Blog Archives
Obesity Exposed: What If Your Body Could Talk?
Every where we go we are inundated with weight loss commercials, diets, exercise gimmicks, workout fads and commercials for healthy food. Just by all the commercials alone, it is clear everyone knows America has a weight issue.
149 million Americans are overweight or obese. We suffer $208 billion in lost productivity and $46 billion in direct medical costs as a result of our weight issue. One out of three youth are overweight, and one out of six is obese. And, if a parent is overweight, their child has a startling 70% chance of being overweight or obese too. So, it would only make since that anyone who wants to make money would jump on the weight loss bandwagon to sell us something to fix our problem.
So how do diet and fitness brands try to grab our attention? They don’t attempt to hook us by listing health risks or obesity facts. No, they capture our attention with six-pack abs and hot fit bodies. Why? Because our outer body is more tangible and real to us. It’s what we see. But what about what we cannot see?
Rolls of fat are bothersome, and tight jeans are frustrating. Our outer layer of fat speaks to us every day. It stares us in the face and screams at us constantly – but what if your organs, blood and bones could talk to you and explaim how your weight affects them?
This picture (posted above) is a look inside the body of a person who is overweight vs a person at a healthy weight. Look at how crowded the overweight person’s organs are. Look at how the body fat shifts their joints out of whack and changes their posture.
Let Me Hear Your Body Talk
If your body could talk, your heart may ask you for a much-needed break, and complain about how hard and fast it’s been beating. Your lungs may tell you how cramped they are and how badly they would like to expand more so you could perform better. Your bones may cry for relief from carrying such large loads day in and day out. Your blood might be too busy yelling at your artery walls to even have time to complain to you about your cholesterol issues. Each blood drop is probably yelling “pardon me, coming through, make a way” because of all the build up it has to dodge or squeeze through every second of the day.
We take life for granted. It’s not that we forget the fact we are alive, but we neglect to realize all the work it takes to keep us alive. We have such high expectations for our body. We expect our body to perform well even when we treat it like crap. We act surprised when we have health issues when, if our body could talk, it’s probably been struggling for years.
Sure, weight loss looks great, but we can’t forget about how much better weight loss looks on the inside too. Don’t you think your body deserves a break – and maybe even a little pampering? It’s been working so hard all these years. Let’s take good care of it, so it can continue taking good care of you.
Today’s Fitness Motivation:
Handicapped by Fat: Laziness Kills
This is actually a photo a friend took of 2 local guys rolling around town.
Yesterday I was driving across the parking lot at our gym and I had to slam on the breaks to avoid an overweight man on a mobility scooter zipping across the parking lot. This was in an area that homeless guys tend to hang out, like the guy who uses a knee brace and crutches as props for his begging corner – but that guy can’t seem to remember which leg he keeps the brace on. Anywho! Back to the scooter guy. How many people do we see on scooters who can actually walk?
While I whole-heartedly believe there are people who need a mobility scooter, I can’t remember the last time I actually saw a handicapped person using one who actually was not able to walk. I know they exist, but I believe these aids are hurting people more than helping them.
The Crutch
Maybe they start off using them because of an injury, or to help them be a little more mobile. But, it encourages more laziness and dependance – which can lead to even more weight gain. I believe that’s why we end up seeing so many heavy young people on scooters. It just becomes easier to use the scooter – and the more they use it, the more muscle strength and stamina they lose.
Scooters are an electric crutch that someone can get stuck with if they aren’t purposefully working hard to get away from using them. Of course I’m not suggesting that it’s going to be easy for these people – it will take work, but in most cases it’s totally doable. Unfortunately, we live in a world full of conveniences that have taken away one of the best exercises known to man – walking.
Convenience
It used to be, that if you had to go to your neighbors, you’d walk – not drive your golf cart 5 houses down. Our neighborhood is relatively small. Houses are built along a 1.4 mile road that circles a lake. It literally could take me 5-8 minutes to get to the opposite side of the neighborhood on foot. Yet, jumping in the car is the knee jerk response when I’m going to the tennis courts just a half a mile away.
