Choose to be Healthy

The basic rule to losing weight is expending more calories than is consumed. Creating a caloric deficit forces the body to start burning fat for fuel. Are you with me so far? Through virtue of this concept, the "secret" to losing weight appears simply to eat less and exercise more. Sounds easy, right? Many of us already know this.  Yet currently the number one health concern among children in America is obesity; second place goes to cancer with drug abuse rounding out the top three.

A 2005 survey by market research firm NPD Group shows that 62% of adults and 34% of children in America are either overweight or obese. Why are so many of us overweight? Who do we blame? Society? The media? Our parents? The answer is all of the above. We blame society for the deficiencies in our social health policies. We blame the media for conditioning us to reward ourselves and our children with food. We blame the parents for not teaching us to make healthier choices. We blame others instead of holding ourselves accountable for our own decisions.

Before we can make changes to improve our lives, we need to transform our perception of choice. Embracing a healthier lifestyle begins by embracing the fact that we all choose how we treat our bodies. We may not always want to accept the consequences of our options, but there is always a choice. Think of all the excuses we have used for not exercising. How often has the culprit been work, school, or the kids? The excuse is usually I don't have time instead of the truth which is I won't make time. Again, it boils down to choice. We convince ourselves that we do not have time to exercise. If we want to exercise, it is our responsibility to make time for it in our schedules. Acknowledging that we are the directors of our own lives empowers us and effectively inspires us to generate positive changes.