Appropriate Role Models - Breathing Space Blog

Chip Eichelberger, a fountain of energy and ideas, asks a compelling question in his blog, The Light Switch.  The question is "Who is the role model?" Chip is referring to all the shows highlighting people who have lost a tremendous amount of weight. As Chip says:

"Their stories of people can serve as motivation and provide guidance to those who need it. 35.7% of the people in the USA are obese and an amazing 68% of Americans are overweight. My point is this: What about the people who have done what it takes and made the decisions to be in shape their entire lives?"

"Where is the show about the people who have always lead a healthy lifestyle? Only 3% of Americans lead a healthy lifestyle according to the Michigan State study. I am proud to have been a 3%'er my entire adult life and have worked hard to guide my family the same way... Wouldn't it be very useful to study the 3% of people who have been in shape and NEVER gotten out of shape?"

"How were they raised? What did their parents do to create the environment where they exercised together, purchased the right foods, purposely DID NOT have the house chock full of soda, chips, whole milk and processed foods?"

"I think it would be more valuable to make it the cool thing to be a 3%'er than having being overweight and obese as the norm. It has not always been that way. From 1950 through 1960, 33 percent of U.S. adults were overweight and only 9.7 percent were clinically obese, with body mass indexes above 30, according to doctor and author Jeffry Weiss. Obesity was not yet recognized as a disease in the 1950's."

"Obesity was not a disease back then....is it now? Have they changed the definition? The answer is yes, the question is why? I always thought a disease was something that happened to you that was out of your control, not something you did to yourself: smoking, over drinking, drug dependency, obesity, lack of maintaining your body."

"Did you know you can go on disability for the rest of your life and get paid by the government if you are obese? Check out this page from the web site www.DisabilitySecrets.com -- that web site exists to help people get on disability. Obesity is responsible for the largest portion of new disability claims by far and is growing rapidly. There is an entire industry working to get people on disability. There are, of course, many reasons to legitimately qualify, do not misinterpret my argument. The reality is the rate of people going on disability has outpaced the number of people getting jobs the last five years. That is not a good trend."

"If you are not a 3%'er, get started now and see what impact it can have on your life. Share what you do and how you do it with others and be in inspiration!"