The Obesity Cold War, Part 2

Hail my running brothers and sisters!  As I said in Part 1 of this series (I think that this will be a recurring series of posts), trying to convert the obese en masse (heh) has not been successful, so my current plan is to convert assets 1 person at a time.  Then hopefully that person will inspire/convert another person, and then we'll soon have our ponzi scheme of Biggest Losers and Let's Movers.  I have drafted 1 of my co-workers into my plan (though admittedly, I haven't told her that she has been recruited into my cause).  We typically gang-up against other co-workers and sometimes her own family to emphasize how important a healthy lifestyle is.  It's had limited success so far, but I refuse to give up.  I've also started posting flyers of local races (here's one for your office) on my office door, so that anyone passing by can at least get some information.  After all, if you don't know about healthy options, then you can't start to pursue them, right?  S.O.P. suggests also preparing healthy alternatives for people to try.  I've been making an easy fruit salad lately that I've been serving at pot luck lunches, dinners, and parties.  Just cut up some strawberries, throw in some blueberries, and follow up with a can of mandarin oranges and no sugar added diced peaches.  If I want to make it look pretty, I'll layer them in a bowl.  Like I said easy, peasy.  Now for the hard numbers:  Umm....yeah...no running this week so far.  This is a rest/taper week before my races on Saturday.  I was supposed to get in 6 miles today, but I got out of court too late and didn't make it.  I'm hoping to make it up tomorrow, then another run on Thursday, rest on Friday and race on Saturday.  I did do some cross-training yesterday and today, but nothing overly strenuous.  All right, time for some rest.  Have fun and run hard!

The Obesity Cold War

Hail my running brothers and sisters!  Fair warning:  This is a long post, which will be the first of a series of posts.

History of the War

This week marks the beginning of my Cold War campaign against obesity (Thank you Michelle O.)  A recent study of over 1,600 Tennessee participating schools found that obesity in children dropped from 40.9% in 2007-08 to 39% in 2008-09.  Yay, for the 1% drop;  boo, for the fact that nearly 50% of our children are considered obese (basically more pounds/body mass than they need to grow and develop).  If the statistics are correct, then Tennessee's numbers are still higher than the national average of 32% as found in another study.  This study suggested that obesity in children and adults may be leveling off, but still 68% of U.S. adults are either obese or overweight.  Holy schnike, people!  68% of people like you and me.  7 out of 10 people in your office or mine are obese.  4 out of 10 kids in my kids' school are considered obese.  Hey, I get it.  Kids are growing.  Some kids need more food to accommodate their growth.  Some kids are just bigger than other kids.  I know it's hard to get kids to eat a balanced meal.  Trust me I know.  My kids eat almost nothing, and if it's green, it better be a sprinkle on a cookie, darn it (I gave up cussing for Lent.  I was going to give up prideful boasting, but my wife said I couldn't handle it and she didn't want to live with me after Lent was over if I did).  But golly guys, if we don't do for our kids, who will?

Now don't get me wrong, this is not a fight I just joined.  My fight with obesity started over a year and a half ago with myself.  At 210 lbs, I wouldn't have necessarily called myself a fattie (at least back then), but looking back, I know that my weight was dangerously close to causing me real problems like diabetes and heart disease, both of which run in my family.  As some of my new employees pointed out today while looking at old pictures of our office staff, they did not recognize me as that fat, Chinese guy in those pictures, and it now made sense as to why I felt guilty about pimpin' out girl scout cookies.  

