Something's Fishy

I stumbled on this story on CNN about a man that is upset with a local bar for cutting him off from the AYCE fish fry (that is shorthand for those of us that have a tendency to look for All You Can Eat foods). 

Maybe I should rewind a little for those not local.  In Wisconsin and certainly neighboring states, the Friday Fish Fry is not just a Lent thing.  This is a year around tradition.  Some are ACYE but not all.  Usually they are 2-3 big pieces of fish with slaw and fries (slightly more calories than you should eat regularly).  You can ask anyone who has the best fish fry in any community and the answer is usually unanimous.  Around New Richmond where I live, it is the 4 Corners Bar just outside of town on the way to Amery. 

This guy has decided to take on his local place because they cut him off.  Now, I get his point....AYCE should mean that.  That is where my solidarity for this guy ends. 

If he looked like 105 pound Sonya Thomas, a.k.a. The Black Widow, I might even have to stop writing now.  This guy does not look healthy at all. 

When I was eating too much, all the time, I did not look very healthy either.  When I visited an AYCE plated restaurant, even I filled up and certainly would not keep eating even when I still had 'room'.  It was a visual stigma that I felt everyone had towards me.  Even at Old Country Buffet I overate like crazy but always felt like I needed to hold back a little.  In short, I was very self conscious about what I looked like and how I was perpetuating that look.

I would be SO embarrased to be on CNN, front and center with this story.  It is gluttony at its worst and unfortunately it is happening in my state. 

See the news video here:  http://www.todaystmj4.com/news/local/151468665.html

A Big Buzz

It seems that the nation is becoming consumed with obesity.  This is good.  I can recall when I was at my unhealthiest and stories on being obese or overweight felt like a personal attack.  Not in the story iteself but when someone around me talked about the story or the headline in my presence, I felt like they were indirectly speaking to me.  When you know you have a problem but are not ready to confront it and take it on, any reference to it hits home even more.

Lately, it has been the buzz.  In fact, I nearly titled this post, "A Big FAT Buzz" but it felt a little bit derrogatory to me.

This week and not coincidentally close to the debut of the HBO Documentary, "The Weight Of The Nation",  a story was released with the obesity rates in the USA to all of the major news outlets.  The story goes on about the obesity rate predicted to crescendo at 42% of Americans.  I linked to it but you could not have been anywhere on the web this week without seeing that story.

Another story talks about the obesity rates being doubled globally since 1980.  The Weight of the Nation

How do I feel about this now given the big changes in my life over th last year?  Guarded, actually. 

Will this be the real deal and share the right information or will it be heavily geared toward some political agenda?  There is so much "information" available to people and yet so little of it really contributes to a solution.  I don't want it to be just a crusade against sugar based drinks. Yes, they are bad.  Yes, a good portion of the country is obese because they drink Coke and Mountain Dew.  Is cracking down on the soda the problem or should they explain how the calories impact your body whether it is soda, cookies, a big mac or a banana? 

I am hopeful that this series is working in the right direction.  I guess we'll know in a week!