I couldn't even help the cause......

Even with one less obese person (ME!) in Pennsylvania, our state obesity numbers still climbed.....a staggering amount!!!!!

OBESITY RATE UP IN PENNSYLVANIA

I tried.
But, I can't do it alone.
It takes a village.

It's all over the news.....Americans are getting fatter!
Check out where your home state ranked:
"F as in FAT"!

The other night as I watched a TV spot showing a video of obese folks--with close-ups of their stomachs, legs, butts-- walking about the streets of Pittsburgh, I couldn't help but worry that someone, somewhere in my hometown was sitting down in front of their TV and was catching a glimpse of themselves walking around downtown and being called OBESE on their local TV channel....for everyone to see.
Or...worse yet.....seeing himself or herself eating lunch on NATIONAL TV!
I shuddered at the thought.
That could have been me less than 5 years ago.
I just don't know what I would have done if I would have seen that....

It's one thing to know you've got a few pounds to lose.
It's another thing to willingly go on TV and talk about it.
It's a whole other matter when you are just innocently walking to your job or eating lunch or talking with a friend or shopping and you are profiled as being obese...being called a part of a growing FAT epidemic.
To add insult to injury-- they show a close up of your ass or your belly bulge!
I know, I know, it happens to the rich and famous all the time!!!
Celebrities and starlets( in their body baring bad fashion choices) being splashed across the tabloids and our TV sets is one thing.
It's not right but it's not like it's shocking in this day and age. There's something that feels a little less ugly about it than every day folks like you and me being unknowingly put on display and showing all the world our dirty BIG secrets.....

I know I talk about the Lap Band as being the next best thing to the Salk vaccine.
But, I am here to tell you....my beloved Lap band is the only thing standing between me and being videotaped as I eat nachos in the park by a TV channel because I'm part of the FAT EPIDEMIC.....
And, I know you are all probably a little sick and tired of Judi singing Lap Band praises.
And, I know that it doesn't work for everyone.
But, when I read something like this--that obesity is on the rise--it makes me wonder.....when is someone going to do something about the obesity problem?
And I'm not talking about shutting down all the fast food restaurants on the planet.
I'm talking about the HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY!
When are they going to wake up? When are they going to see the light? When are they going to stop the madness?
Are they afraid that by covering weight loss surgery (or any type of weight loss support) that they will put the drug industry and the heart doctors and the chirpractors and the diabetes doctors and the chiropractors out of the business or make them a little less rich off of the obese folks of the world?
There are people out there who are obese and who are losing the war on their health and they really want a Lap band and their insurance companies won't pay for it.
Yet, their insurance companies will pay for their blood pressure pills, their cholesterol meds and their diabetes care and their knee replacements and their sleep studies and their chiropractic care and everything else they medically need due to their obesity!
And, of course, their insurance would not bat an eye if they have pay for their stays in the hospital when they have that heart attack or stroke....
I mean....really.
Doesn't this sound a little....ahhhh.....CRAZY MIXED UP???
If they are spending oodles of dollars doing studies, one would hope they are going to use those results of those studies to move forward!
Who is taking notice besides me and the poor person who spotted themselves on TV???
Why aren't health care companies covering weight loss support, medications, services and surgery?
It's just downright unacceptable, unbelievable and if you ask me.....very stupid.
Come to think of it--it's inexplicable! criminal! disgusting!

I mean really.......why aren't we screaming and yelling and causing a fuss about this?
I would gander to believe that a few million obese people could cause quite a stir.....don't you?
Imagine, a few thousand obese people stomping their feet, waving their arms, yelling and screaming and demanding action!
Think of the thunder. Hear the roar. It would sweep the nation. It would be heard.
Why not? Why hasn't this happened?
Where's the outrage folks?
It's not here. At least not enough.
Makes a girl wonder.....maybe it's because when you are obese, you don't want to be noticed.......obese people don't like to advertise their obesity.
Maybe that's why no one is forcing the government and the health care industry to sit up and take notice.
Now I think I get it.
It's time to get out of the corners of your life and come forward!!!
It's time to take action.....we all know healthy weight and well porportioned folks aren't going to do it!!!!
The obese people of this country have to stomp their feet and shake their fists and throw their weight around and be the achitects of change!
It's up to us to change the obesity numbers!!!
It's a cause we all have to take on.....