Healthcare Reform - Start With Your Own Mouth

My husband and I just returned from the beach and I must say that I am absolutely appalled at what we saw. We have become a nation of Lard Asses. There is no nice way of putting it, as a nation we are disgustingly fat. There were more 300 pound women on the beach than there were women in shape. So as not be be accused of sexism, the men were bad, just not as bad as the women. I grew up at the beach and it is clearly getting worse.

Not only are we out of shape and fat - we don't seem to care. String bikinis and guts, thongs and cellulite, and the new trend - the top of the butt crack showing - nasty! Our family makes a trek to the beach once or twice a year and I am always extremely cognizant of my shape and attire. When I was heavier, I covered up! Black one piece suit with a sarong, silver jewelry, nails and toes done- I was heavy but I looked the best I could. I am obviously in the minority.

I believe instead of taking care of our own bodies and making the sacrifices and hard choices, we secretly despise those who are in shape. We scorn and stare at them as we stroll along the beach while they are sweating and huffing trying to finish a hard run. We scoff at the weird woman doing yoga at 6:30 am and go back inside and eat another doughnut. As a culture, we complain that airplane seats are too small and wait in parking lots blocking traffic to get 20 feet closer to the door.

This phenomenon crosses sex, age, ethnicity, and even body type. The biggest culprit?
I believe it is portion control. When did restaurants start serving platters to people instead of plates? George and I regularly split an entree and still take food home. We as a culture know very little about what to actually do to get this under control, we are looking for the quick fix, the pill, or the easy new diet. No one wants to hear diet and exercise. We cling to our favorite "diet" food, the salad - full of bacon, cheese, fried chicken, and gobs of ranch dressing, all served in a bowl larger than my Mother used to feed our family of FOUR.

As a culture, we must stop this gluttonous behavior and take responsibility for the size of our own guts. Health Care reform starts at home - at your own table, on your own plate, in your own mouth.