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FAT AMERICA
I use the internet everyday for a variety of information & news. Usually my morning consists of breakfast, & scanning
for news stories from all over the globe. So...As I scanned my AOL news today, I came across a story about a minor- league
baseball team, the "Gateway Grizzly’s" from just outside St. Louis, Missouri.
The story was a human interest piece about different foods across the USA. It seems that this certain Baseball stadium where
you can watch this minor league team, is infamous for a hamburger served at their concession stand. It’s called the "baseball burger", & it is the best selling item on the menu. The sandwich consists
of a bacon cheeseburger served between a sliced, grilled Krispy Kreme donut. That’s right a donut. Whoa! Talk about agita. It’s got over 1,000 calories with about 30 grams of fat. There’s enough sodium to preserve a dead fish, & enough sugar to ensure a root canal.. I watched the piece with my
mouth hanging open in dis-belief, & took note that EVERY person shown eating one of these "
baseball burgers" was
FAT. I don’t mean overweight or plump. I mean FAT. And it
was EVERY person. At first, I was hungry, then a bit grossed out, then utterly disgusted. But, my main thought was this...
Each one of those people stuffing their face with this "glazed
heart-attack deluxe" are most likely fighting health issues.(
Just my hypothesis). Yet, each person interviewed about the burger, saw nothing wrong with eating it, ...even the man that
was an admitted diabetic,( he said he was going to eat two.) No doubt each of them would be considered un-fit, but I would
say OBESE as well. In a state ranked 16th in obesity in the 50 states, the people in the piece were not at all concerned about
the residual effect this one indulgence would have on them. Now, I must wonder this...how is their health,... really? Are
they seeing doctors regularly for health problems that could be avoided by exercising some self-control? Are these people
exercising their bodies? Are they walking , or even moving enough to burn the gluttonous intake of calories at the ball park?
Then my thoughts go to: what are the insurance premiums being paid to go see a doctor? Is the company they work for paying
out the nose for the insurance of a person not taking care of their companies assets? Truthfully, if your company is hiring
the best people for the jobs offered, they are most likely looking at the hired as their company’s assets. Right? If you were not caring for a certain aspect of your job, you would be reprimanded,
possibly fired if it continued, right? Well, why should the argument be any different if employees of a company are not caring
for themselves? And in the next thought...Our society has set us up to eat these " baseball burgers", by putting fast-food
joints on every corner, with menus that only cost $1,but have almost no nutritional value. And then we’re made to feel bad by putting Anorexic celebrities on covers of magazines for us all to talk about
with hatred , yet envy at the same time. So it feels almost like a psychological ambush. And yet, the ambush of the diet industry
is bigger than ever. So, as mad as I was at the people on the news piece for eating that MAD COW sandwich, I can’t stop wondering... Get Up! GET UP ! That’s right, that’s what I said...
GET UP!!!
Now, as you’re reading this...move your body. Yes, I said,” move”. Run, jump, skip, dance, or even march in place if you have to, but move...Oh yeah, and don’t forget to breathe. Okay, now that you’re paying attention... America needs your help. Our country is facing a crisis. Yes, a crisis . And, no... it’s not the crisis you’re thinking. It has nothing to do with foreign policies or politics, nothing to do with rising Oil prices, & the only weapons of mass destruction are right here in the good `ol USA. But the good news is... this crisis is completely FIX-ABLE (keep moving). I’m talking about our country’s fitness crisis. (Breathe). I call it a “fitness crisis” because I believe it goes beyond just body-weight & eating problems. I believe that most people in this country are just physically un-fit. Yes, the fact that our eating habits as a society are not good is very true, but that’s just scratching the surface. For a society said to be “image obsessed”, how is it that we are also the fattest country on the planet? Most people in the U.S. are over - weight, which boils down to this country being fat. (Breathe,& keep moving.).Yes...FAT. Statistics are showing not only that the majority of Americans are obese or overweight, but the numbers are rising. And, it’s not JUST food that’s doing it. People don’t get fat by just eating. In fact eating is a necessity, so how could just eating cause so many health problems?(breathe). It doesn’t. Eating the wrong things & not moving your body to burn off the calories after you feed it, is what’s making us fat. And if 66% of all Americans are overweight( statistics from the CDC, 2005 ),(deep breath...) it says to me that most Americans are not moving their bodies enough, or not at all. Equate it to fueling your car & never driving it... If you were to do that, you would flood your engine, your gas tank would overflow, & it would be a big mess. So, why should it be different when it comes to fueling your body? It seems logical...move more, burn more fuel, & you’ll be able to keep fueling your tank...And speaking of fueling your car...who doesn’t want to save money on gas? If you are alive in America, you know that gas prices are not going down anytime soon. So, why not make the best of the situation, & get fit at the same time?(keep moving...breathe) If you can...leave the car at home , & bike to work. What about roller-skating? Stop laughing, & think retro-fitness. If you drive to work, park far from your building & jog the rest of the way. Again- don’t laugh...just try it. If you’re stuck in your office, do a chair work-out. There are so many options for us, (and most don’t cost money) to be this fat. Really...save your money, get healthier, & look great too. GET UP !!!( breathe). Now,... about those weapons of mass-destruction I mentioned. Do the phrases “Big Mac, Whopper, Double-Double with cheese”, sound familiar? Well, they are doing more damage to America than any terrorist in history has ever done(breathe...). And the elimination of the “super-size” is pretty comical. Most fast-food is loaded with artery-clogging, heart-stopping trans-fats, with more calories than anyone needs in one sitting. Look at statistics for yourself... Get back to the food store, & while shopping stick to the outside perimeter of the store, where the “real” food is. Still moving? Are you moving your body ? It feels good, doesn’t it? It feels good to know that you are able- bodied, & breathing, & present. You are here. Why not feel good while you’re here? Get your heart racing, blood pumping, get a high, feel sexy, more sensual, more out-going...naturally. Nothing else is needed except you. It couldn’t be easier . Just you (breathe). No apparatus, no gadgets, no bouncing ball...just you. Isn’t that refreshing? Nothing else to worry about, except - breathing. So, no matter what you like to do- be it running, dancing, skating, swimming, jumping, climbing, rowing, or just walking...get up & do it! Just MOVE YOUR BODY ! Now, ...Breathe. ...in the 3 minutes it took to read this, by just jogging in place, the average adult could’ve burned about 40 calories.
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top 3 finalist
L.I. fittest person '07
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| in memeory of Bentley boy... | |||||||||
