For the longest time, I have had the most difficult time understanding why 64.5% of Americans are overweight or obese. It’s true. Even with this PhD under my belt, it still evaded me and yet, I sought to help people. Only in my job search have I truly understood how theory translates into practice. I again realized my sense of purpose, otherwise stolen by the process that is the PhD.

I have been looking for the perfect job for weeks. Months, even! I have looked in Canada and in the US , and across the eastern seaboard. I haven’t told anyone (not even my partner, or my parents) that I have even considered Chapel Hill , North Carolina to align with their well recognized state university. Chapel Hill ? I am a Jewish boy from Montreal . Everything about this is wrong.

I now understand why it is, that 64.5% of Americans are overweight or obese. The blame is not to be placed on McDonalds, the ease, access and cost of fast, non-nutritive foods, or the lack of physical activity in our lives. Well, not entirely. I have always said, in opposition to the argument of built environment, that there are increasingly just as many opportunities for healthy options to support healthy weight. And there is Jenny Craig. Meanwhile, have you seen Kirtsie Alley these days?

There is Weight Watchers, which did the trick for me, but lost me when I quickly outgrew the meetings and their vapid topics. Who wants to talk about something like…how challenging eating over the holidays can be, when you have lost 60 pounds and don’t know how to cope?

Yes. Losing weight is something wonderful, but also something to cope with. If being overweight is not the problem, but the solution, then weight loss can uncover problems. The only problem is, no diet out there knows what to do with the problems. They can help you shovel off the snow, but come spring, they are out of business!

I may not have been having much luck on my job search. An impressive resume, and a great GPA, but there doesn’t seem to be a job with the right fit. And it’s always been about how things fit. I think I may have outgrown my clothes, and this is the first time that I feel like it’s a good thing.

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