How different the movies would have been with a slight recasting of Sam.  Instead of Sean Astin, cast his dad John Astin.

This. I'm older than Sean Astin and somehow I'm not fat. Being old and fat is no different than being young and fat, putting the spoon down solves either.

He was my first celebrity crush.  I remember coming home from the theater after seeing The Goonies and daydreaming out the car window about Mikey.  

He's still thinner than the average United Statesian.

Po Tay Toes

Even Smeegol called him "the fat one"

So they need to adjust the second half of the equation and eat less.

They never will, at least most won't.

You see people on oxygen tanks still smoking, people with diabetes still eating cupcakes, and people with heart disease still laying around doing nothing all day. Even when their actual life is on the line, people won't change their habits.

That’s your point of view, sure, but the hobbits stole his stuff, his food, and treated him like crap - and in the end, he got the job done.

Another great film.

He can't really be the hero in the story because he is completely corrupted by the ring. He doesn't act out of righteousness when biting off Frodo's finger, it's self serving, and it caused him to fall, taking the ring with him on accident.

Sam is the one out of the three who holds the course the entire trip, in the end even Frodo can't complete his mission without Sam literally carrying him up the mountain, he's the only one of them that stays focused on the task.

Really, Sam even inadvertently saved them all when he scolded Gollum while he was considering redemption while the pair slept, he interrupted that train of thought and it was cast aside....which led to the final struggle at the end. Otherwise Frodo would have been fully corrupted and Sam likely would have had to push him to the crack....which he likely would have done, because he is the true hero.

Moving less? Eat less.

I know numerous people in their 60s and 70s who aren't fat. The one thing they all have in common is that they eat significantly less than the ones who ARE fat, and the ones who can, stay more active (even if it's simple things like going on daily walks, or gardening).

People can choose to make the effort, or make excuses. One is easier than the other.

I'm convinced that at a certain point around 40 years old, you need to make a very adult choice and stop sticking sweet things in your mouth except for special occasions.

You aren't a kid anymore, that cupcake is going mostly into storage, even if you are pretty active. Time to be a grown up and drink black coffee and stop putting sugar on your cereal.

Lots of people actually start snacking more in middle age though...grazing is a terrible habit, it's what makes cattle fat.

Sam is certainly the hero. Tolkien even goes on record acknowledging it. In defense of Frodo, though, he’s literally carrying a vessel of evil around his neck which is actively corrupting his soul the entire quest. To say he’s carrying a burden would be an understatement.

Gay as fuck!

It starts earlier than 40 (although people who maintain high levels of physical activity, can hold it off longer).

The metabolism just naturally begins to slow as we age. We also naturally store more visceral fat as we age, which is why all the skinfold bodyfat calculations are age dependent.

The exact same skinfold measurements, means a higher bodyfat percentage for a 30 year old, than a 20 year old. On average, the same skinfold measurements = ~1% higher bodyfat for every 5 years past 20. The same measurements that work out to ~15% bodyfat for a 20 year old, work out to ~22% for someone my age.

Beyond 20, it takes increasing care and effort to not keep getting fatter. Up to my early 30s, I could eat like crap, and not worry about even getting above 10% BF, between my metabolism and the fact that I engaged in a lot of physical activity.

You're right about that 40 mark, though. Even while maintaining high levels of physical activity, I realized past 40, that I had to be much more careful of my diet. Gone were the days when I could eat fast food for a week, and finish off a family sized box of chocolate chip cookies in 2 days, without seeing changes in my skinfold measurements.

I love sweets, but I try to limit them. I'll still eat a cookie before a workout or slam a gatorade every now and then on a really hot day after work, but I purposefully avoid desserts or grazing by just not buying the shit.

I found out around age 30 that I can't just eat a whole chocolate cake anymore and feel okay afterwards. It's similar to how I would feel if I had a few beers in the morning and then stopped, that shitty afternoon sleepy hangover feeling.

My mother in law thinks I'm insane. We do supper there every Thursday and she always does dessert. Sometimes I'll take a whole helping, but most of the time I'll just take one spoonful of ice cream, or like half a brownie. A little taste is adequate, if I was still hungry I'll just go get some more supper from the kitchen.

I usually do pancakes or waffles on Sunday morning for the kids, and I try to fill up on eggs so that I only want one pancake instead of a stack of 5.

IIRC, the Elves get to continue on in life indefinitely................they even question where their mortal friends go when they die, and some weary of their long lives.

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