The No-Nonsense Philly Approach -- 'Eat Less, Work Out'

Pennsylvania's Gov. Ed Rendell, who hails from Philadelphia, is determined to shed 62 lbs. And how's he gonna do it! Why, he's going to eat less and work out more regularly.

I love it! I spend most of my year living in England, where everyone talks in circles (as well as drive around in such -- literally -- the 'round-a-bouts' are abundant and frequent and 'drive' me crazy!!) I live there and I enjoy all the great things about it and really and truly cherish my time there. BUT, I just love being back here in the good old city of brotherly love -- always. Especially for the 'no-nonsense'.

The esteemed directors of the Centers for Obesity Research and Education, Gary Foster, at Temple U and the Center for Weight and Eating Disorders, Tom Wadden, at the U of P -- both approve of and applaud their Governor, for his, simple, yet effective strategy. "Many things he's doing are right out of the textbook on weight control", affirms Wadden.

"Right on, Gov'na!", say I (in my 'mockney' accent).

I go to several meetings in London on the obesity dilemma and how we are going to approach it and/or solve it. As correct and esteemed as all the presenters are and I applaud THEM for all their hard work and research, I can't help but feel that so many of these experts are simply on the 'obesity research and approaches gravy train', garnering major funding and monies for exploring the relationships and associations of this and that to obesity. In fact, one of the most distributed, yet prosaic diagrams of this has been described as looking like the 'intestines of a rhinocerous', much to the chagrin of the folks who designed and proferred it.

Come to Philly, people!!! My idea is to put much more money into working with people to help them adjust their individual lives and 'realities' to simply 'eat less and work out more', but in such a way as to not intrude into the lives and preferences that makes them enjoy life. That's what Ed Rendell is doing! Plain and simple.

Now, I'm going out to get myself a Philly cheesteak,BUT, I'm going to make a salad to go with it AND I'm going to split it with my 2 sisters, and have a Coke Zero with it -- the can a day I indulge myself to.

Later.