Previous Challenge Entry (Level 2 – Intermediate)
Topic: Diet - deadline is 8-9-12 9:59 am NY time. (08/02/12)
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TITLE: I LOVE MY FRIES! | Previous Challenge Entry
By Janice Wappel
08/04/12 -
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Did you know that heart disease is the leading cause of death for women globally? I didn’t until I read an online article and found out that in the U.S., one in three women die of heart disease and that it claims the lives of more women than men each year. I read this alarming news as I was shoving warm, crisp french fries and a cheeseburger down my throat and of course, topping it off with a diet coke. Heart disease, I thought.. Not me. I continued reading and found out that being overweight puts us at an even higher risk for health problems such as a stroke, high blood pressure, diabetes and more. What did I have to worry about? After all, I was only a (few) pounds overweight, well, maybe twenty-five lbs. (Or, so) “Not that bad” I told myself. I didn’t need to worry about heart disease, did I? Suddenly, my fries weren’t so tasty anymore and I decided I needed to walk around the block, it was the least I could do, right?
Arriving back home twenty minutes later, I passed the hall mirror and decided I would be brave and take a good long look at my bulging waistline and flabby arms that were poking out of my sleeveless blouse. “Hmm, I had put on a little more weight than I realized” At first, I couldn’t decide if the reflection I was staring at was really me. How did my cheeks get so fat and what on earth was that skin hanging over the top of my eyes? Who and what had invaded my body? The words from the article I had read kept swirling in my head and I realized this had been a slow process over the years. I simply was not paying attention to my diet. But, how was I going to turn things around? I had tried every diet known to man but only stayed with them for a few days or weeks before I became bored and returned to my old habits of stuffing my face and saying; “EAT, DRINK AND BE MERRY FOR TOMORROW WE MAY DIE”!
Then, it dawned on me; the phrase “for tomorrow we may die” was the ticket out of my dilemma. If I didn’t change my habits and lose weight, I could end up in the emergency room, or even dead from a heart attack. All the french fries and burgers in the world (as yummy as they were) simply were not worth my health or the extra pounds they put on me; in places I didn’t even want to name. I slowly began to make changes in my diet and many times I almost quit as I thought about those tasty warm french fries. My journey to good health took a lot of hard work, and my doctor was pleased with my progress. I finally felt like I was back in the driver's seat of my life once again.
Looking back on that time, I couldn’t help but compare myself and my weight loss journey with The United States. As a nation, we take little to no responsibility for our actions or how they will affect us down the road. We are a greedy, proud people indulging ourselves and our children at every turn with an appetite for wealth and living beyond our means, no thought of putting ourselves on a “financial diet.” Too many of us “live now and pay later” much like I was doing with my food addiction. I pray our nation wakes up before we have a “spiritual or financial heart attack” that plunges us into a national crisis; the likes we have never seen before. Is the American way of life worth; “EAT, DRINK AND BE MERRY FOR TOMORROW WE MAY DIE”?
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This was a nicely written entry; however, remember to put a space in between the paragraphs. You can always check the final way your entry looks before hitting the final send button.
Good job.