We [as a society] tend to rush to prescriptions for every issue. High blood pressure? Medicine. A sinus headache? Medicine. Achey joints? Medicine. Need more vitamins? Medicine. You get the idea. But there’s another way to stay healthy (and get healthy), and it doesn’t even require a co-pay! For starters, it requires 9 minutes to watch the video below…trust me, it’s worth it!
I am continually amazed as a physician when patients walk into my office weighing 300+ pounds at 5’10” or shorter and complain about back pain and become offended when I begin discussing their weight as it pertains to their back pain.
We live in a society where blame is never placed on a patient; it is always someone or something else that causes the problems. Rampant obesity in society is the fault of fast food franchises, or the high cost of healthy foods, or blah blah blah.
Regardless of who or what is at fault, people need to take responsibility for their own health and do the things necessary to get their health back on track. And too many times I see people get into exercise programs and fail to lose weight because they merely compensate for their increased activity and caloric demands by eating more.
I saw a statistic recently that the average American weighs 20 pounds more than they did 20 years ago. That is shocking!
I was thinking about your comment this morning, David. I went out for a 6 mile run, and was thinking about when I first started running and 6 miles felt so far that I took a granola bar with me in case I got hungry. Now, I rarely eat on runs less than 12 miles and even then it is on a case by case basis.
But the reason I thought I needed food for an hour of exercise is because even the exercise industry convinces us we do. On a container of Gu energy gels they encourage you to consume them “15 before, every 45 during” activity. Really? So for a 2.5 hour run I need 300+ calories of sugar?
Sadly it’s an easy trap to fall in, especially as more gyms stock smoothies and protein bars as well as weights. People don’t realize how much they don’t need to eat.