We realized just how spoiled we are when Steve did Fat March, a walking show for weight loss reality TV on ABC. Even when they were off camera, we walked pretty much everywhere if we wanted to go out to eat or hit the mall. I remember looking for a gym while visiting and calling around to see what was close by. When I found a gym about 2 miles away, the reality that I had to walk there sunk in. Of course it’s not like I can’t walk 2 miles, but I already missed being able to jump in the car and get there quickly. Steve laughed because, by that time, he’d already walked several hundred miles – what was 2 more!?
Although increasing your activity shouldn’t replace a purposeful exercise routine, it sure as heck is an important part of maintaining a good quality of life. If you don’t want to be stuck in a scooter when you are 70, you need to stay on your feet as much as possible when you are 40.
Impatience Makes Us Fat
I think the major problem with Americans today is we are always in a hurry. We don’t want to spend 10 minutes walking somewhere when we can get their in 2 minutes if we drive. Our impatience makes us lazy and it reducing activity. If cars weren’t so darn easy to jump in and out of, it would be much different. Even in the horse and buggy days, it might have been just as much work, and take as much time, to saddle a horse than it was to walk. So even then, walking was probably a smart option. Now we’ve gotten so smart we are acting dumb. We aren’t as aware of how our convenient and fast lifestyle is affecting our health and activity.
This blog is NOT to dump on people who use scooters. It’s not to judge anyone for where they are in their life. It is to ENCOURAGE people to NEVER give up on doing everything you can to have the BEST quality of life possible. Whether you can walk, but can’t run – or you can only walk with a cane. I just never want anyone to give up on their dreams of staying mobile and healthy. Even if you are completely healthy, it’s my hope that I can make you more aware of ways to protect your health and mobility. Here are some tips. Pass it along if you think they may help others.
A Dozen Ways to Increase Activity Throughout the Day
1. Always park further out at work, mall, grocery store, church, etc.
2. If you are going out to a nearby place to eat – walk, don’t drive.
3. Walk to neighbors and save the golf cart for golf.
4. Take walking tours while traveling.
5. Avoid taking a cab when downtown in big cities.
6. Skip the elevator and take the stairs as often as you can.
7. Don’t take a grocery cart, just out of convenience. Use your muscles and carry a basket when you can.
8. Walk your dog instead of just letting out in the back yard.
9. Trade sitting and drinking coffee with a neighbor or friend for a nice walk. Walking is one of the best ways to get exercise and catch up with a friend.
10. Choose restaurants that are near fun places to walk, like the beach, parks, downtown shops and the mall, so you can take a walk after dinner with your date.
11. Don’t enable loved ones. Dealing with someone who is handicapped is touchy. Although you want to be sensitive, you also need to hold them accountable and encourage them to stay active.
12. Stay active when you get injured. One of the worst things you can do is allow an injury to get you down. A few months ago Steve tore his MCL, medial meniscus and IT band. Although he can’t walk without a limp, and he can’t run, do kickboxing or BCx Boot Camp, he can do the bike and elliptical. He even does legs – carefully. It’s scary, but you have to stay active to rehabilitate injuries.
ENCOURAGEMENT: A Man Who Didn’t Give Up
WALKING WORKS: Steve’s Memory Reel from ABC’s Fat March:
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
What’s your take on obesity and scooters? Do you know someone who beat the odds and lost the cane, chair or scooter wheels?
THE FAT CHAT: How to Talk to a Loved One About Their Weight
I know from experience this is one tough topic to bring up. I’ve had firsthand experience facing the dreaded “Fat Chat” with my own family. With a subject as sensitive as this one, you can’t take it lightly and your words should be carefully chosen. Unfortunately, most people are so scared to talk about it, and they avoid it altogether.
It’s not much different than approaching someone about a drug problem or mental illness. You probably wouldn’t even hesitate if your loved one was anorexic. Obesity is just as serious. It’s not just plain unhealthy, it can cause depression, loneliness, low self-esteem, sadness, tiredness, hopelessness and even social stress.
It will never be a fun topic, but it could cost them their life if you choose to ignore it. Although there are no set rules to follow, there are some tips I learned along the way that may be useful if you face this situation yourself.
