Thank you, Kraft, McDonald's and Pepsico. You've helped us create a brand new word for a brand new world: 'Globesity'. Though the other factoid I read on this topic today said that while a huge number of Americans are trying to lose weight at any given time, only something like one in five of them try anything as crazy as...eating less and exercising more.

Not that I'm saying this in a sanctimonious, superior-lifestyle kind of way. I have as much trouble changing my habits as anyone, and it's really only by the grace of genetics that I'm still shopping at Old Navy instead of Lane Bryant. It just strikes me as absurd that people are willing to try anything to lose weight, no matter how crackbrained, unhealthy, or dangerous, except for the one sensible plan. Reminds me of my ex-boyfriend, who regularly went to the bar for a dinner of supersized loaded nachos washed down with 5 or more beers but wouldn't drink milk because it had "too many carbohydrates." Or the article I read in a recent Marie Claire magazine, titled "I gained 40lbs to lose 100," where a young girl, who definitely did not fit the profile for bariatric surgery, describes the tremendous abuse she heaped on her body in order to get access to the procedure. This woman was literally willing to eat herself sick for months in order to get her "quick fix," even though she herself admitted that she had only recently gained weight and that the extra pounds were due to new eating habits spurred by stressful circumstances. Argh....

I'm not a size 4 anymore, but at least I have the brains to know that should I want to change that, eating less, eating better, and getting my ass of the couch is a better option than the latest quick-fix pill, fad diet, or other insanity.