THE IMPORTANCE OF HEALTH AND FITNESS

Nadirah’s Perspective

I was at a recent doctor’s appointment and starting chit-chatting with an older woman sitting across from me.  She talked about her health problems and gave in great detail her latest health scare.  However, what I really found interesting was the fact that she was more disturbed by the fact that she had previously lost about 15 or 20 pounds and because of illness, she was fearful that she may have gained that weight back.  Immediately, I felt her pain!  I believe we have all been there… work hard to lose 5 pounds in two - three weeks but gain 8 pounds by the following weekendL.  So why do we punish ourselves with remorse, guilt, worry, and shame over our backsliding? Because we know that we should have put that delicious double bacon cheeseburger down, passed on the second helping of anything smothered in gravy, ignored the ice cream truck with his pied piper music blaring through the area, grabbed cool water versus that cold pop, or ate an apple versus the apple pie ala mode after dinner.    OMG, NOW I’M HUNGRY!!!!!!

Anyhoo, the point that I’m getting to is that some (can’t speak for all) people want to achieve a healthier lifestyle.  Let me reiterate lifestyle because it’s not just about going on a diet and sticking to it.  It’s about eating healthier, exercising (any activity), health care, and overall mental/spiritual/emotional well-being.  Not to brag, but I’m often mistaken to be in my early twenties but only after I lost 25 pounds and really took notice and corrected what I was eaten and placing on my body and hair (chemical-laded lotions, potions, and sprays) on a daily basis.  This enclosed video below was filmed late October of 2011 and can give you a better idea of my past and present weight and lifestyle transformation.

Please understand that I am not on my pulpit, waving a finger, and accosting people about what they should do with their bodies and time.  What I am expressing is the need to make the time to take a closer look at where you are physically/emotionally, question whether you are happy and draft a positive and healthy goal list of what you want your physical/emotional appearance to reflect within yourself and to others in the near future.  For myself, I want to live a happy and energetic life by traveling the world, while periodically indulging in exotic foods.  To successfully achieve that, I know I have to take time to make the brief but necessary sacrifices to reap the rewards during vacationing season.  Besides that, I also know that I am deeply concern about this abnormal wide-spread diagnosis of CANCER, HEART DISEASE, ALZHIMERS, DIABETES, etc.   I prefer to be an advocate in the fight against these potentially grave medical conditions and not an active or expired statistic. 

Just Remember: 

Share the knowledge and not the consistently large plates of unhealthy foods!!!

Troy’s Perspective

Before

As I mature by the day, I have come to truly understand that health & fitness is a fair balance of our ‘state of mind & state of being.’ A healthy state of mind is a mind of peace & tranquility. Those who are stressed live shorter lives than those who are calm by nature.  Of course, what you feed & how you exercise your mind/body directly affects your peace of mind. A persons’ state of being is related to their position in the world, their life/community and satisfaction of self; this belief can be directly related to what generally makes us happy.

Health and fitness are two areas of life that I am deeply passionate about. One comedian jokingly mentioned that, “Diabetes and high blood pressure don’t run in your family, your family just doesn’t run.”  As I examine the joke and really think about the American lifestyle of driving our cars to carry out our daily activities of going to work, the store and home--- we really don’t make time to exercise. Our health is our biggest and most important asset that we have, but we steadily ignore the big companies profiting from force feeding us fast foods and medications (their products). Americans are truly slaves to the taste of sweet and salty foods that we crave daily, due to the diet that is marketed to us by big businesses.  It is a proven fact that we are what we eat and still we wonder why we eat meats that have been pumped with artificial chemicals and wonder why the rate of numerous diseases increase daily (CANCER, HEART DISEASE, ALZHIMERS, DIABETES, etc.).  I can truly say this because I am a true example of this. With family residing in the UK, it was obvious of the questionable life style I was living. While visiting family in London, I had literally eaten them out of house and home and had the hardest time finding clothing that would fit me when I would go shopping.

When I became engaged, I truly looked forward to the future and decided to make a lifestyle change for self.   I noticed that when I was younger, there were only one or two big kids in my class and now there are one or two kids that are of normal weight in the classroom.  Have times changed or is it the food?  The average American is overweight and exercises (work out, not just walking) less than twice a week and eat fast food about 5-7 days out of the week. I know that I was always on the next quest of places to eat that will satisfy my taste buds for the moment.  An older gentleman stated to me that as we are young and feeling invincible, we often sacrifice our health for wealth; but as we mature in age, we sacrifice our wealth for health (as he was a diabetic and heart patient continuously paying money for medications and treatments).  This thought has stuck with me while witnessing many Americans go through this continuous cycle and unfortunately passing it along generation after generation. Who do we really influence by our choices? What habits am I encouraging others to follow? How are my decisions today going to affect others and myself tomorrow?  Am I selfish to just satisfy my urges without helping to encourage a better decision for others?  I pondered these very questions as I grew older and considered who I wanted to share my life with while bringing children into world. As I discovered my purpose, I discovered my power to change for the better and treat my life as it was given to me… as a priceless gift.  As I worked out and lost 70 pounds in one year with consistent workouts, a lifestyle change in my mind and diet, I can truly say that my presence brings power to others knowing that they can make a change for the better and influence others as well. We are only guaranteed one life, so be all that you can be! 

After