SPOONS!!

It’s been said before that if guns kill people, then pencils make you misspell words and spoons make people fat.  While I’m not here to argue the pros and cons of the NRA or discuss why you never see a #1 pencil, I do want to talk about a recent story of government attempting to solve a problem by blaming the product, instead of the actual user.  Mayor Bloomberg of New York City has recently proposed legislation that would ban the sale of any soda over 16oz.  Let’s take a moment to examine to fallacies of this move:

• Does not prevent person from purchasing more than one
• Does not prevent person from getting refills where permitted
• Does not include diet soda or beverages containing at least 50% milk.  So that 400 calorie, sugar-laden Starbucks Frappucino is okee dokee!!
• Does NOT solve the actual problem...people drinking soda in the first place.  

Obviously this ludicrous proposal is full of numerous loopholes that would basically amount to mildly inconveniencing people who want a 17th ounce or more.  But if the intent behind it is to limit sugary drink consumption (which it should be but I’m sure it’s just a political move of some sort), then we are not addressing the real issue at hand.  As adults, there are very few things in life that we have to question whether they are good or bad for us.  Smoking crack, bad.  Green leafy vegetables, good.  Jumping out of a moving car, bad.  Regular cardiovascular exercise, good.  Running head first into a wall, bad.  Well, I think you get the point.  If we truly want to get people to change their behavior, attempting to limit consumption will get us nowhere.  (See also:  Prohibition)  People must WANT to limit their consumption, and do it under their own accordance because they know it’s the healthy thing to do.  We all know smoking cigarettes are bad, yet people continue to smoke.  But through education the percentage of people who smoke now is substantially lower than 30 years ago.  Until we realize as a whole the dramatic impact that sugary drinks...along with the rest of the crap we shove in our mouths on a daily basis...have on our society, our economy, and our health care system, the behavior itself will never change.  It’s up to each one of us to educate ourselves and those around us to make better, healthier choices on a consistent basis.  But until then, watch out for those sheisty spoons...they could make your pants tighter!!

THE Fitness Ninja...Changing the world one pushup at a time.