18/09/05 Another Scotland Triumph!

Scotland became the recipient of another dubious honour at the weekend when it was categorised "most violent country in the developed world". This can be added to our existing portfolio of market leader in Lung Cancer, Heart Disease, Strokes and Alcoholism.
We're also apparently improving our obesity rating as well. By that I mean we're getting fatter, not getting slimmer.
I've made my own personal contribution to this trend over the past few weeks. (So much for my spectacular loss of a stone through using the revolutionary "Fringe Comedy Show" diet. It's all gone back on. Been coming back late from work and lapsing into the murky world of junk food. It's a slippery slope...(mainly due to all the grease)
I think Scotland's main problem definitely is our diet . We smoke a lot and drink a lot. But so do the French and the Japanese, and their life expectancy is miles better than ours. They eat lots of fresh fruit & veg & fish, whereas we exist on smoked sausage suppers, Irn Bru, Scotch Pies, Crisps, tinned macaroni, dairylea cheese slices ("they're Dairlylea mad, them kids...!"), turkey twizzlers, square sausages (the sum of the squares of 2 sides of a square sausage is equal to the sum of the squares of the other 2 sides...that's something we get taught at an early age in Scottish Primary Schools during "Home Economics" lessons) , fish fingers, pork pies, greasy chips, white bread and "ready meals" saturated with additives and hydrogenated fat. And that's just for breakfast...
Not that I'm one to talk. I'm constantly starting new "diet regimes" which last a couple of weeks, but inevitably lapse into a visit to a "Deep Fried Theme Park" for a few days...
My latest attempt to establish a healthy eating regime is to order a weekly box of fruit and veg from an organic farm. This will cost me £30, which is quite lot I suppose. However, this will be a lot cheaper than eating junk all the time, and should encourage me to create healthy, wholesome fare .
Or will it turn into a weekly "Jim's Festival of Vegetable Decomposition" event in my kitchen. The world holds its breath!
Four people died yesterday doing "The Great North Run". It's supposed to be a "fun run"! I always did find that expression something of a contradiction in terms. It's over 13 miles! Fun? Are you crazy? I suspect it's dangerous doing these events without enough training, and feeling the weight of friends' expectations and being pressurised into finishing the race to secure the sponsorship cash, even though your body is screaming at you to stop. Four dead is a lot.
Couldn't we have a "Great Pie Eating Challenge" instead where the object is to sit in a pub and eat as many pies as you can in an 8 hour period. It would be a great way of generating funds for "eating disorder" charities, as well as a viable means of raising general awareness of the problem.