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While I was standing in line I started looking around the room and wondering why we as a nation are getting fatter. Why are so many of us gaining enormous amounts of weight? Read more...

By: David Gluhareff

The other day I walked into what I believe is one of the only healthy sandwich shops available in my area for lunch. I was between clients and had only about fifty minutes to spare. While I was standing in line I started looking around the room and wondering why we as a nation are getting fatter. Why are so many of us gaining enormous amounts of weight?

I want to pose two questions, and then I will give some supporting questions for each, which are more detailed.

Are we just getting lazy by the day?

Are our choices for healthy food selections limited?

Next I will tell you what we need to start doing to turn our lives around for a great health and fitness lifestyle.

Laziness?

Are we really getting lazy by the day? How many times have we gotten frustrated because our TV controller does not work and we have to get-up and manually change the channel? How many times do we take the elevator instead of the stairs? How often do we take our car to a car wash instead of washing it ourselves?

Do we ever just wait someone out in a parking lot to get the spot close to the store without the long walk? Is it easier for us to come home after a long day at work and just eat dinner and watch TV, without going to the gym or even going for a walk?

Limited Healthy Food Selections?

What do we have to choose from? Is it a late night drive-thru for fast food? Do we eat some supposed fat-free chips full of hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated trans-fatty fat? Are many of our choices of low sugar foods just filled with sodium and extra things we do not know are unhealthy? Does low fat sometimes mean high sugar to make something taste okay?

Do we have kids who just want to stop by a fattening fast food restaurant because the marketing geniuses behind the company make it bright and colorful and give it a playground (which many kids are too big and overweight to play on)?

Observation

After going over the previous two questions, we should see that we could relate to laziness and limited food selections much of the time. We have become so efficient and concerned with time and motion as a country that we do not stop to think if what we are doing or eating is affecting us negatively.

Laziness like taking the elevator instead of the stairs may help us get to work faster or get us to the next level of the mall faster, but it will slow our calorie burning process in a huge way.

Stopping by the fast food place for a biscuit in the morning, just because you were late getting out of the house for work is really threatening your cholesterol, body fat levels and other important bodily functions. We need to stop being lazy! We need to understand what are healthy food selections! We should always make time during the day to get exercise.

Get up an extra twenty minutes early for a walk or take time at lunch or when you get home from work. Do not just plop down in front of the TV when you get home and stay there until you fall asleep. Go to the gym. If you are not motivated enough, then call a friend to go with you to the gym. When running errands make the time to park farther away so you can get a little walk in.

When you go shopping at the mall use the stairs instead of the elevator to burn a few extra calories and keep your body's engine revving. If you have a dog take him for a walk. Do not just let him out for a few minutes and watch him from the window. If you can, take the time to wash your own car on a beautiful Saturday afternoon and burn a few calories.

As far as food selecting goes you need to listen-up and take this to heart for your heart. Do not eat fast food unless there is absolutely no other option. Try to keep some snacks in the car such as some unsalted almonds, apples, pears, bottles of water, or some healthy protein bars (see local health food store for info on bars).

Make sure you get up an extra few minutes earlier in the morning to make a healthy breakfast such as some eggs (one yolk and the rest whites) and whole grain toast or a healthy protein shake or a little fruit salad with some low sugar yogurt.

If you do not have the time for a longer wait at a good restaurant for a healthy meal, then bring your own turkey on whole grain bread sandwich or your chicken breast and salad (oil and vinegar dressing) to work with you. If you bring your own you will be able to eat right after your walk during lunch break.

In the evening after work and after you get back from the gym (doing resistance training and cardiovascular exercise) prepare a light dinner of a lean meat and vegetables dinner.

Steam your veggies and grill a piece of salmon and add your favorite spices. This way you will have a light, good quality, low fat dinner after a great workout and a day full of moving around and burning calories.

Healthy Food, Eating, And Calorie Burning Tips

Eat real foods such as fruits, vegetables, and lean meats in small amounts spread out four to seven times all through the day.
Drink water all the time.
Stay away from processed foods such as five slices of sliced lunchmeat for $4.00.
Stay away from fat-free foods which most of the time have fake fats in them which are not usually listed on nutrition labels.
Stay away from greasy foods.
Stay away from foods high in sugar.
Do not eat until you are full, only satisfied.
Exercise regularly with weights and perform cardiovascular exercises such walking, biking, skiing, rollerblading, etc.
Use the stairs, not the elevator or escalator.
Park further away at stores to walk a little.
Take a walk with your dog.
Wash your car to burn some calories.
Join in on area fundraising walks.
Take your kids to the playground and play with them.

We are getting fatter because of our own laziness and the limiting of healthy food selections. We need to stop being lazy and get-up, get-out and burn calories. Our bodies were made to move, so we need to stay active. We should eat moderate amounts of healthy whole foods.

A good rule of thumb should be if Mother Nature makes it (veggies, fruits, nuts, spices, and lean meats), it is healthy enough to eat.

Want to find out how many calories you're burning? Check out our calorie calculator!

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