Being fit is not just a goal, it must also become a way of life. There are no excuses.  For most individuals the most important first step is exercise not diet.  You’ll also find that those you exercise with will become your friends and having those folks around you helps keep you honest.  When your obese friends or relatives say they worry about how thin you are, congratulate yourself. When they say you are looking much better lately, it’s time to crank up the volume on exercise and diet.

Interesting indeed. One factor may be income differences between the two places, but I suspect the overwhelming difference is cultural. West Virginia is culturally a southern state, and to this day Crisco gains the overwhelming majority of its product revenue from the south.

Missouri is a southern state. Adjacent Kansas is definitely northern, a difference going back to the 1850s when the area was settled. Anecdotally, if you compare Lawrence, Kansas with Columbia, Missouri—both university towns with very similar income and climate—Lawrence is vastly more fit than Columbia.

The difference can be summed up in a single vignette: an “orange” popsicle weights 4 ounces and sells for 60 cents or so, and is made from water, high-fructose corn syrup, artificial flavor and color.

In the same store you can purchase an explosively flavorful, seedless minneola orange (actually it’s a tangerine/grapefruit cross) for 48 cents. They weigh about 7 ounces each, and perhaps 2 ounces of that is the peel.

You almost never see a fit family ringing popsicles past the checkout. The minneolas are 20% cheaper, entirely natural, very healthy to eat, and absolutely delicious, but the walruses buy the popsicles and ice pops like crazy ... and rarely do they buy the real orange.

It’s cultural.

Bart Hall,
“It’s cultural.”  You may be right but culture is not destiny.

i beg to differ mr. bart, missouri may have southern tendencies but they are not considered ‘southern’ by the true south unless they seceded from the union. kentucky and maryland also fall into this category.
i agree it is probably culture. but i must admit, the food is delish! also, i think it has something to do with the fact that we are no longer an agrerian nation. when you work hard in the fields, you need lots of energy and generally have no fat, you ate the big meal at dinner(lunch) and had a light supper and lived by the light of the day and seasons of the year.  sigh…

I caught this right after returning from water aerobics.  I had a great workout and didn’t come out stiff and sore.  This is inspiring.  I will now go eat a good snack (fruit) and do my Bible study.  What a way to start the day!

Well, my wife has decided to experiment with the “Orthodox Fast” for lent this year—meaning almost Vegan for the 40 days.  I’ll give it a try, but I’m not promising that I’ll stick to it, just not sabotage her efforts (i.e., I might sneak out for a Whopper, Jr. occasionally).

If successful, we might incorporate more of the menus into our year-round diet. 

And yes, we do exercise: walking, mainly.  And some bike riding. I’ve dropped 10 pounds since I lost my job—not as much grabbing ‘fast food’ lunches has contributed as well.