I’m sure you’ve read about, heard about, or seen this on TV…I hope so because it’s been nearly Everywhere. The 8-year-old boy who weighs almost 200 lbs in Great Britain.

For days now, a debate as to whether or not the government should take the boy into custody has been raging; some people believe his living with his family, who enabled him to grow to this unbelievable weight, is going to be too dangerous and could lead to his very pre-mature death. Others believe he has the right to stay at home with his family…those people won.

That’s right, the boy is staying at home. Apparently the parents had to make special promises to safeguard his safety henceforth, but we’ll see if that actually happens. My only question is, how did it ever get to this? The boy is 4 times the weight of normal boys his age. Wow. A sign of things to come, or just an anomaly? I guess we’ll see.

Ok, hopefully my sarcasm was easily readable in the title of this post. If it shocks you that on average, restaurant food is high in fat, sodium, and calories, well then, I am sorry. If not, this is still a post on an article you need to read because this could serve as a wake-up call to how things Really are.

When you read this article, with some of the descriptions and totals of different menu items at different chain eateries, it really makes you wonder if that bill to fully disclose everything on the menu Should have been passed. Here for your extreme viewing displeasure, are some stats on popular foods at popular places:

• Ruby Tuesday Fresh Chicken & Broccoli Pasta (white-meat chicken, broccoli, and penne pasta in a parmesan cream sauce topped with cheddar cheese and baked): 2,060 calories and 128 grams fat.
• UNO Chicago Grill Pizza Skins (deep-dish pizza with mozzarella, mashed potatoes, crispy bacon, cheddar, and sour cream: 2,050 calories with 48 grams fat and 3,140 milligrams (mg) sodium.
• Cold Stone Creamery Gotta Have It Founder’s Favorite (a large waffle bowl with 14 ounces of ice cream with pecans, brownie pieces, fudge, and caramel): 1,740 calories, 48 grams saturated fat, and 4 grams trans fat.

That, my friends, is just a sampling of the things you’re eating. Never thought you’d be getting almost 2 days worth of fat and sodium, not to mention nearly your entire day of calories in one little meal did you? Yikes. Maybe the full disclosure act on calories on the menu wasn’t such a bad idea…either that, or just eat healthier, avoid the restaurants, and watch what goes into your mouth!

Ever broke a resolution when it comes to fitness? Yeah, join the club. You and just about every other adult in this country have, at some point, broken their resolutions to really start exercising this year. January 1st comes, the promise is made, and by mid-February you’re done. Not any more, if you have an exercise enforcer!

I just read a crazy article about this new trend of “exercise enforcers” coming along to help you keep your fitness goals. By pairing older adults with younger, college-aged people, it seems the effects are actually working. These new exercise enforcers are paid to keep you motivated, keep you coming back, and keep you stuck like glue to your fitness resolutions.

So, this article actually got me thinking about the post I just did…instead of going someplace with “exercise enforcers” why not just try working out with your friends, or family members. The more people you actively exercise with, consistently, the harder it will be to back out because there will Always be someone maintaining the routine. All it takes is an extra little push to keep you motivated! Come to Fit Express, with 30 minutes of our hydraulic resistance circuit training, you’ll never be bored, never be sore and never want to quit!

Nights spent out on the town, meals eaten while driving to and from your next engagement, party food…could your social life be partly to blame for making you fat? Perhaps, say some experts in an article I just read, perhaps indeed. The bottom line is, when you’re with people inside your social network, holding true to your healthy lifestyle becomes all the more difficult because if they aren’t on the same plan as you, it makes you want to eat what they eat!

So how do you avoid this? Luckily, the article I read also had quite a few handy little tips on how to stay healthy and stay social at the same time! As always head over and visit the full article, but for now, here are the tips:

• Switch to low-fat versions of full-fat favorites.
• Keep healthy snacks on hand.
• Switch from regular soda to diet soda.
• Add Fibersure to provide additional fiber.
• Not all metabolisms are created equal.
• Ask for support.
• Switch to whole-wheat products.
• Don’t make food the focus.
• Dining out doesn’t have to sabotage your dieting efforts.
• Have that bite of cake, but not the entire slice.

There you go! If you can’t find a helpful tip in that bunch, well then, maybe you should just stop being social altogether! Another tip I’d toss into the list is this: Make Exercise a Social Engagement. By adding your friends to your exercise routine, it will keep it fresh, fun and social without jeopardizing your health!

Everyone wants a tiny advantage in this obesity fight, right? People are taking pills, having surgeries, buying every different “As Seen On TV” Ab machine known to man, and still we’re growing. So what if there was one tiny thing you could do different that was as simple as eating something different? Turns out, that might be just the case.

