Words of Wisdom from Glamour

"Don't try to mold yourself into something you're not. Stop trying to attain this unnatural state where you're skinny and plucked and shaved and waxed and Botoxed and have no hips - it's stressful for your body and mind, and it's not going to make you happy either. Believe me! I see it all the time these days: Women like that come to my office because none of it is feeding their soul." - Julie Holland, M.D., a psychiatrist in New York City

Santa Clara County Gets it Right!

I couldn’t be more proud to live in Santa Clara County (well, for the mean time) right now!! Santa Clara County is the first county in the nation to put a ban on selling happy meals to kids. Although I generally believe less government is a good thing, this is one area where I think government regulation is crucial in leading the fight against (or waging the war for that matter) childhood obesity. Parents and private industry have FAILED miserably to look out for our children’s best interests. Here are some shocking facts from the U.S. Attorney General’s Office on obesity:

• Two-thirds of adults and nearly one in three children are overweight or obese.
• The prevalence of obesity in the U.S. more than doubled (from 15% to 34%) among adults and more than tripled (from 5% to 17%) among children and adolescents from 1980 to 2008.
• An obese teenager has over a 70% greater risk of becoming an obese adult.

I hope you're as outraged by these statistics as I am! I am ecstatic that government is taking action and targeting the fast food industry. Kudos to Santa Clara County's elected officials for prohibiting the fast food industry from luring kids in with toys. We cannot continue to market (what did you think the happy meal toys were for??) this processed, fattening garbage to our kids, because it is killing them!

Watch the ABC news clip about Santa Clara County’s proactive campaign here: http://news.yahoo.com/video/business-15749628/where-happy-meals-are-illegal-19362009#video=19369064

Also, check out this blog on the Los Angeles Times website: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2010/04/fast-food-toy-ban-santa-clara-county.html

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution on ABC

If you haven't watched this show yet, DO! Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution airs on ABC on Friday nights and it is truly an eye-opening show. It's sad to see how backwards our mindset is in America when it comes to eating healthy. To me, what's even more disturbing is how much junk food is marketed to our youth and sadly, how many unhealthy food choices are made available in our public schools. Without getting too much into this subject right now (because I could write a 30-page paper on the issue), watch the following clip (about the first minute of the clip) from Jamie Oliver's show http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZh3awEU3YA.

I hope you're just as outraged as I am that French fries are considered a vegetable in public schools. And we wonder why more than 35% of America's youth (from ages 6-19) are classified as overweight according to the Center for Disease Control.

Support Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution by clicking here: http://www.jamieoliver.com/jfr-beta/petition.php#petForm