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May 1, 2005Turnoffs for both mind and girthByRecord-Eagle staff writer Today marks the end of TV-Turnoff Week, and I'm ashamed to say I didn't do very well with it. It's not that I spent a great deal of time in the me-shaped groove on the couch, flicking the remote control, though I would have if I'd had the time. It's just that the week devoted to video abstinence came up on me before I knew it was there. There are just so many days, weeks or months now dedicated to encourage us to change our behavior in some way so we'll get fit, curb pollution or solve other problems of modern existence. There are days to encourage kids to walk to school. There are weeks to encourage people to ride their bicycles to work. There are smoke-outs to encourage people to throw away their cigarettes. There could be, and likely will be, several more of them to come. Even aside from the designated weeks, there are constant reminders that people are too pampered, lazy and non-social. We should take the stairs instead of the elevator. We should go talk to our neighbors instead of typing smiley icons to somebody in Oregon whom we've never met. We should stop buying fountain drinks the size of hot tubs. While people who speak or write about the ever-expanding American paunch and rear-end sometimes mention mega-sized restaurant servings and other junk food, they almost always bring up the TV, as well. It makes sense. So many of us choose to park our carcasses in front of the television for so many hours of the day that we end up feeling like we've treated our brains to the mental equivalent of about four pounds of cotton candy. The TV is probably the most maligned appliance in the house. There's another appliance, though, that is also likely a major contributor to our rotundity. The microwave oven. I'd never given it much thought until ours broke a couple of months ago. Since then, I've noticed that when I spend a bit more time making dinner it leads to healthier meals. I also have fewer late-night snacks now that it's not as easy to melt cheese on a tortilla, or a cracker, or a popsicle stick if that's all I can find. But the best part of not having a microwave is that there's now more counter space in the kitchen for the TV. Tom Carr is a Record-Eagle staff writer. He can be reached at tcarr@record-eagle.com or 231-933-1429.
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