10 Tip to Having Effective Conversation
1. Don’t enable them. You don’t take an alcoholic to a bar, so don’t take someone who struggles with their weight to a pizza parlor. Lead by example and encourage healthy choices.
2. Don’t just tell them what they want to hear. Often times, people will complain about not losing weight and swear they are doing everything right. The fact is, they aren’t doing everything right if they aren’t getting the right results. Unfortunately, many people will say stuff like “you are probably just turning fat to muscle” to make them feel better about not losing weight. If they aren’t losing weight, instead of meaningless encouragement to help them feel better in the moment, brag on their effort and encourage them to try something else.
3. Encourage them to keep trying. If someone says they are trying to lose weight, but they aren’t successful, encourage them to keep digging and keep learning. Challenge them to never accept little or no results. One time a member came to me saying she hadn’t really lost any weight since she joined a year ago. I told her weight is all calories in vs. calories out. She told me she ate healthy, and I told her she was probably just eating too much. I encouraged her to count up the calories and dig deep to find the extra calories. A couple of months later she stopped and thanked me. She said she had lost 10lbs and discovered she was taking in way more calories than she thought.
4. Be honest. Many people flat out lie when it comes to people’s weight. I’m not suggesting you tell them their butt looks big in their jeans, but I am suggesting you don’t lie to them. There are many loving things you can say to someone without lying like “I’m sorry you feel bad, you know I love you no matter what” or “I have fat days too, do you want to go for a walk with me?” And sometimes, it’s best to say nothing. Many times people are already lying to themselves. If you confirm their lie, they will start believing them – and begin to accept their situation (weight), instead of thinking about fixing it.
5. Empower them with knowledge. You’ll never get anywhere with opinions. However, education is empowering. No one is motivated to do things until they understand. They must truly grasp why, and how, those things work. The more someone learns about weight loss and how it all works, the more willing they are to apply it because it makes sense. They will learn it’s just science and it works – and it will work for them too.
6. Don’t allow them to make excuses. This isn’t a fun one, but I’ve had many people make a long list of excuses they were holding on to with a death grip. With every excuse they gave me, I had to explain why that excuse wasn’t a valid one. (Ironically, they already know this) When my own mother finally accepted her situation and decided to do something about it, her motto was “no more excuses” as she realized she had been making excuses for YEARS – and it was only prolonging the inevitable. She went on to lose over 80lbs.
7. Whatever you do, do it in love. This is the key to any type of confrontation. If you don’t have love, you can’t be productive. If you address their weight and make it clear it is because you are concerned for them, you are worried, you want to help them, and you want them in your life for as long as possible – who can really be mad at that? However, if you come across judgmental, you might as well right them off. They will tune you out as fast as a staticy radio channel.
8. Help them. Never tell someone what to do if you aren’t willing to help them. If you really care, your actions must speak louder than your words. If they aren’t ready for your help, let them know you are there for them when they are.
9. Let them know they CAN do it. Most people who are overweight truly think they were born that way. They think they have some kind of health issue preventing weight loss or that their body just won’t lose weight like everyone else. My sister thought she was just born a big boned girl. I had to convince my family that her weight was a direct reflection of calories consumed. At first my mom whole-heartedly believing she didn’t eat that bad. It was only after my sister lost her first chunk of weight, when she came to live with me, that she confessed all the junk she was eating (and hiding). Low and behold, after losing a ton of weight, she found her smaller bones hiding behind the fat.
10. Ask them what they need. Don’t assume what your loved one needs, ask them. Ask them if they’d like the accountability and find out if they enjoy the support. Be honest with them and let them know you only want to discuss it, but only if it’s helpful. Let them know how much you care about how they feel. Not everyone is motivated by the same things so find out specifically what encourages them the most, as well as what discourages them.
As with any sensitive subject, there’s always a risk of hurting someone’s feelings. But feelings heel and your chat may save their life. Be patient, loving, kind, understanding and sensitive. They may not respond overnight, but know some of life’s biggest challenges bring about big rewards.
What If They Don’t Respond?
