It was late evening. The house was quiet; everybody was either reading or asleep. I was watching some taped round of the many golf tournaments that I have on my TV, my usual want, before going to bed. All of a sudden, I see a middle-aged man eating a 12 egg omelet with bacon and cheese. The commentator in the background states that this man will be travel across the country and try to scarf down all the specialty foods on the various menus, noted for their prodigious size: the biggest hamburger, the biggest sandwich; the biggest steak. Man Vs Food! Wow!! While I was hearing this, the man raised his hands, like a champion boxer who has just knocked down his opponent in a world title match. Double Wow!!!! I would hate to be his stomach; worse, I would hate to be his arteries.
The sun rises over the rather gray morning. In the background the birds chirp to herald the new dawn. Slowly and gradually, as the camera pans to the path along the river, I can see people moving around. People from all walks of life; old people, young people, men, and women of all sizes and shapes, as they go through their morning ritual of gently exercising and exerting themselves in Tai Chi moves. It is 7:30 in the morning, and I am watching my favorite show, “Sunrise Earth.” As I revel in this peaceful portrayal of nature, I see a small comment at the bottom of the picture: According to a survey, 71.7% of Chinese are physically fit; the same survey puts the US as 65.5 % obese.
In the United States, we have everything, and we certainly indulge ourselves in everything. Look around you. We are an ‘All you can Eat’ generation,’ and it shows. We over drink, over eat, and over indulge. It is said that the three biggest industries in this country are Food, Diet, and Diet Pills. What does that tell about our life style? We are couch potatoes that will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on watching games, never playing games. We will eat to excess, and then try to get a quick fix—diet. We are the “eat all you can” generation; we are the “buffet generation”; and we show it.
It reminds me of the obese gentleman that went to a nutritionist about his obesity. The nutritionist made him a detailed plan and said she would like to see him in three months. When the three months were up, the patient came into the office and was weighed by the nutritionist; he was twenty pounds heavier than the last time.
“Are you sure you kept to your diet?”
“Yes,” replied the patient.
The nutritionist was nonplussed and decided to observe the patient at his home. She came to his house in the evening. The man asked his wife to give him his supper. The supper was a gigantic affair. After finishing everything, he turned to his wife: “Could you now give me my diet food?”
Our approach is the same; we are not willing to make an effort to change our lifestyle, and the ads on the TV certainly do not help. They all promise us a quick fix.
“Use this pill and the weight will simply melt off you!!!”
“A clinically proven trial showed that taking brand XX showed that people lost 30 pounds in two weeks.”
What all these diets do not emphasize is eat proportionately; what all these diets do not emphasize is use less fat; and what these diets do not emphasize is exercise. If they did that, they will lose the billions of dollars that they are earning at the cost of their gullible consumers.
It is all about the lobbies. Cigarettes are cancer causing; therefore, there is a warning from the Surgeon General on every packet and they are not advertised on TV. On the other hand, every year there are more deaths caused by drunk drivers; yet, there is no label on any alcoholic drinks and the ads on the TV show how much fun you can have drinking.
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