I am inspired today by all the ads I see on TV and on the Internet regarding how people can lose weight “fast.” But, how fast is fast? Does the manufacturer claim to shrink the waistline down several inches a day as an Instant fix for obesity? In reality, healthy living isn’t something that can be achieved overnight – especially if you’re considered obese such as I. People are so drawn by the idea of instant gratification that they don’t take time to understand what Proper Health entails.

Understanding Health

Achieving Proper health has nothing to do with pills, expert exercise routines or special diet plans that are seen on the Internet. While some people have to stick to a specific food-type because of allergies or other physical complications, the majority of proper health comes from within. It’s more centered around you and your personal goals, but it requires an understanding of how the human Body works. Knowledge focused around what certain foods do to you and how exercises impact your body is far more valuable that what you can find at the bottom of a pill bottle.

Eating vs Activity
For most people, gaining weight is proportionate to food intake versus Physical Activity. If you’re not capable of burning the calories and carbs, then these will impact your weight gain. A lot of people eat like pigs and snack on cupcakes all day long and never gain the pounds. This is because of two important factors: metabolism and physical activity. Although, both of these kind of go hand in hand. It’s all about teaching your body how to utilize the food you eat efficiently. If there is little to no activity, the body stores components to be used later.

Vitamins and Minerals
Too many people have the mindset that starving themselves is the best way to lose weight. It’s also the best way to cause severe internal damage to yourself. I mentioned this before in a previous post; even fat people need to eat. This is because the Human Body cannot store certain vitamins and minerals for later use. A realistic proper diet would include more of the components the human body needs in order to survive. You don’t necessarily have to eliminate the foods you like as long as your willing to increase the nutrients you need.

The Idea of an Instant Fix Can Be Dangerous

I’ve seen a lot of different ways to lose weight and how it affected many people in a negative way. The idea of an instant fix can be dangerous to the human body if not performed logically. Instead of gaining better health, many of these people wound up with severe physical ailments.

Pushing Yourself Too Hard
In a way, I worry about those obese people in these TV shows who are driven to lose the most weight for a cash prize. I know there is good intentions behind the idea, but it’s the severity of the workout that concerns me. Speaking from experience, I’ve pushed myself to the point of lowering my blood pressure to insane levels and fracturing the bones in my feet. Instead of working into an exercise routine and giving my body a chance to prepare, I pushed until I hurt myself. In reality, I’m lucky that I didn’t push into a heart attack. It happens more often than what you might think.

Improper Eating Results in Various Illnesses and Diseases
Starving yourself of certain components can leave you open to a wide range of illnesses and diseases. Scurvy, gout, low or high blood pressure, anemia and a slew of other things can develop when you deny yourself certain food types. What a lot of people don’t understand is that not every diet will work for every person. People’s physiology is different, and what may work for one could be dangerous for another. You need to discover the eating habits that work best for your specific situation.

For example, I’ve seen an individual who reduced his sodium intake because it was considered “bad” by his mainstream diet plan. It also decreased his blood pressure to dangerously low levels. He didn’t put effort into creating the proper balance for his body. A trip to the emergency room later, he changed his eating habits.

Surgeries
While there may be people out there who might require gastric bypasses or Lap-Band surgeries, many of them are done out of vanity. I am completely against such surgeries, especially since it can be so dangerous. These kinds of operations do not guarantee that you’ll eat the foods necessary to keep the body going. Although this may be one of the most effective instant fix procedures, it can also have potential to be very hard on the human body.

Keeping Your Life in Balance

The key to proper health isn’t focusing on the idea of an instant fix. It’s more related to understanding the importance of a balance with food and physical activity. If you are more active than average, you’re obviously going to need more foods to keep the body going. Those who are less active, such as myself, need less foods and a lower carb intake. This is because we don’t need to utilize the carbs for energy as an athlete would. On a side note, I am increasing my physical activity only because I am tired of being a computer-based hermit all day.

Proper health has nothing to do with the types of products you buy or the logo on your exercise equipment. It’s all about what works for you and creating a balance of what keeps you alive. And no, being obese is not a way to live because you want to enjoy life – it’s a way to die. There is a slew of scientific data that supports how being overweight decreases your survival rate. I don’t mean to sound preachy, but health advertisements that focus on insinuating an instant fix just get me so riled up that I have to vent sometimes.

For me, I am looking forward to being a size that I haven’t seen since the early days of high school. I am looking forward to the feeling of accomplishment and pride I know I’ll feel once I hit my goal weight. I will sing it from the rooftops. Until then, all I can really do is apply what I learn and keep going. I relish in my accomplishments and will never go for the instant fix. I’d rather work hard and be proud of myself for meeting my own goals.

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