Paying The Price To Be Obese

Now I have been doing quite a bit of research on the cost of healthy living vs. the cost of obesity or inactive lifestyles. I hear many people say they can't afford to go to the gym or buy workout equipment or afford healthy food (I think that's a lame excuse). You will be surprised on how much it cost to be in shape instead of being overweight and out of shape. 1/3 of U.S. population is obese. In Tennessee 37% are overweight and 31% are obese. This is out of 4.7 million adults that live in Tennessee. According to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) the average obese person spends $1,500 more than the average-weight person on medical expenses. Obese people will also spend $1,400 more in medication than the normal-weight person. The average medical cost per year is $147 billion. Obesity also affects the state's economy. In Tennessee, the medical costs associated with adult obesity were $1.8 billion dollars in 2003. That's a lot of unnecessary spending! Of course most of that spending is going to medical care for Diabetes, Heart Disease, Hypertension (which can lead to strokes), Gout, Civer disease, Cataracts( people with diabetes have a greater risk) and other disabilities from being overweight. 100,000 people die every year from being obese. 100,000! That's something that needs to be changed! Now I'm not saying that overweight people are the only ones that spend a lot on medical care because there are some slim men and women that are just as unhealthy. Just because you are slim or have the "ideal" looking body does not mean you are healthy. If you're not eating right and you're not exercising, then YOU ARE NOT HEALTHY!

Okay lets break down some things real quick. Let's talk about the price of cooking at home vs. buying fast food. I know most people think it's more convenient to stop and get something from McDonalds or KFC instead of cooking lunch for work or cooking dinner at home. It might be convenient for the moment, but later down the road its going to cause so many more health problems if this is something that's apart of the normal daily routine. I know people personally that eat at some type of restaurant 4-5 days out of the week. That's not good! It's not good on the bank account and it's not good for the body. The number one excuse I hear is I don't have time to cook. Oh, you have time! The time it took you to drive in traffic to the restaurant, sit down (if its a dine-in restaurant), order the food, wait for them to cook it and then finally bring it to you, you could have cooked it yourself at home and ate for a lot cheaper. But people are always so "busy". Anyway, let's compare the cost of cooking a HEALTHY meal at home vs. eating at a restaurant. The average size family (parents and 2-3 children) can have a meal at home (meat, 2 vegetables and a drink) for approx. $10-15. Going to a fast food restaurant will cost approx. $15-20. Now take the same amount of family members to a restaurant like Logan's Roadhouse or O'Charleys and I guarantee you will spend over $50. So you do the math see how much it cost annually to eat at a restaurant almost everyday out of the week.

Let's talk about the price of a gym membership and we'll be done with this subject... For now. The average cost of a gym membership in Nashville is about $20-40 per month. That's not including personal trainers or anything like that. In my opinion that is affordable. That's where wants vs needs come in. You want to spend your money on spas, hair, alcohol, tobacco, clubs, clothes, shoes and etc. That's understandable. I mean some of you work hard for the money you make. But you need to be healthy to live a long life. I'm not saying that eating healthy 24/7 and working out will keep you from ever going to the hospital for health related issues or dying at an early age, nor am I saying you have to eat healthy and workout everyday but it definitely reduces the chances by a large percentage. With the economy still a little shaky, I know many people really can't stretch out their money anymore to get a gym membership. That's is also understandable. You can workout at home. Do some push-up and Sit-ups. Go walk or run around the neighborhood or the park for about 30 minutes. Go outside and play with your kids if you have some! Take the stairs at your job instead of the elevator. Just do something active!

Let me drop another stat on you. 38% percent of obese people in Tennessee watch 3 more hours of Television per day. I've heard almost every excuse in the book why some people can't exercise from "I don't have time" to "I don't want to mess up my hair." But that's all they are, excuses. If you give your boss at your job a lot of excuses on why you can't come in to work or why you're always late, you will eventually be replaced. Keep giving excuses why you can't or won't exercise and your "normal" life will be replaced by health problems and frequent doctor visits.

Something I learned recently at STEPS Fitness in Nashville is, "It's not the fat itself that's causing a person to have health problems, it's being inactive that causes the health problems which will ultimately cause the person to be overweight or obese (fat)."