Come On, America!

We are getting a little extreme, aren't we? Since I am retired and relatively shut in by weather, I watch a lot of television. Or, perhaps I should say that the TV is always on SOMEWHERE in the house...for company. Doesn't mean I am watching it. But I am getting really weary of the "experts" telling us what is good for us by way of food. We are being bombarded with reports of how fat we have become and what is/isn't healthy. I think the powers that be believe that education is the answer. Sorry! Not true! I KNOW what is supposedly healthy for me. I just don't always choose to eat it! Trust me: we don't like being fat...but we are in a society that celebrates happy (and sad) occasions with family dinners, meals out, and good booze. But now we have the Fat Police. Parts of California have banned Happy Meal treats. Schools have replaced snack machine offering with "healthier" choices. Ad nauseum. So...what is the true culprit that America is getting fatter with each passing year? Care to know my opinion? LONELINESS. *Cell phones and the Internet and our mobile society have made us a nation of lonely people. We don't have to be face-to-face with people anymore. We can create our own environments that may or may not be based on reality. We are so afraid of perverts and scam artists and criminals that we don't let our children go out to play or venture into the outside world ourselves. We are glued to our televisions, watching bad news and bad programming. Teen Mom and Jersey Shore and other horrible examples of Americana make us look like a nation of wimps. What's left to feel comforted and encouraged? FOOD. I am as guilty as anyone else. I'm already heavy, but have gained 10 pounds this winter. Why? Because I'm lonely. Unlike my father, I have never suffered from hunger...but I have suffered. *This month's Reader's Digest has an article about diet which blasts everything I have learned. According to the article, carbohydrates are the problem with weight. That means that fats and proteins are good...which raises cholesterol and blood fats. What's a heart patient to do?? *Until and unless America recognizes the REAL problem with why we overeat, it ain't gonna get better. I'm just tired of hearing about it!