Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Australia Surpasses the U.S. in Obesity!

"I have great confidence in you; I have great pride in you. I am filled with encouragement; I am overcome with joy in all our afflictions." - 2 Corinthians 7:4

I was listening to a conference call with Craig Ballantyne of Turbulence Training last night. He mentioned that he sells many of his programs to people in Australia. Originally, he thought Australia was a very fit country even though he sold many of his training products to their citizens.

After speaking with a trainer in Australia, he found out that most Australians are actually overweight and many are even obese. I would have been surprised hearing this last night, however, my friend (Dan) in D.C. sent me a link to this article a couple days ago - CLICK ME!

I was a bit shocked when I read the article because, just like Craig Ballantyne, I thought Australians were much more fit than Americans. However, we now see that the obesity epidemic is spreading across the entire world.

As I mentioned in my previous blog, even the Japanese (a culture known to be fit and live long lives) are now trying to combat obesity.

This has become a world-wide epidemic. We need to do something about this sooner rather than later. It's affecting the quality of life for every man, woman and child in the world in which we live, and it's terribly expensive on the healthcare system.

Even with the amount of information available on the internet about nutrition and training, many people don't know where to begin or what to do.

Here are a few simple ideas everyone can implement today:
  1. Eat more fruits, veggies, lean meats and healthy fats from fish, fish oil, nuts, seeds, avocados, peanut butter and olive oil.
  2. Eliminate processed foods from your diet - If it comes in a box or is man-made, don't eat it!
  3. Avoid soda (diet and regular), candy and anything made with high fructose corn syrup.
  4. Avoid fast food and fried foods.
  5. Read labels more carefully!
  6. Drink more water each day.
  7. Eat 4-6 small meals per day.
  8. Move more! Take a walk each day for 20-30 minutes. Park at the back of a parking lot and walk to the store. Take the stairs instead of the elevator.
  9. Hire a trainer or buy results-proven training programs that you can do at home or in your garage and backyard (see some of the links on my blog!).
  10. Get 7-9 hours of sleep each night. Keep your room dark, quiet and cool. Try to keep electronics (phones, TVs, computers) out of your bedroom (they disrupt sleep)

By incorporating a few suggestions from the list above, you will help reverse some of the damage caused by poor nutrition and lack of exercise that can lead to obesity and a variety of health problems including diabetes, heart disease, cancer and more!

For some excellent training programs, DVD's and more that you can do at home, be sure to check out Art of Strength.

For a jump start on your fat loss, you can also check out the Warp Speed Fat Loss program.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hey, I thought I coined #2. Where's my credit!? :)