I left Seattle more than 2 years ago feeling the healthiest and fittest that I've felt in my adult life. I had had two years straight of eating mostly farm-fresh organic food, small amounts of high-quality meat and dairy, daily home fermented veggies, was doing regular physical activity, and was armed with all the whole foods nutrition knowledge that could possibly fit in my head. Nothing could get in my way.
Well, except for San Antonio.
Now, I'm not saying that San Antonio causes people to gain weight, but it does provide a very good example of how environmental factors contribute to weight gain in our society. Our weight is determined by several factors, including lifestyle (I do pretty good here, plenty of veggies, very little screen time), genetics (again, I'm pretty fortunate here), and physical environment.
According to the Men's Health "America's 10 Fattest (and Leanest) Cities" for 2010, San Antonio's grade was an 'F', as the 7th fattest city, while Seattle was graded with an 'A', as the 97th fattest city (or rather, the 4th leanest city).
My personal observations from living in each of these cities lead me to agree wholeheartedly with these city grades. In Seattle I could find a bike path to any destination I could ever dream up vs. in San Antonio, I'm lucky to find a sidewalk. In Seattle there was a natural foods market in every neighborhood vs. in San Antonio the natural food superstores are located only in one area of town - the most affluent area and there are no small, independently owned natural foods markets that I have found yet in any part of town.
I guess the point is, while it is not San Antonio's fault that I am gaining weight and feeling unfit, the environment here makes it so that I must work much harder to seek out wholesome foods and find ways to move my body.
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