Surrounded by food.

Bacon Maple Cupcake! The sinister bastard.

I guess this blog post might come off sounding a little preachy. That's not the intention, as I would be a giant hypocrite to go on a diet and weeks later start doing that sort of thing.  The purpose of a blog entry like this is to maybe help anyone else reading it to stop and think about things in a new way, like I have been trying to do lately.

I watched an episode of the show 'taboo' this weekend which dealt with obesity.  It made a number of interesting points that resonated with me because they are absolutely true.  Some of them are things I didn't really think about when I wasn't paying that much attention to what I was eating, when I was eating, etc.

The most telling of them were:

• Everywhere you go now, you are surrounded by food.
• Food manufacturers are now using ads to tell you how 'fun' their food is, not how good for you it is.
• A third of the adult population in the entire world are obese. 15% of children 6-19 years old are overweight. (Not my numbers. Look it up around the web, etc. Yikes.)
• We are raising a generation of children who, due to our food choices, may not outlive their parents.
• Even if these children outlive their parents, they will possibly have debilitating medical issues caused by weight and poor diet.
• There is a growing culture that says fat is beautiful, and it might be becoming more accepted as the norm.

So.. what's so bad about being fat anyway? Most people (me included) know that it causes 'health problems' and can lead to stuff like a heart attack.  Here are some other things to consider.  If you are overweight, you are potentially at risk for:

• Cardiovascular disease (leading to things like heart attack and strokes)
• Type 2 diabetes (Which has a terrifying list of complications at its worst)
• Musculoskeletal disorders
• Increased risk of breast, colon and endometrial (in the uterus) cancer

Just a few there. No need to use scare tactics here, but these things begin with you are slightly overweight.. and are magnified the heavier you are.  The cost of treatments is debilitating, as well as the fact that the things mentions above can lead directly to permanent disability or in some cases death.  Beyond these, until I started to drop some pounds I didn't really realize how much being so overweight was affecting simple things for me like feeling properly tired at night, or being able to walk for fifteen minutes without getting totally out of breath.

So, basically, everywhere you go in the modern world, there are things made available to eat which are not healthy, designed to be appealing not for nutrition reasons, but because they are tasty, or fun, or trendy, and available in quantity (and cheaply) so you can get them without effort.

It's true, too.  I never really thought about it, but pretty much anywhere you go, there is something to eat. And the more convenient food is, the worse it tends to be for you.  It's very difficult NOT to eat all the time, especially in our country.  As an exercise today, everywhere you go, make note of how easy it is to get food and whether or not you really would benefit from eating whatever is available.

Having to say 'no' politely to many foods available is hard as hell.  Sitting down at a restaurant and realizing that perhaps 5% of the menu is actually fairly healthy is distressing. Certainly, it shines a spotlight on the fact that you shouldn't eat out frequently. It's OK here and there, but literally killing you otherwise.  Save the money, buy slightly more expensive, but healthier cuts of meat at the store and learn to cook a few simple things.. it's working wonders for me. And, for other friends of mine.

Oh! And if you are a Starbucks fan.. well, check THIS out.