Obesity State By State

We can all thank The USAToday for America's love of infographics.

Ah, Colorado. Light blue, through and through.

We can probably thank them in some way, too, for America's obesity epidemic. Seriously, the USAToday is like the fast food of news. Consumption– it's not just for breakfast anymore.

That might sound whiny, but the numbers bear this out. If you take a look at the whole graphic, you can see a quick, steady move toward not moving. And it's nation-wide (no pun intended). No one escapes it.

So, this is way bigger (again, no pun) than just bitching about how McDonald's is making us, as a nation, fat. Because it's not that.

I think there's a culture of obesity that's growing (Jeez!) in America. Hear me out, because it only sounds strange due to it being a new thing that people don't quite recognize. Same as tattoo culture in the 80's; look how acceptable it is now.

So, who are the leaders of obesity culture? Big agriculture, fast food corps, big boxes. And just so you know, I'm not a conspiracy guy, and that's not my point.

Obesity culture is the opposite of a conspiracy, actually. It's out-in-the-open manifest-destiny-level change across an entire population.

A culture shift, if you will.

It's not very romp-like, but man, it's pretty fascinating, if terrible, to think about. The ramifications of obesity culture are, um, huge.

Fitness Secret #1

I'm basing pretty much all of the exercise portion of the Fitness Romp on this ...

How far can I take it?

So it's the night before we start.  Food's in the fridge, I'm ready to run in the morning.  I'm doing this for my family & myself, with my husband.  I'm excited as I think about just how far I can take this.  What will my body feel like and look like at its fittest?  Am I a few months away from knowing this?  A year or two away?  What things will become possible once I accomplish this previously elusive goal?  I'm excited to find out.  I know that, outwardly, there will be little to no difference in the coming days, or even weeks.  But I believe it will show in my eyes.  The hope, the health, the fire.  Bring it.  ~ Heather

Meals: An Introduction

3 meals plus veggies (the other is an egg, which wasn't ready for the pic).

90% of being fit is what you eat.

Trust me, because I had a healthy person tell me that once. Still and yet, you don't have to take someone else's word for it. At least, we won't. We're making all of our food the night before. That's key.

Notice the buckets. You might call them tupperwares. Don't ever do that again. They're buckets, damn it. And here's why they're important: If it's not in a bucket, we don't eat it.

Simple, yes?

It really takes the whole I'm-stressed-over-trying-to-eat-right-so-I'll-just-have-these-four-large-pizzas thing out of play. Plus, it looks awesome. Check out the colors. Lots of texture. Simple. Healthy.

Expect lots (and lots) of food pics on the Fitness Romp.

-Ben

The Fitness Romp Book Of Genesis

Like this, but super ripped.

Holy. Sha-moly. Here we go.

Day 1 of Ben & Heather's Fitness Romp starts tomorrow, 7/25/11. Food is ready. Exercise plan is ready. All that's left is to go ahead and start.

So, what's a fitness romp, you ask? It's exercise and healthy eating, planned out over 12 weeks. Planning and making meals the day before. Starting each morning with exercise. Living the way we feel about life, instead of just dreaming about it. That kind of thing.

The real gist is this: We've decided to go ahead and be really, really fit for the rest of our lives. So, y'know ... Fitness Romp.

What else is going on here? A blog. Thoughts and feelings and bits and pieces of the things that make us who we are. Or, I guess, the things that make us who we are becoming. It's going to be fairly spectacular.

Interested in our Fitness Romp? Of course you are! Follow along, encourage us, and be our Fitness Romp friends (you've got to admit, it's fun to say).

-Ben