By Cody Soto
Sports writer
America the beautiful. Home of the brave, the free … and the obese?
The benefits of living in the U.S. are endless, and the opportunities and lifestyles people can create here make this land one of the greatest places to live in the world. So many choices, however, can lead to many regrets. Obesity is a monster that Americans have to fight, and the battle isn’t any easier with the amount of resources that are at our fingertips.
Look around. The number of food choices that a Baylor student has on the other side of Interstate 35 is ridiculous. From Chick-fil-A to Torchy’s Tacos, the smell of grease and fried foods fill the air. There are little to no healthy meal choices on all of the restaurants’ menus combined, so how is an American supposed to live a healthy lifestyle like that?
College students are known to eat very late at night, which doesn’t help. Even then, Subway is the only location near campus that can satisfy any type of healthy cravings, but one choice is not enough after 10 p.m. Students have to drive miles away in order to find anything healthy to fit into their meals, and this forces us to eat unhealthy more often than we would like to.
A huge problem with eating out can be solved with one task: cooking for yourself. However, students are still not able to catch on to this concept. Time is of the essence, and with the busy lives that college students all lead, this task is almost impossible to accomplish. People need time to cook something, and with a world that is constantly moving, it becomes a hassle.
Not only is cooking and eating healthy difficult, but one of the most neglected activities en route to staying healthy: working out. The gym has become a dreaded place for some people, and the thought of working out can make people physically sick. However, that’s one of the only ways to fight obesity.
We do not do enough physical activity as college students on a normal basis, so we need to head out to the McLane Student Life Center and get some fun exercise in during the crazy, stressful week. It doesn’t have to strictly be a weight lifting or cardio session. The SLC has a huge rock climbing wall, an indoor swimming pool, racquetball and wallyball courts, and basketball and sand volleyball areas.
There’s no reason not to want to get in shape at the SLC. It can be done in a unique way, so it’s time to realize that. I’ve been able to slowly get back into shape after gaining some weight after high school, and now that I am seeing results, it’s motivating me to keep working hard. That’s how so many people get into shape, so why not try and see what results you can get?
Eating right and working out are two of the easiest ways to fight this phenomenon that has swept over our nation. It’s as easy as going to play volleyball with friends and eating a healthy meal every day. Everything helps, and with everyone banding together, obesity could be a distant word in our vocabulary in the future.
Cody Soto is a sophomore journalism major from Poth. He is a sports writer and regular columnist for the Lariat.
