Cost of Treating Obesity Soars

Yes it does.

72 Pounds

My weightloss is finally picking up again after a long dormant stage. My trip to Texas and Arizona sort of put me off my weightloss for a little while. Didn't gain...but didn't lose. Here's to losing!

Top snacks consumed by children under 6:

I thought this was an interesting list. My top snacks when I was 6? Probably ice cream followed by chocolate peanut clusters.

Top snacks consumed by children under 6:

	In 1987	In 2007
1.	Cookies	Fruit
2.	Fruit	Cookies
3.	Milk	Milk
4.	Juice	Crackers
5.	Candy	Juice
6.	Carbonated soft drinks	Popcorn
7.	Ice cream	Candy
8.	Crackers	Ice cream
9.	Cake	Chips
10.	Chips	Fruit rolls/bars/pieces

Change of taste

The five foods/beverages that have increased the most in the snack diet of young children today compared with young children 20 years ago:

1. Fruit rolls/bars/pieces
2. Yogurt
3. Crackers
4. Bars
5. Bottled water

The five foods/beverages that have decreased the most in the snack diet of young children today compared with young children 20 years ago:

1. Carbonated soft drinks
2. Ice cream
3. Candy
4. Cake
5. Fruit juice

Source: NPD Group

Mississippi Gains

I just read that Mississippi is at the top of the list of the most obese states in the U.S. at 32.5%. Eight of the 10 states with the highest rates of obesity are in the South.

I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to figure that one out. All of my ex-favorite foods are all southern dishes and they are all fattening: Chicken fried steak, Tex-Mex, hush puppies.

Now I'm getting hungry.

Staying Focused For The Long Haul

I thought this was a great blog post by a lady by the name of Lynn Haraldson-Bering. Here is an excerpt from an entry titled, "Staying focused for the long haul."

I had so many feelings floating around in my head when I weighed 300 pounds – inadequacy, anger, and overall helplessness. I vacillated for months between accepting my body as it was and choosing to lose weight. I journaled tough questions: How did I feel about my body. How much did I love myself? Was I worth changing for? It was difficult and often uncomfortable work, I won’t lie, but once I was honest with myself and became better acquainted with the emotions that bothered me most, I was ready to lose weight.

Read it here.

1 more pound

One more pound and I'll hit a total of 70lbs lost since January 21. That's quite a milestone for me. The ability to walk further and move around easier is really pretty noticeable to me. It gives me the motivation to keep going to reach my goal weight (which is a ways off yet).

I see overweight people on the street and in stores and I just want to grab them and tell them that there is a way to take it off. It's not easy but it can be done and that they will feel so much better physically and mentally. Literally a weight off their minds.

No Extensions

I recently made a trip to my home state of Texas with my wife to visit our adult children. The last time I did this I needed a seat belt extension in order to wear one during takeoff and touchdown. Not so this time!

It was so weird not to have to ask for one and still have plenty of belt left over. Also, I was able to put the tray down from the seat in front of me without it resting on my chest. Ha! This is when it totally hit me how much weight I've lost