The Fat Post

This featured article in USA Today, today, Cost of Treating Obese Patients Soars to $147 Billion, seems like a good enough lead-in to something I’ve been meaning to write about.

We certainly have become a chubby nation, there’s no arguing that observation. I don’t think we need studies to confirm it. But the rate with which we are chubbing up is a tad alarming. From 1980 to 2006, our obesity rate has risen from 15% of adults to 35% according to this piece. Perhaps Mike Meyrs’ Fat Bastard character should have been an American and not a Scot.

And the McDad household has done its part to pad the fat stats of the USA. I weighed 205 lbs. when I got married seven years ago (and I wasn’t exactly Kate Moss-esq), and due to the loving care I adorned my wife with during pregnancies, took a nice leap to my career high of 230 lbs. earlier this year. Even Wii Fit, so rudely proclaimed me obese. That disheartening moment, along with some Ruthian cholesterol numbers that greeted me at my annual physical lit a small fire under my ass to get healthier.

Not one to participate in doomed-to-fail fad diets, I focused my energies on learning about nutrition—a subject I’ve been sadly uniformed about. My favorite resource is the bestseller, Superfoods Rx. To summarize, the authors recommend eating more superfoods (spinach, salmon, grains, blueberries, walnuts, etc.), eating smaller portions, and doing at least some exercise. I’ve done just that, virtually eliminating fast food and other shitty stuff. I eat often and small and am rarely ever hungry. I’ve had to abandon beer for the most part, which hurts, but red wine (a superfood sidekick) is a solid substitute. And I’ve dropped about 13 lbs. in the last 4 months without even noticing. At this pace, within the next 6 months my scale should read something sub 200 and my tux (a garment unworn since my wedding) will be loose on me.

Sure I’m risking embarrassment by going public should I start binging on super-sized Big Mac meals in lieu of turkey/avocado on whole grain sandwiches , but I figure by going public I’ll be forced to continue down this healthier path.

My real motivation, aside from improving our national chubby numbers, is to try to avoid heart disease and actually stick around long enough to enjoy my children as they grow up. At nearly 43, heart attack season is in full swing for my demographic and it only gets worse. I fully intended on getting below 200, but I really want to see some decent blood work results when I go back in to see my GP.

Perhaps I’ll even motivate others to get on the health train, bringing our obesity numbers down, and solving our health care crisis single-handedly. Can’t you all just imagine a McDad monument somewhere on the DC Mall?

Hey, I never claimed not to have a ridiculously large ego.

Spread the McDad Word!

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