If you brave this subject, there is one last tip I’ll give you: Release them. If they don’t respond or they are not ready, you have to let it go and release them from guilt. Everyone wants to be fit and healthy, but if they give you a million excuses, and it’s clear they aren’t ready, it’s important they don’t have that extra guilt weighing on them.
Let. It. Go! Don’t harass them, don’t keep inviting them to the gym, don’t push it. If you are leading by example, your lifestyle will remind them – and if you were genuine, they will call on you when they are ready.
The seed is planted. Now you just have to wait for it to sprout.
-B-
When is the right time to bring up someone’s unhealthy weight?
Here’s what some of my facebook friends had to say:
Abominator D Goheen when their shirts don’t cover their bellies.
Sarha Chalmers I would say when u know it is affecting their health 
not a great chat to have but it has to be done when u care for someone
Malinda Wilkerson Blevins You can help-give them info-nothing works till they make the decision…it is honestly something they have to WANT to do.
Laurie Colón I’d say no chat is needed. Not like they don’t know already. Why hurt them. Just plain cruel actually
Stan Black When you can point out how it is negatively affecting thier life, health, and welfare.
Skinny Aint Fit never !!!! unless its a loved one and the health is in jeopardy
Robin Testa Sullivan I have never done it unless the person brought it up first. I know what its like on the other side, although nobody ever said anything to me…think they just tiptoed around the issue like the elephant in the room, LOL.
Share your thoughts and experience with us below!
Photo Credits:
Gold Digger Pic
Fragile Pic
Handle with Care Pic
Encourage/Discourage
Love Never Fails Pic
How Can I Help You Pic
Seed Pic
FAT & UNHAPPY: How Strong is Food’s Grip?
Does food have a grip on you, or do you have a grip on food?
I can’t tell you how many people tell me they are so sick of themselves. Sick of not controlling their food intake and weight. Food clearly has a grip on their life and they are eating themselves unhappy. Today we’re going to dive deep into the seriousness of letting food control your life. Get ready, because this isn’t going to be pretty!
Gluttony: to gulp down or swallow, means over-indulgence and over-consumption of food, drink, or wealth.
You don’t have to be FAT to struggle with food
When I think of gluttony, I think of seriously overweight people like ”Fat Bastard” in the Austin Powers movie. However, you don’t have to be morbidly obese to struggle with gluttony. Just ask Steve and I. We’ve seriously gulped down hideous amounts of food at times, and not once did we ever push away from the table feeling good about it. And we make a boatload of excuses to match the boatload of food we consume.
“We deserve it”. “We’ve been training so hard”. “At least it was all healthy”. But no matter what our lame excuses are, too much is too much – and it’s not healthy.
We humans like to rationalize pretty much everything. We’re the first people to judge someone else’s “sin” and then make excuses for our own. Of course, most of us don’t think of ourselves as gluttons, but if you are gulping down too much food, then you are indeed a glutton. Sorry, but it’s true.
If you can’t control it…
S
ure, it would be super easy to look at someone addicted to crack and think “wow, I can’t believe someone would do that to themselves”, yet you maybe addicted to food. Just because food is legal, doesn’t mean we should abuse our bodies with it.
This is not a fun topic, but I think it’s important to address. Coming from a strong Christian home, I was taught to take care of my body – and treat it like a temple. However, I’ve treated my body like a saloon, garbage dump, and smoke stack in the past. I would have NEVER brought some of the things I put in my body into a church. Ironically, when I was the least disciplined with what went into my mouth, I was also the least disciplined in other areas of my life.
Unfortunately, it’s easy to target alcohol, cigarettes and drugs as the evil things you should get rid of – but what makes us think we can continue overeating and not practicing self-control with the rest of our life?
It’s not about Vanity
Interestingly enough, most of us know better. We know we should be working out and eating healthier, but we don’t do it. Did you know that just knowing what to do and not doing it is wrong? I’m not just suggesting it is not good for you, I’m saying it’s flat wrong.
