There has never been a time in human history where there was more diet books, personal trainers, dieticians, and access to information and resources about how to get in great shape yet the vast majority of the population in the western world is overweight or obese! This trend has been increasing steadily for decades as global obesity rates have almost tripled since 1990, while overweight has increased by almost 50%! When you consider the costs and the links to chronic disease with being overweight or obese you would think that there would be a stronger focus to address this problem. Unfortunately, there is very little focus given to treating the underlying causes of this problem as the medical world is obsessed with finding cures and magic pills. There are obviously a lot of factors to consider as this is a problem much more prevalent in high income countries and something that has been established in the community lifestyle which is one reason why it is hard to break the cycle. I also believe a serious discussion must be had relating to several interesting questions relating to recording statistics of being overweight such as the use of BMI and lastly the value of being overweight and fit, versus being overweight and unfit. In this article, I will discuss these interesting questions and more in great detail and give you something to ponder about your own health.
Aim for Consistency and NOT Perfection with Your Health & Fitness Goals
People assume that because I live and breathe health and fitness I never make a mistake, or I never feel the urge to eat a hamburger with fries eat a piece of cheesecake and a have few glasses of red wine with friends or my family. And if someone happens to see me out at a function doing exactly this they will tend to give me a funny look as if to say you cannot eat that. The following question will usually be something like – “that’s okay because you will probably go for a 15km run after this to burn off all the calories.” While it is true I do not regularly eat junk food or over-eat sugary desserts, I do not avoid them altogether. And I definitely do not use exercise as a form of punishment to burn off the calories. The secret to staying in great shape and still being able to enjoy the finer things in life is CONSISTENCY! This means you must be consistent with your exercise, consistent with your nutrition, consistent with your sleep, and all the various other lifestyle factors that contribute to good health. The people who achieve great health and fitness results are not perfect all of the time and they do not try to be. They accept mistakes are a part of life and understand the secret to success is to aim for consistency.