Comments

Ah, my daughter's majoring in Nutrition. I call this the full-employment act for her. I just e-mailed your post to her.

Posted by Ken Leebow at August 4, 2006 10:41 AM

AND "nutrition" or dining or snacking - whatever you call it - really must be studied a bit to maintain the LEAN AND SERENE lifestyle.

Posted by sean at August 4, 2006 11:30 AM

Just back from a whirlwind vacation through Texas and four days of trying to balance the new diet and lifestyle upon which I embarked after reading the Cool Friends interview with Ray Kurzweil at the end of last year with the seeming ever-presence of Popeyes restaurants which serve--in my humble estimation--the absolute best in artery clogging fried chicken. I was mourning the fact that never again would I walk through their doors and slide across their grease slickened floors to place my order for a four piece combo. The picture's done the trick, Tom. Thank you. I'm over my mourning!

There was a thread not too long ago about a class action law suit to have fast food chains disclose their trans-fat content. I'm not sure, following your lead, that a picture of a clogged heart and a closeup of the meat in question wouldn't do the trick more effectively. Bottom line, they're heart attacks one and the same.

Bon appetit!

Posted by Ed Di Gangi at August 4, 2006 2:11 PM

As Americans we think we've got time. But sadly, we don't have as much as we think. No urgency (taking responsibility for our own healthcare by what we eat, what we don't eat and how we exercise) produces carelessness and apathy. We've seen the enemy...

Posted by Eric Pennington at August 4, 2006 2:19 PM

Unfortunately this problem will rise in next years.

From my point of view people have lost BASIC LIFE PRINCIPLES (VALUES)

Some of them are: Moral, Health, Social, etc.

-How a common people can eat well if nobody have teach him how to do it?

-In the world are HUGE differences, which will become bigger: Poor people eat what they harldy get, and on the other hand rich people have to choose from a variety and get fat easily.

People now a days loose the value to understand themselves better, a lot of people does not have any idea where they are going with their lives.

This main problem multiplies in business, people with no values, create business with very bad results.

In synthesis:
Who am I?
Where you come from?
And where are you going?

With best regards

Juan Robles
COO
Deisa

Posted by Juan Robles at August 4, 2006 2:59 PM

You are what you eat. Another simple, yet very graphic, reminder.

Posted by Kate at August 4, 2006 4:09 PM

Sadly in the UK most of the money still goes on acute care and hospital care – the sexy stuff - rather than promotion/prevention. Lots of us have been arguing for decades for more investment in ‘health’ rather than ‘care/treatment.’ The emphasis on ‘health’ was a UK government policy as far back as 1991. And yet we still have massive problems of teenage obesity. When push comes to shove the politicians and the public want their hospitals to grow bigger – so we can kill even more people presumably – rather than investing in the ‘perceived’ less glamorous less sexy stuff like healthy eating initiatives. Having said that I believe any such ‘top down’ government initiative is only a fraction as effective as self care and self health initiatives. When children see role models who are not eating well, not exercising, smoking etc., how can we blame the kids? KFC and McDonalds customers in my experience are not all kids – far from it in fact. Gandhi was right ‘You must be the change you wish to see in the world’

Posted by Trevor Gay at August 4, 2006 4:38 PM

After a spell in hospital a couple of years ago and the onset of regular check-ups following a stroke, it's been interesting to nore what's on offer in hospitals in the way of catering.

Full milk rather than skimmed milk is doled out on the tea/coffee round and full breakfasts are on sale in the hospital canteen. Skimmed milk had to be asked for and wasn't always available to patients (sorry, service users...). If Starbucks can offer skimmed milk as a matter of course, then surely NHS Hospitals should.

Sadly I see far too many obese people walking through the doors of the shop I manage. One guy recently topped in with a 75 inch waist - a literal case of approach carefully and treat as a roundabout!

Unfortunately, it's not just the guys that are putting the fat away. We have ladies coming in to the shop looking for size 24 jackets on a regular basis too... And this is in an outdoor/hiking supplies shop.

And this by the way is in a town where neither McDonalds or Burger King have outlets in the town centre- they're both on out of town sites.

Don't get me started on smoking, but it was refreshing to be at a wedding yesterday that was attended by around 200 people. And nobody lit up in the reception room - only one cigar smoker was spotted listening to the string quartet in the hotel garden during the afternoon. Way to go!

