"The BPA's Makin' me Fat!" :(

Many years ago, during Europe’s mad dash to colonize African nations, Italy invaded and colonized Ethiopia and Libya. There’s nothing really of any value in either of these nations but at least they could say that they now had African holdings. The saying was that Italy arrived late to the dinner table and all that was left was the crumbs. So, they ate the crumbs.

I have a similar feeling nearly every time I pick up a fitness magazine. I know that I’m going to pay for some bad information but I have an inane desire to buy magazines and read about things that I take an interest in. So, I settle for the crumbs of good information. At the very least, I get to read something that I can disagree with and then blog about.

Such as the case with the increasing all of these articles about BPA in our environment that cause all of these bad things to us. I’m not here to disagree that it’s not a good chemical to absorb into our body. I wouldn’t doubt that it does drop off our Testosterone production, especially considering how many ridiculously girly-men we have in the USA.

Still, I draw the line as the culprit to America’s expanding, collective waistline.

As I’m typing this, I’m watching a typical, overweight couple in the airplane sitting down to a snack consisting of four sticky-looking blueberry muffins that they bought at the grocery store before boarding the plane. I wonder if they’d buy the notion of BPA helping to make them fat. I wouldn’t be surprised.

These articles in a magazine claiming to be serious about fitness just annoy me to no end. The dividing line between those who succeed at being fit and those who fail will always be those who take their own health into their hands. You have to take ownership of a problem before you can solve it. Sitting around, finding reasons why we’re fat and it’s out of our control is counterproductive to the whole process.

Besides, the whole notion that BPA adds to our white andipose tissue supply has some leaks. Apparently, 90% of Americans have elevated levels of BPA in their urine. So, how do people like Pierini and I manage to strike back at this inevitability? I brought food with me on the plane too: An almond-butter sandwich on whole grain bread, a bag of dates, and at little bit of 75% dark chocolate (of which, I will eat only one half of one serving at a time, FYI. Scouts Honor!).

Inevitably, the barrage of excuses that take the power to get in shape out of the average person’s hands will keep coming from the people supposed to be helping us understand fitness. It’s no wonder many of us consider mainstream fitness to be soft and not serious. We’ll just fire back with what we know works. Disciplined dedication. Stubborness. Good training. Better eating. It’s amazing what these things will overcome.