I hear people saying all the time that if you don’t vote in the elections you don’t have a right to complain about the decisions made in our government. It is an interesting idea to say the least. Using that same idea, what if I were to say that if you don’t exercise and eat right, you have no right to complain about the high cost of health care? Many of you may believe they are two totally different concepts, but I disagree.

Being overweight or obese, one of the preventable conditions that nearly two thirds of Americans suffer from is a major contributor to nearly every other major disease or affliction. According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), being overweight increases the risk of “coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancers (endometrial, breast, and colon), hypertension (high blood pressure), dyslipidemia, stroke, liver and gallbladder disease, sleep apnea and respiratory problems, osteoarthritis, and gynecological problems.” It has also been linked to depression.

People in America are dying every single day, in some part, due to their own misplaced priorities. Due to long-term ongoing health issues often related to being overweight or obese, people are leaving their loved ones behind with little or nothing remaining to pass on to friends and family. The high cost of medical care has been known to quickly wipe out a lifetime of savings and retirement income.

Many of those who have exhausted their savings blame health care costs. Even the cost of finding and maintaining health insurance keeps rising, but what can you expect when so many of our people are suffering from one disease or another.

America’s government believes that forcing every single person in the country to purchase health insurance is the answer, and many citizens agree. In today’s United States, we tend to seek to place blame on anything but ourselves. Few want to take aim at the true cause of high health care costs and alarming number of disease related deaths in the United States.

Obesity and being overweight in many cases can be prevented with a little daily exercise and by paying a little attention to what you eat each day. It is not that difficult really, and there is nothing new about the concept of living a healthy lifestyle. It is a matter of making a decision to be healthy, and then acting on that decision.

People in America will most often use the excuse that they don’t have time to exercise, or it costs too much to eat healthy, but these same people won’t miss their favorite television show or that stop at the fast food joint after work. They will spend thousands of dollars and countless hours to maintain the car in their driveway, their boat, or their their lawn but will consider a few minutes of exercise and a few hundred dollars on fitness gear to be ridiculous.

Isn’t it time to get your priorities straight? It can be as simple as putting down that donut and trading it for an apple. Set aside the soda pop and grab a cool clear bottle of water, and get you butt up off the couch for a few minutes of cardio or strength training exercise. Expensive gym membership contracts are not required. There are very good options available for exercising at home with experienced guidance and little investment.

Jim Ford is an Independent Team Beachbody Coach and offers people alternatives to expensive gym contracts through home fitness programsdesigned and supported by top fitness professionals. He also helps people learn how they can get started with their own legitimate home business in the fitness industry. Check out one of his Team Beachbodywebsites today!

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