“It is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.” James 4:17
You don’t have to believe in God to benefit from scripture – and I believe most of us want to do the “right” thing. I think the problem lies in that we don’t think of eating poorly as right or wrong, but just a matter of vanity or choice. I mean, there are no food police giving out tickets for poor eating. We have the “right” to eat however we want – right? We may have that right, but that doesn’t make it right.
Maybe, if you’re struggling with self-control around food, you should treat the problem less like a vanity thing, and more as a right and wrong thing. You probably know what’s best for you, now you just need to start doing it.
Food Addiction:
1.) Decreases self esteem
2.) Increases jealousy
3.) Causes us to hide (especially from cameras)
4.) Makes us tired and lazy
5.) Makes us look and feel unattractive, which can be harmful in relationships
6.) Makes us physically ill
7.) Can be expensive (dining out/cocktails)
8.) Makes us unhappy
9.) Causes depression and added stress
10.) Makes us insecure and lack confidence in our work
If those are just a FEW things unhealthy eating habits can do to our lives, then why would even hesitate to get help and get healthy? It’s time to get healthy and happy again!
NOTE: If you think for one minute I’m judging you, or anyone struggling with eating – think again. We ALL struggle. I struggle. If you put a basket of nachos in front of me, I’ll out-eat any of you if I don’t practice self-control – and even my best self-control will still be overeating I guarantee!! The only difference is, I may go run it off. This is something I will continue to improve and manage for the rest of my life. When it comes to my body, I don’t want to look bad as much as I don’t want to disappoint God by mistreating this body he gave me. I want to be a good steward of my physical body as well as my life. When I’m done with this life, I want Him to say “Well done”. I will never be perfect, and I will always fail, but I will never stop trying – and I think that’s all He asks for.
Fat Kills: Don’t underestimate it’s power!
I rarely am motivated to workout. It’s just something I have to keep doing, like brushing my teeth, to maintain the body God gave me best I can. Fat on your body is like fuzz on your teeth – when is OK to just leave it there? It deteriorates your body, and even makes you less attractive. It’s just not plain healthy – and it feels awful too.
Again, I’m bringing up the fact we treat fat differently than any other thing in our life – and body. Our health should be equal. If we have a sore spot, we treat it. We take care of our teeth, hair, nails, and even a minor sore throat. Tet, we may carry around a load of body fat and an unhealthy lifestyle that is going to kill us if we don’t do anything about it – and we totally ignore it or play it down.
Sure, I’m not overweight – however, I too often abuse my body. Whether it’s putting my workouts last, or eating something I know is bad for me, somehow it’s easy to justify our unhealthy lifestyle or decisions.
Even “fit” people, who supposedly are into exercise, are abusing their bodies with extreme diets and unbalanced exercise routines. Whether a person is running all the time and never doing anything to preserve muscle, flexibility, balance and core strength, or they are pumping iron all day long without ever exercising their heart and lungs – it’s like treating a heart condition and ignoring the big tumor on the side of you head.
Whole health is not some yoga pose and “Om” chant. Whole health is taking care of your body in it’s entirety. It’s getting check ups when you are supposed to, it’s exercising your heart and lungs as well as your muscles. It’s losing excess body fat that puts you at risk for an early death and poorer quality of health – and I’m not even talking about HUGE amount of weight. I’m talking about just 10-20lbs. If you don’t think your weight is killing you, think again.
Look at these statistics via US Department of Health & Human Services:
- Even moderate weight excess (10 to 20 pounds) increases the risk of death, particularly among adults aged 30 to 64 years.
- Individuals who are obese (BMI > 30)* have a 50 to 100% increased risk of premature death from all causes, compared to individuals with a healthy weight. Car accidents, trip and falls, illness – you name it.
- A weight gain of only 11 to 18 pounds doubles your chance of developing type 2 diabetes
- Over 80% of people with diabetes are overweight or obese.
- Women gaining more than 20 pounds from age 18 to midlife double their risk of postmenopausal breast cancer, compared to women whose weight remains stable.
- For every 2-pound increase in weight, the risk of developing arthritis is increased by 9 to 13%.
- Obesity during pregnancy increases risk for both the baby and the mother by 10 times.
- Obesity during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of birth defects, particularly neural tube defects, such as spina bifida.
