5 pounds of meat. 1y

GingerAntics @ImperfectCJ what do you think it says? It says that each day we need to eat as much as a crocodile eats in 30 days. That‘s what it says. Clear as day. 1y

ImperfectCJ @GingerAntics This means that a crocodile eats only one day a month. It doesn't eat the other 29 (or 27 or 30, depending on how you count a month). Humans eat every day of the month the same amount that a crocodile eats on that one day out of the month. 1y

ImperfectCJ The calorie intake you've calculated for a crocodile is per month, not per day. Reptiles eat much less frequently than mammals. 1y

GingerAntics @ImperfectCJ that is incorrect. Crocs eat every 3-5 days. However, a different source stated that a 100kg croc eats 700g of food each WEEK, and that a 100kg/220lb human needs to eat that amount DAILY. If you consider that crocs eat only meat, that‘s going to factor to about 2016 calories a day for a 220 pound human. 1y

GingerAntics @ImperfectCJ That IS actually closer to the amount a grown adult needs to eat, and it washes when you consider this is the minimum for the human body to function healthily. Once you add activity, climate, etc, you‘re going to have to add more. 1y

GingerAntics @ImperfectCJ I am fully aware of this. I took the fact I found “A crocodile eats on average 2-5 pounds of meat per day, or roughly 5% of its body weight per week.” I figured out how many calories that would be. 1302-3255 calories. Since that is the average a croc eats “per day” I multiplied by 30 since Bryson is claiming we need to eat in a day what a croc eats in a month. 39,060-97,650. According to Bryson, this is what we should eat a day. 1y

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GingerAntics

Body: A Guide for Occupants | Bill Bryson

This means, that according to Bill here:
A 100lb person must eat 7,000 calories a day
A 150lb person must eat 10,500 calories a day
A 200lb person must eat 14,000 calories a day
A 300lb person must eat 21,000 calories a day
Granted, these are just to maintain weight. So NO ONE should be eating the 1200 calories a day often recommended (probably because that is the nutritional necessity of a TODDLER! ⬅️ read that again).

GingerAntics So what diet is he suggesting we should all be on, because there isn‘t a single diet in the world that suggests even enough calories for a 100 pound adult. #BillBryson #TheBody #audiobook #busbook #fatphobia #dietculture #totalcrap 1y

ImperfectCJ There has to be a calculation error with those calories, unless they're a joke. I don't think I'm physically capable of eating even 7,000 calories a day, and I do weigh more than 100 pounds. 1y

GingerAntics @ImperfectCJ it‘s possible. What I did was calculate 2% of each weight, then converted that number of pounds to calories. That‘s what he said we were supposed to eat in a day to maintain our energy. It gets even more scary when you do the math on his crocodile claim. 1y

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ImperfectCJ @GingerAntics But a pound of butter has more calories than a pound of kale. It's not a direct conversion. 1y

GingerAntics @ImperfectCJ that is true, this is just the number of calories in a pound of human. How you choose to distribute your calories will depends on how many pounds of food that is. 1y

GingerAntics @ImperfectCJ that‘s where I‘m far more confident in the croc numbers. Crocs is 2-5 pounds of meat a day. It‘s easy to figure out how many calories are in a pound of meat on average… but those numbers are even bigger than these. 1y

ImperfectCJ @GingerAntics crocodiles eat once a month, though, right? 1y

GingerAntics @ImperfectCJ when food is available, they eat every 3-10 days. And they average 2-5 pounds of meat a day, or 5% of their body weight per week. 1y

ImperfectCJ @GingerAntics Please just check your units (weeks, days, pounds, calories) and think it through again. I'm not even saying that Bryson is correct (that's a separate issue), just that the calculations you're using are inaccurate. 1y

GingerAntics @ImperfectCJ the calculations I am using are based entirely on easily findable, verifiable information and Bryson‘s own words. Which takes me back to my point, within the span of 30 seconds he‘s on a diatribe about eating less and then goes into just how much we actually do need to eat. 1y

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GingerAntics

Body: A Guide for Occupants | Bill Bryson

And even people who do lose weight, about 95% will gain back AT LEAST AS MUCH AS THEY LOST. The body is not designed to lose weight. Notice that bigger bodies in societies that do NOT diet magically have none of the health problems bigger bodies in societies that diet do. Hm. It‘s almost as if the bigger bodies aren‘t the problem.

GingerAntics IF 95% OF PEOPLE WHO TOOK AN ANTIBIOTIC GOT EVEN SICKER AFTER COMPLETING TREATMENT, WOULD YOU STILL TAKE THAT ANTIBIOTIC? 1y

GingerAntics If someone “cured” cancer, hut 95% of the people who got this miracle treatment got cancer again and died before being able to get the treatment again, would it really be a cure? 1y

GingerAntics If a medication didn‘t work for 95% of people afflicted with an illness, would it even be a treatment? (Placebos work for at least 33% of cases… so it works worse than a sugar pill. Just think of that.) 1y

GingerAntics #BillBryson #TheBody #audiobook #busbook #dietculture #fatphobia 1y

GingerAntics @ImperfectCJ both of the posts you have commented on, were in direct response to THIS post which officially has more verifiable nutrition science than Bryson‘s book. 1y

9 likes5 comments

GingerAntics

Body: A Guide for Occupants | Bill Bryson

Does this mean that my propensity to sweat a lot means I‘m extra brainy or just that I think too much? Or does it not work that direction at all?
#BillBryson #TheBody #audiobook #busbook

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GingerAntics

Body: A Guide for Occupants | Bill Bryson

Greatly enjoying this one so far!
#BillBryson #TheBody #audiobook #busbook

15 likes

readswellwithothers

The Life And Times Of The Thunderbolt Kid: Travels Through my Childhood | Bill Bryson

pick

4⭐️ I first read this about 10 years ago and I remember really loving it. Now, seeking an audiobook to keep me company during a boring work project, I found this from the library and thought it would hit the spot. I was right! It‘s about childhood in Iowa in the 50‘s and what that looked like from the author‘s vantage point, so if you‘re looking for a fast-paced, hard-researched memoir, look elsewhere. For a funny look into the past, it‘s a win.

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