Since I've joined the fight, I've tried waging my war loudly and proudly.  I've bullied and bribed my staff into joining weight loss contests and offered tips on losing weight.  I've spotted friends as they worked out at the Y and taken others out on training runs.  I've challenged peers to join races and encouraged others to realize a half-marathon isn't really that bad.  I've even started a long-winded, self-aggrandizing blog spouting my trials and tribulations with running.  But for every 1 person that I've helped, I've lost 4 more as they just went back to their old lifestyle. Clearly the fast food insurgents are too entrenched, so now I have to change my tactics.  Taking a page from American foreign policy in the 60's and 70's, I'm now engaging in a cold war.  And yes, much like those in space, I too know that all warriors are cold warriors (10 geek points if you know what movie that line came from, and 10 more points if you know the name of the character).  I also realize that if you're reading this blog with any frequency, and are not related to me, then you're probably one of the converted.  Like me, you may have started working out, and now you too have caught the running bug.  Whether you do it for health or for the challenge, you continue to pursue this lifestyle, and like me, I assume that you've found excitement, joy and satisfaction from it.  It hasn't always been easy, but so far it has been rewarding.  So now it's time to pay it forward.  But I think this is enough for tonight, but stay tuned as I lay out my plan to take over the world!  Right, Pinky?

Now for the hard numbers:  Today I did 8.6 miles.  2.4 miles I did as a warm-up with a friend that I'm trying to get into running.  The other 6.2 miles were a tempo run that I did at 7:55/mile along part of the Country Music Marathon Course.  I hadn't intended on going that hard, but it was another beautiful day and I couldn't help myself.  I also got a little workout helping with my son's basketball team.  Those kids can go hard, and I had to really push myself to stay ahead of them!  All right, it's late and warrior needs sleep badly.  Fall out soldiers!  Have fun and run hard!

The Weight Loss Control

Hail my running brothers and sisters!  We're three full weeks into the New Year, and I've determined that my plan of more exercise and less eating is going less than stellar.  It's not terrible either.  As a matter of fact, my weight has firmly stayed exactly where I started.  All right, technically I've dropped .6 of a pound, but that's not statistically relevant enough, at least for me.  So the next step is the one that I'd been hoping to avoid, but now I have to admit the unavoidable.  I have to keep a food journal.  Ugh.  I hate writing that stuff down and keeping up with calories.  Double ugh.  But if I want to really make this whole weight loss goal work, I need to take some responsibility for the things that I put into my body.  What a pain.  But you gotta do what you gotta do.  After all, winners win.  Losers make excuses.  Besides if it was easy, everyone would do it.  Time to give 110%.  Whew.  I think that's all the trite cliches that I have left.  Now for the hard numbers:  4.02 miles at 8:08/mile.  It was a speed day, so I did a fartlek down to Church Street.  Of course, I was wearing new shoes and now I have a ridiculous blister on my foot.  Oh well.  Geek tip: The Green Lantern family of books and the Blackest Night mini-series is one of the best series I've read in a long time.  The whole zombie chic is a bit played out, but Geoff Johns has managed to make this zombie story viable.  Okay kids, have fun and run hard!

The Girl Scout Cookie Conundrum

Hail my running brothers and sisters!  This week saw me doing something I never thought I would do:  I was selling Girl Scout Cookies.  Generally I have a policy against pushing my kids' fund raising crap on other people. After all, I don't want to buy their kids' crap, so then why should they buy mine?  But as usual, my lovely wife knew better.  She said that Girl Scout cookies are different, because people actually want those.  Throw in some  "baby girl cuteness" and suddenly I'm pimping out cookies with the best of them.  About half way through my cookie sales pitch, it occurred to me that maybe I shouldn't be hooking up the GSC addicts in my office with their next fix.  After all, am I not that obnoxious SOB flaunting my new found athleticism and healthy lifestyle down the throats of my poor, beleaguered staff, associates, comrades, and friends.  Am I not the know-it-all, tut-tut-tutting my way through the breakroom as others attempt to hide that extra slice of pizza?  Damn right, I am!  And now, I'm pushing buttery, sugary, chocolatey tagalong goodness on my hapless staff (actually, looking at the numbers, GSC's are generally not too bad considering that a serving size is 2 cookies or more and that most have less sugar than an oreo.  Still I wouldn't say that GSC's are approved diet food.  As for that "hapless" staff...no one held a gun up to their head.).  Do I feel guilty for the role that I've played in America's dance with obesity?  Maybe a little, but it's hard to be superior and holier-than-thou when you have no one to be superior or holier-than-thou to.  Plus if anyone is going to profit from the millions of GSC addicts out there, then my daughter should!  Ha!  Okay kids, have fun and run hard!