- Overweight adolescents have a 70% chance of becoming overweight or obese adults.
We tend to play down our body fat. We can always point out someone in worse condition and often treat the need to lose 10lbs as a vanity thing. If you are holding excess body fat, it’s not just about how you look and feel in your jeans – it’s staying alive so you can even wear a pair of jeans to begin with. This is about your health and quality of life. Don’t under-estimate the impact body fat makes on your life – or death. If you have it, it’s time to get rid of it.
Guilty Until Proven Active
We often think of guilty as a verdict, not a feeling or state of being. The dictionary uses words to describe guilty like “responsible, deserving and ashamed” – however, most of us don’t need a judge and jury to convince us of our guilt, especially when it comes to our health.
Someone posted this question on our club’s facebook page: “Why is it we always have more guilt about missing a workout than a workday?”
The answer is easy. We can run from our boss, but we can run from ourself. We face ourself in the mirror every day, knowing in our heart what we should and shouldn’t be doing. Just as someone can possibly fool a jury, they still walk away knowing who really is truly guilty – and whether they admit it or not, it will haunt them forever.
The Fight
An overweight woman came into our club yesterday with a friend. The thinner one was clearly insecure and nervous about being there, yet the heavier woman was definitely more comfortable in her skin and smiled the entire time. I don’t know either woman but, if I had to guess, I’d guess the uncomfortable woman didn’t want to be there and was battling some guilt – to the point it was making her miserable.
Not everyone is convicted to go to the gym and take care of their bodies – yet. However, when they are, as Mr. T says, “I pitty the fool” if they don’t – because at that point they are responsible to act on that conviction.
It’s not much different than anything else in life. We’ve all been there. We were convicted to apologize but we didn’t. We were convicted to pay for someone’s food, but we didn’t. The problem is, unlike many isolated opportunities, we have the opportunity to act on our health it at any given time. We can make up excuses, but we know in our heart they are few valid ones.
Guilt is an ugly thing.
Guilt causes depression, angry, resentment, frustration and countless other negative feelings. Yet pride in making an effort stems confidence, strength, hope, optimism, dreams, happiness, growth, motivation, inspiration and results. Amazingly enough, very little effort can change how we feel. Doing something is always better than doing nothing.
Unhappiness often comes from not doing what is right – and, even worse, settling for what is wrong.
Get Fit Now: Why Procrastination Stinks
“We all have garbage to deal with. You can chose to handle it now or later – the choice is yours.”
Desperate paparazzi catches poor Jessica Biel in her robe taking out the trash. Wow. Are we really shocked that stars have garbage too? We seem just as surprised when they have other life problems as well. Ironically, garbage and our physical, as well as mental, problems have a lot in common.
My dad once gave me some great advice about life, and not handling the “garbage” we carry. He said, “It’s like trash. You can just let it pile up and packing stuff on top of it, but eventually it’s gonna start to stink and you’ll have to deal with it.”
Life is truly like that – especially with our health. We can ignore the trash in our lives – our weight, health, weakness, tight muscles, poor diet and inactivity. No matter how we cover it up with nice clothes, fancy cars, money, pretty make-up and a fake smile, eventually you won’t be able to hide it, and life will start to really stink.
It is so easy to procrastinate. It’s so easy to push it back and let something else take priority. But, our bodies talk, and believe me, it will start screaming at you eventually. We can fool ourselves into thinking our back pain will go away, our weight will come off, and “we’ll kick this”, but what exactly are you really doing about it today? Are you just covering up the stench or are you really dealing with it? So often we do things to mask the problem, or to help us live with the problem, but we aren’t handling the problem.
4 Steps to Dealing with the Garbage Affecting Our Health:
1. What stinks? As you read this, what things come to mind that you know you need to get a grip on? Make a list. Is it your weight? Is it pain? Is it confidence? Is it your overall health? Is it a lack of discipline to maintain a consistent fitness regimen? You can’t fix it until you know what needs to be fixed.
