Weight Loss and Its Relevance in Today's World

Arguably there is none more

thought-provoking topic of discussion than weight loss and its maturing relevance in the current milieu. Hollywood celebrities and renowned media personalities joined the crusade to propagate the salubrious benefits of health and fitness. Gyms and training centers are springing up everywhere. Weight loss programs and counsels abound. It is not enough for in the other side of the spectrum the ingenious culinary connoisseurs and super creative chefs flex their collective muscles and forever conspire to mesmerize the universe - willing victims to their progressive epicurean susceptibility - with a plethora of more palatable and more exotic menus.

A modern battle royal has been

waged between the stalwarts of glamour and fame and the entrepreneurial hegemonies who have long dominated the world of Epicurus. Caught in between is the America that nonchalantly panders to the persuasive seductions ensnaring the lion's share of her viewing leisure.

If everyone subscribes to the

old Greek philosophy that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" then there will be no more meaningful measure by which man's weight can be standardized and set as the ideal that any society will approve. Such subjective bias does not lend credence to the universally accepted definition of beauty. Beauty prospers well beyond the subjective limitations of the beholder.

What has this got to do with weight loss?

Appreciation of true beauty is universal and it is less in the eye of the beholder than in the weight of the unfortunate. The cosmic prominence of the ideal weight is ceremoniously espoused and endorsed in discriminating beauty pageants where the participants, anointed beauty queens in their respective countries of origin, showcase that embodiment of physical harmony for the whole world to assess. Feminine features and figures immediately apparent to the eyes uniformly display celebrated profiles and curvatures. Each majestic candidate parades well-sculptured physiques obviously conditioned to maintain a standard weight appropriate to the body's structure. Side by side before fastidious critics this picture of health highlights forms and substance that will indulge the insatiable human penchant for beauty and glamour.

These prestigious platforms set the genuine yardstick for beauty.

Those global beauty spectacles certainly spawned tons of enthusiasm among the many who applaud the icons of their own fanciful aspirations and dignify the discipline and the exacting requirements braved by these world-class paragons of health and beauty. The disappointments, for those who come in second, carry their own weight on equally deserving shoulders but they do not extinguish the pride of nations that shines through as the redeeming sentiment. After all, these petite ambassadors of health and glamour sacrificed and thrived so they may stand proud side by side with giants. They flaunt the weight and the appearance all the world accepts as the standard.

There exists an inadequacy of stimuli

to compel a pampered nation in rethinking new and healthy ways of growth. An embattled nation tries to buy a national awareness of the growing epidemic of obesity in the land. The difficulty, however, arises from the false illusions and delusions of some weight challenged individuals who will insist that fat is beautiful, fat is cosmopolitan, fat is cool. Whatever the motives are behind their perception, it generated a following that puts them on their own pedestals and is ready to canonize them to sainthood. This generates a new breed of fanatics who will swear to that self-serving philosophy.

The destiny of the nation has been threatened.

The battle of the bulges is getting out of hand that current administration has rolled up its sleeves to spearhead a task force to dig into the tender roots of academic institutions deficient in right health directives and to stem the bleeding. But the battle is spread in many fronts. The enemies have the collective resources and have established a firm footing on public consciousness. They own the media and the best thinkers man their unparalleled delivery system to ensure their presence in the waves, in the living rooms, in the billboards, in your face 24 hours a day and seven days each week.

The president has risen to the occasion

.The first volley has already been fired. It originated from the only force that can match up with the brawn of the corporate behemoths who have victimized a naïve national audience long enough. Suddenly the health and fitness of a nation explode into the universe of relevance. The administration has given notice. In a more compelling display of commitment, the first lady was handed the cudgels to wield in this monumental battle of weights and wills. It is expected the war cries and the fireworks soon will echo in the halls of Congress and the Senate.

The momentum of the enormous commercial conglomerates, that forever lobby for even greater latitude in the policies and practices related to consumer products' ingredients and allowed additives, presents a daunting challenge even for the first lady. It is incumbent upon the responsible citizenry to unite behind her standard and brainstorm for proactive strategies to repulse the advocacy of any legislation contributing to this weight epidemic. Harm to this generation and future generations can only be stopped and reversed if people are willing to go beyond their call of duty to save their children and their children's children.

The campaign should start from the roots, in the schools, in the work places, in the food establishments and industries, in the hospitals, even in Washington. It should be instilled in the nation's awareness that its foundation is built from a healthy, vibrant workforce with a healthy disposition. After all the teachers, the workers, the nurses, the doctors, the food preparers, even the politicians have children who are vulnerable to the same weight problems. Their mission actually starts at home.

Society wants to couch itself in extravagance, be it in its culinary conventions or in its unregulated lifestyle. A culture of lethargy has taken over core values replaced by the shock of superficial conveniences. Consequently a whole nation of gullible youth become addicted to television, the enemy in the living room, or caught in a death struggle with hi-tech, electronic preoccupations, the enemy in the bedroom. Their immediate needs and tastes surrender to the constant and powerful suggestions glorifying the advantages of fast-food inventions and the refreshments of sugared libations. This last is the insidious enemy that replaces once bustling kitchen activity and handcuffs the young, unwitting prisoners in their own homes.

Man is naturally inclined to be a willing pawn to choices that amuse the senses. Given time, this delimits even the boundaries of rationality. He is uncomfortable with change and any weight loss undertaking is a change that can disrupt his otherwise carefree ebb of living and clashes with his natural inclination. This is the principal reason why he is on an eternal quest for the easiest method to deal with his weight issues. He is fixated on the new culture of instant gratification. Only those weight loss programs that advertise quick results and gadgets that require the least strenuous motions pass under his scrutiny. But does such philosophy make any sense?

The weight issue confounds the world something fierce. It has overcome the will of the people who have long served as sacrificial lambs led to the slaughter. Literally. This obesity phenomenon is a sobering wake up call. Realization is coming to a head that obesity not only endangers lives but also kills slowly and surely. It not only kills a few. It can kill a whole nation. It will continue doing so until everyone stands shoulder to shoulder to fight back and neutralize its oppression.

The gauntlet has been cast. The choice is America's.

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