Cheers

Keith

Posted by Keith Rickaby at August 5, 2006 5:33 AM

Appreciate the SPIRITUAL thread - Mother Nature provides so much for EU/USA: how can we possibly be obese/overweight - when a Billion or two [people] can't get enough calories, let alone nutrition?

Channel that higher power baby - then LEAN and serene just happens.

Posted by sean at August 5, 2006 11:36 AM

Speaking of nutrition: I was thrilled to see that the WIC program is adding fruits and vegetables to its program to help with nutrition. Granted, it had to make reductions in milk, juice and eggs to cover costs, but overall a good move.

Posted by GraceAnn at August 5, 2006 11:48 AM

Tom, you want to see obesity, go to the wal*mart in Williston, VT.
I went in there today, talk about eye opening. People are scrambling around and rudely knocking each other out of their way to save a dollar. The dollar they save, they spend on a freaking bag fat filled cheetos for their fat-ass kids.
There should be a body mass tax.

Posted by Dan Feliciano at August 5, 2006 8:20 PM

Watched Supersize Me on DVD a fews days back, so your post really resonated.

Posted by Robin Cole-Hamilton at August 6, 2006 4:19 AM

There's a fascinating article by Fast Company magazine called 'Change or Die' that might be of interest. [http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/94/open_change-or-die.html ]

In the end it's often mosty about choice... and discipline. Enjoy.

Posted by Valeria Maltoni at August 7, 2006 8:10 AM

The stats are horible and totally unacceptable on a personal level, but I must say that I am not too surprised. As has been said many times, the first step to fixing a problem is admitting you have one...which starts with getting over yourself. There is a lot that works against doctors getting over themselves and seeing problems. I'm sure there are many doctors that are not this way; but traditionally doctors are selected, trained, and nurtured to be all-knowing experts. That said, unfortunately the same could be said of many industries (including mine-K12 education). That's why we need to promote the importance of EQ (emotional intelligence), not just IQ.

Posted by Jeff Weiler at August 7, 2006 10:30 AM

Jeff - you make a fair point but I think there's a huge amount that needs to be done in education to help shape the attitude we take towards our life-long health. Two things gall me: the apparent belief some people have that their health is someone else's responsibility; and their belief they can go to the doctor for a "get well quick, mend all the problems caused by a lifetime of neglect and/or abuse" pill.

Maybe we need to develop, as well as IQ and EQ, some MBQ: mind and body intelligence.

BTW, the fastcompany article above is really good. Although focused on healthcare, it's an interesting take on change management generally.

Posted by Mark JF at August 7, 2006 10:47 AM

best deal viagra It's "SickCare" not "HealthCare". You can't use insurance $ until your sick. This understanding has changed our lives: http://www.makelifegreat.myarbonne.com.
The “Wellness” industry is a great place to help people, reduce stress (Sickness) and make great money. What amazes me the most is how many people (smart intelligent professionals) don’t want to hear about “Wellness” or do anything about it until they get very sick.

Great Blog!!!!

Posted by Frank J. Foti at August 7, 2006 11:15 AM

Mark JF, love your MBQ! (May steal it--with attribution, of course.) Funny, in my recent leadership reading, I keep coming across some variant of: "To lead others you must first thoroughly know--and like--yourself." Very interesting. Maybe the MBQ needs to be (okay, pretty ugly) MBSQ--Mind, Body, and Soul Intelligence?? (Or MBSQ--Mind, Body, Self-knowledge Intelligence??)

Posted by tom peters at August 7, 2006 12:01 PM

You know, once I figured out that the pic was the breading on KFC chicken, I started to get hungry. That is until I opened up the comments.

I think the changes in the modern 'developed' world have brought forth a change in thought patterns that some of you already alluded to. First and foremost is the decline of personal responsibility. How can we have discipline and self-restraint when we don't accept personal responsibility for our actions (and their consequences)?

Of course, if we aren't responsible, we can never be held accountable. This makes it a lot easier to support entitlements over earned rewards. And to cry about everything because we are too lazy to think for ourselves, get up off the couch and take actions that matter to our society. Not to mention, a loss of just plain common sense.

And they call it PROGRESS!

Posted by Matt Thevenot at August 7, 2006 3:12 PM

Is anyone else thinking about the Scottish father in So I Married an Axe Murderer?

"Dad, How can you hate the Colonel?"

"Because he puts an addictive chemical in his chicken that makes ya crave it fortnightly, smart***!"

Posted by Steven Poor at August 7, 2006 10:19 PM