©
2003 Julie S. Rayburn
Everyone
who has a weight problem, whether it is an
extra 10 pounds or an extra 50 pounds, knows
that they should lose weight. They are told
by their doctors that they need to lose weight
or they will suffer terrible diseases yet
they don't take his advice.
There
are new studies published in the finest medical
journals in the country preaching the benefits
of losing weight, and many newspaper articles
relaying the results of these studies, yet
people still do nothing to lose the extra
weight.
Is
it just that everyone thinks that disease
will not happen to them; that somehow they
are invincible? Or is it that people don't
care because they think they will just be
losing a few years off of their life? Or are
people so overwhelmed with all of the bad
information out there on how to lose weight?
Or
maybe, just maybe, people associate so much
pain with losing weight that a future full
of disease and suffering doesn't seem so scary?
Are you associating so much pain with the
thought of losing weight that you are willing
to give up your life? Are you willing to cut
20-30 years off of your life just to avoid
the process of losing weight?
I
am going to help you associate pain with not
losing weight in an effort to get you to do
what you know you need to do!
First
of all, did you know that fatty deposits are
found in the arteries of 3 year old children
who have been eating standard American fare?
You know, drinking their milk, eating their
chicken and steak, going out to dinner and
ordering off the kids menu. Nothing out of
the ordinary for most American children. This
is the beginning of heart disease.
Now
imagine that you are that child. You ate typical
American fare growing up and still eat it
today. All of these years have gone by and
you have been happily enjoying the meals with
your family, cook- outs, and other food parties.
Barbecue chicken on the 4th of July, turkey
at Thanksgiving, and let's not forget the
Christmas ham!
It's 35 years later and you have spent a big
portion of your life eating the foods that
cause heart disease. You are 20-30 pounds
overweight (you tell yourself that you are
big boned), don't get a lot of exercise, and
think you are too young to be threatened by
major diseases.
So
for 35+ years, heart disease and hardening
of the arteries has been slowly but steadily
getting worse. Then one day you are walking
to your car after a hard day at the office,
and you collapse. You have just had a coronary
artery thrombosis, a heart attack.
Your
life flashes before your eyes. You remember
how your wife begged you to lose weight. You
remember having to tell your kids that you
can't play baseball with them because you
don't have the energy. You are reminded that
your father died of a heart attack at 47.
You didn't get to say goodbye to your wife
or kids.
The
last words you said to your 4 year old daughter
were "I don't have time for a bear hug,
I'll be late for work" as you ran out
the door that morning. And those are the last
words you will ever get to say to her. You
did not survive the heart attack.
Another
life snuffed out before it really began. And
for what? So you could eat one more cheeseburger?
Because you didn't think you were that out
of shape?
You
don't have to be grossly overweight or out
of shape to suffer a heart attack. If 3-year
old children have the beginnings of heart
disease, what do you think is going on in
your body? If you are over 40 and overweight,
you are a ticking time bomb! Any minute you
could be uttering your last words to your
kids, your wife, your husband.
The
diseases associated with obesity develop over
time, but can kill in an instant. The leading
cause of death in our country is heart disease.
The number three killer is stroke, another
disease of the arteries. What is so unfortunate
about this is that approximately 70% of these
deaths could have been prevented. Heart disease
is a direct result of what you eat.
So
what will it take for you to lose the weight
that you know needs to go? If you have Type
II diabetes, another condition reversed through
superior nutrition, do you have to wait until
you are having a foot amputated to change
your diet? Are you waiting until you feel
the chest pain associated with heart trouble
before you lay off the fried foods?
You
may not get a second chance! Your first heart
attack could also be your last!
Are
people so attached to their unhealthy fatty
foods that they are willing to die for them?
Do they really taste that good? Changing your
diet doesn't have to be the end of your life
as you know it.
We
weren't made to eat the fatty American diet
as it has come to be known. We were made to
eat fresh fruits and vegetables. Whole grains,
unprocessed foods, foods that we can digest,
foods that give life instead of taking it
away.
This
doesn't mean that you can't do the 4th of
July barbeque or the Thanksgiving turkey or
the Christmas ham. If you ate fresh whole
foods 90% of the time and indulged only 10%
of the time, you would be in control of what
diseases you let into your body!
With
all that we know about the effects of diet
on disease, to continue to eat the typical
American diet is nothing short of suicide
on an installment plan. Stop letting food
control your life and cause your death. Change
your habits and take back your health!
Julie
Rayburn is a Lifestyle Coach for Vitality
Health and Fitness. She has developed a program
to enable people to lose weight and take back
their health. You can go to http://www.takebackyourhealth.org
for more information on weight loss, exercise,
and health. Sign up for a free newsletter
that is always chock full of great information!
Or mailto: julie@takebackyourhealth.org.