Research is now showing that by adding this one little food to your diet, and making your diet rich with the food, you can actually get that advantage over obesity, start making a little bit of a difference, and heck, even lower your cholesterol and diabetes risk in the process! The beans, are black soya beans, and new studies are showing just how effective they are in preventing weight gain. In one study, “Researchers fed rats a fatty diet, supplemented with various levels of black soya. After two weeks, those getting 10 per cent of their energy from black soya had gained half as much weight as those in the control group. In the same rats, blood cholesterol fell by 25 per cent and LDL (so-called ‘bad’) cholesterol fell by 60 per cent. “

Wow. They think now the protein in the black soya bean could actually slow down the metabolism in the liver and release fewer fatty acids and cholesterol, thereby reducing diabetes risk too. Not too shabby; bottom line, what do you have to lose? Add some black soya beans to your diet everyday, work out consistently, and see what happens! Come to Fit Express for the workouts, we’ll get you in shape!

The first rule of its kind might now be overturned. That’s right, the recently approved rule in New York City requiring restaurants to display calorie information on their menus next to the items might now be overturned by the City Council.

The measure was just passed in December by the New York City Board of Health and not much press time was given to it given the Other measure that was passed, the trans fat ban. Nevertheless, it was indeed passed and now its in jeopardy of being revoked. People are now working hard to overturn the bill and instead introduce a New bill that would still make calorie and diet information readily available if requested, but help keep the cost down of not requiring every restaurant to create new menus to meet the demands. He was quoted as saying, “It’s a compromise…It brings to the table the No. 1 goal of informing the consumer, while not making it too expensive for the industry.”

Too expensive for the industry, wow. Maybe he needs to read about the $4 TRILLION dollars American’s are probably going to be spending on health care inside of 9 years. Spending $4 Trillion seems a little more “expensive” than paying to change some menus, doesn’t it?

Ok, lets start this little factoid out truthfully: it wasn’t actually a little troop of Girl Scouts that marched into the corporate offices and demanded that trans fats be removed from the Thin Mints; they didn’t get a badge for this one. Nevertheless, kudos of the day go out to the Girl Scouts who are going to be officially removing trans fats from their cookies. Almost all of them.

That’s right, they are going through and cleaning house on a great deal of their cookies, making some sugar-free, a lot without trans fats, and others with reduced fat. Apparently it took quite some time to find recipes that did not involve trans fat but maintained the correct flavors, textures and even shelf lives. Nevertheless, a change indeed came and now, for the first time, those little Girl Scouts will be peddling cookies that are a little bit healthier.

I love reading and posting about new movements concerning trans fat eradication. Like I mentioned last week, it’s just one sign that some changes Are being made. We still have a long, long way to go but at least we’re starting right? Trans fats are just one tiny enemy in the war against obesity; fight some of the others with consistent daily exercise!

I don’t think I need to go into any great detail about how bad trans-fats are for you. I think we all know how much they stick to your arteries, elevate your cholesterol, lead to obesity and completely boost your risk of heart disease, diabetes and a plethora of other nastinesses. I’ve told you before, so I don’t need to go into detail again, right?

That said, I did just read a pretty great article about how these little devils Could be on their way out, way out, for good. With New York, places in Canada, and now, even rumor has it, Australia and New Zealand pushing hard, extremely hard, to have trans fat eradicated from their societies, maybe some good news IS on the horizon. Maybe.

I know this is only one tiny symptom of a much bigger disease, but still, every little step helps, and if we could start by eliminating and eradicating all trans-fats around the globe, I have a very distinct feeling that a lot of good Would come out of it. It’s just a tiny blow to the risk factors of obesity, but it’s better than nothing!

The risk of children becoming obese is arguably one of the largest and scariest concerns facing our country today. With the current amount of people obese climbing every single day, the risk of the youth that follow them being obese increases right along side it. That said, some places in this great country are facing higher risk levels than others…today, a state I didn’t think was in that deep of trouble, apparently is.

That’s right, Washington, of all places, is facing a youth obesity crisis that could get exponentially worse soon. A new study recently completed found that almost 25% of all 8th, 10th, and 12th graders are very overweight or obese. A quarter of kids in those grades, obese already. That means, that not only is obesity directly affecting adults and younger children, but also teens quite drastically.

The worst part of all this, is summed up in an excellent quote from one of the researchers involved in the study, “It’s almost like we’re creating a new norm,” he said. “We can’t let ourselves get numb to this.” I don’t think it can be said better than that. The obesity plaguing this country has truly become the “norm” and it is only getting worse. Every year that passes our obesity levels climb, and climb. Read the article, freak out appropriately, start trying to fix it.

For many senior citizens, it is all too easy to fall into the obesity trap. It becomes too easy to stop exercising, stop working out, stop going for walks, and when that happens, the weight begins piling on, the health risks start adding up, and before you know it, you’re in deep trouble.

I just read an article that hopefully casts a little light on the reasons why it could happen, and the findings were interesting. According to new reports, it’s well known that simply walking every day can drastically help seniors, but some neighborhoods have seniors hardly walking at all, while others have them walking all the time. Why? The study found that the key is having destinations within a half-mile radius of the home.

That’s right, they found that when destinations like restaurants, grocery stores, video stores and the likes were within that half-mile of the home, seniors were MUCH more likely to walk, and much more likely to be healthier. Bottom line, when places for eating and socializing are close enough to walk to, most of the time, people walk to them. Maybe think about this when planning your next move, or the move of your loved ones that are getting on in years!