Looking on social media sites, looking at ads and driving around, I notice that Americans seem to be in love with October. I have my own reasons: my birthday and my spouse’s birthday month and a “slight” change of season for us. Halloween is really not my favorite holiday, but I enjoy watching the kids grow with excitement for “their” special day.
What I have noticed especially in the past few weeks though has nothing to do with autumn or change of season, but has reminded me again why our country is in second place for obesity in adults. I can’t drive ten feet it seems, walk more than a foot in a store or look at social media for longer than a second before I see food porn. You know what I’m talking about: we’re in pumpkin season, of course! Here is an example where one nutritious food is exploited and pushed into every pancake, coffee drink, dessert, breakfast item and beyond. I’m all for new ideas, but the portions of many of the foods have gone off the deep end.
October kicks off excess football, excess candy and obviously excess foods with pumpkin in it. The excess continues on into…..Valentine’s Day?…..lots of holidays and fun coming up. How about instead of storing extra calories for the winter hibernation (right?), we take extra-long walks on weekends and enjoy the beautiful weather, sip on tea and savor our favorite treats once in a while instead of every day. Its’ hard to avoid the constant ‘in-our-face’ food messages, but we can decide how often to indulge. That is what is in our control.
