Youth and Obesity

Interesting article from Reuters about the growing number of obese children. Timely article, too, considering that I just had lunch with 100+ teenagers at McDonald's. I was there for the Apple Dippers, which are a nice 100-calorie dessert to follow the tuna-and-wheat-cracker entree I had prepared for myself. The kids were there for the fries, apparently, judging from the number of trays I saw with the telltale super-sized red cartons on them. It also seemed as though most trays had large sandwiches like Big Macs or Quarter Pounders on them. That's a lot of fat calories for lunch. Curious, I asked one of their teachers if any of the kids had ordered salads. At first she said 'no', but then she remembered seeing one (ONE) walnut-apple salad. She also said she had seen several kids with yogurt parfaits. So that's what, 4 or 5 out of 100 kids. And as I was leaving, I saw two of those yogurt parfaits sitting untouched while their purchasers finished...you guessed it, their super-sized fries. Oh well, it was a better choice than the Big Mac combo, I suppose.

If I had had access to the fast food and convenience food options these kids have (not to mention the funds to purchase them), there's no telling how big I would be today. When I was their age, canned fruit (as opposed to fresh) was about the worst dietary choice I could make. Pizza, burgers, and such were available, I just usually didn't have any money with which to purchase them. For that matter, neither did my parents. "Snack Night" was a big deal at our house. We each got to pick one thing that we wanted, and Dad would go to the store and purchase just those things. Mom would almost always get a Butterfinger candy bar, my sister asked for Hostess Twinkies, Dad would get some sort of Hostess product, and I would get the Hostess Banana Flip. It only happened about once a month, and the whole excursion probably set Dad back about two dollars, but it was A Very Big Deal to us. Limited snacking--what a concept!

Obviously, I lost my way somewhere along the line, and for that reason, I can identify to some degree with teenagers today. It's easy to get caught up in doing what everyone else is doing, and not really considering the long-term consequences of what we're doing. I can only hope that we somehow "fix" the system so that these kids have a good shot at long, healthy lives.

The whole experience reminded me of my own commitment, so I took the stairs back up to the office. Seven flights, all uphill. :) It wasn't pretty, but I made it. I definitely need to continue to do this, at least once a day.

Sunday, Sunday

Have I ever mentioned how much I loathe Sundays? They feel so sad. Weekend gone, another lonnng week ahead. It's a vicious circle.

Another decent week on my goal work. I still haven't managed to walk for an hour a day more than occasionally, but the toes knows. I'm pretty much screwed at the whole thing if I don't get these things healed. A half-hour walk is good enough for now.

I bought hand weights today at Target. It's a convertible set up for 1-3 pound weights. Now I can do more of the targeted workout DVD.

A couple of changes/challenges for this week:
1) I'm using sparkpeople to record everything I eat. It's got a neat tool that breaks down all the nutrients and tracks calories. It also compares them to their recommended nutritional goals.
2) I'm calling a gym. I read about this company called "Fitness Together," which has a local franchise. They apparently have private workout rooms and trainers. I think that's best for me to start out. I'm not ready for the general public yet. More importantly, I seriously doubt the general public is ready for me. LOL

A few weeks ago I made a private list of reasons I want to maintain a healthier lifestyle and lose weight. Reason number 7: To be rescued, should the need present itelf. Now, I was joking at the time, or half-joking maybe, but the joke took a serious turn when I read this article.

'Woman left to die because she was too fat'
Angry John Teague has claimed that ambulance paramedics left his wife to die after joking that she was TOO FAT to lift.

Mr Teague, 58, alleges that the ambulance crew sneered that they would need a fire crew to lift seventeen-and-a-half stone Sandra Teague, 52.

Seventeen and a half stone is a little less than 250 pounds. According to the article, there were five ambulance attendants present. I'm no math genius, but I can work out this equation. And I'm outraged. I'm not sure what rips my heart out most--the insensitivity of the paramedics toward that woman and her family, or their ineptitude in being unable to figure out, between the five of them, how to get her to medical attention.

So what to take away from this that can be used for good? The article mentions that Sandra Teague had lost around 100 pounds and was on her way to regaining control of her health. I wish she could have achieved her goal here on this earth, but she didn't.

Unless, maybe...I think I'll print out Sandra Teague's picture and put it on my bulletin board. She will be in my heart every single day, constant evidence of success, and a brutal reminder that life is incredibly, horribly, wretchedly unfair sometimes.

I think I'll print out reason #7, too, because they don't rescue fat people.

I need yoga.