weight loss and America

Yesterday I was interviewed and filmed at the office by a Romanian journalist. (I may not be known in the United States because of an Oprah appearance but now I am a star in Romania!...laughing)

She asked me about why Americans seem to have a much larger problem with obesity than Europeans.

There are most definitely several factors and this comes from talking to lots of European patients who now live here. First, portion control: Europeans are amazed at the size of the portions that are served here. Just last night I ventured into a TGI Fridays. They have these specials for under 20 bucks that deliver a huge appetizer (fried cheese and other hiogh-caloric items), an even bigger main course with potatoes of course and a very big dessert. All for under 20 bucks!!!

Another issue: Activity....Europeans apparently walk much more than we do...seems that we seem to drive everywhere whereas the Europeans build more walking time into their days.

A third issue: Fast food restaurants...apparently we have many more here than in Europe.

I am certain there are many more reasons, but theese are just a few.

And, oh, by the way, I did end my interview byt telling her that even though we are one of the heaviest countries in the world, we are also the best. You know, before I end this entry I just thought back to when I was a kid and would visit my grandparents from Russia who lived here. They LOVED America and LOVED the fact that their grandkids were Americans. In Russia they were persecuted because of religion and here they lived in the country of opportunity and freedom. They studied English at nite while toiling at very low paid jobs and they were so proud when they became citizens. Whenever my grandmother Sarah would see me she would always give me two things no matter what time of day: One of those small bottles of Coca Cola and a Nestle chocolate bar. Why? In her mind these were very American items and her grandchild was American. So, I guess I just took some more of yout time reading about some personal issues for me, but I couldn't help but think that here I was, just two generations later, being interviewed by a journalist from a country right near where my grandparents fled, and i was being interviewed because they found us to be the fastest growing medically supervised weight loss prgram in the country. We may be overweight, and we are working on it, but as my thoughts went back to my grandparents, I couldnt help but feel tremendous pride in being an American and being so thankful to my grandparents for working so hard to become citizens of our great countyr and giving me the opportunity to grow up in our great country.