Rowan

Beautiful. A former boss of mine, now deceased because he, well, you know, neglected to keep fit even after a major heart attack, used to bellow in the meeting room:

Don't bring me problems, bring me solutions!!

Machka is a member of myfitnesspal, initially to help motivate some relatively minor weight loss, but now more as just someone posting her experience. The point is, that there are quite a lot of people who are trying to improve their fitness and longevity.

The stories that Machka tells of her experiences on MFP suggest that there is a huge knowledge gap in the American psyche that makes the task extremely difficult. Including doozies such as having never eaten vegetables in their lives... ever. This has become generational, and when it reaches that point, a change (back) is almost impossible to construct.

Who's to blame? Who knows. I get a sense that society is being dumbed down by the baby boomers and their off-spring and now their offspring who didn't want to do stuff at school, but were made to... and vowed when they became adults that they would never let their children experience the same disciplines.

There's also that "make life easier and simpler" paradigm that is still promoted by the marketeers and their products. We're heading quite rapidly to the outcomes of a song created decades ago by Zager and Evans, In the Year 2525.

And a diet and fitness industry that has been built on misinformation, selective research and marketing. Trying to sort through the dross is virtually impossible for someone who has determined that they need to make a change. A bit like BikeForums -- and the broader bicycle industry -- in a way.