Why Are Americans So Fat…

Why are Americans so fat?  It’s a good question.  For all the information and resources that flood every aspect of our lives; we should be in good shape.

• Who doesn’t know that eating vast quantities of sugar is bad for us…
• Who doesn’t know that fast foods are not good for us…
• Who doesn’t know that processed and packaged foods are not good for us…
• Every network and cable channel has food shows that talk about healthy eating…
• Every network and cable channel “preaches” kids getting out and getting physical activity for 60 minutes…
• Oprah Winfrey’s “struggles” with her weight has more informed followers than the Illiad has readers.
• Scan any checkout lane at Kmart or Walmart and you will see a plethora of booklets on healthy cooking from Prevention or Good Housekeeping…

I could go on; but I won’t – because you get the point…

Because for all that I mentioned above; we as a society are the complete opposite.  Despite all the tools and resources available to us; we are maddenly and frustratingly fat!

There has to be a good answer.

So, let’s talk about what I think is the number one answer or reason to the question and issue of why Americans are so fat, or overweight, or grotesquely obese, or…you get the idea?

• Could it be the overconsumption of sugar?
• Could it be the ubiquitous presence of high fructose corn syrup in everything we eat and breathe?
• Could it be the monster sized combo meals at all the fast food joints, brimming with a week’s worth of sodium and fat?
• Could it be the donuts, the chips, the sodas, the candy bars, the jelly beans, the Easter candy, the Halloween candy, the Christmas candy, the cotton candy….?

Nope…not in my book.

Now, don’t get me wrong here;  America is fat because of too much sugar, high fructose corn syrup everywhere, not enough exercising – and the list goes on.  Those are all valid, contributing factors – maybe even the key reasons.

But I contend that the number one culprit, or culprits are the fitness gurus, nutritionists, magazines, shows, and websites.

Look at all the magazines and websites that claim the following:

“She Quit Drinking Soda and Dropped 100 Pounds”

“The Get-Slim 14-Day Diet – Would you believe it if we said you could eat every three hours, watch the tube all day on Sunday – and still get fit?”

“Lose 20 pounds fast”

“Cut Your Soda Intake and Lose 14 Pounds”

“…One Easy Move to Slim Your Whole Body”

“Toned Tummy, Arms & Thighs in 20 minutes”

“Lose your thigh jiggle – Five Easy Moves to Tighten & Tone”

These headlines are from popular magazine covers and website articles.  And there are so many, many more articles that claim you can get ripped abs in 4 weeks, vaporize love handles in 3 weeks, drop 5 dress sizes in 2 weeks.

A very reputable organization offers the following tip:

Add an hour of sleep per night, and you could drop 14 pounds a night.

Now add that to “cut your soda intake” and you COULD lose up to 28 pounds for doing…what?.

Wow, how sweet…and easy is that.

And that’s the operative theme here – that weight loss is simple and easy.  Make a few adjustments and shed those pounds.

In writing these kinds of articles and giving out these kinds of “3 simple tips for permanent weight loss;” these experts do a massive disservice to the overweight.

Because all those headlines miss, or rather, abuse the most important point…

It all starts inside first…

Followed by

All failures begin inside first…

Weight Loss is Hard

All those headlines miss this simple truth about weight loss…

But – this is important – It is achievable for everybody.  But it is only achievable if you understand that weight loss is hard.  And to paraphase Scott Peck, once you accept that it is hard; it no longer becomes hard.

Once you understand that it is hard, you must set achievable goals.  You can choose to lose 2 to 3 pounds a week or even 1 to 2 pounds a week – that can total a minimum of 50 pounds in a year.  Or you can choose to “lose 20 lbs. fast.”

What I think is truly damning - those headlines set unrealistic expectations.  Unrealistic expectations coupled with the ease of “she quit drinking soda and dropped a 100 lbs.” equals failure for most.

Think about what that does.  A gal starts out thinking, “wow, all I gotta do it cut out sodas and fries plus do 5 minutes of ab crunches…” 2 weeks later – nothing.  4 weeks later – nothing.  The gal starts thinking, “what’s wrong with me?”  She figures that it’s her genes that are keeping her fat or she’s big boned or something’s wrong or whatever.  She quits and resigns herself to being fat.

• It starts inside with her believing she can drop 100 lbs. by not drinking sodas.
• She fails by believing inside that she can’t do it.
• Action follows thought…in most cases.
• Truth is that dropping a 100 lbs. by not drinking sodas was probably not doable for her in the first place.

Someone should have told her the truth.

Because the truth is far different.

Weight Loss is simple. 

When all is said and done, weight loss is simply using more calories than you eat everyday.  That can mean eating less than your body needs or exercising to burn more calories thereby leaving less calories for your body to use.  And it can be a combination of the two.  But as Tom Venuto likes to say, it’s just achieving and maintaining a caloric deficit.

The part that is never mentioned in the headlines, and in some case, in the meat of article is:

Weight loss is hard…very hard.

Losing significant weight requires tremendous self discipline fueled by commitment and belief.  And the point that many miss or overlook is this – simple does not equal easy.  There’s nothing easy about weight loss, but it is very straightforward.

Because losing weight begins in your mind and in your soul.  Without that level of belief and commitment, serious weight loss ain’t gonna happen.

Why?

The temptation to cheat, the temptation to ease up, the stress of life and so much more will hound you at every step.  Only a commitment stronger than all those can overcome those.

That’s the first step.  It is the foundation.  And without a foundation – as the parable goes – the house is built on sand and will not last the first rainstorm.

All those guru’s and experts – all their advice and all their how-to’s are for building a great house – BUT on sand.  And that is why I indict them and I believe they are as culpable as sugar and high fructose corn syrup in keeping America overweight.

If they truly cared, they’d focus on the heartaches and challenges of what it takes to get “there.”  And they would show the rewards and joys of being “there.”  And they would do away with the “phony” headlines and catchy phrases that do nothing set people up for failure.

I get that you need catchy slogans and headlines to grab people’s attention and sell magazines, but in the end; they do a disservice to our society as a whole by spewing this stuff.  And that is why I again point a finger at them.

So, why are Americans so fat?

For the all the sugars and crap that we eat…

And in the quantities we eat…

And because the experts and gurus who would show us the way are actually setting so many of us up for failure from the very start.

Oh, yeah…

You do know that if it was that easy to have “toned tummy, arms & Thighs in 20 minutes;” we’d all be hot looking.  If it was that easy, we’d all be slim and toned.

But we’re not.

We’re overweight as a country.

And the sooner we dispense with the cotton candy advice and get down to being real and truthful, the better.

Let’s help people understand that losing weight is hard, yet the rewards are beautiful and long lasting – in soul and body.

BUT…

I don’t excuse or minimize our – each of us – personal responsibilities in this.  Ultimately, no one puts a gun to our heads and forces us to eat that Big Mac or drink that soda or chow down on that frozen dinner or that mystery meat.

We each make our own choices.  We can choose to believe that losing weight is as simple as sleeping an hour more a night or that losing weight takes commitment to deny all the things that made us fat to begin with.

Fast food joints and magazines are what they are and will do what they do.  Nothing and no one forces to eat or read whatever it is that they are serving.

In the end, it all comes down to us and our daily choices…

That person that lost the 100 lbs. did it by altering her lifestyle; by making hard choices; and by having a vision of what she wanted to be.

Those are hard things she did.  She lost a 100 lbs.

The soda part – easy, but incidental…

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