Being the Exception to the Rule

It's hard for a day to go by in the news without another story related to the rapidly-expanding (pun intended) obesity epidemic.  Whether it's on the internet, a story in the newspaper or one of the segments on the evening news, obesity and its ramifications provides newsworthy fodder day after day. 

A couple of days ago, a story caught my eye that spoke volumes to how wide-spread this epidemic really is.  The New York City Center is ripping out all its seats and replacing them with wider ones.  Upon completion, the new seats will range from 19 to 22 inches in width - an increase from 17 to 20 inches.  One study by the Theater Projects Consultants, a theater-development firm, found that the average standard width of seats in performing-arts theaters has expanded from 21 to 22 inches over the last 2 decades, "primarily due" to the concurrent rise in obesity.  Before losing 126 pounds, I remember attending a couple of old, classic movies in a theater that was built nearly one hundred years earlier.  I was wedged into the seats and was fairly uncomfortable.  I remember grumbling to myself about the small seats and wondering why any theater would make such narrow seats, then remembering that the seats probably easily accommodated the patrons of the era when the theater was built.  It was a sobering realization for me.

While the size of theater seats is expanding across the country, it's also interesting to note that twenty years ago, a movie theater popcorn was five cups for under 300 calories. Now, a large tub is 16 to 20 cups, ranging from 1,000 to 1,200 calories.  What's happened with movie theater popcorn has happened in nearly every restaurant across the country - portion sizes have increased dramatically, and people have gotten increasingly obese.  Factor in that many individuals are burning less calories than ever before thanks to sit-down jobs in front of computers, labor-saving devices (we don't even crank our car windows anymore - just push a button!), and the ability to scroll through a couple hundred cable TV options with a remote from the comfort of a recliner.

You may be wondering, so what does all of this have to do with the choice to stay on plan?  Simply this:  the environment all around us, from the chairs we sit in to the food we purchase in a restaurant to the fact that we can run our lives without ever breaking a sweat means that it's easy to stay overweight.  Our country is changing, and not in a good way, to accommodate our expanding girth.  Being overweight used to be the exception and now it's the rule (2/3 of Americans are now classified as overweight or obese).  This means that choosing to get healthy, choosing to temporarily turn down certain foods and choosing to get and stay active are very counter-cultural.

So why go to all the effort to get to a healthy weight when our culture is becoming more and more accommodating to our obesity?  This is why:  regardless of how accommodating our culture may be, our health remains at risk when we're carrying around extra weight.  While our culture scrambles to accommodate our extra girth, the diabetes rates are skyrocketing right along with the obesity rates.  People are not only getting fatter, they are getting sicker.  Theater seats may be ripped out and replaced to make people more comfortable, but there is no drug in the pipleline that will enable our bodies to peacefully co-exist with our obesity.  It is killing us and it's severely compromising the quality of our lives.

So it's hard to make the choices we need to make today.  Choosing to deny ourselves, to reject immediate gratification for something far better down the road - a longer, healthier life - is going against society's flow.  The only way we can successfully do this day after day, Medifast meal after Medifast meal, is if we've made the fundamental choice to get healthy.  It's up to you - go with the flow or be counter-cultural.  Choose wisely :-)

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We are leaving this morning for a week at our lake cottage rental.  This is one of those rustic spots on the lake where we can sometimes get a weak phone signal if we're standing at the end of the dock and the wind is blowing in the right direction :-).  No cell phone and no internet access for the next week, so I won't be able to post a blog until we get home.  Have a great, on-plan week, and continue to choose wisely :-)