Obesity is the new Cigarette

Listened to a man on the radio this morning talk about why Halloween needs to be outlawed (and arresting parents that take their kicks trick-o-treating) to fight one aspect of the obesity problem. The radio talk show hosts were very cordial and professional when asking him to explain in greater detail and make sure he was aware of various initiatives are are already taking place, such as schools paying greater attention to what they serve and educating parents about healthy afternoon snacks. They pointed out that this was one day of the year, and they asked if he thought it would make that big of a difference.

He argued that children learn the mentality that it is ok to run around seeking the most candy is one of the biggest components to our obesity problem in the States. While I might agree to discouraging parents to allow this Halloween mentality to consume their children, I disagree with the principle that the government would take it upon itself to make the process illegal.

Some people come way out of left field with these "this should be illegal" campaigns (on a similar note, the Rent is Too Damn High Party is...in short, educational) - and they're more powerful than you would think. Yeah, we all view or hear their "craziness" and may laugh it off, but the message does have power.

If I were adamantly against obesity, I may conspire to say "Make being obese illegal," but truly the outcome could be something that I had wanted all along, such as the promotion of physical activity, healthy eating, etc.

However, vocalizing such an extremist view will make you generally less reputable in the future (there are exceptions of course).

Therefore (three dots is my preferred modus operandi): (let me work through this thought)

1. Obesity is a problem. 2 out of 3 Americans are overweight. We may be in second place after Australia. It's unusual that we're not first place. Geez.
2. Obesity leads to lots of other complications (heart, liver, diabetes, diseases, mental, social).
3. We should fight obesity. Do we fight the entity that makes obesity or do we try to educate the consumer?
4. Oh look, why does this remind of me a similar campaign....what was it? Oh yeah...SMOKING.
5. So let's take a look at smoking. Looks like we fought against the entity that produced it as well as educated the consumer about the health effects.
6. THEREFORE, this is the general idea of how to fight obesity.

I secretly wish that I had an obese friend that wanted to lose weight and shadowed me (eating what I eat, eating when I eat, exercising when I exercise, sleeping when I sleep, etc.) just to see if that would help with controlling his/her weight. Since some people like to exercise with a friend or a group so that they "go further," can't the same apply to a healthy lifestyle? A health coach?

I would like to conclude by saying that I had a cup of dry Cinnamon Life, and it was delicious.

Baking & Sprinkles

My recent romp into baking for friends - some may not call it baking, but I had my hands covered in cookie dough and pulled the baking pans out of the oven. Surely that counts for something.

Anyways, what a pleasure it is to watch friends enjoy something you baked for them! I made sugar cookies with strawberry icing (yum), and no one would let me put sprinkles on them. I like sprinkles. In fact, I made up the banishment of sprinkles the next day while at an ice cream social at the Indianapolis Zoo.

Sprinkles! Which leads me to my next question. From where did the word "sprinkle" originate? Let's look it up: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sprinkles ...That was not a satisfying article. Ho hum.

I also recently sent out a few notes here and there to old friends. It's nice to receive something in the mail sometimes. :)

I will not mix chocolate milk with orange juice!

Is it silly that I tend to enjoy orange juice more when I drink it from the (white) wine glass? I just close my eyes and savor the taste so much more than normal.

Yum.

However, chocolate milk I can drink from a water bottle and still have the same effect. Chocolate is so good.

The point is, I think that people taste something for the first few bites and then stop paying attention to the flavors. I do this too, of course, but I'm trying to learn how to savor certain things (like fromage, wine, etc.). I haven't really gotten to a point where I can appreciate wine (because I don't. except Moscato d'Asti, which doesn't count), but cheese! oh my goodness! Cheese! (L'association fromages de terroirs - the cheese association of terror!) I've been on the hunt for a particularly savory Parmesan, but so far no luck.

I digressed. Sorry.

Do me a favor tonight: enjoy the food. We're lucky that we have choices at all.

Side note: I had a massage yesterday, and it makes food taste better. Actually, it makes the world look, well, le monde en rose. Until you read CNN, that is. Oil this, murder that.

SAVOR YOUR FOOD! It makes life more delectable in a very small (or very large) way.

First a Complaint (Sorry) then Thought on Responsibilities to Preserve the Current State of the World

Finally made my way to the Flying Cupcake today and wasn't disappointed! I'd give the cupcakes a 4 / 5. The buttercream was predictably over sugared (and the American version of buttercream - scoff), but the cake was perfect in texture (again, too much sugar). I know that cupcakes are the rage at the moment, but to find that they are the type that will skyrocket my blood sugar levels, I probably cannot return.

Oh Yumm Bistro was quite a disappointment today. I must disclaim that I am not a fan American breakfast food, but the my Florentine "Crabby" Eggs (some type of cheesy sauce (the waiter managed to be ambiguous enough to describe it as such) egg, crab cake, spinach, english muffin slice) was not good. At all. I usually enjoy the mesh of textures and flavors, but it was abject failure (the crab cake should have been the best part, and even the English muffin beat it). The service was terrible. We waited about 25 minutes for our food and had to flag the waiter for forks, water, check. I was seriously considering leaving (the bistro is tiny...there was no reason for the food to take so long) and just paying for the chocolate milk that came immediately. The clam chowder even had completely solidified on top (but still lukewarm when we ate it, thankfully). There were a lot of large parties that day, but I felt completely neglected today and will not be back. I had heard wonderful things about the bistro and am sorely disappointed.

On a lighter note, and of more concern:

Is it the responsibility of humans to make concessions for endangered species? What is the extent of this responsibility?

Bees are dying, acorns are scarce (poor oak trees), pandas won't mate, - and are we taking it upon ourselves as environmentally- socially- politically- religiously (?)- and stupidly (?!)- sustain what we perceive to be maintaining this present homeostasis in the world? Or do we allow evolution (some would call it human consumption) to wipe out the existence of endangered (or on the brink of becoming listed as endangered) species?

Do you feel like the range of extremists and uninterested people equalizes so that there is a healthy amount of awareness and activity in the world? Or do you think we don't do enough/do too much?

I feel like we are messing with a delicate balance that would be able to balance if we left it alone. That being said, I am not all for chopping down forests and blowing up mountains. I don't mean to sound uncaring (I truly do adore bees, acorns, pandas, etc.), but is it for the sake of EARTH that we save these or do we feel like it is OUT OF GUILT that we take it upon ourselves to represent things that are in danger of something and try to save everything? Evolution needs to take its course, people. Dinosaurs are extinct (and hopefully will remain so), and this is a great thing! Loss of a tree that could have provided the ultimate chemotherapeutic drug is in no way justification for maintaining the existence of a particular species. That is too selfish, and if we think we can go against Mother Nature, we could probably name countless times when we too were subjected to major episodes of death (e.g. plagues) that even we could not outrun.

So do we sit back and allow evolution to take its course? Or do we reach out and try to preserve the Earth as we know it today?

Brie!

This past weekend, I bought a wheel of Aloutte Brie + NY Style Bagel Chips.

Mercy! My body is telling me that I need more fat.

I heart Brie!

I usually prefer the triples, but Costco was selling them for less than $4. I ate a sixth last night. *blushes*