Responsibility

So, now that I've been tracking my calories I am finding many of my pitfalls. As I said to my sister, these aren't necessarily my fault however I am ultimately responsible for what I put into my body. When I reference these things I'm speaking of fast food and restaurants. While I am responsible for eating a cheeseburger as my "fun meal" it is not my fault that there are 1800 calories in it. WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE YOU PUTTING IN THE FOOD?!?!? Even making a similar burger at home I honestly cannot figure out how you would add so many calories to a basic food.

This, I believe, has helped lead the way for our nations obesity problem and the fact that this new generation is the first in quite some time to actually have a lifetime that is projected to be less than their parents. I had a friend who died and I can't imagine how his children or his parents feel. The fact of the matter is, unless we change drastically, this will be a much more common occurrence. I often hear, "no parent should outlive their child." Well, I have some bad news America. Unless we change quickly and immediately then that's something we better get used to.

On my little baby making adventure I'm beginning to understand how much love parents really have for their children. That being said, and understanding that I'm not a parent yet, I would think that a parent would do anything in their power to make sure that their children are healthy and grow the way they're supposed to. I was having a conversation with a lady about some of the kids I'd worked with. One of the children, a little girl already showing signs of obesity, said that she gets to pick out a doughnut every morning for breakfast. The lady said "If a 6 year old is overweight, that's the parent's fault". That, my friends, is an unbelievably tough pill to swallow as accepting guilt is difficult, but better to swallow that pill now than at your child's funeral.

Sure we all like to see how cute kids are when they're hungrily stuffing ice cream down their throats and there's chocolate syrup all over their faces...and I'm not saying this should stop completely but let me ask you this. When does this stop becoming cute? Does it happen when they're teenagers and they're overweight and having difficulties with self image? Does it happen when they develop eating disorders? Does it happen when they're diagnosed with juvenile diabetes? Does it happen when they try to have children and the doctor says that it won't happen until they lose weight? Does it happen before or after they get their stomach stapled?
Or, maybe it happens once they've been diagnosed with diabetes, high blood pressure or high cholesterol...or maybe when they have a stroke unexpectedly...either way, it eventually happens one way or another.

Please don't misunderstand what I'm trying to say. I'm NOT saying that we should never have any food that we really enjoy and only eat vegetables (although, I know if you add them you will eventually start to like them). I'm NOT saying that we should all be super skinny. I'm NOT saying that if you've ever gained weight or struggled with that then you are a bad person...
What I am saying is that it is YOUR responsibility to make sure that you know what you're putting in your body. I think that the food industry has made us ignorant about certain things and that it's very difficult to know what's right but it doesn't change the fact that the responsibility still lies with us. We should all be HEALTHY!! That in now way shape or form means we should all be a size 2. There is a certain fitness level that we each should be at as well as eating properly. If you are healthy and a size 12, 8, or 2 then so be it. The goal is to be healthy...and to pass that on to our children. There are many things that are said to be associated with health from cancer to limb amputation. Let's do what we can to give our children and grandchildren a fighting chance at life and not crush it before it starts.