Monday, August 29, 2011

Observations

This weekend I have been inundated with the word that we are fat in America. I got snippets of information from the radio, Internet and TV...it seems every body is talking about it. So I decided to Google, "How many obese people are in America 2011", and the very first article came from CBS News. They say that, "Two-thirds, more than 190 million Americans are overweight or obese".


Then I Googled a little bit more and found....


The CDC says that,

Trends by State 1985–2010

During the past 20 years, there has been a dramatic increase in obesity in the United States and rates remain high. In 2010, no state had a prevalence of obesity less than 20%. Thirty-six states had a prevalence of 25% or more; 12 of these states (Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia) had a prevalence of 30% or more. 
Oregon came in at 26.8%

YEEEIIIKKKEEESS!!!

As all of this information was swimming around my beady brain, I decided to check out what obesity looks like in my town....At the grocery store, I saw some thin people, many over weight and some very over weight people. I also saw this family of stick people. They were very cute...everyone of them were super thin, I mean really thin ~ BUT FIT!... They were all dressed in athletic clothes...Dad, Mom, and 2 kids. Adorable!! 
I checked out the carts of the obese people verses the stick peoples....What I saw does not surprise me at all. In the obese carts I saw chips, cookies, candy, prepackaged foods, and some fruits and vegetables. 
In the stick people's cart I saw...Lean meats, Fruits and Vegetables.....That's it!!
Hummmm.....
Then I caught two snippets of conversations....
#1 ~ This very large lady was moving through the dairy section and I heard her say, "I'm on vacation, no way am I eating yogurt!"
#2 ~ This very large guy says to the cashier, "Don't go grocery shopping when you are hungry, look at this, I splurged on Pop Tarts." Then the cashiers says, "Well at least there is some fruit in them." His cart was full of chips, cookies and prepackaged foods - not a veggie or fruit in sight. Then he held up the line, waiting for the cashier to get a carton of cigarettes....filtered of course.....!
Hummmm.......
As I was waiting to check out, I realized that the 5 of us, in my lane ~ including the cashier were all over weight. All of us. 5 out of 5...That's 100%!!!
Hummmmm!!!
This is not an epidemic for others. This is an epidemic that I'm right in the middle of....I see it everywhere and I'm part of it!!!
I am part of the problem...
I am ONE (1) of the 190 million Americans who are obese!

I am ONE (1) of the 26.8% of Oregonians who are obese!

ME.....Yeah me....GUILTY!

Well...I am not taking it anymore. I'm certainly doing my part to change the statistics, to change the face of my City, State and Country. I want a better statistic. I want to be on the side of the healthy, fit and thin statistics. I'm doing my part. I'm changing and I am working hard to get there!!

How about you....Are you working hard to change the face of your statistics?

Keep focused! 

9 comments:

  1. That's one of the things that we always notice when we go to the US - all the overweight people. But Canadian's aren't far behind. Apparently 59% of Canadians are "medically overweight or obese". Scary. And yah, I'm one of them, unfortunately. But I'M DOING SOMETHING ABOUT THAT! What really frightens me is when I see little kids and so many teenagers so overweight. That's an awful way to start life out.
    Dawn

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  2. I agree with dawn.. seeing obese children upsets me because in a lot of cases, it's because the parents are not teaching them healthy habits.

    I tend to watch people at the grocery store like this, too! I like to see what the healthy folks are buying and how my choices compare. I do buy some snacky foods for my son and husband, like the package of cookies that has been sitting in the fridge 3 weeks :) I don't want to ban everything that isn't perfectly healthy because life has cookies in it. I am teaching my son moderation though! I never learned that.

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  3. Isn't it funny how we are blinded to our own situations so often? The guy buying the pop tarts probably really didn't realize how bad his choices were and how much he was hurting himself. I say a little prayer for those people right then because they don't realize how much they are suffering by their own hand.

    Good for you for recognizing it and taking the proper steps to correct your own situation.
    Lori

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  4. Those statistics are super sobering. It makes me very sad but motivates me at the same time. Thank you for sharing.

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  5. OHHHHHHHH girl! I hear ya! Lousd and clear! I am one of the Mighiganders that are fat. yep , I sure am. I also look at carts and see what people are buying . And yes- carts reflect the people pushing them!!! emmmm hmmmm!
    Great post!
    Have a pretty day!
    Kristin

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  6. Statistics like these made me realize I needed to get healthier. I didn't want to be in that kind of majority!

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  7. I am trying! lol. I was looking up buying things on th e food pyramids thrifty food plan. ack. not so thrifty. I have my own ideas about food and it's relative costs...but really, we american's can be a bunch of garbage guts sometimes. lol. Stay focused.

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  8. You are not part of the problem anymore! As soon as we begin making better choices, we are making a difference. Wether we've reached our goal weight yet or not... it's that first step that really counts... and continuing steps. You are one of the fittest people I know girl!!!

    God Bless...
    ~Margene

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  9. Very interesting post - and sobering. You're doing great!

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