Choice and Responsibility

If you think getting in good shape is only about looking good, think again. Maintaining a fit and healthy body is good for your appearance, true, but is is also good for society. How’s that? Think about it this way: If more people took responsibility for their own health and well-being, insurance and health care costs would plummet. Unfortunately, irresponsibility is off the charts!

Responsibility is a choice, not something that happens to you. You have the choice to be the “victim” or “owner” of the situation. An owner will look for solutions; and a victim will find excuses.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, medical expenses for the overweight and obese may be as high as $147 billion annually. The costs of inactivity bump that up considerably higher – but what if more people got off their butts on a regular basis and stopped stuffing their faces with fast food? Eventually we’d all be paying a lot less for health insurance, the rates of which have skyrocketed because so many people are continually eating too much garbage too often, not exercising and ending up requiring medical attention.

We must be responsible – the “response” being to eat better and exercise so we are “able” to cruise through life happier and healthier without sucking huge chunks of money out of our overtaxed system to treat diseases that are preventable. And I’m not just talking about heart disease. Being overweight and/or not eating right increases the risk of diabetes, arthritis and multiple cancers – not to mention depression.

Matters become even more important as we age and our immune systems become less efficient. The older we get, the more we need to hit the weights and do cardio exercise on a regular basis to remain mobile and stay in the game.

To quote one of my clients, “My advice: Stop the excuses, stop the second guessing. Do it for yourself, do it for your family. I made the choice to change my life – I look better and I feel Great!”

So….Owner or Victim????