Paula Deen on the Today Show - what's your opinion?

I wonder if the people that watch Paula Deen and think she eats this way all the time, think Indy 500 drivers drive 200mph on the way home from work?

THIS.

She's doing a job. She's not trying to single-handedly make everyone in America fat.
We're doing a fine job of that all by ourselves.

No no its not our fault its tv and mcdonalds and everyone elses but our own :huh:

I did not see the show but I have always liked Paula Dean. She is a southern woman cooking like a lot of southern women cooked for years from recipes handed down from mothers, grandmothers & greatgrandmothers. She had a fear of leaving her home (know the correct word but would destroy the spelling..lol) and for years that was a way for her to go thru life with her cooking. I think she loves her family(her boys) and found a way to support them with her cooking and worked hard from it. Things did not come easy for her and she got a break with her show and cookbooks making it possible to become financially independent . She cooked but did not force any of us to eat her food, that was all on us. No one twisted my arm to drive to Burger King for that cheese whopper or McDonald's for those Big Macs..That was all on me..I have been in so many weight programs and diets but alas I am still fat and got up to 360 pounds on my own without anyone encouraging me. I am a type II diabetic and that is because of having to take heavy doses of steroids from becoming disabled with rheumatoid arthritis. Hence becoming a guiene pig(sp) for being put on this med. and that med for YEARS to see what would work. I have had open heart surgery in 1999. Have hypertension,sleep apnea,fibromyalgia,RA,insulin dependent diabetes(4 shots per day),GERD,mitrovalue regurgitation after taking PhenPhen(another diet pill),atrial flutter(now on coumadon), have to use oxygen at night to breathe,elevated cholesterol and triglycerides(on meds for that),history of congestive heart failure(meds for that),I take 35 pills a day and 4 insulin shots(3 with meals @ 48 units per meal and night insulin 76 units of that one. We pay 1200.00 a month for insurance thru husbands work and both on Medicare secondary insurance plus 700.00 a month for copay for our meds. Hubby is 69 yo and goes to work everyday because we need the insurance and there is no way we can live on his SS and my disability. I live in pain every day from by RA and this makes it hard to go to gym(much less able to buy a membership). My parents were born and raised in North Carolina and southern cooking was what we were raised on. My grandmother was a wonderful cook and so was my mom.. I remember growing up on her milk gravy and bisquits for breakfast. She always cooked big pots of food so whenever anyone came over the first place they headed to was the kitchen because they knew there was some good old southern food waiting for them. I was skinny as a kid but when I hit puberty ,BAM, the weight started and never stopped. Put on 60 pounds when I was pregnant with my daughter and never lost it. I remember weighing 180 to 200 ponds in high school and wore a size 14 dress and thought I was the fattest girl in school , l would love to weigh that now ...I cooked all the time when the kids were little and growing up then it was just myself and hubby and we ate out all the time because it was hard on my back to stand at the stove and sink with my RA..Hubby never pushed me to lose weight and always said he did not care if he had to put a chalk line around me to hug me he loved me for me and I was a beautiful woman but I always felt ugly regardless of what I saw in the mirror when it came to my face. I know I have gotten off the Paula Dean story but wanted to let you know something about southern cooking and women. In my opinion, esp. with Paula knowing she had type II diabetes for past 3 years and keeping it to herself was her being in denial. Now I feel her coming out now was a way of a type of promotional thing for her son's Bobby new show "Not My Mama's Cooking" and it is about cooking healthy would somehow play into what can happen IF you do not eat healthy. I still love Paula and I will be watching Bobby's show. I am going to get this weight off and I love this site and I thank my daughter for telling me about it since she and her family are using MFP..I am now weighing 290 and have a long way to go but then I did not put all this fat on my *kitten* over night..thanks for listening to my rambling..Debbie..Please befreind be for support..

you guys are so funny people have been sitting here for hours arguing with each other I think I have watched every cooking show that has been on since Julia Child and I do not recall ever making one meal or dish that anyone has shown on TV, Graham Kerr, Yan Can Cook, Justin that old Louisiana Guy, too all the many, many, many, cooking shows, baking show, baking war shows, baking cakes, cupcake wars, the war of the cheesecakes. And does any one really care what Paula, the Kardashians, or any of these people do? None of them effect my life in any way, shape or form. I can live without them just fine I am an adult and I cant eat what I want without anyone approval.

