I read this article that says a new study predicts 42% of Americans could be obese by 2030. An obesity rate of 42% - that doesn't include those of us who fall into the overweight category. Holy cannoli (yum - cannoli! Wait...).
Last week's issue of Newsweek had this cover photo (which I showed to Asa and remarked that they could have used our chubby baby Oscar as the cover model - his legs are so big that even his rolls have rolls). The Newsweek article addresses current anti-obesity campaigns, including the upcoming documentary Weight of the Nation, a project HBO did in conjunction with the Centers for Disease Control, the National Institutes of Health, and the Institute of Medicine (I have Netflix, not cable, so it'll be awhile before I get to see that!).
The author of the Newsweek article maintains that while the conventional wisdom of "calories in, calories out" is, in theory, true, it doesn't go far enough. It's not just the number of calories that is important, but the type of calories we eat. In other words, are we getting the right nutrients from our food, or are we eating refined sugars and grains, which leads to insulin creation, which leads to the accumulation of fat? If we want to combat the obesity epidemic, we all need to learn what to eat, not just how many calories.
I am no dietitian, but I do know what happens with my own body when I eat certain foods. I build and maintain muscle when I eat mostly whole foods; I tend to be flabbier when I get into a bad habit of eating processed junk foods (even if I'm limiting calories). I love eating healthy foods, but I love junk food too; I know I'm fighting against habits and tastes I developed as a kid. I have to be really careful not to let my allotted calories for the day be used up with empty calories...but I also know that if I deny myself all of those foods, then I may completely fall off the wagon. Moderation is key, yeah? (Remind me of that after I've had a couple glasses of wine, please.)
I am happy to be overweight. (What?!? Did she just say that???) Maybe I should rephrase that - I am happy to be in the overweight category as opposed to the obese category, which I fell into starting my junior year of high school and remained in for a long time (then I finally got out of the obese category in my mid-twenties, but I went back over that line after each of my pregnancies). I'm not satisfied, though - I'm going to keep working until I fall into the "normal body weight" category (remind me of that before I've had a couple glasses of wine, please).
I feel like the researchers of this new study are like the Ghost of Christmas Future in "A Christmas Carol" - they are showing us the shadow of what will be, but there is still time to change it! It will take both education (people need to have help knowing what to eat) and personal determination (nobody else can make you choose whole foods, nobody else can limit your portion size, nobody else can drag your butt off the couch to get some exercise).
I am proof that people can change. If I had kept going down the path I was following in early adulthood, I would be morbidly obese by now. All I thought about was how fat I was and how other people - skinny people - had it so easy, but I never really did anything about it. Finally, when I was 23, I was watching a video of myself conducting my choirs, and I saw my love handles jiggling as I conducted. I was mortified. Finally, I really wanted to change - wanted it badly enough that I took control of my eating and increased my exercise, both of which are very difficult changes for people to make. We can give people all the facts about the dangers of obesity, but how do we get them to want - I mean, really want, not just wish things were different - to change?
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