The holiday season is fast upon us.  As I go around, in stores, in parking lots, on the street, there's something that really strikes me.  There are SO MANY people who are doing things in what appears to me to be a desperate attempt to feel good.  I don't know if it's a product of all of the financial woes of the past few years, or just a symptom of something in our society that is more basic.  I see people who are driving "tricked out" vehicles, upon which they have obviously spent countless hours and thousands of dollars.  Many people are sporting multiple tattoos, Women have sculptured nails and expensive hairdos, the list goes on.  So many of these people are, along with their other outward signs, also carrying 40 to 100 pounds of fat along with them.

It feels good to drive a nice car.  It feels good to really make a statement to the rest of society.  It feels good to do something for yourself that makes you look good.  Let's face it................it feels good to eat.   This time of year, comfort food is a big deal.  There are candies and cake and salty, fattening snacks EVERYWHERE!  Shopping at certain "big box" stores, you can barely get down the aisles where food samples are being provided.  The people gather around these sample stations like they were literally starving.  This view toward food consumption is a terrible trap.  I've fallen into it, make no mistake.  The breaded jalapeno poppers or the frozen cream puffs taste good, without a doubt.  I like them as well as the next guy.  This stuff is what gets you, though.  There's something you can do that will make more of a statement than that tattoo or bumper sticker.  It will make you feel better than that plate (or second or third plate) full of ........let's face it.......crap, at the office party.  It will make you feel better than getting sculptured nails or a $200 haircut that you can't really afford.  Get yourself back into SHAPE!  Put together a food budget, set aside 1/2 hour a day, get clearance from your health care provider, and start some type of exercise program.  Walk, run, swim, bike, join a health club if that's what it takes for you.  Get a group together for support and do this stuff together for the peer pressure if that's what you need.  It's not hard, and it doesn't have to cost a lot of money.  Your body was made to work on reasonable amounts of nourishment gained from mostly fruit, vegetables, and meat.  You need to give it what it was evolved to consume and you need to move it around so those muscles, joints, bones and organs will work the way they are supposed to work.  IT........WILL........RESPOND!