's motd Thursday January 27, 2011

[Guest guest]

100 YEARS

AGO...

Thursday, 27 January 2011

People really burned a lot of

calories in their daily lives. Back then, only the

very rich could afford that newfangled invention...the

automobile. But for everyone else, getting around

meant riding a horse, a buggy or...just plain-old walking.

And let me tell you, back then, people walked

everywhere. They walked to the bank, to the market,

to school or to church. In a typical day, they very

easily walked for miles!

Yep, 100 years ago, walking was a

given. It was a part of everyone's daily lives. But

today, here in 2011, walking is not so much a fact of

life anymore. That's because every family, every body

seems to have a car, or two or maybe even three...in

one family!

Today,when you want to go to the

bank, you simply whip out your keys, walk...to the

car, start it up and drive to the bank or where

ever else you may want to go. Yep, you drive to the

mall and to the supermarket, searching for

that perfect parking space. (So you don't have to

walk so far.) And because we drive so much, let's

face it, we do only a fraction of the walking out

forefathers and mothers did 100 years ago.

And isn't it strange? I mean,

even though we're a lot less physically active than we

were a century ago, today, American's are consuming

more calories than ever! That's right,

inactive as we are, we're eating more. (Go figure.)

So, who should we blame for this situation? Wait,

I've got it. I say we blame the food

manufacturers. I mean, why not? Hey, those

food companies collectively, pour millions of dollars

into research. They have these people in focus groups

whose job it is to taste the foods and see how yummy

they are. And those foods receiving the highest marks

are the ones that make it into our supermarkets.

The latest craze from many big food companies are

those 100-calorie snack packs. You've seen them.

There's just enough cookies in one little pack to

equal exactly 100 calories. But here's the

thing, they're usually sold in cartons of up to a

dozen packs. (Hey, these food manufacturers

are not stupid people, my friends.)

You look at one of those snack packs and say to

yourself, "All of those little cookies in this

bag and it's only 100 calories? Hey, that's

not a lot of calories." (Uh-huh.)

Okay, you and I both know that

very few people are going to have the discipline to

stop at just one of those 100-calorie snack

packs. It's just too easy to open a second, a third

or even a fourth bag! And if you eat four

bags of those "innocent"-looking 100-calorie packs,

you've consumed 1/4 of the calories you

needed for that entire day! So, looks like

those 100-calorie snack packs may not be so innocent

after all, huh?

And I have to tell you something

else. These snacks can really hook you. Hey, that's

what the food companies want! Every time you go to

the market, you end up buying another 12-bag carton.

(I see trouble ahead.)

Now if we think about it and are really honest, we'll

have to admit that it's not the food manufacturers we

should be placing all the blame on, is it? Truth is,

we're to blame, too! After all, we're the ones

who go into the supermarket and load up on those

snacks. And the bad news is that once you bring them

into your homes, you're asking for trouble. Every

time you get stressed or even a little tempted, you're

going to walk into your kitchen, open the cabinet

where those snacks live and, there you are...eating

some of them!

Do you

know how many calories you should be eating per day?

Do you know how many calories you should be eating per

day? (You should.) That way, maybe you'd have more

respect for your body with the number of calories you

consume each day. When you do get stressed or find

yourself tempted by some fattening snack, what should

you reach for instead? Well, how's about

half-a-grapefruit or a some pear slices? Nothing

tastes better to me than some baby carrots or fresh

slices of cucumber. We can have these kinds of

snacks...guilt and fat-free!

And oh yeah, one other thing, if you want to burn

calories, rather than consuming some, how's about

doing what our ancestors used to do so much of...walking!

Love,