Atlantic City and Weight

Greetings from that classy, refined, cultured part of the United States called Atlantic City. Well, one walk down the boardwalk and it is quite a show...lots of entertainers seeking money for their buckets as they play the drums on cans, sing songs off key, and most just beg for the money...very sad to see the number of homeless people on the boardwalk.

What is amazing to me is that the boardwalk doesn't collapse. Every step along the way are pizza places, ice cream, funnel cakes, sausage sandwiches, Phillie Cheesesteak, etc etc. I have never seen more calories available for the asking and more overweight people partaking of the sinful pleasures.

I suppose every beach venue is similar in its culinary choices, and I guess the purpose of this blog is to remind everyone taking a beach vacation to eat your meals and snacks BEFORE walking down any strip that will have every few feet horrendous food choices beckoning you. As children we all have great memories of having our parents buy us at the beach the high-caloric "treats" that made us feel so good. Carrying this forward to adulthood will most certainly derail our efforts to lose the weight we would like to make us happier and healthier. Choose the high protein/high vegetable meals at restaurants in your hotel or if you are renting a condo, prepare your meals so as not to feel hungry when on that boardwalk.

Overweight in the Workplace

Overweight people are sometimes treated differently in the workforce. We have heard stories of people that don't recognized for their work because of being overweight/obese or are passed over for promotions, but as soon as they lose weight people suddenly start to notice them. They then get promoted and recognized. This can happen to anyone: CEOs, administrators, mail room clerks, janitors, etc. Unfortunately that is not fair but in reality, there often is a prejudice in the workplace against overweight people. They are often viewed as someone who cannot keep their own body "in order", and if that is the case, how could they possibly keep a company in order? This sometimes translates into pay inequalities. The good thing is excess weight is reversible. If you have put weight on, you can take it off. Of course it may take some time, but you can do it if you feel opportunities have passed you by.

People have many different motivations to lose weight and certainly career progression is one consideration. Of course, the public stance of anyone hiring/promoting people would be that weight plays no role in the decision making. There are many lawyers out there itching for cases of workplace discrimination of any kind. Usually we think in terms of racial, gender, age, etc. types of discrimination, but weight issues are certainly a factor that is not spoken about often.

Anyway, just wanted to bring this case up as "food for thought" (sorry..poor choice of words!) when you are thinking about applying for a new job, being asked to be considered for a promotion, etc...It is not fair to have the weight factor being part of the evaluation, but it is reality.