The Solution to the Obesity Epidemic

America is in the throes of an insidious epidemic that threatens our very way of life. At least, that’s what we’d like to believe.

Truth is, the “obesity epidemic” is more a matter of our preoccupation with mindless snacking than it is any sort of glandular disorder. Somehow, we’ve convinced ourselves that any number of internal imbalances and external conditions are to blame for our rapidly growing national waistline. There may be some validity to that—internally, we crave inordinate amounts of pastries before starting our workday, and externally, there are numerous waystations along our commute who are more than willing to dole out our sunrise fix. Add to that one or two 16 ounce “energy drinks”, and we’re starting our day with a couple of thousand calories easy.

That rush works fine—until about 11 in the morning. Then the crash comes, coinciding, oddly enough, with lunch break. Super-sized burgers and fries, oh—and a milk shake to wash it down with will do in a pinch. But if you and a few friends have time for a group lunch, then copious amounts of nachos or stuffed potato skins are essential appetizers. Then comes the after lunch crash, a slow dive composed of equal parts of sleepiness (brought on to a certain extent by all that grazing), the daily stress of work and that anticipation of Happy Hour to unwind. Sure, we say we’ll go to the gym and work it off. Starting tomorrow.

We’re not doing all that badly, though. After all, we could be contestants on The Biggest Loser. We smugly smile as we settle down to a quick beer and chips and salsa (light and low-fat, of course) to tide us over until dinner. We eat, watch a little TV and go to bed, slumbering until the cycle begins anew.

Putting an end to the so-called obesity epidemic is actually quite simple. As they used to say when I was a child in East Texas, “push away from the potatoes.”

And that’s the simple short answer to the obesity problem in America.

We can justify our habits, make excuses for our excesses and blame it all on the stress of the working world or getting older or even some quirk of evolution. Or we can take a collective look at ourselves and admit we’ve let ourselves go to pot. Then we eat a little less, and exercise a little more. We take walks when we don’t have to drive. We don’t double up on bagels and cream cheese. In short, we take responsibility for ourselves.

And as an added bonus, we don’t have TV shows like The Biggest Loser or More To Love. We won’t need them to justify ourselves.