(I love tea and biscuits! On that note I should probably get my butt over to Europe one of these days. Problem is I hate leaving the house.)
Top the of the morning to you Mr. Cruickshank,
I was just inquiring; What are so many of your fellow Americans so bloody fat?
Signed,
Big Ben
(“Look kids! Big Ben…Parliament.” For some reason Clark Griswold just couldn’t get over.)
Hey Big Ben,
Glad to hear from a Clear Path Reader all the way across the lake in Jolly Old England! Top of the morning to you too (even though it is one in the morning over here while I type this. Insomnia sucks.).
That is a very good question you asked about why Americans are so fat these days. Problem is the root causes of such a social malaise run so deep it would require a multifaceted answer that is really beyond the scope of this blog.
One of the primary reasons though, often not even considered by many people, is that obesity in this country is highest in the populations with the most poverty and the least education:
(Fast food is perceived as one of the most cost effective sources of calories there is, especially when it is compared to high quality fruits, vegetables, meats and fishes. The other compounding variable is that fast food can be a cheap “high” allowing distraction from the sometimes sad reality of peoples lives. Special thanks goes out to www.mulletjunky.com for this picture. Keep up the great work guys! That is one hell of a website!)
A second factor contributing to American Obesity finds it’s roots in the exact opposite direction, that being over abundance caused by too much prosperity:
(This is a young Axl Rose circa 1987 right around the time he was first turning rich and famous. On a personal note I have to say if that can of 7 Up is really soda and not liquid heroin or pure vodka I will be very disappointed.)
(This is Axl Rose today. He is much older, much wealthier and certainly much larger. You would think that even though he can now afford “Tons of cake” he would probably be smart enough to know not to eat it all.)
As a personal trainer and not an advocate for social reform, there is really very little I can do about the former cause. Every time I donate to my local community food bank they insist on non perishable items such as rice, pasta and canned soups due to the aforementioned energy density/cost issues as well as the fact that organic salmon tends to spoil pretty quickly in a warehouse:
(Here is a link to food banks local to the state of New Jersey. If you want to find one in your own state simply Google Search “Food Bank” followed by the name the of the state you live in. If you live abroad I have no idea what to tell you.)
http://www.nj.gov/njhealthlink/food_banks_list_of_NJ.pdf
However, I can say that within the scope of my practice there is a third factor which leads to American Obesity, one that is really a mixture of the two mentioned earlier. That factor is this:
Americans, regardless of education and socio-economic factors, across the board eat way too much “crap”. That and they don’t exercise enough. But even without the whole exercise thing, Americans still eat way too much “crap”. A perfect example of this is New Jersey Governor Chris Christie:
(Listen all you “NUMBNUTS” out there! Regardless of what you think of him or his politics, this photo should really put into perspective just how large the governor of New Jersey really is. To put this blunt terms think about how you would hug the man on the right and then think about doing the same thing to the man on the left. We at Clear Path to Fitness get the fact that Governor Christies weight is obviously his own business but you don’t have to be Warren Buffet to see that right now business is bad and he is desperately in need of a dietary audit.)
As a former U.S. District Attorney it is obvious that Governor Christie is not stupid. And given the fact he lives in Mendham, N.J. the odds are against him being poor:
(That, to the left boys and girls, is a crack house and you are most likely not going to find one in Mendham, N.J.)
What the odds are not against is that he, like many Americans, eats too much of this:
(This is crap. The only time food like this is preferable, let alone acceptable, is when you are either 1. Drunk or 2. Hungover. Problem is, just like Dean Wormser warned us about all those years ago “Fat, Drunk and Stupid is no way to go through life son.”)
(My advice to him would be to start drinking heavily. That and to start loading up his freezer with TGI Friday’s Frozen Sliders.)
It really doesn’t take a lot to lose some weight and shape up. The first step you can take right here and right now after reading this blog is to cut out all the crappy, processed garbage out of your diet and replace it with non crappy, non processed, non garbage. That alone will help you lose weight due to the lower amounts of calories, sodium and chemicals you will be consuming.
Now granted the Governor most likely does not eat his sliders from the frozen foods section. I am sure he has a chef make them for him but the general principles are the same. Just check out this Juxtaposition:
(It was the fattest of times. It was the leanest of times. It is a tale of two cities just instead of cities we are talking about lunches. One lunch is lean and muscular and the other lunch is chubby and pock marked.)
When I went into the break room today to have my lunch of grilled salmon, an apple, a banana and some raisins I was amazed to find on the table a box of Flounders TGI Friday’s any time sliders.
Just so we can get this blog over and done with let me put this in as simple a terms as possible. Here are the ingredients of lunch #1, the Salmon and Fruit:
Salmon = Salmon
Apple = Apple
Banana = Banana
Raisins = Raisins
Here are the ingredients of lunch #2, The Sliders:
Enriched Roll (Enriched Bleached Wheat Flour [Wheat Flour, Niacin, Reduced Iron, Thiamin Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Enzymes], Water, Sugar, Soybean Oil, Yeast, Salt, Monoglycerides, Calcium Sulfate, Enzymes, Tricalcium Phosphate, Wheat Starch, Ascorbic Acid, Sorbitan Monostearate, Citric Acid, Calcium Propionate), Fully Cooked Flame Broiled Beef Patty (Beef, Water, Textured Vegetable Protein [Soy Protein Concentrate, Caramel Color, Zinc Oxide, Niacinamide, Ferrous Sulfate, Copper Gluconate, Vitamin A Palmitate, Calcium Pantothenate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Cyanocobalamin], Seasoning [Hydrolyzed Corn Protein, Dextrose, Salt, Onion Powder, Spices], Sodium Tripolyphosphate), Pasteurized Process Cheddar Cheese (Cheddar Cheese [Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes], Milkfat, Water, Sodium Citrate, Salt, Sorbic Acid, Oleoresin Paprika [Color], Annatto [Color]), Sweet & Smoky BBQ Sauce (Water, Sugar, Tomato Paste, Distilled Vinegar, Molasses, Honey, Brown Sugar, Salt, Modified Cornstarch, Spices, Natural Smoke Flavor, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Xanthan Gum).
Now when it comes to losing weight and feeling great which one of these two meal choices, just based on their ingredients alone, do you think will get you closer to your goals and which one do you think will drive you further away? I rest my case.
(To help you with your choice here is a photo of the Mercer County Phone Book which was sitting on the table right next to the empty box of sliders. It wouldn’t surprise me if the Phone Book, whose sole ingredients are paper and ink, has more nutritional value than the sliders do. I am sure it at least has more fiber.)
But then again what the hell do I know.
Yours in Chocolate Chip Cookies,
Mike Cruickshank
(This is William Howard Taft, 27th President of the United States of America, one hell of a golfer and the heaviest man in history to ever to run the Oval Office. Personally I hope Governor Chris Christie becomes President and breaks Taft’s almost 100 year strangle hold on that title.)
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