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.