My English Blog Project (Staying Slim Without The Cigarette Diet)

Riddle:
Q: Smoking makes you lose weight. How?
Ans: You lose one lung at a time.

This is a joke intended purely for humour but that did not stop teenagers from believing in the truth of it; so much so that they smoke just to lose weight. First, let us step back and examine this issue in a logical way.
Smoking makes you lose weight if:
1) You may want to substitute all your daily meals with cigarette ash,
2) you may intend to spend so much money on cigarettes that you no longer have money for food,
3) or maybe you may wish to follow the sick, wicked humour of the above riddle (strongly disapproved).

The bad consequences of smoking are endless, and the desired outcome of weight loss is a meager price to pay. So, how can teenagers think that smoking really helps them lose weight despite having all these bad consequences?

Dr Chris Steele, a British general practitioner, says that the action of smoking itself does not lead to weight loss, rather only cigarette smokers who quit smoking can enjoy that blissful temporary feeling of weight loss. Futhermore, he adds that the process of quitting smoking can make people “gain quite a lot of weight”. There lies the scientific truth of whether smoking really helps one to lose weight or not.

Really, the main issue here is not about whether smoking helps in losing weight or not. The more pressing issue would be why the teenagers believe in the myth and accept it as the truth in the first place.

Yes, the unreliability of the myth may not be so clear at first glance, but why risk your good health based on a myth which has no supporting evidence to substanstiate its truth? From the article, Charmaine, a 24-year-old Singaporean smoker, says that she does not “really worry about the health risks associated with smoking....they seem so distant”, but adds that she “can see the link with (her) weight directly”. What makes her “see” only the desired weight loss and not see the bad side effects and the when she makes that first puff?

Indeed, teenagers have to realise that inner beauty is much more important than outer beauty. One can easily change the appearance of his body, but the health and character of a person is what really distinguishes us individuals. They must know that what people think about themselves do not matter as much as what they think of themselves. Then can we appreciate ourselves better and not resort to violent and rash measures just to look good in other people’s eyes.

Remember, think of the consequences before we do anything.

Here’s another riddle:
Q: How can you get up to the Umpire State Building in just a minute without using the lift?
Ans: Climb on King Kong’s back and follow him up.

And for those who have not yet learnt their lesson, do not climb on King Kong’s back. Think of the consequences first.

500 Words


Here's the link for the article:

http://newslink.asiaone.com/user/OrderArticleRequest.action?order=&_sourcePage=%2FWEB-INF%2Fjsp%2Fuser%2Fsearch_type_result.jsp&month=11&year=2006&date=22&docLanguage=en&documentId=nica_ST_2006_5168746