Americans Are Getting Heavier

Socially acceptable body weight is increasing. Why? Because individuals are content with their weight. They are not aware their lifestyles are killing them or that being overweight has severe health-related consequences. They are less motivated to shed those unhealthy pounds now. Let’s face it, it’s easier to keep eating the same unhealthy fast foods and snacking on junk food than to prepare healthy, nutritious snacks.

Many people also avoid exercising or doing any physical activity. Today, both kids and adults would rather sit and play video games on their phones, tablets, or computers than move around. Virtual reality technology is replacing many sports, such as tennis. You can play tennis with a professional without going to the tennis court.

Let’s face it, it takes less effort to keep doing the same thing than to make a complete lifestyle change. Reducing weight is so hard that many people simply don’t want to make any effort whatsoever. Good intentions are ineffective and meaningless.

We all intend to lose weight. We all want to lose weight. Well, maybe most of us. But I’m certain you do want to achieve a healthy weight and maintain it. Until you act and commit to shed your unwanted and unhealthy pounds, nothing will happen. Would you agree with me that nothing about your eating habits will change unless you do something different?

Bestselling author, Dr. David Friedman, in his international award-winning number one best-selling book, Food Sanity stated, “Whoever snuck the “S” in FAST FOOD was a clever marketer. The chemicals that fast food restaurants use have been linked to many health ailments including obesity.” Too often it’s easier and more convenient to pick up a meal at the drive-thru than to take the time to prepare a healthy meal at home. Once this happens, for many of you, like me, the desire to lose weight is kaput. Out the door, gone. We feel guilty for cheating on our diet. We give up and revert to our old eating habits.

If you want to grasp the concept of what extra weight is doing to your body, try this simple exercise. Carry a one-gallon jug of water in each hand for as long as you can. A one-gallon jug of water weighs approximately 8.36 pounds. In other words, you’re lugging around almost 17 pounds of extra weight. After you put the jugs of water down, notice how much lighter you feel. Imagine how much better you’d feel if you lost 20 pounds.

You need to stay conscious of your own weight and the consequences of excess weight because, as I noted above, self-perceptions are changing because it is so common to be overweight or obese. So many people are overweight that we lose perspective. You see so many other people heavier than you that you think you’re fine because you’re thinner. You’re wrong. You’re both overweight.

That’s a consequence of America’s obesity epidemic: the perception of what is normal has shifted.

That reminds me of a story. Some friends were having dinner with us one evening. John mentioned he was going to attend his fiftieth-class reunion. He and his kids had just finished browsing through his high school yearbook when one of the kids said, “Hey, dad, can we see that again?”

“Sure why?” John replied.

His son opened the yearbook and flipped through it. As the pages cascaded, his son pointed out an interesting observation. “Dad, did you notice that all your high school classmates were thin? There aren’t any fat kids.”

“No, not really.”

Lyle chimed in, “Now that I think about it, there weren’t any overweight kids in my high school either.”

Afterwards, I went back home to look through my high school yearbook. Wow, what a revelation. There were only a handful of heavy-set kids, none whom I would consider overweight.

Yet, today, many children in grades K through 12 are overweight, some are obese. Think about how that affects self-perception. Sometimes it takes someone to point out the obvious.

Unfortunately, overweight or obese adults incorrectly believe that their bodyweight is just fine. It’s a vicious cycle. As more individuals become obese, more of them are fine with being overweight, they see others with larger bodies, and they become less motivated to shed the extra pounds. Being overweight is the new normal.

In this politically correct society, many people believe you shouldn’t do or say anything to make overweight people feel uncomfortable. Even physicians walk a fine line. They don’t want patients to have unhealthy bodies but haven’t figured out how to make them understand they need to get rid of weight without offending or appearing insensitive.

Today’s doctors don’t want to intervene. The amount of effort required to understand the patient’s needs for weight reduction is more than many doctors are willing to put forth. Instead, they’re content to write you prescriptions for medication and manage symptoms rather than address your underlying issues. It’s much easier and more profitable for them to prescribe medication than take the time to help a person change their lifestyle.

Some of these same physicians are overweight themselves and don’t see a need to help their patients.

While vacationing with my wife in Costa Rica, I met an overweight doctor we’ll call Randy. He boasted that most of his patients weighed 300 to 400 pounds.

He had to shed 80 pounds before his orthopedic surgeon would do his hip replacement because he had too much fat. He was still 100 pounds overweight. In other words, Randy weighed 180 pounds more than what is considered healthy.

Randy began to tell me that when you get to be his age, money wasn’t as important as lifestyle. I looked at Randy and said, “I understand.”

To which Randy replied, “How could you, you’re nowhere near my age.”

“Yes, I am,” I retorted.

Randy said, “I’m 58. How old are you?”

I replied, “63.”

Randy shook his head and walked away. That was the last time I saw him.

Approximately 61 percent of nurses in the U.S. are overweight or clinically obese. And we wonder why there’s an epidemic of people being overweight? Perhaps we should listen to Robert Kiyosaki who said, “Stop taking advice from people more messed up than you.”