This article is the second in a series, where I am trying to explain the reasons for the transformation of our size and shape into obesity. In the western culture, we have a market explosion of advertising in every direction that confuses life with 'need' and 'wants'. There are too many choices for deciding what is right and wrong in life.
In the first sin of obesity, my feelings our over-dependency on the vehicle, meaning the car, creates the worst damage. Using my own experience as an example, I know that if I owned a car, I would never use my bicycle anymore. It is not because I don't like cycling, it just becomes easier and more convenient, requiring less energy to get in a car and drive to the local shops.
Yes it is a nuisance to unlock my bike, put on my helmet, plus all my other cycle gear; but in the summer I can cycle in the sun, smell fresh air and the flowers and not be hassled by angry drivers, if I am not cycling on busy roads (I usually avoid).
This is the danger of having a car; we become "complacent" in our lifestyle. We feel that it is too complex to consider other options in our lives. We don't have time to think of other ways to get around. We as a society have become so dependent on a car for transportation that we do not look outside of the 'box' or car, for new ways to get around.
Now if you look outside of the car and explore other alternatives, you will see a whole new world out there that does not require a vehicle to utilize. By walking or cycling, you will be able to burn off the energy stored on your body, smell fresh air and therefore the roses, which will calm your nerves and energize you with feelings of well being.
This scenario leads on to my second sin of obesity, which is following the trail of fast food living. It is all too easy to bundle the kids in the car for a trip to McDonald's for a hamburger, fries and pop, or to pick up a freshly made pizza on the way home from work; than go rushing home and trying to figure out what you are going to cook for the family!
You have been led by the big corporations to make life easy on yourself and buy the quick and easy food out there; irrespective of whether it is good for you or not. If it is out there, you believe it cannot harm you. So a drive to the local fast food joint and picking up a meal for all the family, will make you feel happy that you have given the family what they want. Then you have avoided a whole evening of planning, preparing and clearing up of all the dinner arrangements.
But isn't that what daily living is all about? To live our lives on a daily basis with quality, we need to take care of ourselves first, which means our own personal care and survival needs; then take care of the family's needs. If we don't like doing it, then why have we become so complacent in making things so much easier for taking care of ourselves and our family?
By avoiding shopping for groceries that we cook on a daily basis to feed ourselves and our family; we are feeding the wealth of these franchise corporations like McDonald's, Burger King and Pizza Hut, who provide poor nutritious food that are not benefiting the overall health of yourself and your family.
It may be your fatigue is caused by inadequate nutrition from unhealthy living, where you do not see the types of foods being served in the fast foods chains. It is far better for you to shop for food on a more regular basis in a supermarket that receives daily organic foods, so that you and your family are gaining the correct nutrition on a daily basis.
My father taught me a valuable lesson in life, which I would like you to absorb, as a way of fighting obesity: "Keep Life Simple". It means more to me, because I can cycle to specific stores for fresh cheeses, home-made whole wheat breads, and home-grown vegetables. I even cycle out to farms to pick my own strawberries, blue berries and other fruits or vegetables.
The box is your car. If you look travel outside your 'box' and explore your area on foot, or by bicycle; you will see a whole new world of natural and healthy produce available that can offer you a simpler and better quality of life. It will become a better life, where you can breather fresh air, smell the roses and live a far simpler life than living inside your box and never venturing out!
The author Gail McGonigal is an Occupational Therapist by profession, who has her own e-business that is creating an active lifestyle of living for people with aches and pains in their joints. Gail has not only the professional knowledge and experience, but also the personal experience of resolving scoliosis in her back and wants to help you resolve your back problems through selling ergonomic chairs for comfortable sitting: http://www.activelivingsolutions.net/big-and-tall-chairs.html.
Gail has overcome severe osteoarthritis in her hands by drinking alkaline water as part of her lifestyle: http://www.activelivingsolutions.net/healing-water plus fears of becoming obese. She now lives a productive quality of life in Vancouver, riding her bicycle and building on her active living website. Her goal is to help people that are overweight not to focus on food that creates a negative spiral of obesity; but to learn to have an active lifestyle which will lead to a better quality of life without the focus on food.