So, I was working out with a couple of my friends last week.  One was in good shape, the other, we’ll just say “not as good of shape”.  Within a few minutes, the latter of the two, was wheezing, and then within a couple more minutes, he decided to throw up.  But guess what.  He got back up on his feet, and started working out again.  I can’t remember exactly what exercise we were doing, when he stopped, on his knees, and said, “I’m so fat.”  I thought this was one of the funniest things I’d ever heard, at the time.  It still is pretty damn funny, but it just got me thinking.  Why ARE so many of us “so fat“?  I will not take genetics as an excuse.  I know certain people are predisposed to keeping fat on, some lose it easily, and some can’t gain weight without effort, but all of that is modifiable.  I mean, you look at the tv and you can see infomercial after infomercial with 400 pound people on there who are now down to 130 pounds with the help of whatever gimmicky product they are promoting.  I’m not saying the product worked, but SOMETHING worked for these people.  I think in Las Vegas at least, this whole lifestyle is set up to make you fat.  Going out all the time, lack of quality healthy restaurants, your social status evaluated by how much alcohol you can actually drink in one night, and on and on.  I mean, for a city of 2 million people, there aren’t a ton of healthy options.  Drinking, smoking, gambling, and more drinking prevail here.  Case closed as to why my friend said what he said.  But, he has options.  He doesn’t HAVE to drink, no matter how many people say, “come on man, just one shot”.  Doesn’t matter how many people say to him, “come on man, how often am I in Vegas?”.  He can stick to his guns, and drink water, still spend time with these people, and wake up the next day and work out.  Problem is most people don’t do that.  So, if you are in that population, ask yourself WHY you don’t do that?  What about drinking makes you feel good?  How does it make you feel better than a workout?  I believe it’s because of instant gratification.  Most everything that gives you that feel good feeling right away, isn’t really good FOR you.  Our society has become this place where whatever it is, we want it now.  I definitely have fallen into that trap myself.  I do have to dig myself out from time to time, but if you see those holes coming, you will be less likely to fall in.  Most people want fitness results quickly too.  So when they see the newest TV workout craze, they jump on.  When they haven’t lost a pound in two weeks, guess what happens.  They stop, and go back to not working out.  Same thing goes with food.  I’m in this boat too.  If it takes longer than five minutes to make, most people aren’t eating it… unless someone else makes it for them.  So what happens is these fast food places, and seemingly healthy choices, which are not healthy at all, become the norm.  It’s much easier to get a smoothie filled with sugar, and a wrap that has tons of processed chemicals in it from a smoothie shop, than to make them both yourself.  You could save tons of worthless calories, not to mention chemicals that muck up your internal systems, if you just took the time to prepare.

Anyway.  I think I find myself rambling here now.  My point is, people aren’t taking responsibility for their own actions when it comes to their weight, nutrition, and physical activity.  They blame it on time, work, and other errands.  If you tell me you can’t work out for ten minutes a day, I bet you I can tell you 5 different areas in your day where you can work out for 20.  Seriously go through your day, hour by hour, and figure out what exactly you do for those 24 hours.  There will be way more free time than you think.  There will obviously be the exceptions to the rule, but for most of us, a lot of the day is wasted.  If you work in an office, why are you sitting in a chair all day?  Get up, move, buy a stability ball.  Do 10 pushups at the top of every hour.  There are ways around it, we are just too lazy as a whole to do it.  Over the years, we’ve lost discipline to technology, believe it or not.  Nothing is manual anymore, so it makes us want to move less.  So let’s realize this, and do something about it.  The question isn’t “Why Are We So Fat?”.  The question is” What Are We Going To Do About Being So Fat?”.  So… What are we going to do?