Why Americans are fat, and why fad diets and new guidelines won't help.

I recently saw that the United States Department of Agriculture, with the help of First Lady Michelle Obama, released a new dietary guide to replace the time honored Food Pyramid.

Behold the new: My Plate.

I find it very interesting that Federal Government once again has totally missed the issue here.

If fancy diagrams and information could cure the nation's obesity we would already be there.

The problem is that, as a nation, we don't like moderation.

Take diet sodas as an example. We don't want to totally eliminate sweet sodas from our diet, so instead of drinking 3 Cokes a day we drink 3 Diet Cokes.

The problem is that studies show that the artificial sweeteners in the diet drinks may actually cause weight gain. I guess they never said what kind of "diet" the soda was.

But we don't want to hear that. We want to believe we have found the magic bullet to weight loss. We want a pill or a new fad diet that will quickly shrink us down to size but don't want to change the way we eat and live to make a lighter.

A while back, New York City imposed a law requiring restaurants to post calorie counts next to all the menu items. The result, not much change, especially among young people.

Well intentioned government entities keep trying to help the American people.

New York bans trans-fats in food.

San Francisco bans Happy Meals.

But the issue is not what the options we have to choose from but rather the fact that we lack the desire to choose moderation.

Sugary sodas are not the problem. Drinking 12 sugary sodas a day can be a problem; and all the government regulation and intervention cannot replace personal responsibility.

I can say this because I am really not all that different.

A few weeks ago mentioned in a blog post that I wished I looked more like Chris Hemsworth (Thor) than Chris Christie (governor of New Jersey).

In light of that fact has anything changed in my eating or exercise habits? Nope!

I even bought myself a kettle bell for Christmas last year expecting to get into a routine. Now I have a 35 lb. door stop that I have to keep Aedyn from rolling over his little feet.

My problem is not that I don't know better; it is that I don't care enough to DO better. And the truth is that no matter how many times the USDA updates their guidelines I will never get closer to looking like the Norse god of thunder than I do right now if I don't choose every day to care enough to do something about it.