Week Two of REAL...

I was going to say it is making a difference, but I'm not sure it is. I am one pound lighter. Yippee-skippy. Whatever. Such enthusiasm.

Watching the news, today, I saw a new study is out. It says that obesity has either stayed the same or risen in every state in America. Not one has shown a decrease. Personally, I find this fascinating, and it actually verifies my theory that weight isn't the problem; it's a symptom. Consider the evidence: Foods are being banned. Detailed labels are demanded for everything. The food pyramid was changed to a plate. People are penalized by insurance companies for being overweight. There is no hue and cry in regards to the prejudice displayed against those who are overweight. In fact, hating fat is not only acceptable but encouraged. Fat is hated by every part of society, without regard to anything. Television shows, ad campaigns, books, movies, and even laws are created condemning obesity.

Really?

Human trafficking has reached an all time high, and these control freaks are more worried about what goes into my mouth?

Really? What in the world happened to our priorities?

Have I been less healthy, lately, than I have at other times? Yeppers. I'm feeling incredibly stressed. I'm worried. I'm not feeling safe right now. The old negative tape has had too much playing time of late. A part of me wonders if death might be a better option than more failure and humiliation, and is more than willing to encourage it by stuffing a little more food into my mouth. I know it isn't healthy. My tummy isn't happy, but how else do I stop the anxiety and everything that comes with it? I've tried a wide variety of techniques to reduce the stress, but nothing works as effectively or quickly as food. Food is amazingly numbing.

I'm not giving up. I'm tired. It happens. I'll work through it. I always do.

For the record: I'm ten pounds lighter than I was a year ago, this time, and I've kept it off for the past six months.

Now, consider this: Smoking is down. How do I know? There are programs that depend on the taxes paid by smokers. Those programs are underfunded, because smoking is down. Every single person I've ever met who has struggled with quitting smoking has complained about how much weight they gain when they quit. So, maybe the reduced smoking is being replaced by the increased weight? Or maybe people with no work eat more because they have more time, and it alleviates the stress? Or maybe because recess has been done away with, children have fewer opportunities to play? Or we have been terrorized by the EPA about pollution and the sun to the point where those who spent time outside exercising no longer do so? Or how about all those diet foods that are now being revealed as counterproductive? And the list goes on and on.

To those who think they can regulate the world away from being fat: I wonder if they ever consider the possibility that it is not about them and that they need to get over their own sense of self-importance? How frustrated they must be to be powerless to actually control others. Narcissistic much?

One of the sites I visit was making a joke about the dog food diet. I couldn't laugh. I was a little girl, on a very strict diet. I was hungry enough to eat dog food, and grateful the family dog was willing to share. It was a family joke, until a cousin expressed their horror at what I had been reduced to eating. So, do I have "issues" about food? When those pompous know-it-alls can go back and change how my life started; when they survive what I did; when they know what it is to have food within reach and not be able to touch it, then, and only then, they can discuss -- not decide -- discuss possible solutions for overcoming what being overweight really means.

Whew. After all that, there is the definite need for some fun: I loved Field of Dreams. I love football. This spoof was posted yesterday on Yahoo. And yes, I'm Team Jacob, so BONUS! :-)