Eyes Wide Shut / Mouth Wide Open - The Obesity Epidemic

We are Eating Ourselves into Obesity, Sickness and a Premature Death. The US - to a great extent - has become a nation of food addicts and people who are overly dependent on medications.

Millions are seeking for the elusive magic pill. A quick fix that to cure every ailment. Meanwhile the nation is caught in an obesity epidemic of outrageous proportions.

To be sure, a food addiction can be just as bad or even worse than addiction to cocaine, heroin, alcohol and/or nicotine. There is one problem, however. One can always stop using drugs and alcohol.

But how is one to live without food? There, we believe, lies the quandary. Imagine telling the alcoholic he can have one drink three times a day, but only ONE. Anyone who knows anything about the diseases of drug addiction and alcoholism know this is literally impossible.

Food, therefore, has become just as dangerous to our health as alcohol and other substances.

Biggie-Size It!

The portions of food eaten in America specifically, have gone through the roof. Watch TV and you will see restaurants advertising larger and larger servings. An 8 ounce steak is no longer enough. Order a 16-ounce steak instead. Oh, and eat it all by your lonesome.
Sixteen ounces is three times what a person needs.

Some eating establishments actually give customers discounts if they are able to eat an obscenely large plate in one sitting. Swell.

Larger, Larger, Larger

When the Big Gulp soda was first introduced several decades ago it was a 16-ounce serving. Today, it is 64 ounces. Literally a half gallon of soda! Hundreds and hundreds of calories with no nutritional value at all.

You see many children drinking water? Then we wonder why childhood and teenage obesity has tripled in the past 20 years and today threatens to cut short this generation's life span. Various media outlets have published that children growing up today - for the first time in history - are expected to have a shorter lifespan than that of their parents. Why?

Obesity. Read the last sentence again and let it sink in. Heck, many are even over feeding their pets. I have seen dogs and cats around that almost look like horses!

The Plague is Getting Worse

Go out on the street. Chances are, especially if you live in the city, that you will be able to spot people who weigh two, three and four times what their normal size. High blood pressure, high cholesterol and elevated sugar levels - all induced by overeating.

Doctor... give me the magic pill!

Eastern medicine treats causes while western medicine - by large - focus more on treating symptoms. Recently there was a news story - 39-year-old man dies at 750 pounds as a direct result of obesity.

Ate himself to Death

The saddest part is that cases like these are becoming commonplace. It is no longer a big deal to weigh 300 or 400 pounds - just get a gastric bypass. While valuable in some extreme cases, for the most part this is another quick fix ... another magic pill.

Anything except real change through sacrifice and determination.

Valley of Decision

The message I wish to drive home in this edition is: What is it going to take for you to make up your mind once and for all to take hold of your weight and eating habits?

Are you prepared to go through some pain and discomfort now, or will it take a more serious, perhaps life-threatening condition to shake you off your slumber? Is not some withdrawal and detoxification pain a small price to pay if it adds years to your life and gives you stamina and mental clarity?

The answers to these questions are evident from the outside, but only you in your heart of hearts can answer it for yourself. You can be sucked in by the overeating masses or embrace the simple discipline of fasting and make this life you have count until the very last moment.

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