If the WHO Can Do It, Why Can't US?

In what I think is a pretty ballsy move, the World Health Organization has stopped hiring smokers as part of its commitment to controlling tobacco use.

And great thing is, its legal.

As of Dec. 1, all vacancy notices include a line stating that the U.N. health agency does not promote tobacco use or recruit smokers, Simpson said. Applicants are asked if they smoke or use other tobacco products, and if they answer "yes," the application process is terminated.

Current employees who still smoke or use tobacco products will not be fired. They can't use these products in the workplace but can continue doing so at designated outdoor areas until further notice.

In addressing the possibility of discriminating against the obese and others:

"Tobacco use is the major preventable cause of death in the world, killing nearly 5 million people annually. Tobacco use is addictive," it said.

The ban on recruitment of smokers is legal under international law, which governs operations at WHO and other U.N. agencies regardless of location, Simpson explained. The ban, therefore, applies across all the agency's sites, including offices in New York, he said.

When asked whether WHO would soon stop hiring obese people or those drinking alcohol, spokeswoman Fadela Chaib said the agency was aware that its new rules "may seem discriminatory or even politically incorrect" to some. But she stressed that WHO needs to align its own employment practices with its principles.

I still can't help but wonder why tobacco use is still legal anywhere. Let's read something again: "Tobacco use is the major preventable cause of death in the world, killing nearly 5 million people annually. Tobacco use is addictive."

It boggles my mind how big tobacco's lobbying money continues to keep tobacco legal. Ephedra-related deaths totaled 155 over a decade and that got the supplement banned. Tobacco is attributed to 5 million deaths annually worldwide and yet children can still easily obtain it. What is wrong with this picture?

I applaud the WHO. Hopefully, this will be the first step of many in getting rid of tobacco all together.

Hoodia and the Blowhards

"Everyone wants a quick fix for diet or exercise, anything weight loss."

So says Caitlin Rhodes of Dallas in this article about the latest diet pill to fly off the shelves: hoodia gordonii, a native South African plant that is supposed to suppress the appetite all day long.

"If you're used to eating three meals a day, you all of a sudden think, 'Oh, I haven't eaten.' You just don't think about it as much," Paulette Jackson of Arlington said.

I'm not a big fan of appetite suppressants. Hunger pain is the body's way of telling you to give it nourishment. Unfortunately, we live in a society where burgers, fries, and processed foods are considered staples.

We also live in a society where food of every kind is easily available and people eat it all the time. People who struggle with obesity have a tendency to eat when they're not hungry or continue eating after they're full. Tricking your body into feeling not hungry and starving yourself is not a healthy way to lose weight.

Hoodia is just another quick fix American's are looking for in order to avoid taking personal responsibility for their eating habits.

I should know. I've had to take a hard look at mine lately. I've gained 16 pounds this year and I finally started doing something about it.

Tipping the scales at a depressing 228 pounds, I began a truncated version of the Velocity Diet--a diet consisting of nothing but high protein meal replacement drinks (for me, Low Carb Grow!) and one solid meal a week. I did this not necessarily to lose weight but to force myself to look at my eating habits and how I thought about food. Ten days later, I've lost 14.5 pounds and I'm ready to eat solid foods again. The significant loss in weight is most likely due to water and hopefully fat and not muscle (on these types of diets, the body raids the muscles to feed itself before it raids its fat stores). I expect to put some of that weight back on as water comes back.

But wasn't I effectively starving myself? Nope. I planned out the number of calories I needed to ingest and made sure I hit that mark. I never denied my hunger. If I was hungry and had some calories to spare in my intake range, I had another shake. I also took vitamins, fish oil caps, and fiber supplements to maintain a balanced intake of nutrition.

The results speak for themselves. From this difficult experience I have a new appreciation for how food affects energy levels, insulin levels, and my mood. I'm ready for solid foods again, but I'm hopeful I ate my last Whopper a couple of weeks ago. Up next: The Testosterone Advantage Plan by Lou Schuler and the next step towards a much better physique.

Frank Zane

And I won't be using any of that hoodia-voodoodia either.

Blogging Defined

Courtesy of Mother Goose and Grimm

The Powerpuff Olympics

Ladies and gentlemen, here are the 2008 Beijing Olympic mascots:


But there is something familiar about them. I can't put my finger on it yet...

Mistakes

"The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one."
--Elbert Hubbard

The Dream Physique

Someday, I'm gonna look like this. Okay, I won't be blue or wear a white hat. And I'll be taller and....

In the Beginning...

...there was Pork Boy. And he was not pleased. Not by a long shot.

Not obese, but overweight for his 6'2" frame. Always feeling tired. Sore and tight back. Achey joints. Protruding gut. Crappy diet. Low self-esteem.

After several failed and aborted attempts to turn things, I finally got fed up. I am going to change. I am going to live the way I want to live. Be the man I want to be. And look the way I want to look.

I hope to set myself on fire and eventually kill the old me.

"Dissatisfaction is the basis of progress. When we become satisfied we become obsolete."--Marriot

My deepest fear is that I will not accomplish my goal. That I will at best come up just short or worse, fail yet again. If I can't do this, my mind says, why should I be able to do anything? There will be no point in setting the bar high ever again. Always aim low and I'll never be disappointed.

"If any organism fails to fulfill its potentialities, it becomes sick."--William James

Here is the article that inspired me to take this journey--the journey from Pork Boy to Spork Boy. To set the bar higher than I ever have. I don't expect to achieve the results of this guy, but I do expect some pretty damn impressive results. And I expect to finish the journey.

Here's hoping.

Stay tuned.