I'm glad most of you can understand it all comes down to personal choices. That's it, no excuses!
America is in fact a consumer nation, under many pressures to fit an image and live a certain way. They work day in and day out convinced that they must display themselves in a certain light. But I find it very ironic that the American ideal of beauty is an image of fitness, but many Americans have become obese. And also, technology is supposed to free up time in carrying out tasks, but instead, people fill up those time gaps with more tasks!
It's the basics of organizing priorities, and personal health should be at number 1. Finding the time to cook and exercise, yes rather than watch TV, or sit on the computer.
Many products are labeled "diet", but even a diet coke has harmful qualities when drunk daily. But like anything else, and everything in general, it's about taking things in moderation. I find that I can become addicted to sugar when I'm not careful. I try to replace my sugars with something like fruit or health cereal as my snack instead of soda and candy.
I am not obese, and I am not fat. This is because I keep away from junk food. I approach it like poison. If I have a craving for pizza, I'll reward myself on a Friday night, maybe twice a month. But NO binging (excessive eating of junk food).
I had a fat roommate once that desperately wanted to lose weight. She exercised, ate veggis, fruits. Then on the weekend she would binge eat and have cookies and hamburgers, really bad stuff. Losing weight was a slow process because of this, and she ended up gaining weight back.
The body can become addicted to certain foods. Weening yourself off is the way to do it. And also reprogramming your brain. I've adapted my pallet to reject the taste of food dye and sugar in things. I don't watch TV, and I do cook all my meals. I find that I enjoy and digest food better when they are fresh rather than a TV dinner from the microwave or something from a drive through.
I live with 2 young nephews, and I see eating mistakes that are so common. I tell them not to eat the cereal like dog food. And I tell them to eat real food if they are hungry, instead of eating all the snacks - like cookies and Fruit Rollups. I see them trying to achieve feeling full through that method of binge eating. They know now to simply ask me to cook for them. And I've noticed that they've stopped asking for pizza for every meal. But these are children, children don't know any better. Adults are supposed to know self control.
