The Lighter Side to the Heavy Me

A rising pandemic in our nation is Obesity.  Several campaigns for over-weight awareness and childhood obesity have filtered their ways into every form of media.  With healthier choices in public school cafeterias and encouraging children to get active should end the problem quite soon right?  What about those that were apart of the childhood obesity statistics and now belong to the obese adults community?  With the rise of technology, the necessity of a “fast-lane” life, and the perennial recession, fast food chains become the go to places for lunch, dinner and even breakfast.  Here is a link to an interesting fact about a global fast-food chain: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.aec4920fe8094fdd0baaeab2ed126bf1.741 How does this affect a college student particularly?  College life is expensive, from tuition to materials, and does not seem to be getting any cheaper.  A college student is then going to stop by a fast-food chain to get quick food that is cheap and tastes good.  The downfall of this are the harmful affects this food can have on a college student’s physical and mental health.  Here is a link to an interesting website that offers a more professional and in depth discussion of obesity and its affects on health: http://l-pawlik-kienlen.suite101.com/mental-health-effects-of-obesity-a27133 “Obese young women are half as likely to attend college as slim girls.  Obese young women are also more likely to use drugs and alcohol than their slimmer peers.”(Pawlik-Kienlen)  My perspective of it all, as a person who has dieted many times and had several weight-fluctuations all by the age of eighteen, is that it is almost a “catch twenty-two.”  If I live my life and not worry about my weight than I am unhappy with myself and thus send myself into a depression, however if I try to better my health and appearance then I am falling to what society expects me to look like and not being my own person.  My friends and I used to joke around about the over-weight topic, but I am done joking and ready to get serious with myself.  I am currently on a diet and this time I really want to do it again-lose the weight and keep it off.  I may post on the blogs to come a little excerpt about my weight-loss progress.  So far it has been a week and I have lost three pounds, I still have a ways to go before I hit my goal weight. 

Pawlik-Kienlen, Laurie. "How Obesity Affects Mental and Emotional Health: The Social and Psychological Consequences of Being Overweight | Suite101.com." Psychology Suite101.com. 25 July 2007. Web. 23 Jan. 2012. <http://l-pawlik-kienlen.suite101.com/mental-health-effects-of-obesity-a27133>.