I have a confession to make. A little over 18 months ago I weighed 200 pounds. Medically speaking I was obese and because of it had faced some major health issues. I had borderline high blood pressure, was experiencing sleep apnea, was out of breath more often then not and was facing Type 2 diabetes, but hey, my cholestoral was fine. At the age of 45 and after carrying that weight on me for 18 years, I knew that I had to do something about it. And I did. The avatar that you see of me now, as you read this blog, was me before I decided to do something about the weight. Now, 18 months later, I've lost approximately 50 pounds.
As I enter my final stretch to lose my last 25 pounds, I'm going to have company in my diet. They're kind of resigned that they're going to have to do this. They're resigned that they'll have to get away from the computer, the tv and their game stations for at least 30 minutes a day to go walking with me. Yes, my family is going to have to suffer with me this summer. While I was losing weight, my family seemed to have gained weight. My daughter fell victim to the "freshman 10" and my husband faces one of the side effects of his medications, which is weight gain.
It's no secret that America's biggest health issue at the moment is the rise in the rate of obesity in America and the weight related health issues that arise from it, to include the increase of Type II diabetes. It's not just a problem with adults, but also in children. As the winter starts to give way to spring, around the country various programs have started surfacing in order to address this issue. Public service announcements have popped up, using well known athletes to encourage kids to get outside and play. The American Heart Association has also developed a PSA addressing adults exercising an hour a day, which adds years onto an individuals life.
Over the past few decades, America has evolved into a seditary society and have passed along our bad habits to our children. Not only in our nutritional habits but in our daily activities. We've allowed our children to swap their bicycles for the game stations, we've swapped the playgrounds for the tv. We've supersized our meals up, instead of watching our portions. We've allowed ourselves to believe that we're spoiling our kids or giving them a treat when we take them to McDonalds or Wendy's. And we've also provided the wrong example for our kids when they see us sitting in front of the computer or tv all evening.
If we allow ourselves to continue, then we're only doing ourselves an injustice. For our own sake and for the sake of our children, maybe it's time for us to step away for an hour a day.
