Do you know that two-thirds of American adults are overweight and that half of these are obese? By overweight, it means having a body mass index (BMI) of 25 or greater and by obese, it means having a BMI of 30 or greater. (You can calculate your BMI at www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/bmi/calc-bmi.htm.) Two-thirds! According to Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy: The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating, "3 aspects of weight -- BMI, waist size, and weight gained after one's early twenties -- are linked to chances of having or dying from heart disease, strokes and other cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and several types of cancer, plus suffering from arthritis, infertility, gallstones, asthma, and even snoring". Now, that is scary! Alan was right about taking a walk. We should all take a walk after we eat, even if it's 9 PM!

What is causing our waistline to expand like that? It's our lifestyle! We spend on average 8 hours at our cubes or desks and then another hour or 2 (depending on where you live) in our cars commuting. We treat ourselves to all sorts of fast food and junk. (Yikes, I had a Sausage McMuffin and a hash brown for breakfast this morning!) And then, when we finally have some time to ourselves, guess what we do? We watch TV! ...*sigh*...