This world is whack.  No doubt about it.  Only in America are unhealthy lifestyles perpetuated and celebrated.  While we should not condemn other people’s choices, it’s just out of tune to praise and applaud other people’s self destructive behavior and questionable preferences.  There is no denying that here in the U.S. we love our fast food.  Just take a look around and you’ll find yourself in the middle of a hundred McDonald’s and other fast food joints.  Obesity as a disease is no laughing matter, but once it happens as a choice y por pura hueva… then that’s when it becomes a problem.

Super-size me!

Up to a certain point this whole fast food extravaganza can be acceptable; after all, we all tend to cram our schedules from dawn to dusk.   We try to sneak in as much as we can in a 24 hour period.  The day never seems long enough, time just flies- whether it involves juggling two jobs, full time school, parenting, and a social life- there’s always something to do.

So in our busy busy lives there’s hardly any time to even consider cooking.  Unless you’re lucky enough to live with your parents or your roomie cooks (which is a rare find, trust me!), you’re pretty much screwed.  

Unless you decide to starve yourself or live off of cup-noodles and tuna salad, the choices are quite limited.  No matter how carb conscious you are (or try to be), it’s always hard.  There’s never enough time, and quite honestly, healthy eating is almost impossible while eating out.  Even the “healthy” joints are not what they put themselves to be. 

¿Y ahora quien podrá defenderme?

Since you can’t eat at your parent’s every day and cooking is out of the question, there’s pretty much little to do.  This situation is really bad, but you’re not the only one in this food dilemma. Just look around, or just behind you- ask your neighbor and you’ll be surprised and even feel some comfort once you’ve discovered that you’re not alone.

No solo de pan vive el hombre, ni tampoco de ensaladas.  So you know it’s almost impossible to live from just salads.  And while it’s ok to indulge yourself and have some In-N-Out every once in a while, if you really dread them lonjas you’ll be smart enough to cut it out, just stop!

Make a plan, grab a buddy and help each other out.  The world without fast food is a tad less miserable once you have a buddy to complain to and bitch about that can not only agree with you, but also understand you.

When trying to get rid or prevent lonjas, 20% of the task consists of exercise and the other percentage rests upon your eating habits.   So don’t starve yourself, just keep it cool and definitely cut the cheeseburgers.

Looks Lie

We’re never happy with how we look.  That’s just the way it is.  Your hair can never be perfect enough, your clothes can never fit perfectly, your smile can’t be blindingly white, and not all your pix capture a perfect “Kodak moment”.  

We know that, yet we still struggle to find perfection.  Or at least what the media tells us what “perfection” looks like.   Regardless our gender or sexual orientation, we always want to look good--- and again just a reminder, it ain’t gonna happen stuffing our faces with burgers.

So with the media and the rest of the world reminding us every day how imperfect we are it’s easy to become obsessed with our appearance.   And while it’s not healthy to cling to unrealistic and unhealthy physical role models, it’s always good to have one to follow, for our own sake.  

I Am Legend

The media is such a smart and sneaky business.   Smart is the key word.

Tyra Banks has scored herself a place among the media moguls thanks to her famous/ infamous (depends on how you see it) show: “America’s Next Top Model”. 

Throughout its 10 seasons, or Cycles as they like to call them, Ms. Banks has introduced to America a bunch of scrawny freaks with the hopes of becoming America’s next top model. 

And while they’re not breathtakingly beautiful, they do have a typical model-esque  body, but most important of all- a story to back them up.  In every cycle Tyra Banks and her “America’s Next Top Model” panel of judges choose the most interesting individuals as winners.

Just take a look back and you’ll find a little bit of everything, Cinderella/ rags-to-riches/ girl power stories among the ANTM winners.  You’ll find the girl with the eating disorder, the girl with the low self esteem, the girl that was teased when she was little, the girl with a tough life, the pretty all American white girl, the African American girl, the Latina, and now, as a  Cycle 10 winner   we have “la gordita”.

Celebrate?

There are reasons to celebrate and not to celebrate this event.   While Whitney Thompson is indeed a beautiful, curvaceous young lady, she is not really “plus size”.  She is a mere size 10.     While that is a “standard” size in the real world, in the fashion industry where the usual is 0-2, a size 10 is well… plus size.  That is a victory for normal/ healthy women.

However, living in a country such as this one, where obesity is taking over at such an alarming rate, acts such as this one can be deceiving.   On one side its encouraging women to be “cool” with themselves, love themselves just as they are.  On the other hand, they’re saying it’s ok to flaunt the flab.

Only in America do theme parks close down rides to make them accessible for larger people.  Only in America do we super-size every other meal.  Only in America do we encourage moot lifestyles.   
 
It’s time to stop thinking about being active and to be proactive for a change.