We all know the joke – You go to a fast food restaurant and you order the burger, the fries, the gravy, the extra-big-everything, and then the diet soft drink.  And people you are with snicker and make fun of you saying that if you eat all that you are going to get fat.  That may very well be true, but it isn’t just the food that makes us fat.

       Many people spend at least eight hours a day at work sitting at a desk, even more time at home doing personal computing, and then sit in front of the TV.  With so much distraction it is no wonder today’s kids are fatter and more unhealthy than that of previous generations.  We have things like Playstation, X-box, non-stop Internet, non-stop television, the list goes on and on for excuses to make us sit on our butts and do nothing.  All the while we’ve got the “super big” or “twice the” or “60 per cent more” whatevers to stuff our faces with.  One thing we often overlook is that physical movement is important for burning calories, shedding pounds and staying fit.  Are any of us as active as we should be to lead a healthy lifestyle?

       Critics are quick to blame the fast food restaurants for making us fat.  They even make documentaries showing what happens if all we eat is fast food and not exercise for a certain period of time.  Did we really need something like this to tell us that greasy fries, fatty burgers and the large milkshake are bad for us?  And restaurants aren’t shoving the food down our throats.  We are making the choices to get the biggest everything on the menu, leaving us so full that at the end we don’t want to think about food until next week.  “All you can eat buffet” are words that most of us love, and how many of us are disappointed that we can’t take leftovers or extras home after those dining experiences?  But if we spent one hour eating at the buffet, are we actually spending one hour being physically active afterwards?  Probably not, as many people say they “can’t move” after eating so much.

       At the same time, people are spending hundreds and thousands of dollars on “low carb this-and-that” and diets that either starve you or make you miserable because you can’t eat what you want.  Why are people spending money on losing weight when you can be doing something that is free?  I am talking about movement.  You don’t have to pay to go for a walk outside, or stretch you arms and legs in the house.  The publishing industry is loving all the attention the diet books are getting.  These people are making money telling you to do some pretty outrageous things in terms of changing your diet but is any of that as effective as getting active?

       Not to say the doctors in these books are incorrect, but there just seems to be less motivation to get up and be active these days.  We see the fine print on infomercials for weight loss products that “Individual results may vary” and that it should be part of a regular exercise routine.  It’s not just about what we eat.  It’s about what we do after.  I don’t count carbs or document everything that I eat.  In fact, I can pack a salad, appetizers, and a whole pizza in my stomach and still be hungry.  I’ve been to restaurants with carb-counters who won’t eat the crusts on the bread, or eat the breadbowl from the salad.  I eat them all and I’m far from overweight.  But it’s a matter of your lifestyle.  I forever have a bottle of water by my side and consume several litres everyday.  I also stay active and go for walks frequently.

       My 80-year-old grandparents are still active and vital in the community, always going for walks and rarely sitting inside all day.  They are from before the times of television and computers.  At the same time, they are more healthy than many of the youngsters today.  We are in the technology age.  We have so many more reasons to not get up off the couch or leave the house.  There are plenty of people I know that, from the second they walk in the door from school or work until the time they go to bed, are glued to a computer screen and playing. 

       Before we sit down and add up the “points” for eating this food or count the calories and carbs in that meal, maybe we should be working on a physical fitness routine that can go along with our eating habits where we are active for a longer period of time than we are sitting eating.