I'm Big Boned

Along with my newfound health kick has come a healthy respect for, well, health. Most WHO data and leading medical authorities agree that America is much fatter now than in past times. Well I am 29 yrs old and I can tell you from experience: the kids in grade school now are huge fat asses compared to when I was in school in the 80’s. It’s one of the more interesting social flips. Like in the 40-50’s there was that one kid who was the nerd with the glasses; four eyes. Now days EVERY kid has glasses or contacts and there’s one kid without the glasses; two eyes (and he would be mocked if I had my way). Similarly in my 2nd grade class there were a few fat kids in the 3 homerooms. The fattest of all being Julia Meyerhoff who was this Miss Piggyesque (even wearing pink barrettes or bows in her hair) little kid who, regrettably, I was very cruel toward. Now days the whole class is full of Meyerhoffs, and there’s like 1 or 2 kids who are thin.

I don’t know if it’s video games, or McDonalds or whatever reason; kids today are fat slobs. I don’t even remember being that active. Heck, Nintendo came out when I was in grade school and my parents basically spoiled me with a slew of NES games. Still I was always really skinny as were most of my friends. From grades 3-5 I ate PB&J sandwiches for lunch EVERY day usually with a HoHo, Twinkie or DingDong and 2% chocolate milk. That cannot be good for a growing kid. And kids today ARE fatter.

So it shouldn’t be a big surprise that most young adults are fat, too. But this is the point that eludes me. Unless you have some longstanding debilitation, why are you fat? And you’re NOT big boned. Lest you’re in the extreme minority with hypothyroidism or another hormonal imbalance, it isn’t in your genes no matter how fat your parents have gotten over the years. It’s math. I know in high school algebra/geometry/calculus you always thought; heck, I’ll never use math! But this is very easy math:
(calories you eat) –(calories you burn at rest) – (calories you burn while active)= caloric deficit (CD)

If CD is positive, you’re gaining weight even if it’s slow. In order to lose weight this must be a negative number. That’s the big secret to losing weight. Stop eating and get on a treadmill. Or eat smaller meals and go for a walk after dinner. I figure most people are too lazy, they don’t care/are indifferent to their health or how they look or finally they really are that dumb and don’t realize the above equation. Most are too lazy or just don’t give a damn, I suspect.

A woman I knew since grade school had bariatric surgery a few years ago and she’s lost a lot of weight. I saw her at a mutual friend’s wedding and she looked great. It’s too bad that she had to resort to life-changing surgery but she did something about a kinda serious problem and I think it’s affected her very positively. So good for her. I only hope that wherever she is, Julia Meyerhoff has made a similar change. And that she forgives me, eventually.