I had the fun of seeing a talk by PZ a few towns over back in 2009. I noticed two things right away. First, the beard really is quite respectable. Second, the guy has quite a few extra pounds. I found this a bit dismaying. He was someone I admired (and simply enjoy now), so it was disappointing to see that he had what was likely a strong moral failing. No, no, I don’t mean being fat. That has nothing to do with morality. I mean not trying to be healthy. For all I know he was on a diet at the time, but even so, no one can doubt that he has spent long periods of time not caring much about his body. I see that as an issue of morality, and I have written about it here. Fortunately, PZ looks to be turning things around:
I don’t make them. But I will lose more weight this year. Out of fear.
I was just at the grocery store, standing in the check-out line, which has become a gauntlet of terror. It’s the magazines.
Today, it was Paula Deen, round-cheeked and grinning, teeth bleached white, eyes like cold blue LEDs, photoshopped into perfectly plasticky plump grandmotherliness — a grandma with the complexion of an irradiated sixteen year old, glowing and sparkling — and she was holding a bowl of livid yellow macaroni and cheese that was bigger than her head. And I said to myself, this is the new face of death. And I said to myself, this is the American face of death, the death of viscid excess, the death that ends not in bones, but a quivering mass of adipocere. And I said to myself, don’t piss yourself, Myers, but that’s goddamn terrifying.
And I thought about buying that magazine and pasting that freakishly leering face on my refrigerator, but decided that placing a potent ward in my kitchen that would cause me to starve to death instead probably wasn’t a good idea.
Good. I hope he stays with it. Losing weight and/or being fit isn’t always easy. I devote a significant amount of my time to picking shit up and putting it back down again. I do enjoy it, but I would lying if I said it was easier than turning on Netflix.
I doubt PZ will read any of this, but if he does I hope he remembers: the keys to fitness are consistency and will. I realize it sounds like some hippie bullshit, but it’s true. A person who exercises irregularly will see minimal benefits, presuming he doesn’t just give up first. It takes a concerted effort – and the payoff for that is always great.
Filed under: Politics and Social | Tagged: America, Butter, fat, Obesity, Paula Deen, pz myers, So much butter |
For the Sake of Science 
P.Z. did have a heart scare about a year ago and he made changes after that.
It’s the bed he made, but I’m glad to see he’s doing what he can to fix the mess.
I stepped into the comment section on PZ’s site. Here is the result:
1) I hate poor people.
2) I want them to be poorer.
3) The reason I think food stamps should be spread out to the most people possible is because I don’t think poor people deserve nice things.
4) The reason I think not trying to be healthy is a moral issue is that I think it is wrong to be fat.
5) When I say it is not wrong to be fat, what I mean is that it is wrong to be fat.
6) No, really. No caveat matters. I just hate fat people merely because they are fat.
Oh, and PZ supports subsidizing cigarettes, but I’m the bad guy because I want to slap the pennies from the hands of the poor.
[…] note, PZ. This is your fate if you don’t get your act together. Share this:FacebookTwitterStumbleUponDiggRedditTumblrLike this:LikeBe the first […]