My feelings on the obesity epidemic

I haven't posted in a while, and I really need to work on that.  As my readers know, and new readers will soon figure out, I am a Beachbody Coach.  Why do I mention this?  I mention this because there will be times when I appear biased, and on those occasions I am fully aware of that.  The one thing you can depend on, is that if I don't like a product, or don't use it, I will tell you.  If you post a question about something, I will get you the best answer that I can.  I started the blog to share my experiences concerning my fitness journey, but have decided that there may be an occasion where I post a non-fitness related posting.  I know I am working on one concerning electric cars.

Today, I wanted to address, from purely an editorial standpoint, the obesity problem in the US.  I am not a "hate fat people" person.  I don't.  My personal belief has always been that if you are happy with yourself great.  If you are not, then do something about it.  You don't get to play on both sides of the fence.  You can't complain about being overweight, then complain that you can't get help.  It is up to you.  I don't know of anyone who gained 100 pounds overnight, and I am sure no one will ever loose 100 pounds overnight.  There is no miracle drug. I don't care what you see on TV or in the magazines.  You cannot take a pill and loose weight.  There may be some that help raise metabolism for a short time, but they are not magic.  The only way anyone will ever be successful with weight loss, or weight gain for that matter is through a lifestyle change.  That is what it took for me, and I only wanted to loose 30 pounds.  I also wanted to get fit, and tone up my muscles.  I think have have done well.  I still eat things that are not great for you.  I love pizza and cheeseburgers.  When I go to a hockey game I have two sodas and peanuts.  I know there is a lifestyle change, but I still want to live. I am willing to accept the consequences of my actions.  I know that if I gain 5 pounds over the holidays, then I have to really pay attention to my exercise routine and diet afterwards.  It is up to me.  No one can make me healthy.  Only I can do that.  I have been lucky so far.  I have found exercise programs that I like and will stick to.  I even occasionally use my elliptical and Bowflex.  I am actually looking at ways to incorporate them into my current routines.  I have been working out now for almost two full years.  There were a couple of breaks; one for 3 months and another for 2.  I have paid the price for falling off the wagon.

Ok, back to my point.  There may be many reasons that someone is obese.  There may be personality issues, self image, or just poor choices.  I am not an expert.  What I am is someone that sees more and more obese people demanding special treatment because of their choices.  And yes, I say their choices even though there may be some personality issue as an underlying cause.  Why, because they can get help for depression, self-image and other issues.  They just need to want it.  You cannot eat your problems away.  This is mainly because overeating and obesity lead to other problems.  Again, if you are happy great.  If not, then get help and realize it is a journey.

There are consequences in life.  If you take up two seats on an airplane you should have to pay for two.  Obesity is the leading cause for rising medical costs in the US.  I am not providing a reference for this, but I have read this in several places over the last two weeks.  My concern is that if we as a society do not recognize that we need to change behavior, there are those that feel they will need to make the change for us.  One of the news personalities recently said that obesity was a government problem. If I go to a buffet, I go for the selection.  I don't take, "All you can Eat" as a challenge.  On the other hand, I am not in favor of the buffet police, or some government official telling me I can't have the occasional Big Mac.

To all my friends.  I am not standing in judgement.  Like I said, if you are happy great, if not then get some help.  I will gladly stand by you in your quest.  I know from personal experience that motivation is the hardest part of making a change to get fit and healthy. I have been there and still working at it.

April 9, 2012

First let me start out with my accountability posting for today.  As I said yesterday, accountability is very important to program success.  This is true in any fitness program or with any other goal you want to achieve.  Today was M2Wk1D1.  This is a newer routine for me, so I had to watch the video carefully to ensure I was getting the form clues and other information correct.  The workout is titled Chest, Shoulders and Triceps.  This equated to lost of pushups in various forms.  There is some weight involved but for the most part it was light because of the type of exercise.  Even with the light weights it was a really good workout.  I was toast at the end of it, but continued into Ab Ripper X (commonly referred to as ARX in message boards).  I am seeing some improvement in my abilities here, and in my form as well.  I am looking forward to tomorrow.

Time:  66 Min
Calories burned:  837
MHR:  232 (I don't believe this.  I think my HRM is acting up)
AHR:  163

Hope everyone is having a great day.

April 8, 2012. First Posting

Hello Everyone.  I know there are many people out there like me that want to be fit and healthy, but don't know where to start or how to get help.  I retired from the United States Air Force in 1995 and was in the best shape of my life.  I did this with the help of some very good friends, Kevin, Gary, Phil, and Mike.  We worked together for several years, and they were my motivation.  Kevin and I would run about 4 miles every morning, and the others and I would go to the gym in the afternoon.  From them, I learned what it felt like to be in good shape and they provided the motivation to help me keep going.  I would get up in the morning and knowing that Kevin was waiting a couple of blocks away I knew I could not just skip out on our morning run.  His presence held me accountable to my commitment.  Gary, Phil and Mike did the same with our gym visits.  Since we worked in the same area, when one headed out we all did.  You didn't just not go because you did feel like it.  Again, accountability.

That is what my blog is about.  It is about me being accountable to my dream and fitness goals.  Since I will be posting here each day, I know that I can't just blow off the workout.  As for the workout.  Tomorrow I will be starting month two of P90X.  I started about two years ago with INSANITY and competed it twice.  I have since moved to P90X.  I really like the Beachbody products, and have become a coach.  You will see banners, and references to these products in the blog.  One of the reason I like the programs is that there is an accountability factor that has not been present with other home programs I have used.  I also belong to an online message board and have great friends there with which to share the highs and lows with.  They are all great.  I hope that some of them are reading this blog.  If they are, Thanks for the support.  Getting and staying fit is not easy, but it is worth it.  I will explain why I believe this throughout the blog.  I also hope to share other items of interest concerning health and fitness issues. 

Today's accountability posting.  Today was X Stretch.  For those of you that are not familiar with P90X this is a 60 minute stretching routing.  Flexibility is something we are born with, but lose if we don't work at it.  I am not very flexible, but can see improvement over the last 30 days.  I can also tell that my balance and posture are better.  I was surprised that today was X Stretch because yesterday's workout was Yoga X.  That is 80 minutes of Yoga and Stretching.  It is an awesome workout, but I will go into that later.   Since I did Yoga yesterday, today's workout was pretty easy.  I was still loose from yesterday. 

Tomorrow I begin the Month 2 set of workout routines.  These will be different from Month 1since part of the program is based on the concept of muscle confusion.  The idea being that your body does not become accustomed to a particular workout regime.

See you tomorrow.