Keys to Success in Fighting Obesity

The CDC recently announced that obesity rates have leveled off in the past 10 years. This is both good and bad news. On one hand, our overall obesity rates haven’t increased; on the other hand, neither have they decreased. Despite numerous campaigns aimed at encouraging healthy eating and weight loss, more than two-thirds of the U.S. population is either overweight or obese, an alarming statistic with huge implications for the health and well-being of our country.

In a related article, The San Antonio Express-News stated that it is much too early to celebrate the small victory that at least we are no worse. The article acknowledges that while we’ve seen shifts in society, policy, and education toward becoming more healthy, it will take a long time for those changes to filter down into the general population. It further observes that “…now is the time to double-down on how we prevent and control obesity, and how we interpret the results of those efforts.”

TheAcademy.com’s founder and CEO, Jay B. Rea, shares his insights on the importance of education-based health and wellness programs and their potential to change the perceptions of those needing to lose weight. In it Rea observes that there are five keys to any successful lifestyle change—including weight loss:

• Decide what to change
• Learn why to make that change
• Learn how to break the status quo
• Commit to a plan to make the change easier
• Get support and encouragement while making the change

In the case of obesity, you decide you are going to lose weight. You learn that being overweight can lead to a number of health problems that you’d rather avoid. You learn how to break your current habits so that you operate from a new mindset and perceive your choices and actions in a different way. Then you make a commitment plan to reinforce your new choices. Along the way, you let family and friends know of your decision and ask them to give you support in your healthier choices. Your five keys to success are in place!

What are you doing to make healthy changes part of your life? Have you ever used one or all of the five keys to lifestyle change?