(C'mon)
Oh won't you take me home tonight?
Oh down beside your red firelight,
Oh and you give it all you got
Fat bottomed girls you make the rockin' world go round
Fat bottomed girls you make the rockin' world go round
-Queen
This past Friday I had my top two wisdom teeth extracted. Prior to the procedure, my doctor muttered the dreaded words, “Tim, you cannot ride your bike for at least three days if you do not want to get dry sockets”. Knowing that dry sockets could potentially halt my training for several weeks, I decided to heed her advice and commit to a sedentary lifestyle for three days. At first, I thought a little R and R would be fun and relaxing. However, by the second day I was already itching and twitching like a heroine addict quitting cold turkey. I was seriously bumming, and for no apparent reason. My body was simply in withdrawal from its daily shot of cycling-induced serotonin. All of this couch dwelling got me thinking, so I decided to research some statistics on the lifestyles of Americans.
Some statistics I already was aware of:
1. The U.S.A. is the FATTEST country in the world.
2. Detroit is the FATTEST city in the U.S.A.
3. Obesity is quickly on its way to overtaking smoking as the leading cause of preventable deaths in the U.S.A.
Some new statistics I discovered:
1. According to the American Heart association, surveys from 2002 show that 24 percent of Americans age 18 or older live a sedentary lifestyle.
2. Also, about 400,000 deaths per year in the United States are due to poor diet and physical inactivity.
3. According to a study by CNN Health, seven out of 10 American adults don't exercise regularly despite the proven health benefits.
4. In the United States, two thirds of the population is overweight and one third obese.
5. In 2004, among people ages 18 and older, an estimated 14.8 percent (31.6 million adults) had experienced at least one major depressive episode in their lifetime, and an estimated 8 percent (17.1 million adults) reported having experienced a major depressive episode in the past year.
So let me get this straight. America is the most financially well off country in the world, but we are the fattest and the most depressed. Is there a link between our couch dwelling and our depressive states of well-being?
I guess the immortal words of the Notorious B.I.G. (who was also coincidentally obese) holds true today, “Mo Money, Mo Problems”.
“Be the change you want to see in the world.”
-Mahatma Ghandi
6 comments:
Tim, I just started reading, Twinkie Deconstructed. The author is on a soulful, epic journey to find out where polysorbate 60 comes from. He uses the Twinkie as standard American snack cuisine and as a symbol for our country's ignorant gluttony of processed crap, most people call food. So far it's interesting and is a great parallel to Fast Food Nation. If the teeth keep hurting, delve in.
JB…didn't Doug Buuck explore the contents of the Twinkie many many years ago? I vaguely recall learning about that in his Bio class when I was a Freshmen?
Hey Tim,
I work with a doctor who will not perform gastric bypass on patients greater than 700 pounds. Personally, I didn't know a body could get that big. They don't fit on regular operating tables. Lovely.
Careful with the pictures, I do not dolppenator foaming at the mouth because of FUPA
I'll stick to double cheeseburgers... no Twinkies for me :).
Commish,
I think the project/experience/assignment was to bury a Twinkie in the ground and dig it up the next year. If the local woodland creatures didn't discover this tasty freak of nature, the Twinkie would often endure with little harm to the yellow spongy treat.
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