You Are What You Eat

When it comes to eating healthy, most people just don’t care. I’ve had people say to me, “well, we’re all going to die one day, so why does it matter? I might as well enjoy my life.” That way of thinking cracks me up. But it’s kind of sad, too, that people don’t care how they treat their body. To me, that is a horrible attitude to have.

Unfortunately, a lot of Americans have that attitude. I don’t know if they just really don’t care about their health, or if they truly don’t understand what eating bad does to your body. I really hope it’s the latter!

So why is unhealthy eating (along with lack of activity) so bad for us? Well, here are a few statistics:

*Unhealthy eating and inactivity contribute to 310,000 to 580,000 deaths each year according to the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). That’s 13 times more than are killed by guns and 20 times more than by drug use.
*Unhealthy eating habits and physical inactivity are leading causes of disability and loss of independence:
-Diabetes is a leading cause of blindness and amputation.
-Most hip fractures are caused by osteoporosis. 7Of people over age 50 who fracture a hip, 24% die within one year and 25% require long-term care.
-Within 6 years of a recognized heart attack, 22% of men and 46% of women will be disabled with heart failure
*Almost two-thirds (61%) of American adults are seriously overweight or obese.
*Obesity rates in children have doubled over the last two decades—14% of children and 12% of teens are now obese.
*According to the USDA, healthier diets could prevent at least $71 billion per year in medical costs, lost productivity, and lost lives.
(*cspinet.org* )

Eating a diet that is too high in saturated fat, sodium and sugar and too low in fruits, veggies, fiber and whole grains, contributes to heart disease, diabetes, stroke, hypertension, osteoporosis, many cancers, obesity, and even alzheimer’s. These are not things that just happen because we get older-they are a result of our lifestyle!!! It is crazy how common it is today for people to have high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, and heart disease. I see it so often as a personal trainer, and it’s happening even in younger people now.

You may not think about the food choices you are making right now because you don’t see the effects(besides maybe a little extra fat around the waist!), but in 10 to 20 years, you will definitely start to see how your poor eating habits have affected you. You may live to be 90 years old, but what is the quality of those last 10 to 20 years of you life going to be like if you are obese, diabetic, or have heart disease? Not very good!! Your life is really going to be limited. Don’t think it won’t happen to you!

So for the people who say, “We’ve all gotta die sometime”--living a healthy lifestyle is not just about trying to live longer (although it will help that, too), but it’s more about improving your quality of life while you are here-

It’s about feeling and looking better, having more confidence because you look better, getting sick less often, and having more energy and less depression. It’s about being able to carry your own groceries when you get older, and pick up your grandkids, or being able to walk up a flight of stairs without getting winded. It’s about being able to be independent when you’re older, so that you aren’t a burden to your children.

If you don’t care about your health for yourself, at least think about it for you future or current spouse and kids. You owe it to them to take care of yourself.

You may think that you’re “enjoying life” more by eating junk food. But that way of thinking is just laughable. Let me tell you, you have no idea what you’re missing. I used to eat that way, too, and I would never go back!!

You only have one body-take care of it!!!