Stay Fit

I was at the gym Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday of last week. A couple of things became apparent with all that time there. First, at my age, if I go that often, I will feel it. Second, there is a culmination of very fit people at the gym I use.

A friend of mine is in town over the holidays and wanted to work out with me noticed that everyone in the gym was very fit. I looked around and had to agree. I had noticed several times before that there were a lot of fit people at the gym, but never had it been so overwhelming.

I see this as a good thing.

More and more we are hearing about how North American residents are living sedentary, unhealthy lifestyles. Childhood obesity rates are startlingly high. It's becoming a dire situation. All that being said, what we saw in the gym that day gives us some hope.

I see the key to turning this around is parents being good role models. Young children want to be like their parents. It's a good time to instill habits of fitness and healthy eating. Getting up off the couch and being active starts at home. I'm not saying you have to stop watching television or playing video games but you must balance it with active living.

The problem is, those who know this, are doing it.

The only logical reason why people are not living a healthy lifestyle is they don't understand why they should be.

Unhealthy living leads to unhealthy living. An individual is so tired at the end of the day and doesn't feel they have time to exercise because they barely have the fitness to get through their day. So, as a result, they don't take steps to improve their fitness. Of course, anyone who knows how important healthy living is, doesn't let themselves to get to this point.

So, how do we get the people who live healthy inspire the people who don't? It could be very difficult.

Going into a gym when you are out of shape can be very intimidating but you don't have to go to the gym. Simply go outside or take a walk at lunch. Getting into good sharpe takes time. It can actually be enjoyable but it won't happen unless you take a conscious effort.

So, if you live a reasonably healthy lifestyle, help someone else do a bit better. Maybe, just maybe, we can make things a bit better.