I’ve fought my tendency to gain weight since childhood… I’ve been 250 and 150 and everything in between.

But when I see folk in such a state as the two women in the photo, I just feel so sorry for them. That woman on the right must be near suicide 24/7 because she KNOWS her problem is so far out of control she’ll NEVER lose enough weight to make any significant difference.

I’m now well into my 60s and losing weight is much more difficult than it was in my 20s. I just can’t move as much as before, and my metabolism is far slower than in earlier years. But with a determination I didn’t know I had, I’ve been walking at least an hour a day every day since the beginning of the year to get my metabolism up, and I’ve been watching the AMOUNT I eat more than WHAT I eat to avoid setting myself up for failure by being “on a diet,” and I’m losing 5-6 lbs per month. So it will take me about a year to lose the 60lbs that is my goal. And that’s just fine with me!

But look at that lady. I’ll bet she needs to drop 350 lbs or more. And I’ll bet she can’t walk 100 yards before exhaustion sets in. If someone offered her a MILLION in CASH to drop to a “healthy” size within 5 years I bet she couldn’t do it.

Her friend on the left amuses me a bit in a sick sort of way. She’s dutifully and sensibly wearing good protection from UV so to avoid sun damage. But she also is so overweight she’ll never live long enough to develop skin cancer, so why worry?

Instead of super-sizing the built environment to accommodate the requirements of the morbidly obese, America needs to take a good hard look at the most deadly epidemic ever to hit the country. MAJOR education about nutrition and exercise needs to start in the first grade, and Federal LEGISLATION to regulate the content of “food” offered for sale by the fast food chains needs to be put in place NOW. KFC tastes great, I agree, but I wouldn’t eat it any more than I would snort cocaine, which, they tell me, feels great! I’m sorry, Colonel Sanders, but your chicken has KILLED more people in the USA than automobiles!

I know… in America, the Land of the Free, you can’t tell people what to sell or what to eat. Well, America… face up to the fact that International Terrorism is an INSIGNIFICANT problem compared to your National Epidemic -  Obesity. If the legislators can do away with people’s rights in order to fight a mostly imaginary foe (terrorism) (how many have died since 9/11 from “terrorism,”) they can damn well legislate the fat and empty calories out of fast food which is KILLING MILLIONS right under their noses!