It's hip to be round?

I came across an article the other day in the New York Times. It said the time of the 6-pack mid section for us men had run it's course and that sporting a ponch was in style now days. Where did this journalist get off saying it's hip to be unhealthy?
I'm disgusted by this article. The health of our country is at an all time low. This guy states that in our primal state a ponch was a sign of wealth and meant a guy could feed his family.
He went on to state that only the poor care about how they look. Like those that have a well toned muscular body don't have the ability to earn a good living and take care of the ones he loves and all we are good for is manual labor. I think what it comes to at least for this individual is that they are to lazy and self absorbed to get up off the couch put down the bag of cheetos and exercise!
I'll tell you one thing I'm happy being in the minority. I plan on continuing to workout and take care of myself til I'm unable to. I want to be around for my grand kids and great-grand kids. We should all strive to be healthy strong and happy individuals to be able to deal with the stresses of daily life. The best way I have found to beat stress is by working out. As most of us know stress can kill us. Cortisol is a hormone created while under stress it's part of the fight or flight response. In those situations being chased by a wild beast(or getting cornered by an attacker) it's a good thing but most of us don't get tigers roaming the streets of our neighborhoods very often so our stress is created from other sources. Jobs, family responsibilities and so on. Cortisol also makes it hard for our bodies to burn fat. So we life our lives running to this appointment over to that meeting back to work where we get yelled at for missing too much work because we're sick because of the stress we are under we over eat under exercise and get fat because what little physical activity we do get isn't enough to counteract the poor diet and high stress levels we are under.
I want you to think about your time that you workout whether it's in a gym or outside as your "me" time. Nobody messes with your "me" time. It's sacred. It's your time to build and work on you, to be the best you that you can possibly be. Not only for yourself but for those in your life you care about.
Don't listen to lazy people that say it's ok to be fat it's in style now. They would rather you be stuck with them. When you change something about yourself you become a mirror to them and they don't like the reflection that tells them to get up and go for a run. I'd rather be out of style and fit, healthy and happy than what I was 2 years ago. I was 250 pounds I had a 40 inch waist and filled out extra extra large shirts I was borderline diabetic and at great risk for heart disease. I was depressed most of the time. I didn't have a good diet. I ate junk food and drank soda by the gallon. I'd come home from work completely wiped out with no energy to play with my kids. I'd sit in front of the T.V. until bed time where I'd relax with a pint of ice cream after the kids went to bed.
It wasn't until my life got turned upside down that I realized I had given up. Since then I've changed careers started to workout and changed my life for the better. I for one will never go back to being the person I was living in that sad depressed body I had let develop over such a long period of time. I am a better man a better father and a better member of my community because of the changes I have made and the decisions I made to live a healthy lifestyle both inside and out.

Live on Purpose
Ron