Will the Depression of 2008 - 2012 make a dent in the US Obesity Epidemic? [View All]

[El Pinko]

For those of you who are sick of me today, I pledge that this is my last OP of the day.

I just got to thinking about this because I personally have lost 100 lbs since 2005 (thanks www.fitday.com !).

2005 was a bit of a turning point for me. I was drowning in debt and living in an extremely overpriced city (San Francisco), depressed and extremely overweight.

During the previous 4 years I had gotten caught in a spiral of letting the troubles of the world weigh too heavily on me.

9-11, then Bush murdering the nation of Iraq, it just drove me to distraction that my country could be brought to such levels of depravity

by this hideous man squatting in the White House. I participated in all the protests against the war, and spent hours every day here and at the

Malloy forums railing against it. This continued for several years, and I continued to get more withdrawn and overweight and depressed.




And from about 2004, I started to become more keenly aware of how the speculation in the housing market was spiraling out of control, and it was obvious that prices were

completely decoupled from Americans' stagnant incomes. All the while, our domestic industries hemorrhaged jobs and government debt ballooned. Even before I started

reading the various housing bubble blogs, I had a strong feeling we were in for trouble, but reading a lot of the info on the blogs made me certain of it.





So while my friends in the Bay Area were snapping up cramped condos for $300K and telling me to buy or be priced out forever, I took a step back and took stock of my life.

I realized that none of my impassioned posts were going to amount to a damn thing other than preaching to the choir. Hell, the worst president EVER actually was reelected!

I realized that political forums were NOT the most productive way to spend several hours of my day, and I realized that my kids were depending on me and that I needed to

get myself in a position to be able to provide for them in the upcoming economic shitstorm. So I got to work doing what I could to change my financial situation.

I got us out of San Francisco, and went back to my hometown, El Paso, where housing is still among the cheapest in the US. (I had a telecommute job and was able to do so, luckily)




I stopped paying minimums on all those damn cards and focused on paying my student loans (default or bankruptcy is not for everyone, but it was for me). Flushing my credit rating down the toilet

was worth not taking $400+/mo. out of my kids' mouths. And I got to work on bringing my weight down to a healthy level, with consistent use of calorie-tracking software and getting the diet sodas and junk food out of my

daily routine.

By this spring, I was at a trim 175 lbs, and I interviewed for a great job that pays almost double what I was making before, and I got it (and I seriously doubt I would have if I was still obese). And this job is in the academic/science field and thus not so affected by the economy.

Now things are to the point where it's not just the doomsayers - EVERYONE can see we are in for some BAD TIMES in the near future.



So will obesity plummet with our food budgets? Will people peel off the pounds to try and be more competitive in the job market?