Weight

It seems to me that America’s weight problem is much deeper than just eating unhealthily. It is the state of mind that Americans are in, the thinking that you don’t need to do anything to have the body type that you want. Just watch any channel and you will be bombarded with pills and things that “will help you lose weight” without dieting or exercising. For the most part, this weight is water weight and doesn’t really stay off, but even losing that weight doesn’t help you. The people that I have talked to at least that are trying to get to a healthier weight are not trying to do it because they just want to look better, for the most part it is because they want to live longer and/or feel better about themselves. If you are trying to lose weight for health reasons, these pills are not going to anything for anyone’s health, except maybe your scale…and that will be short lived. The other reason, to feel better about yourself, also will not work with pills. Cheating to lose some extra weight is not the way to feel better, jogging every morning or pumping out some sit ups or hitting the weight room before school or work will give you way more confidence than just popping a few pills. If neither of these reasons appeal to you and you are just looking to lose a quick ten pounds for swimsuit season, then by all means just take the pills and gain it back again in a few weeks.

Another problem is the number of people who have just given up on trying to achieve a healthy body weight. I will admit that my whole life I have been a pretty healthy weight (with the exception for from the time I was born until I was about three) thanks to my metabolism and active life style, so I may not know what it like. But it astonishes to me how many people can just sit around and not even try to live a more active life style. Not only can you lose weight, but you can also get some muscle tone and get into better shape (this is why exercising is better than just eating healthier alone. Exercising can even be fun if you get someone who you can do it with and do thing you enjoying doing  like swimming or playing basketball.( 405 words)   

Summer

The recent worm weather has gotten me thinking about how great the food I eat when the weather is warm as opposed to the things that I eat when it is cold out. When it is cold out I eat a lot of thing that are home made. Things like casseroles, pies and Italian favorites like Lasagna and spaghetti. Also things from deer season like jerky and sausage. However when summer rolls around, things become quite a bit more outdoorsy. We take out the deer brats that have been sitting in the freezer all winter and throw them on the grill along with any other meat that you can think of.  If it walks on two or four legs and is not on the endangered animals list, then is has been on our grill. Everything from the classic cow and pig, to things like goat and buffalo, elk and a lot more things, they are not always good, but it’s nice to be about to say all of different animals that I have eaten. We don’t just eat things that walk. Some of the most delicious things on this planet swim or fly. Some of the most fun meals to eat are the ones with everyone that you have after a very successful day of fishing. The moms stay inside and fry up the fish while we sit outside and talk about the one that got away using extremely exaggerated numbers to describe its length and weight.  

Another meal that is fun to have is the one after a long day of boating. Everyone has the faint smell of sunscreen on the and is trying not to move around in their shirt to much because we didn’t uses enough of that sunscreen. It is typically enjoyed at my grandparents’ house or on the road on our way back home.

One of the best summer meals has absolutely nothing to do with the heat or the things that you can do in, just the summer time itself. That meal is the one that you just send out a group text and see who is up to go out to eat out. Just a spur of the moment idea to hangout. Then there is always the friend who brings bottle rockets then an impromptu bottle rocket fight breaks out in the parking lot. Then whoever is hit is treated to an apology ice cream cone. (403 words)

Local Shopping

Buying things locally, food included is very important. Just imagine a world where you cannot go to a street corner and find a unique and delicious place to eat, or a family owned shop that is eager to help you out or fix a broken product. Imagine a world where the only reason that people do business is not because they love what they do, rather because they are part of a larger chain that is being pushed to make money and cut corns to do so. Which one of those options sounds better? For most people that answer is probably the favorite, but the important question is how do we sustain these precious local businesses when at times it can seem so much easier to buy from or use the services of a large chain.

I believe that we should be passing legislation that helps to support smaller businesses, and if there are already some in place then I think that they need to be more prevalent or enticing. By this I mean that perhaps we could try to give tax breaks to people who regularly buy local businesses products and services.

Some people may say that implementing these legal helpers or just shopping somewhere because it is local is threatening American capitalism and is communist. To this I would say that you are stupid. Growing small businesses creates more competition and there for lowers prices and, in most cases, increases the qualities of the items being made. All in all helping theses small businesses ends up helping the consumer.

The next argument that I can think of is the one that giving shoppers a legal incentive to shop at smaller businesses will ultimately kill of big businesses and just leave America with a bunch of small businesses that cannot support them selves. Once again, this is stupid. If something like that ever started to happen (and this is very unlikely) then these laws can always just be repealed.

So in the end of it all, shopping locally, or passing bills that help local businesses thrive can do nothing but help the economy and the people running the businesses. All of these people who now have an incentive to shop locally may encourage others to start their own businesses and help the economy grow even more. (387 words)

Africa

I think that many people will agree with the idea that we need to help the people in Africa that do not have any food, but the main question is how to do that. From what I understand, we are going about helping these people all wrong. I think that the idea of teaching a man to fish is better than just giving him a fish is a great idea and it is an idea that I think needs to be implemented in Africa. The majority of the aid that had been sent to Africa has been food, and I think that is not the best way to go about solving the hunger crisis.

I believe that the best way to get our moneys worth is to teach them how to be more self sufficient and/or give them things to help them be more self sufficient. I think that we should be teaching them how to plant their own crops and dig their own wells and treat their own illnesses. But now you may be asking “well how are they going to do that if they don’t have the things they need?” That is where the second part comes in. We would also give them the materials that they need to do all of these things. So now the African people have the skills and the tools to do what they need to do, but now there is one last thing. I think that we should give each African citizen (as I type this I am realizing how expensive this is going to be) a little bit of currency. This will allow the Africans to start businesses and buy things from those businesses and help to grow the African economy. This is another thing that will help Africa succeed in the long run. (304 words)

Fast Food

I would venture to say that fast food may be one of the best inventions in the history of mankind. Some people might try to argue that it is the wheel, or irrigation systems, or something else stupid like that. Those people have probably never had a Big Mac. Think about how many times fat food has helped you out.

You are on your way to go skiing and do not want to stop for a real meal?

Fast food

You are too lazy to make your own food?

Fast food

Think about the last time you ate at a fast food establishment, if you are like the majority of Americans then it was probably pretty recently. Fast Food restaurants provide the perfect place to get good and relatively cheap food. As the name suggests, the service is fast and typically you get what you ordered. These restaurants are the perfect place to meet up with all of your friends and get a good and quick meal in before a night of fun.  One thing that fast food restaurants have brought to us is the idea of driving your car to a window, ordering your food and getting you food all wit out leaving your car. We call this a “drive through” and it has revolutionized how we put bad things into our bodies. This is the epiphany of fast food. You can get your food do quickly that you don’t even have to get out of your car. On a slow day it is very possible to order and get your food within sixty seconds.

Since I am a teenager many of my friends have minimum wage jobs, also known as fast food worker s. so it is always fun to go and see if anyone that you like is working and is willing to give you some free food or perhaps a senior discount. Also, if it is a slow time of the day you can often times socialize with them. This is especially useful if you are waiting for them to get off so you can go do stuff with them later. (355 words)