Not It!
Guest Post by Heart and Soul Health Coach Mike Fenton
Have you ever played “not it”? A task or chore comes up that no one wants to do but someone must, and you are in a group of people, everyone yells “not it” and whoever yells last has to do the task or chore? Or as kids is was to see who had to catch everyone in a game of tag, or who had to go find everyone in a game of hide and go-seek. You always knew that no matter what the circumstance was, that sometime/someday your time to be “it” would come.
If we get lucky in life we keep those chances of being “it” to a minimum and we are able to sit-back and watch someone else do the work, however when it comes to our personal health we are “it”. We cannot look to anyone else to be responsible for us. Losing weight or not gaining weight all begins and ends with diet. It can all start with something as simple as practicing portion control while eating. Did you know that weight loss is 80% diet and 20% exercise and that by making simple dietary changes you can dramatically improve your health? But you must become “it”, you must take control!
We are in the midst of an obesity epidemic which in turn is spawning an increase in type2 diabetes. Currently type2 diabetes affects 24 million people in the U.S., but only 18 million know they have it. About 90% of those people have type 2 diabetes. Back in the year 2010 it was reported the costs for this disease was a staggering $174 billion a year to our country’s health care system! Type2 diabetes is just one in a number of different diseases that are off-spring to the obesity epidemic. There just too many horror stories in the world today of folks just like you and I losing their entire retirements because of diseases like type2 diabetes because of the co-pays, supplies, and medicines that Medicare did not cover. Folks that had enough money to retire but not enough to manage a chronic disease such as diabetes. Would you want to work your entire life only to give it away for medical treatment/services that you may have prevented just by taking accountability for your personal health by eating better and getting a little exercise in your life? Just by being “it”?
We live in a time where it is expected we take accountability for any action or inaction, we can no longer declare “not it”. If you want to protect your future and the future of those you love it is time to take responsibility.
When you think about the options (taking responsibility for our personal health) or saying “not it” and hoping for the best it would seem the answer is quite simple. If it means cutting out the processed foods and fast foods and replacing them with foods that have nutritional value, isn’t that better than putting your health in jeopardy?
You can start off easy by first practicing portion control. Don’t take so much food when dishing your food up and don’t go back for seconds. Next stop buying the processed foods that contain little or no nutritional value and replace them with something better. There are plenty of nutritious meals you can make at home that are much better for you than processed foods or fast foods. If you wondering where to find these meals visit the internet where there many websites where you can download or copy recipes. Get yourself off the fast-food fix, if it’s served in a box and through a window, look for healthier foods to eat. Lastly instead of saying “not it” say I am “it”, I am going to take accountability for my personal health.
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