Fried Chicken, Biscuits, and Gravy... Oh My!
BoingBoing has posted this disturbing animated map tracking the spread of obesity in the U.S. over the past two decades or so (using data collected by the CDC). The map covers data collected up until the year 2004 and one can only guess from how fast obesity has been sweeping the nation that the figures for 2006 must be much much worse. You can click on any state on the map and get more info on each particular state and how it's trying to battle this epidemic. Each of these pages also includes a BMI calculator, which is kind of fun to play around with. I know that I am not the healthiest person in the world. I could stand to do a little more exercise, eat a little less junk food, and eat a few more veggies. However, my body weight still falls easily within the normal range. Obesity is defined as having a BMI of 30 or more and out of curiousity, I tried to figure out how much I would have to weight in order to be considered obese. Turns out that at my height, I would have to be at least 180lbs (or nearly 13 stone for you British people) to be considered obese. That's a lot of extra weight to be carrying around and it's crazy to think that nearly a quarter of all Americans are classified as obese.On a positive health-related note, a few weeks ago, inspired by a conversation with Eva the triathlete-in-training, I choked back my fear of failure and decided to start jogging again. I started out using the treadmill at the gym, focusing on maintaining a nice, slow, steady pace for as long as possible rather than starting out too quickly and burning myself out before I've even reached the half mile mark (which is what I usually end up doing, which I've found to be very discouraging). I started out with just one mile at a 12 minute/mile slow jog pace. Good news is that after a relatively painless gym regimen of about 2 - 3 times per week, I've managed to up that to three miles at a 10 minute/mile pace. I couldn't be happier! Who would have thought that a mere month could make such a difference?
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