So what if I never left the 80’s? The 80's were radical man. Or was it knarley. No, wait, it was "awesome, totally awesome." Anyways, as a holdover from that era, I still play video games. No more Pong or Space invaders, but Skyrim instead. So there I was, searching YouTube for some help with my game when I found a video called “Skyrim meets metal.” Metal as in “heavy metal” I wondered? I had to listen.
Within moments I was taken back to my younger days when I used to live on this stuff. Parachute pants, winged hair and loud heavy metal! Mind you, this is nothing like the 20 year older version of me now. These days I’m more KVIL than Motley Crue. So, clearly, things have changed, and change is good, right?
Fast forward to today. I attended a local bridal show as a vender for my Body Transformation studios and had a little booth set up. One sign offered “Free Body Fat Testing” and the other said “Enter to win 10 free personal training sessions.” So I sat there and watched dozens upon dozens of soon to be brides walking right past my booth and stopping instead at the cake booth, the coffee bar and such. Did you know that over 30 percent of Texans are literally obese? Let that word sink in a bit. Obese. Not over weight, not chubby but rather OBESE. From what I saw today, I think that number may be understated.
What I did see was absolutely disheartening. These overweight women would look at my table, see that it was nutrition and fitness then walk away as fast as they could. A few gave a really ugly look as if I were selling cow manure at the show. It just hurt me inside to see this happening over and over as if they were following a script or directions from someone in the hall.
So I began thinking, remember when it was a stigma to be overweight? Remember when you wanted to look good and feel good and being overweight was less “accepted” than it is now? Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not saying that people who are overweight are flawed or bad people; Quite the contrary in fact. What I am saying is that because it is so “socially acceptable” to be overweight now, we are headed down a dead end road that ends with strokes, heart attacks and diabetes. And, don’t forget the fact that you feel horrible, have no energy and are generally prone to depression on the way!
So, maybe I am not “hip” by still believing that we should try to maintain a healthy weight and lifestyle. I’ll admit it. I hate this new change, and more importantly, I hate what it is doing to our kids. They are actually beating every generation before them in the race to be obese and that is OUR fault.
If you are like me and do not agree with being “PC” when it comes to your own health and that of your family, then make a commitment with me right now to be a leader in the fight to be healthy. You and I both grew up watching Rocky movies. We know what it takes. Get back in the fight and adopt your old mindset again. Turn up the Twisted Sister “We’re Not Gonna Take It” on your jam box and let’s do this. Just leave the old Jordache in the closet, ok?
-Ron
Writers Note: All the above went into my article for Starwood Newsletter which is really a magazine for Starwood. Now, heres the rest: seeing those people today made me appreciate to a new, higher level the people that we have training at UB. Every single day I see people kicking serious A in the gym, making a HUGE difference. It is beyond me to think that there are really such lazy, un-motivated, overweight people out there as what I saw today. How do they do it? How do they wake up each day and face the mirror? How can you have roll upon roll of deady fat on your body and not want to do a single thing about it?
More importantly, how do I reach them? How can I help them? Maybe the better question is this. Since we GET IT, how can WE help them?
Embarrassment, shame and some of that depression made them walk/run on by. EVERYONE is battling the bulge...those that have it and those that want to help them lose it!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your thoughts on this! I think society today is the byproduct of the era of convenience. Fast food, fast mail (email), fast access to information with the simple type of a keyboard. The latest craze is fast weight loss. It never ceases to amaze me when I hear the ads about losing weight with the enthusiastic "with NO excercise" teaser. WHAT?? Really?
ReplyDeleteThe other big thing going on is the movement of "embracing ones self". Embrace your curves, embrace your differences. I think it is important to love who you are, but I honestly don't think that overweight people are really happy deep down. If it was said "embrace your unhealthiness" would they be so willing to join the movement? I don't think so, but isn't it the same thing? High BMI is unhealthy and leads to so many medical issues as we age.
Retail stores have joined the movement by offering plus size "cute" clothes and why shouldn't they? There's such a huge demand.
I have a child with learning differences. I don't tell him "embrace your differences". That's CRAZY. I tell him that I understand how difficult it is for him to learn and do well in school but with hard work and commitment he can push himself much further than anyone would have imagined. He may not be the top 10% of his graduating class, but he'll be a strong, confident, fearless young adult who appreciates the value of hard work. I believe in him!
The key to helping people "get it" is to crack code. Help them see that healthy living breeds confidence like they have never known and it is not possible to be too old, too overweight, too non-athletic or too busy to make the change. It's NEVER too late to join the fitness movement and to embrace HEALTH.
Thanks for all that you and your trainers to to help so many make the change!