by Leslie Tumbaco
When you go to the grocery store, it’s hard to avoid the racks of tabloid magazines lining the checkout counters. There’s always some celebrity being criticized for having cellulite or flab or just plain being fat. When I see these articles plastered everywhere, it’s hard not to compare myself.
Someone might tell me not to do that, though. They argue that we should accept people of all shapes and sizes and that the thin ideal is unfair and impossible. They say that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
This has nothing to do with that. This is about being healthy.
The United States is fat. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 26.11 percent of U.S. adults are obese. That’s about 80 million Americans. The CDC defines obesity as a “body mass index of 30 or greater,” which is usually about 50 pounds overweight.
It’s ironic that our society is consumed with the ideal of being thin, but we as a nation are the fattest we’ve ever been.
People often blame the fast food industry. Fast food is unhealthy, greasy and just plain bad for you. We all know it, but it’s not the food itself. It’s the amount of food.
At an ordinary sit-down restaurant, entrees alone are usually about 1,000 calories. For example, the flame-grilled ribeye at Chili’s is 1,570 calories. That’s a little less than one day’s worth of calories in one meal. That’s not including appetizers, salad or dessert.
We also often forget the calories we drink. Let’s say you get a grande caffé mocha from Starbucks with whole milk and whipped cream. That’s 360 calories in just your drink.
Face it. We consume way too much.
Then comes the fact that people don’t exercise enough. According to the CDC, a whopping one-third of the country doesn’t exercise at all. That’s 100 million people. Of the remaining two-thirds, only half of them regularly exercise. The others just exercise when they feel like it.
Come on, America. Stop complaining that you’ll never be a size zero. No one’s asking you to do that. You can’t use that excuse anymore.
Eat right. Exercise regularly. Be healthy. If you look like a celebrity and/or feel beautiful, then that’s the icing on the cake.
