Have you noticed how easy it is to appease our hunger even while on the go lately? Noticed how all the fast foods seem to be super sizing their portions even while saying that the food they are serving is composed of only health conscious ingredients? Have you noticed that every other person you pass in the street has some sort of snack in one hand and a drink in the other? Food seems to be very easy to come by in our country. It does not cost much to silence a grumbling stomach any time of the day or night. One can get some sort of meal anytime and anywhere.
Not that I am complaining but, all the food we eat stays in our system and does not usually get digested properly because of the way we over eat and yet lead a highly sedentary lifestyle due to all the worldly conveniences at our finger tips. Obesity and being overweight is a frightening problem that is sweeping our land. Finding a solution to this problem has become a million dollar enterprise for those who have the gift of gab when it comes to selling a diet lifestyle. Diets are a fad that most people try at least once in their lives. Sure you lose some weight at the start. It is sometimes even a drastic weight loss for some people.
But the reality is that the so called fashion model diets are hard to stick to and is not really a reliable method of getting fit because of it. I grant you that being pencil thin like a super model is nice to look at on paper. But it is not something that people can achieve without sacrificing their health. Starving yourself just to fool your mind into thinking that you are fit and in shape is something only a fool would do. I should know, I tried that diet when I was younger, all that happened was that I fainted during Physical Education class because I only had juice and biscuits for lunch.
I never went back to that diet. I was not an overweight person growing up. My family was not big on the judging by the looks department either. We were people who enjoyed our food and I have to admit that it sometimes showed. There was a time during my teen age years when my doctor thought that I had gained too much weight for my age and warned my parents about the possible repercussions of severe weight gain. You see, I was the kind of kid who would come home from school severely famished and I would dig around in the refrigerator for something to appease my hunger pangs.
That was usually a Double Decker or Clubhouse sandwich with the works. After eating, I would plop down on my bed and take a nap until it was time for dinner. The height of a sedentary lifestyle. Instead of putting me on a diet, my mom and dad decided that it was time for me to end my sedentary lifestyle and get into sports. Swimming in particular. After a week of swimming lessons, I realized that I felt lighter, faster, and I lost my difficulty in breathing as well. The month after I began my swimming lessons, I had lost 30 pounds and my doctor was congratulating me on a job well done.
He said that I had avoided setting the platform for some illnesses that may show up in my future health tests. He mentioned illnesses like high blood pressure, juvenile diabetes, and possibly a stroke. I was able to retain my figure throughout high school but had to give up on the swimming and other sports that I learned to enjoy when I got older and busier. Work was becoming my priority and there was simply no time for sports in my life. Then I made the decision to get married and I wanted to look killer on my wedding day. Together with my fiancee, we signed up for a year long gym membership in order to get fit for our big day.
At the gym, I had a dietician help me plan my meals and create an exercise routine that would help me achieve my target weight goal. Since I had the motivation for losing weight, exercising did not seem like such a chore and I definitely enjoyed working out with my fiancee. You can just imagine how fit and trim we both looked on our wedding day. During the course of our marriage, we were blessed with 3 children. I can tell you from experience that having 3 kids is an exercise unto itself. Try chasing after your children for just one morning and it is probably equivalent to an hour of circuit training at the gym.
Since I had always kept my health and fitness in mind, I always made sure to lose my baby weight as soon as possible. Because I already have kids, it is even harder for me now to keep in shape. Personal time is almost non existent so you can probably guess that going to a gym or engaging in a sport is out of the question. But, that is not to say that I cannot stay fit in another way. Ask anybody who is dedicated to keeping in shape and staying healthy. When you want to exercise, you will find a way to do it. In my case, I decided that if I could not go to the gym, then the gym should come to me.
With my husbands support, we put together a home gym in the unused room in the house. We outfitted it with a home sized treadmill, some free weights, exercise mat, and most importantly, a television set and VCR to help keep me or my husband preoccupied while exercising. It is important for people who exercise at home to keep their mind off the idea of putting off exercise because they can do it anytime at home. Anybody who believes in putting off exercise because the equipment is at home is not a person who values his health. Once you have a home gym system in place, you will come to realize that there is absolutely no excuse to not exercise.
I cannot stress the importance of exercise in lengthening our lives enough. Keeping physically fit is something a person owes to himself if he wants to live to a ripe old age. Exercise also helps us keep up with the fast paced lifestyle we lead these days. We need the endorphins that our body produces when we exercise. Endorphins make people happy and helps us deal with our mood swings throughout the day. Finally, we have to accept that without exercise, we would not have enough energy to get through a day that requires a tremendous amount of stamina and mental alertness in all our activities.