The Western Disease

Symptoms include:
Poor posture; obesity; lack of mobility; lack of stability; poor flexibility--weak. Now, it's not entirely your fault. Our culture encourages these things. The television is on ALL the time, so you spend free time sitting on the couch watching it. Portions just keep getting bigger and bigger, and in our bigger-stronger-faster culture we have developed ways to make food more effeciently, but at the cost of quality.

So, years and years of doing sitting on the couch, watching TV, eating crap food leads to, well... you see the picture. This of course compounds and snowballs until it's VERY hard to reverse what you've done to yourself.

Thankfully, the body is an amazingly versatile and adaptive organism. Little changes every day will make all the difference. Instead of sitting on the couch while you're watching television, do some mobility work. Work your hips, you need it, desperately. Spend some time in the bottom of a squat: heels planted, butt back and down, chest up, pushing your knees open to the side. Twice a week, exercise. I'm not talking about hopping on the elliptical or treadmill. Don't let yourself be fooled, if those worked all that well there wouldn't be only out of shape people on them. Learn how to properly squat and deadlift, they will do more for you than you know right now. Instead of ordering the pasta when you go out, get meat and veggies--not deep fried. Seriously, don't go all vegetarian on me because you want to lose weight. You need protein. Animal protein. Drink water instead of soda. When you go to Starbucks get COFFEE instead of a milkshake disguised as such.(This point I'm rather adamant about, mostly due to my slight addiction to wonderfully roasted coffee).

Little changes here and there. That's all I'm asking for, not a complete lifestyle change. Eventually, the positive and healthy things you do for yourself could snowball as well, as you start to love the way it makes you look and feel. It all starts with a few minutes a day and then consistency over time.

-James