Carrying a Heavy Burden, or Thoughts on the So-Called Obesity “Epidemic”
Weight loss is something that’s on the minds of millions of Americans. According to various reports, over 60% of Americans are overweight or obese.
Naturally, politicians are quick to jump on the “epidemic” and offer their own “solutions” to the problem, from proposing taxes on “unhealthy” foods to legislating what goes into our foods and so on. Of course, politicians will always help us to blame someone else for our problems, rather than point the finger directly at us and the choices we as individuals make, because that kind of honesty could cost them votes.
It’s much easier to blame McDonald’s.
Some people will blame the growing use of high fructose corn syrup in place or cane sugar or other sweeteners. But, the claim that high fructose corn syrup is more readily converted to fat in humans has not been proven.
Eating a Big Mac is not going to kill you. Eating a Big Mac value meal with fries and a Coke–Supersize me!–is not going to kill you either.
Eating that everyday, probably not such a good idea.
Too much of anything can be bad. You can die from drinking too much water too. The key is moderation, and that’s something many people have problems with. Eat a few potato chips, not the whole “family” size bag, for example. Eat one or two cookies, not the whole box. And so on.
But, the larger problem, I think, is the lack of exercise. Both adults and kids these days live relatively sedentary lives. Instead of going outside to play, kids stay inside playing video games. More and more adults work at jobs where they sit in front of computers all day. Then, kids and adults come home from school or work, and spend most of the evening watching TV, playing video games or surfing the Internet.
You can cut calories all you want, and doing so can stop you from gaining more weight, but in order to lose the weight, some amount of exercise is necessary. (Of course, consult your doctor before starting an exercise regimen.)
People need to get out more. Take a walk. Play catch. Whatever. Just spend more time being active.
And, that’s something posting calorie counts on the on menu boards isn’t going to solve.
That’s something taxing “unhealthy” food is not going to solve.
Best thing is to tell the politicians to stuff it, and handle the problem ourselves. Maybe run the self-serving politicians out of town. Grab your torches and pitchforks!
At least that would be exercise. 
I am so right behind you on this - I have always thought lack of exercise had more to do with it but then again, it is easier to change your eating than to try to force yourself to exercise more so it is just that laziness again.
[...] though some 60% of Americans are overweight or obese (as I mentioned last week), many of the individuals within that 60% aren’t comfortable with the fact. You may not want [...]