My Fruit Prodigy

Ok, this is a photo of my roommate eating an apple. It might seem like a pretty bleh photo, but it's actually pretty groundbreaking.

Hedda is the worst eater I know (no offense...) and she never eats fruit and vegetables because she says they all taste gross.

So, we're having a little challenge while I do this blog to see how many fruit and vegetables she can try and actually like.

The apple is the first step, and she thinks she could incorporate the apple into her life. Her only concern is that they take so many bites to eat, and they juice all over your hands- but she likes the apple.

Next week's challenge is probably peaches, but she's open to other suggestions...

The Obesity Epidemic

Shows like "The Biggest Loser," and "Celebrity Fit Club," routinely create heart-wrenching miracles- through excessive exercise, and low calorie diets their contestants lose weight. The newly buffs then procede to make comments like, "If I can lose weight, then anyone can lose weight." Well..not quite.

I get the feeling that these shows are supposed to inspire viewers to get off the couch- take that first step, eat an apple, and remove Domino's from their speed dial- but with the best trainers and nutritionists barking at the contestants all day long, their situations are hardly normal. In fact, it would be more of a miracle if they didn't lose weight.

The latest obesity figures are out, and 31 states showed an increase in their rates of obesity. None decreased. Mississippi became the first state to have more than 30 percent of its residents be officially obese. So I guess "The Biggest Loser" and "Celebrity Fit Club" are not so inspiring after all.

But, then again obviously none of the other million messages out there are either.

We all know that eating healthier and exercising more is the way to lose weight, but either the message is getting lost, or people just aren't hearing it. Or they don't care that they are obese.

I think part of it is just that here in America it is so easy to get fat. There is drive-through everything (In NZ there is drive-thru at fast food chains, but that's it), there is sooo much junk food and it's everywhere, and it seems to be fairly normal to eat crappy and not exercise. I don't want to make it sound like NZ is this perfectly healthy country, but I think being fat is a little less socially acceptable there than it is here. Which of course brings me to other study that recently came out about how our fat friends are making it ok for us to be fat too.

Anyway, clearly obesity is became this crazy epidemic, which is causing other crazy epidemics like diabetes and heart disease- even in kids, so we do need to do something.

As a closing remark, I'll add this because I thought it was quite funny- I was watching Oprah oneday over summer and she had a doctor come on and tell people (I guess the message was for men) that for every 30 lbs they lost, they would gain on inch on their penis.

Something to think about...

Links: The article on increasing obesity rates (includes a state-by-state map so you can see how your state did). Read it

The article about how our friends are making us fat. Read it.

Introduction

Hi all!!
Welcome to my Health and Fitness blog! It's always nice to know the person behind the writing (and the picture) so I'll start by giving you a little intro to myself.

Just briefly, I'm 23, halfway through a master's degree in journalism here at the University of Florida- my undergraduate degree is also in journalism, and I'm from New Zealand.

I get asked all the time why I would ever leave New Zealand because it's so beautiful- Lord of the Rings, in particular, upped the frequency of these kinds of questions- but I was offered a full track scholarship to run for McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana, so off I went. Who would turn down the chance to study and run and experience a new country for free?!

I've always been involved in sport and I think that is why health and fitness interests me so much. I started playing tennis when I was five, was playing tournaments by the time I was nine, and running competitively at fifteen. Training camps always emphasized the importance of good nutrition and good workouts, and of course I wanted to win, so I was captivated by health and fitness principles.

When I graduated McNeese, I interned at the American Press, a local newspaper in Lake Charles, writing different articles, and then stayed on for another six months to write health stories. I loved it, and so knew I wanted a career in health writing.

Here at UF, I'm continuing this career goal by taking classes like Health and Fitness writing- (the class for which this blog is for), so when I graduate next May I'll hopefully get an amazing job straight off the bat! Here's hoping...

Other stuff about me- I've been married for a year so I'm now a permanent resident of the U.S., I still run in the mornings, I'm a triplet, and I just got a cute little puppy- half corgi, half Aussie Shephard.

That's all for now.

This blog will have a variety of info about Fitness and Nutrition, as well as some of my own experiences, so keep reading!

See you later!