Oddly enough, several weeks ago, weight loss and health issues were not much of a concern to me. Granted, I was aware that I had put on some extra pounds over the years, but not to the point of being overly concerned. I had been to my family doctor earlier this year, and happily enough, she had told me that I was in "great shape". Needless to say, it left me feeling pretty good about my current physical condition, and rather complacent to trying to improve my health.
That being said, we as Americans are in some of the worse shape of any people on this planet. Statistically, 1 in 3 people in America are obese, that is over 33% of us, and that isn't including those who are just over weight. This is not only an adult issue either, this is affecting our children as well. In the history of our existence, we are the heaviest we have ever been.
You have to ask yourself, "how has this happened"? Seriously, we were once, one of the wealthiest and most powerful countries on this planet. You would think, we would have used this wealth and power to educate and intervene long before this epidemic ever even started.
Why is being over weight such a problem, you ask? Before we go into the internal physical health issues, lets take a look at the basic external issues. First of all, it is very unattractive, for the most part, the heavier one gets, the less attractive they become, and not just to others, but to themselves as well. This can certainly lead to a life of loneliness and isolation, which can have a major effect on mental health. It is all connected, so physical health issues are soon to follow.
Physical health issues are not limited to, but can include, heart disease, pulmonary issues, diabetes, and skin disorders, just to mention a few. These issues are no laughing matter, one or more of them, if not handled properly and more importantly reversed, can lead to untimely and premature deaths. Obviously this will have a huge impact on the individual who is directly going through this, but it also has serious effects on their family and friends.
More often than not, the basic cause for this growing epidemic boils simply enough down to choices. Every day, we all make the choice of what we are going to put into our bodies, via our mouth. Unfortunately, fast food has become the most common choice for a large number of Americans. Not only are you getting far to many calories from this bad decision food, but then you are washing it down with gallons of soda, (sugar, sugar, sugar). As if this isn't bad enough three times a day, then there are multiple sodas consumed though out the day, jet adding more unnecessary calories that you body just can't process and burn off in a fast enough manner.
For those who do not eat "drive in" fast food daily, they are still eating fast food at home, such as "tv dinners" and processed and refined items. The old "heat em up, eat em ups" found in the frozen section of the local grocery store. If you pay attention, some are better than others, but for the most part, you may as well go to the "drive through" because you are basically putting the same junk in your body as you would be getting, had you just gone to the "drive through". The end result is more and more fat building up, and unless something is done to change this cycle, it will more than likely not end until that person is dead.
The bottom line is, if you want to take your health back, get off all of the lousy prescriptions drugs, you need to start treating your body like the temple it should be. The only way to do this is to cut out all the processed and refined foods. Go to an all natural diet, fresh fruits and vegetables are by far the best disease fighters. Nuts and berries are also great food choices in fighting obesity and disease. Getting a little more exercise isn't a bad choice either.
It comes down to choices, and you can choose to stay on the path you are on and continue to be unhappy with your weight and run the risk of serious illness, or you can chose to change it all right now, this very day. I did a food experiment, and at first I really didn't have any particular goal, but as I started to drop pounds, I decided my goal would be to lose 20 pounds. I wanted to do this without exercising, just changing my diet. The reason for not exercising was I wanted to prove it could be done this way, because a large number of Americans are far to lazy to exercise, mostly because they are over weight and it is far to much effort for them. By doing it the way I did it, I'm hoping it will motivate at least one over weight person to at least give it a shot, even if just for a few weeks. If you don't see results, then by all means, go back to your own ways, and let fate play out as it should.
It took me 5 weeks and 4 days to achieve my goal. I eliminated all meat from my diet, cut way back on my dairy products and ate mostly fruits and vegetables, and for the most part ate them raw. I found the best way to eat raw vegetables was by juicing them, so I bought a juicer. I even went to the point of doing a 10 day juice fast in order to detox my body from all the garbage that had built up over the past 40 plus years. Be eliminating meat, refined sugars and processed foods, my grocery bill also went down as my weight was dropping too. In short, I was double dipping on the positive side of things.
Why not give this a try yourself? What do you have to lose, besides a lot of weight, prescriptions drugs and a very negative outlook on your life? All the medicine you need is growing in a garden in someones backyard, why not make that your backyard?
If you have any desire to learn any more about this amazing journey I went on, you can read all about my food experiment, how I got started on it and see the see the charted results. Click here to learn more.
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