2. How do you handle it? Some trash isn’t stinky, but it sill has to be taken out. On the other hand, some trash stinks so bad, you need to get it as far away from your house as possible. How bad is the “garbage” you have to deal with? Can you deal with it yourself or do you need a hazmat team to contain the situation? Some things can be handled on your own, but other issues require a pro. Beware of trying to handle heavy stuff alone.
3. How long will you commit to maintaining it? We all know that taking the garbage out once is not enough. We get NEW garbage that will have to be delt with too. It’s really unrealistic to think this will be a simple fix and not require maintenance. As you work on one problem, don’t be surprised if another problem pops up. Just add it to the list and work on it too, knowing in the end result will be a clean bill of health.
4. What are things that need to be tossed out? A lot of us have extra garbage we deal with because we are not letting go of crap that clutters our lives. Not only will you need to work on stuff that stinks, but sometimes things need to go that are either getting in the way, are useless, or are hindering you. The first step is to “clean house” of food, people, bad habits, excuses, etc. that will interfere with your plan. Just like cleaning house, it’s constant. Success will require a continual cleaning and straightening of priorities.
Don’t Procrastinate:
Don’t wait for the perfect conditions, the perfect situation, more money, more time, less pain, more energy, more motivation, friends, kids to grow up, workload to get lighter, or anything else to start working on your health.
“Farmers who wait for perfect weather never plant.
If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.”
Ecclesiastes 11:4
Note on Pain: Many aches and pains are due to weak and tight muscles. Unfortunately, many people avoid exercise in fear of making it worse. Pain rarely goes away on its own, and often gets much worse. Even many skeletal issues are due to muscles pulling you out of whack. As you strengthen weak muscles and loosen tight muscles, your skeletal system won’t have all these tweaked muscles yanking on them. There are SO many pains that would go away just from stretching alone, but the combination of strengthening and stretching literally can be a miracle worker.
Are You Sick of Feeling Fat ENOUGH?
Before you begin reading this, I want to tell you I’ve BEEN THAT GIRL!! The girl who was SICK of her pants being too tight, who was tired of looking sloppy and crappy no matter what she wore, and who was not QUITE fat enough to actually start doing something about it despite her pathetic misery. Yep! That was me. Fat, lazy, unhappy and STILL not willing to do anything – YET! BUT NO MORE! I finally got tired of complaining. SO, I’m in recovery mode now! Now, you can read and get your own little “Fitness Check Up”. - Bonnie
If you were sick, you’d go to the doctor, but a doctor can only help you so much. They can diagnosis you, they can give you a shot, and they can give you medication – but they can’t force you to take the medication when you go home. This is the same dilemma trainers have.
Trainers can work you out and they can tell you what you need to do when they aren’t there, but you have to actually do it for it to work. If I’m sick and not taking my medications, then obviously I’m not sick enough. Because, if I was that sick, there’s no way I’d forget to take my medication. Sometimes I just have to wonder, “are you sick of feeling fat enough?”
Maybe you just aren’t there yet.
Maybe you aren’t quite miserable enough yet. Maybe you don’t believe you can “get well”. Maybe you think you can kick this on your own. I don’t know about you, but I have to be pretty darn sick to finally go to the doctor. Often times I’ll wait for days, and sometimes weeks, before I finally go to the doctor. Then I beat myself up realizing I could have been well by now – and THAT’s EXACTLY the same thing with fitness.
Whether you are really struggling with your weight and pretty miserable about it or just struggling a little and a little upset about it – don’t waste one more day feeling less than your best! For some people their fat is like a serious illness, for others it’s like a fungus – just something that makes us a little uncomfortable every day. There is no reason to live with either issue if it can be fixed – and TRUST ME, it CAN! There are people dedicated to helping people like you. Whether it’s a personal trainer, an online trainer, a person like me who blogs their heart out to help people online, an online program like our BCx Boot Camp, workout videos, weight loss programs, fitness books – you name it! There are pros that are dedicated to helping you GET WELL, FEEL GOOD and GET STRONG!
Where are your priorities?
You spend money to see a doctor and get medication when you need it, but you don’t spend money on a gym membership, equipment or a trainer when you need it. Aren’t they both health related? If you don’t get healthy, don’t you know it will actually cost you more money to maintain your unhealthy body than it would cost to get, and stay, healthy.
