Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Healthy, Wealthy and Wise

By Henry John

They say that health is wealth. It's a very true statement. Most people would give all their wealth for good health. Some take health for granted - until something goes wrong and then they regret past excesses or lack of attention to diet and exercise.

When we are young we don't give health a second thought. Looking after ourselves is something we don't worry about. We live life to the full. It's only when something goes wrong that we are brought up short and forced to think about the way we behave as far as our health is concerned.

Diet is somebody else's concern when we are young, we don't worry ourselves about it. All we are interested in is getting more of what we like - which is usually candy, cake and cookies washed down with copious quantities of cola.

Only when we reach our teenage years do we take more note of the way we look. Now we notice if we're fatter than our friends. It starts to matter.

Getting into the right way of eating when we are young is very important. We don't have too much say in the matter, so we trust those who look after us to make the right judgements. Unfortunately, many don't get the right diet - for a variety of reasons.

To be overweight in your early twenties is not a good thing to be. You are probably not aware of what made you overweight and you have very little idea of how you are going to change matters.

The only real way of attacking the problem is to develop an awareness of what caused the overweight state in the first place. In a young person this can be difficult as much of the problem was probably laid down when they were being brought up. Recognising where the fault lies can be complicated.

To make a real and lasting difference it's not diets that are needed, but a more fundamental change in behaviour. The only really successful way to do this is to learn new habits, slim habits, that will enable lasting change to take place.

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