When I was in elementary school we had the “Presidential Physical Fitness Award” but it really seemed to be an award the skinny kids got because running wasn’t hard for them or because they weighed so little they could do the “arm hang” for 10 minutes or more… some of those girls might still be hanging from the monkey bars…  I was not an obese child but I was not skinny… that was a time when nutrition education was not at the forefront of most people’s minds… and I had an older brother with a metabolism like a race car who could eat chips and dip all day long and not gain a pound…  I had what people politely referred to as “baby fat…” that actually seemed to somewhat go away in highschool… even now I’m not sure why…

I tried to play sports but I was horrible… I was on the 8th grade volleyball team but rarely got to play.. as my brother taught me how to “side arm” serve I got hit in the face with the volleyball and passed out on concrete in the snow… during high school I tried out for basketball - the coach cut two people I was one of them… my childhood babysitter nicknamed me “Grace” (not because I was graceful because I was anything but)

Now… we know about how bad those portion sizes can be… how some fast food choices are worse than others… we now have knowledge of trans fats and how bad they are… but even though we have more information to help us fight obesity we are still losing the battle at home and from what the Obama’s say… it is also being lost at school…

While I hope that the Obama plan to start getting kids to develop better health habits at an early age to prevent obesity works through our school systems… something needs to be done to make sure those habits are carried over to the parents of these kids… because all of the healthy vending foods in the world at school will not counter a parent’s drive thru run on the way home…

It is so surprising to me that I have become a runner in my adult years… I never thought I would like running… but I have grown to love it… I am careful about portion sizes and I try to make healthy snack and meal choices… ultimately it is about finding motivation for making healthy changes… it is very difficult to dictate motivation…