You can take political correctness and throw it out the window or flush it down the toilet when it comes to your health. Simply stated, it is not OK to be substantially overweight.

I have heard every possible excuse for being overweight. Once you find yours, you quit trying, which is the worst thing that you can do. It does you absolutely no good to find something or someone else to blame on your inability to lose weight. It simply absolves you in your mind of responsibility and makes you feel better. In reality, it should make you angry that you could become complacent on something that is this important.

Waiting until you develop high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, etc. to kick yourself in the butt and get your weight down is like waiting until your first heart attack or stroke to quit smoking. The damage is done. Not that you can’t at that time improve your health by slimming down, but you have already decreased your longevity and raised your insurance rates by waiting.

The earlier you get started the better. As you get older and your metabolism slows down, it gets harder and harder. It also gets more and more important. Getting to and maintaining a healthy weight is much more about diet than it is exercise. The diet change needs to be a permanent one and a lifetime commitment or you will go right back to where you were before.

You’ve heard it all before. Quit snacking, eliminate the fast food, keep alcohol to a minimum and so on. Believe it, embrace it and get it done. Find you motivation. If you can’t do it for yourself, do it for your children. Show them that you can beat your genetics and so can they. Get healthy so you can live long enough and be healthy enough to enjoy your grandchildren.