You've pretty much made the point I was hoping to see made, but I would like to add a little more.

Don't forget the whole evolutionary importance of fat. Fat is your body's way of storing energy up for "famine" during periods of "feast". You naturally get stronger (yes stamina is different) as you plump up... just think about the fact that the 350 lb guy leg presses 350 lbs every time he stands up! Fat is also an insulator, the way it should work is you build up fat during the summer and fall when food is abundant, then use that fat to stay warm and as a food supplement during the winter months. Also, as you loose the weight, your stamina increases because you have all this physical strength on a much lighter frame... remember all those commercials where people talk about how their "energy level" has gone up after loosing weight. You bet it has, that's so you can get out there on the Serengeti plains and run down that gazelle in the spring before all your energy stores are depleted!

Our problem is that industrialization has made every month a "feast" month and famine doesn't exist! So we put on the fat and never work if off... which then leads to medical problems down the road.

So here's my point, some fat is not necessarily bad... especially in most survival scenarios where food is going to be scarce. Don't mistake the madison avenue ideal of being a walking bag of bones with actually being healthy. Oh yeah, and the weightlifters, that's just an example of a different extreme. What's the point in having great physical strength when that isn't required for your everyday needs, like stalking a gazelle? Muscles require energy... you'll have to consume many more calories just to maintain that, and what is the benefit in a survival situation? Is our weightlifter friend gonna go wrestle a grizzly or what?

None of this is to justify being overweight and out of shape, but do understand why things work the way they do from the evolutionary (and by definition, survival) aspect. Balance is the key, not too fat and not too thin. And yes, we probably do focus on gadgets too much, what makes man successful is his ability to think and adapt. Understand why/how things work the way they do (and that includes your body), and you'll be able to deal with the bad times when they do come. The tools will always be ancillaries to THAT!