Living Healthy

One of the best things that you can do in your life to keep your self healthy is to work out. Yes, eating healthy helps, but working out keeps your body functioning. So eating healthy and working out could create a barrier against many of the diseases that plague our world. Many people aren't sure what to do to lose weight, and many think that it is okay to eat fast food and never work out, as long as they stay within the calorie limit. Well, that's not true. Our bodies all work differently.

Some people have faster metabolisms than others, and for those of us who have to work harder to lose weight, easting fast food can be a death sentence. My last visit to the doctor had me shocked. My cholesterol was above the recommended range. I kinda freaked out seeing it, and have knocked a lot of things out of my diet. For one, sodas are the devil. STOP drinking sodas, they will be the death of you. For those that think diet sodas are better, think again. It's worse because there are more chemicals in there to make it diet. Weird huh?

Along with no more sodas, stop eating out. Go to the grocery store and buy healthy foods that will keep you from going to a restaurant to eat. Even if you are not going to fast food, a lot of restaurants dump salt onto their foods to make them taste better. And, if you have to go to a restaurant or fast food, McDonald's has a caesar salad with grilled chicken that is around 200 calories. I am pretty sure that most other fast food and sit down restaurants have healthy choices, they just choose not to advertise them. Also, instead of getting a small snack, choose a side salad instead. Many places have them for less than $3.

For me, changing from living on fast food, to living a healthy lifestyle has been hard. Growing up on fast food can make it hard to get off. But I know that this change will have benefits later on in life. I recently read that 16% of people would trade one year of their life to have the perfect body, but for most cases, it could take less than a year to build the perfect body. And when I say perfect, I mean inside and out. Also, perfect doesn't have to be meat head muscular. To me, the perfect body means a body that can withstand sickness and can run a mile and be ready to run more.

Living in Houston, where we were once considered the fattest city in the US, I am tempted with a fast food place on every corner. I know it is hard, I've had relapses, but now I look forward to my future life and being there when my grandchildren are born.

"All men are created equal. No matter how hard you try, you can never erase those words." Harvey Milk