My theory is that Austin would be in the top 15 Fittest Cities in America if it weren’t for the insufferable heat. We are number 24 according Men’s Fitness magazine’s 2008 survey. I look at the rankings closely and see that Albuquerque, a city in the Chihuahuan Desert, is number 3. My theory is blown. I start wondering how Men’s Fitness made their selections and investigate.

A city’s rank is determined by the grade given for each of 17 categories. A city can score between an A and an F (A being the best and F the worst).

Austin may have ranked 24 but according to our grades in each category we could do much better. We aren’t in the ranks of the 10 most Fattest Cities (of which 6 of the 10 are in Texas). The results in 2007 were so inspiring to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma which ranked 15 that they started a website and a program to help residents lose weight. Registered participants have lost 98,000 pounds so far. The website is www.thiscityisgoingonadiet.com. This is not a joke.

I am laughing about the “F” we received for “Motivation”. I don’t know how they figured this out but they nailed it. I do think this is changing but for now we tend to let things go. There are a few who are highly motivated, enough for all of us really. We spend a lot of time hanging out. The opening scene of Knocked Up comes to mind.

If you need more proof see Dazed and Confused and Slacker.

We also received an F+ in Sports Participation. Now, this I find baffling. We are no Venice Beach with obvious people en masse participating in sports but we are out there on bikes, running around the lake, mountain biking, cycling etc. Lance Armstrong lives here! We have a marathon for just about everything.

I think we deserve a recount on that one.