Week 13 Update: When Your Fat Fanny Becomes A National Security Issue

[This article was first published as Week 13–When Your Fat Fanny Becomes A National Security Issue on Technorati.]

I started up yoga again after a two and half week exercise hiatus caused by my sprained ankle.

Make no mistake though, the pain remains fairly unabated. I just figured I could exercise and have pain, or I could lounge on the couch and have pain.

I can't tell you how much I would have preferred the latter, but since I was having to adjust my food intake to compensate for my lack of mobility, my food options were resembling my shoe options--slim to none.

 So I opted to go back to yoga instead. As long as I stayed clear of those one legged poses and stuff like that dancer pose, I was fine. (OK, so maybe I never could do those twisty things, but at least I have an excuse now.)

Speaking of excuses,  I saw where  Congress decided to push a less than nutritional school lunch fare safeguarding pizza and french fries and allowing two tablespoons of tomato paste to continue to count as a vegetable.

Even some retired generals and admirals from a group called Mission: Readiness have weighed in, calling the lack of nutrition in school lunches a national security issue. Apparently one in four kids are  too fat to join the military.

“This is a tragedy for the country,” said retired four-star Air Force General Richard E. Hawley, who is a member of Mission: Readiness. “We are taking a step backward apparently in response to pressure from groups who see it in their interest to serve junk food in our schools.”

Hawley said America’s obesity epidemic is a threat to national security.

It's a good thing my age disqualifies me for military service. Otherwise, my fat fanny could be a national security issue, too. Because despite being another 1.4 pounds lighter this week, I'm still too fat for military service.

Slowly, but surely though, my weight is coming off, but I'm not eating pizza and french fries or counting tomato paste as a vegetable either.