Friday, March 19, 2010

Healthy doesn't have to be hard

I found an article on Foxnews.com a couple of days ago about a New Jersey woman with a very strange goal.
She currently weighs in at 602 pounds and is working her way to 1000. Yep, she WANTS to weigh half a ton.

Donna Simpson is 42 with two children and a bofriend who she says encourages her in her goal to become the heaviest woman on earth. To accomplish this goal, Donna consumes roughly 12,000 calories per day, resulting in a $750 per week grocer bill.

The article goes on to discuss various negative side effects of such gross overeating and morbid obesity. There is also a mention of how much Donna's medical bills could potentially cost taxpayers.

While I think Donna's goal is, for lack of a better word, disgusting, the article is still a pretty interesting read.

The human body is a marvel, especially when treated well. And like any machine, it doesn't work right without the proper care and maintenance.

Our country is, in more ways than one, larger than ever before.

Obesity is on the rise, along with diseases that stem from being overweight. Obesity is not partial or descriminatory. It affest every age group and race and we need to do something about it.

I have heard in e news recently of a couple of instances where something is actually being done.

In the fight against childhood obesity, both PepsiCo Inc. and the Coca Cola Co. adopted guidelines in 2006 to stop selling as many sugary soft drinks in U.S. schools.
Taking that a step further, PepsiCo recently announced plans to impliment the same changes in schools in over 200 countries by 2012.

Another story that I found encouraging describes a move being made by the FDA (Food & Drug Administration) to change misleading food labels.

Many food packages boast claims like "low fat," "heart healthy" and "zero grams trans fat." Many of these labels are misleading to consumers because there is no set standard manufacturers must adhere to when making such claims. The information is coming straight from the manufacturer and is certainly not without bias.

Currently there are no set regulations on man of these claims, meaning that one "low fat" food can vary greatly from the next.
This gives many consumers the impression that they are eating healthier than they really are.

To help make these labels clearer to cponsumers, the FDA is working to impliment a set of regulations that manufacturers must follow when placing claims on packaging.

Hopefully, measures like these will make it easier for many Americans to make informed choices about their eating habits.

While the claims mande by manufacturers can certainly be confusing, sometimes the key is to simply read the back of the package. That's where the real nutritional informaiton is found anyway.

Eating healthy has been made into some unattainable goal, somehting much harder than it really has to be.

I just follow a few rules and have managed to stay in the healthy weight range for my height. I might mention that being overweight does run my family, on both sides, so I may or may not be predisposed to the condition, but I have avoided it so far.
Of course, other restrictions may apply depending on individual health issues, but here are my rules:

  • Portion control is a must. You can have some potato chips, just not the entire bag.
  • Eat a good breakfast. It will help you to avoid indulging in that vending machine cinnamon roll at work later.
  • Eat a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables. This one's pretty common but it works. The more you eat of something, the more your body tends to crave it later on.

These are pretty simple, but they work for me and I think they're a pretty good starting point of you have weight loss goals. Healthy eating doesn't have to be hard. It's a good habit for evceryone to develop.

Friday, March 12, 2010

Till Divorce Do We Part

Whether I want to or not, I hear about celebrity divorces all the time. The reason for the divorce is usually that old standby, “irreconcilable differences.” I do understand that there are situations where divorce is truly the best option, sad as that may be. All too often though, it’s simply the easy way out. If we reconciled these differing views before jumping into marriage maybe more marriages would survive past just a few years.

I found an article today about a debate going on in Oklahoma as to whether the state government should be focusing its attention on the state’s rising divorce rate rather than other issues such as health care and unemployment.

Some conservatives are proposing legislation that would require couples seeking either marriage or divorce to undergo counseling first. While Oklahoma does have the third highest divorce rate in the nation, others in government are blasting these proposed laws. They call them an unnecessary government intrusion into personal lives.

This article caught my attention because divorce is something I have always taken very seriously. I’ve noticed that my opinion doesn’t seem to be the same as that of the majority of our country. I think the reason for our lack of respect concerning the matter of marriage is this:
We just don’t take it seriously enough for what it is, a binding contract.

For many people, marriage is merely a temporary state that can be mended with a divorce when they aren’t having so much fun anymore or “fall out of love.”

If more people treated marriage as a lifelong commitment, I think the rising rate of divorce would see a definite drop.

Whether you’re married, single, dating or contemplating marriage, I urge you to think long and hard about your definition of marriage.

What do you want in a marriage?

Are your expectations realistic?

Do you and your girlfriend/boyfriend/fiancé share the same values?

Is divorce an option for you in the future or will you stick it out no matter what?

I think it’s important to answer these questions and many more and to get your ideas straight before involving someone else in your life. Too many marriages fail because they are based on a shaky foundation of infatuation and superficiality. No marriage can survive on that “butterflies in your stomach feeling” for long.

Another common factor in divorce is when one person expects the other to fulfill all of their emotional needs for life and to be pretty much perfect.

I’m sure any of you who are married will attest to the fact that no one is perfect, and that’s made even more apparent when you live in the same house.

If you ever find yourself in a situation where divorce seems to be the only answer, please make sure you think long and hard before you act. Divorce may be the best option for you. As I said earlier, there are certainly valid situations that merit divorce.

But just think about it first. Or better yet, think about marriage before taking a vow you or your partner may not be able to keep.


Also, here are a couple more recent articles I found to be pretty interesting.

Divorce and Kids

Living Together