I’ve finally decided to enter the world of blogdom!
I’ll get right to the matter at hand. After, well, let’s say, several, years of life on this earth, I’ve had a recent epiphany, which is in my face as I go about my everyday life. I have been quite aware for some time that we have become a self indulgent, overweight world. but I don’t recall seeing so many overweight people walking the streets everyday. A “fat” person was, back in the day, unfortunately, an anomaly, and someone to be stared at and ridiculed.
Living in the United States-a land of plenty and prosperity, which is a blessing to most, has unfortunately created an unhealthy society. We’re living too well!
In my travels to other countries, I have gone to grocery stores and felt bad about the lack of products. mostly about the lack of convenience foods. We have been brainwashed, and have become comfortable with the amazing bounty of foods that are available to us. This has expanded our waistlines, and It’s snuck up on us. However, there is no lack of fast food places overseas, which has been detrimental to the world as well. There was a story during the Olympics (funny, it was shown midday, midweek, when most of us were at work, but anyway…) about obesity in China. I was fascinated in a way by the story, and started to think about how many overweight Asian people I’ve seen in my life- other than Sumo wrestlers. Not many, none, actually. The point is, our “excess” is becoming worldwide.
Even more disturbing, in my view, is the problem of obesity in children. I was lucky when I was young. I was tall, painfully skinny, and had a hard time eating until puberty kicked in. Then, food became my best friend! But I was lucky. Call it good metabolism, good genes, or a combination, but I could eat anything and everything, and not gain a pound. I envied my more voluptuous friends, although they were not overweight in any way. I even went so far as to try a protein powder, the same stuff weightlifters use, to gain weight. Boy, did that backfire on me! (there’s a really bad pun, there, think about it.) I ended up losing five pounds, and a lot of money, when I tossed that nasty can of powder in the trash.
So, I went on with my gustatory life, blissfully eating anything that I wanted, not thinking about words like cholesterol, trans fat, calories. None of that mattered to me. I was young, shapely and healthy without the benefit of exercise or dieting. And I did all the fast food places, ate a lot of “soul food”. I lived in NYC in my twenties, where I had the pleasure of experiencing fabulous restaurants almost daily. I also discovered my love of cooking, and explored the science of cooking with gusto. I cooked for my friends, (and still do), and we would make excuses to eat like nobody’s business. When “The Wizard of Oz” would come on, that would be an annual party, and we would chow down on fried chicken, greens, cornbread, mashed potatoes, cheesecake, etc. It’s was obscene. But REALLY good!
Lately, as my metabolism has come to a grinding halt, I have had to adjust how and what I eat, although the quantity of food that I eat daily has reduced. I’m facing painful realities…I CAN’T EAT LIKE I USED TO! 
I have many more food stories that I’ll get to later. But my concern about childhood obesity has grown exponentially over the past five years. Again, I’ve noticed that I walk past so many more overweight people lately, especially kids. (OK, I’ll tell you, I’m 5’9″ and about 153 lbs at this writing. And I’m hoping to lose 7-10 pounds!). Anyway, with this blog, I’m hoping to contribute in a small way to reversing the childhood obesity trend.
Next post will be a few tips to erase calories from foods kids love (and grownups too!)
R
