On Jan 6, 11:46*am, Dave Smith > wrote:
> On 04/01/2011 1:08 AM, phaeton wrote:
>
> > It has been my understanding for about a decade that the growing
> > obesity problem in the U.S. has pretty much had a 1:1 counterpart in
> > Canada. *Canada reports it less (their news is less about
> > sensationalism) but generally all the same bad lifestyle habits that
> > the U.S. has developed in the last 25-30 years, Canada has also
> > adopted.
>
> There is no doubt in my mind that kids seems to be a little fatter these
> days. I think that where we differ is in the really, really, really fat
> people.
>
> I am not going to say that Americans are fatter than Canadians or than
> Europeans. A lot of Americans are very fit, or appear to be. *The thing
> that puzzles me is the number of really, really fat people. *Within
> minutes of crossing the border I see people way fatter than you usually
> see here. I mean, absolutely huge. I don't know how people allow
> themselves to get that fat. *Maybe I should rephrase that to allowing
> their loived ones to get that fat, because people the size I am thinking
> of do not do it on their own. They are enabled.

Here's the difference between a thin man and a fat man:

When the thin man notices his trousers are getting a little snug,
he says, "Got to lose a few pounds". The fat man says "Got to
buy bigger pants."

You'd probably say that my husband and I are really, really fat.
We are. I'm about 260 (5' 8"), and he's about 360 (5' 5").
It's not difficult to allow oneself to get that fat. Gain 10
pounds a year for 12 years (or 5 pounds a year for 24 years),
and you're 120 pounds overweight. It's really not that difficult.
Five or ten pounds is barley noticeable; I have to change by 20
pounds to need a different clothing size.

Cindy Hamilton