Maybe it’s time to invest time and money into a healthy lifestyle and a fit body. If you don’t have money, then invest the time. The resources are out there, you just have to make the time to use them. There is really no excuse not to get fit anymore. And if you decide to not to do anything right now, remember NOT deciding is deciding NOT to do anything. Just know you will beat yourself up later for wasting this precious time you COULD be feeling good.
Quit your complaining
Lastly, we aren’t allowed to complain about something we aren’t doing anything about in our house. If I’m sick and I decide to not go to the doctor, I will not get any sympathy from Steve. If I’m eating crappy and skipping workouts then, again, I am not allowed to complain. So, if you aren’t doing anything about your current condition, ZIP IT! It doesn’t matter how healthy you think you eat or why you think you are prone to weight gain or anything else. Unless you are proactive with AGGRESSIVELY trying to find the answers and get fit, like you would if you were trying to beat cancer, then you need to be quiet and accept that you have basically decided to let this thing take it’s course.
Body fat and feeling fat IS like cancer and it can eat up your personality, your energy and your health if you let take over your body. The biggest mistake you can make is to ignore it. Starting beating this today!
It’s TIME to FIGHT!! Don’t go down without SWINGING!
1.) Choose a pro - Trainer, class or program.
2.) Read up on your “condition” – subscribe to my blog and other educational and motivational tools.
3.) Join a support group - find a friend (in person or online) to do this with you
4.) Clean your house - if you had something in your home that caused the cancer, you’d remove it. Maybe it’s time to start getting rid of foods and things in your life that promote overeating and unhealthy living
5.) Follow the prescription - do what your expert says, stick to your regimen and follow the specific prescribed steps.
Subscribe, Like, Share, Follow & Comment!
Let’s Chat About Childhood Obesity
Join me this Wednesday in our weekly FitStudio Tweet Chat! DETAILS BELOW!
This week’s topic is Childhood obesity. You maybe thinking – “WAIT! She doesn’t have kids and I’ve seen her Great Dane – he’s not overweight either. What does she know?!” Although I don’t have children, I took in my 12 year old sister (before picture left), who was over 200lbs, for a month one summer to help her to lose weight and get healthy. SHE
NEVER LEFT! HA! She ended up moving in with us for nearly 2 years. She left our parents (who lived on a farm in Georgia) to chase a dream of being healthy and happy. She left all her friends, her room, her parents who she loved and her sister at a crucial fragile age.
As she shed pounds, she began to see the REAL her – everything God created in her. She began to discover she truly did have control of her life – not just her body. Read the rest of this entry
Complacency Kills
This cartoon by Randy Glasbergen says it all! Why is it we convince ourselves that exercise is an option. Do we really have such a low of self-worth that we like being lazy and complacent over being dead?! Maybe the problem is we’ve gotten used to mediocrity and settled on having less than we want. Maybe not looking as good, not feeling as good or not being as healthy as we would like is OK. NO! IT’S NOT OK!
Maybe you just haven’t had your ‘wake-up call’ or maybe you aren’t quite uncomfortable enough and need to put on another 10lbs until you’re REALLY sick of yourself! I’VE been there!! I think, “exactly how crappy do I have to feel to get my butt in gear?! And when was not being happy with myself OK?” HOW RIDICULOUS AND STUPID OF ME!!
Obesity continues to climb the charts. Just this week our local headlines read “15 years ago Florida’s obesity rate was 49.1%. Now the state waddles in at a gut busting 62.6%”. Maybe the headline should have read “OBESITY KILLS: Only 37.4% of Floridians are safe from the epidemic”.
What is wrong with America? I think it’s pretty simple. We’ve taken this whole freedom and rights thing to an extreme. We’ve become greedy, self-indulging, rebelling and selfish beings who don’t want to practice self-control in any area of our lives. We want to have our cake and eat it too. Well, so do I – but in the end, I’m just left with is icing on my face and fat on my hips…and I don’t even remember what it tasted like! (meaning it’s not worth it!) Read the rest of this entry