Wow, this thread is terrible.

1. Paula Deen cooks recipes on her cooking show. Nobody said she eats those recipes every day.

2. Paula Deen is under no obligation to reveal ANY personal details about her private life, especially her health.

3. If she wants to use medication to treat herself, that's her prerogative. Millions of people do, as well. It is in no way her responsibility to teach anything about anything that she is not educated in.

Precisely. This is Paula Deen's beeswax, not mine and not yours. Don't we have more important stuff to worry about?

HA HA HA HA ... the whole point of this thread was to trash Paula Deen! And then we waggle our fingers at others for resorting to name calling? What the crap!?!

I feel that this shows us as being the country with the greatest rate of obesity that we need to pay more (if not careful) attention to what we put in our bodies. I feel a little disgusted with her "marketing" her diabetes with this pharmaceutical company as well.

I love Paila Deen and I don't believe that anyone on this planet believes that her food is good for you. I Would love to make a few of her recipies but if i were to do that it would be a once evey 5 year thing. I am happy that she has come out and stated that she is a type 2 dibetic. Now lets see what she does with condition now that she has told the world.

Just you let you know that i have not see the interview and am hopping to at somepoint.

If she is out there talking about diabetes to get people to get checked and then make decisions to get healthy their way, great. But quite personally, why does everyone need to know her personal life. Yes, she is a celebrity but I so don't care about anything other than what a celebrity is supposed to do, entertain me. They don't run or decide my life for me.

If she is putting it out there to make money off of it, then shame for sure. Some people need meds. My son, he has seizures, is one. But there are those who can take care of things simply by taking care of themselves. You need to know which one you are.

Type 2 Diabetes is not a condition where there needs to be so many different meds. I am sorry, it is self-induced and can be reversed with a controlled carb lifestyle where a person may need to start off on medications and then get off said medications as they lose weight and their body heals to become more insulin sensitive again.

Most of these medications are detrimental to the body ever healing, therefore the longer you are on said medication, the more damage is being done to the body. That is where neuropathy and such comes into play.

You can not compare a condition such as your sons seizure disorder which he did not inflict on his self to one millions of people (including myself) actually has inflicted upon themselves. Medicine and Science have their place and are positive for many conditions..........

But it is ridiculous to fork out hundreds of dollars a month for Diabetes medication which for Type 2 Diabetics is a Lifestyle Disease.

I have done my part to change my lifestyle from the Standard American Diet over to the Paleo Lifestyle. I am completely medication free, including Diabetes, PCOS and Thyroid medications (which was the last to go).

I'd like to point out that Type 2 is not always "self-induced" nor a "Lifestyle" disease. Lifestyle, particularly diet and exercise, are heavy factors for most people who get diagnosed with Type 2 later in life, but there are genetic factors for many.

Diabetes is rampant in my family, both Type 1 and 2. Those with Type 2 in my family were diagnosed when they were teenagers or young adults, just like the Type 1's in the family. All were healthy and normal-weight at the time.

That said, it is true that healthy diet and exercise allow most Type 2's to stay (or get off) any medications for their diabetes for many years (and some permanently). Many people can control the disease through diet/exercise alone, which is a very good thing.

I feel sorry for Paula Deen if she's only relying on medication. It'd be nice if she was promoting eating healthy and truly trying to educate people about diabetes. Based on that clip from the show, she's not. Sad, but it's not her responsibility to educate people.

I am sorry to say this...............I don't usually rely on any government resources, but even governments around the globe say that T2 Diabetes is a LIFESTYLE DISEASE.

Summary
Diabetes type 2 is a lifestyle disease that is strongly associated with high blood pressure, high cholesterol and weight gain, particularly around the waist (apple shape). Type 2 diabetes may be prevented but it cannot be cured.

