Studies now say that 2/3 of all Americans (that’s 200 million people) are overweight or obese. By definition, that means most people – not you, of course, but I’m sure people you know, if I may speak candidly, are FAT. I don’t use that term in a derogatory manner, but to give it more dramatic attention. With all the fitness centers, diet programs, low-everything foods, diet drinks or the now ‘zero’ calorie drinks (how are they different from ‘diet’?), Americans are fatter than ever! How can that be?

Whatever your opinion is on this, there is no doubt that we all have to work together and fix the problem. Why? The US Centers for Disease Control report that excess weight causes high risk diseases, some which we cannot cure once diagnosed because of how those diseases attack our internal organs, bones, and structures that cannot recover once affected. Excess weight causes an increase in health care costs, an increase in missed time from work and loss of wages, an increase in doctor visits (more quality waiting room time), heart attacks, arthritis, sleep apnea, kidney failure, gall bladder disease, birth defects, liver disease, respiratory diseases, a decrease in quality of life, a decrease in life expectancy by 20 years, and another dozen or so adverse health problems. Do I have your attention yet?

Tackling this ‘weight issue’ can reverse or eliminate many things that ail us today. The CDC states that because of being fat, the top three health issues – heart disease, diabetes, and arthritis – cost employers more than $220 billion in healthcare costs. And, an overweight person pays out more than six times the costs of a healthy-weight person, not because of discrimination from being fat, but because the extra weight makes them more sick more often!

So, let’s promise to work together toward a healthier life, which in turn creates a better quality of life. I don’t intend to tell you how to live. However, I do intend to tell you that you can enjoy life to its fullest by being less 'full' yourself. 

I joke often about eating in ‘balance’ when I want that last piece of cheesecake and I just ate my extra ounce of protein to ‘earn’ it. But make no mistake. I am talking about balance in what and how much you eat. Starving to bulimic levels is just stupid. Ladies – guys really don’t like ‘skin on bones’ so don’t over-react trying to become the next anorexic runway model. It ain’t just the clothes that are ugly, baby.

So, it is about balance. If you eat 4,000 calories a meal, you need to find a way to burn 4,000 calories after that meal. This is our year – let’s make a difference and be safe and healthy at home!