Developing a Healthy Habit

Our environment doesn’t always help with healthy lifestyle habits; it can encourage obesity. Some reasons are:

• Lack of neighborhood sidewalks and safe places for recreation. Not having area parks, trails, sidewalks, and affordable gyms makes it hard for people to be physically active.
• Work schedules. People often say that they don’t have time to be physically active given the long hours at work and the time spent commuting back and forth to work. We could find the time, if available and safe, walk at work.
• We like oversized meals. Americans are surrounded by huge food portions in restaurants, fast food places, gas stations, movie theaters, supermarkets, and even home. Some of these meals and snacks can feed two or more people. Over time, this will cause weight gain if it isn’t balanced with physical activity.
• Lack of access to healthy foods. Some people don’t live in neighborhoods that have supermarkets that sell healthy foods such as fresh fruits and vegetables. Or if they do, these items are often too costly.
• Food advertising. We are surrounded by ads from food companies. Most of the time children are the targets of advertising for high-calorie, high-fat snacks and sugary drinks. The goal of these ads is to sway people to buy these high-calorie foods, and often wedo. Then we think the kids got problems. We helped to get them started.

We Can Do It

Our weight is a result of many factors. These factors include environment, family history and genetics, metabolism, behavior or habits, and other factors. We can’t change our family history. But, other things—like our lifestyle habits—can be changed!

Obesity

Millions of Americans and people worldwide are overweight or obese. Being overweight or obese puts us at risk for many diseases and conditions. The more body fat that we carry around and the more we weigh, the more likely we are to develop heart disease, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, gallstones, breathing problems, and certain cancers.

BMIs

The National Center for Health (NCH) has also been tracking America’s obesity problem for more than four decades. Their findings given below support the growing obesity epidemic in America.
· Between 1962 and 2000, the obese people grew from 13% to 31% of the population.
· 63% of Americans are overweight with a BMI in excess of 25.0.
· 31% are obese with a BMI in excess of 30.0.
· Childhood obesity has more than tripled in the past two decades.
· Obesity is responsible for 300,000 deaths every year.

Overweight and Obesity

The National Heart Lung and Blood Institute states that “the terms “overweight” and “obesity” refer to a person’s overall body weight and where the extra weight comes from. Overweight is having extra body weight from muscle, bone, fat, and/or water. Obesity is having a high amount of extra body fat. The most useful measure of overweight and obesity is the body mass index (BMI). BMI is based on height and weight and is used for adults, children, and teens.”

Obesity Report

We’re going to start talking about obesity for a while. According to International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association (IHRSA) Obesity/Weight Control Report, the obesity epidemic in America is growing day by day. According to these numbers, we in the USA got a big problem. Yes, we are getting bigger daily: 3.8 million people have weight over 300 pounds. Over 400,000 people carry over 400 pounds, and many among these are males. The average adult female in USA weighs 163 pounds!

Take Time

Have you ever stood outside on a beautiful day and just listened to the sounds of life? Did you take the time to hear the birds chirping and the wind rustling through the trees? There’s always that one bird that seems to chirp the loudest! In the distance, you can hear car horns, motorcycle motors and depending on where you are, a baby crying and children laughing. Those of you that have done this before know what I’m talking about. If you haven’t, try it at least, once! I know we live in a society where we’re constantly busy working and don’t have time to enjoy the simple things in life. We don’t even notice that life is passing us by because we’re too busy working at living! Apparently, we do the same thing in our relationships. We’re too busy trying to make it perfect that we don’t realize we’re not either. Yep, what a tangled web we do weave! Try to make time for yourself and try to make time for the people in your life! You won't regret it.