Another site..........

Lifestyle diseases, as the name suggests, refer to ailments/diseases/disorders owing to the way people live and the way they interact with their environment. Type 2 Diabetes is one of the various lifestyle diseases which has gripped the youth of today, tightly and fiercely, in their long, jagged tentacles. Considered as the Diabetes capital of the world, India has the highest number of diabetic patients in the world, a whopping figure of 30 million and still growing by leaps and bounds. Doctors and other experts claim that the average age of being diagnosed with a lifestyle disease will soon move down from 40 something to 30 something.

Not interested in a back and forth argument with you. If you'd read my post closely, I stated "lifestyle" is known to be a heavy factor for most people who develop it later in life. It is not the only cause, though, and I was bothered by others posts stating it as the only cause. Obviously, there is a major problem with the exploding rates of Type 2 diagnosis in the US, and much of it does seem to be due to long-term unhealthy lifestyles by people.

No matter how people get diabetes, they have to eat properly and exercise to control it. I already stated that as well.

http://www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/genetics-of-diabetes.html

I developed T2 Diabetes at 26 years old. Hardly in older age. Why, because I switched up my lifestyle and it made me fat, disgusting and sick.

I have no qualms admitting to myself that I was a disgusting fat body that did this to myself. Others need to own up to what they have done to themselves also. Accountability is everything and I believe in being real about it.

Type 2 Diabetes IS a lifestyle disease, it is not like T1 in anyway, shape, form or fashion.

According to everything I have read, learned and have been told by some very prominent medical figures Type 2 Diabetes is a lifestyle disease.

Even if something else was the cause like for me the development of PCOS............well a change in the way I was eating after I got out of the Army caused a hormone imbalance and then it spiraled out of control to a host of other issues.

Either way, I did this to myself and now it is up to me to fix it.

Would anyone like to learn how to make a bird feeder out of a pinecone and some peanut butter?

So many self-righteous people in this thread. You guys are as nasty as the food you claim Paula Deen makes is nasty.

So many self-righteous people in this thread. You guys are as nasty as the food you claim Paula Deen makes is nasty.

Hypocritical much?

Ratings and $$$ that is all.

I'm not sure how her keeping something so private about herself from the public is so horrible. As for her food I've never tried any of her recipes or anything but I think if you decide to look up her recipe & cook it then thats on you! It's the same as if you decide to get a big mac..is it McDonalds fault or yours? They didn't force you to come & eat there & she isn't forcing you to make her food. If you modify her recipe to be some what more healthy like less sugar...less salt then okay but don't bash her or anyone for that matter. I didn't read everyones comments but my point is don't blame others for your problems. You are in charge of yourself & some people really need to start owning up to their actions.

I agree that being sponsored by a drug company is a little odd...particularly for Type 2 Diabetes...and especially for a cook...

...however...I love Paula Deen as a product. And I think that's exactly why she is doing what she is doing. She makes money off of the type of cook she is: high fat, high sugar, high dairy comfort foods. If I'm honest with myself, the foods she cooks are the foods I love the most and the ones I hated giving up to lose weight.

So I understand why folks are up in arms, but there's a small part of me that will never stop loving Paula Deen. Anyone read her life story? She's actually been through quite a lot.

I can hardly believe what I'm reading... on a *fitness* web site.

Paul Deen the woman and Paula Deen the industry may be somewhat different things, heart-warming stories aside.

In point of fact, there are consequences to what the woman has chosen to be very publicly (and very lucratively) associated with and sponsor, in a crisis period of public health in industrialized countries.

Paula Deen the industry happens to market, sponsor and encourage the consumption of food that makes a lot of people fat and sick, and a small few very, very rich.

No one can honestly be surprised that such an enterprising woman would make her own decline in health an lucrative opportunity to shill for another industry that profits from the public health crisis: pharmaceuticals.

Moderation is the key of success.I really don't care what anyone endorse. I know the what is right and wrong. All food is good , a person had to decide that their is a limit of what one can eat.