Culture Shock

I went to the drive-thru yesterday.  Gasp!  I know, but I was in an extreme hurry, didn't have any lunch food in the fridge, and I was starving.  Granted, I purchased a lack luster salad, but still I was sitting at the drive-thru.  We only go through drive-thrus on road trips.  Its a part of the tradition.  You get up at 4:00am and then around six we get a McMuffin or something.  Despite the fact its the not the best thing to eat while sitting in the car for 6 plus hours, its tradition. And you don't mess with tradition.  Anyway, this is America, the place that invented eating sloppy food in an automobile.

As I was sitting in the line watching the people in the PlayPlace and trying to decide which of the salads would be best, I started thinking about health.  This country is obsessed with staying healthy and getting healthy.  How many of those afternoon talk shows focus on health?  How many weight loss advertisements do you see when you Google something?  There are all these diet plans and support groups.  Every town has a gym.  They put a playground in a fast food place, for crying out loud.  Even the federal government is getting in the act.

Then there's the other side.  Meanwhile, despite all this obsession with health and fitness we are still a very unhealthy country.  Out of one side of our mouths we talk healthy options and out of the other side we talk about how to make the greasiest burger.  We love food.  Love.  It.  Our culture is so wrapped up in mealtime, that it has become synonymous with celebrations and happiness.  We are the only country that has not one, but two cable networks devoted entirely to food!  We get magazines about food, we go on restaurant tours, we take cooking classes, we have "celebrity chefs", we host lavish dinner parties.  And, we want our food in giant baskets with piles of fries and three layers of cheese.

Applebee's is always happy to cater to our gluttony.

Fer Mericans, bigger has always been great, but extra butter is better. Then there's this goofiness:

Eeew.  You know there's something wrong when an event is sponsored by
Pepto Bismol.

So, I don't know about you, but I'm a little confused.  Even though the whole world is getting fat, the United States still takes the "cake" for being the fattest, even after government programs and Biggest Loser.  In 2008, 68% of the American population was overweight, 34% was obese.  There's no sign that we won't continue to gain by 2020, where analysts predict that 75% of Americans will be overweight.  Seventy-five percent!  That's three out of every four people!  

Are we just kidding ourselves with all this talk about health?  I mean, we have our programs and our personal trainers, Dr. Phil, and Michelle Obama, but we still get larger and larger.  Clearly, we're not actually interested in being healthy; we, as a nation, just pretend to be.  

Then, we wonder why cancer, heart disease, and diabetes are rapidly increasing.  Let's take a look at the top causes of death in the US- heart disease, cancer, and stroke.   Its been shown over the last several years, that all of these things are closely related to diet and overall fitness.  Even though the States has been reducing overall high blood pressure and cholesterol (through medication, of course, not life style change), more and more people are dying from these diseases.  Scientists talk about how all species eventually go extinct like the dinosaurs, and they wonder what will eventually kill off humans.  I'm telling ya, its going to from how we treat our bodies.  Don't get me started on what they put in all this food.

As I wrap my brain around this, I'm starting to become quite concerned.  Our culture is so obsessed with pleasure and instant gratification that, its normal to be overweight.  Our country is prosperous, yes, but that prosperity has created a nation of gluttons that pretend to "health conscious."  But.  Its ok.  This is Merica.  You can have it both ways. 

Well, this Merican, is tired of it.  I've adhered long enough to the cultural norm and its too confusing and my body isn't happy about it either.  We shouldn't have to obsess and stress so much about health.  Why is it that we're either fitness crazed freaks or we're overweight and depressed.  Why?  Isn't there just a happy middle road?  Are they like this in Italy and France where there's delicious food aplenty and they appreciate it?    

Italy is known for its love of food, but apparently its a healthy
kind of love.  Only 10% of their population is obese.

No, I don't think bicycles can save us from the deadly spiral of obesity.  I know they can help.  An attitude adjustment is what we need.  Bigger and bigger and more and more and stacked and stuffed and topped and deep fried is not working.  We need to stop glorifying food.  Enough with the food centered programming and the huge food fests.  We don't need all you can eat wing night.  We don't need the Cheese of the Month Club.  

All this food worship is killing us.

Then again, we shouldn't have to worry so much either.  What's with all the measuring, logging, and the heart rate monitors?  Sure, those things are great tools for those of us that need to get back in shape (as one of those people, I get that), but we shouldn't have to live our lives with such crazed restraint.  We don't need to be like monks here.

There has to be a middle road, a road that isn't headed over a cliff of gluttonous gratification or one that is so straight and narrow we never have any fun.  Can't we just live and think of food as food instead of a lover or an enemy?  

Man, I don't know.  

What I do know is that I'll be eating many more salads for the next 6 months.