It is ironic that the land of the free is under the helm of obesity. With its advancement in information technology, it seems that nutritional knowledge has yet to be dispatched. Monitored workout and diet, tagged with sufficient information and fitness instructor, is needed to win this battle. A fewer trips to the local fast food joint and a walk from the couch to the kitchen simply will not do.

Obesity, in layman’s term, means that you have an excess amount of body fat—not muscle, not water and especially not bone mass. This may be caused by the lifestyle of an individual. A life of processed food, microwavable dinners and idle existence contribute to this condition. This is a typical weekend, laying in the couch drinking soda (or liquor) with a bag of chips while watching television. But at present time, this is happening everyday. Monday: huge portions of food and no exercise. The following day, same thing. And this will go on until someone decides to get up and change his lifestyle.

When one is obese, more often than not, you’ll encounter these problems: hypertension, stroke, sleep apnea or type 2 diabetes just to name a few. Let us first tackle hypertension or high blood pressure. When the force of blood against the artery walls is too strong, that is hypertension. The damaged cause by this force may lead to other heart problems. Which leads us to the next, stroke. Loss of brain function by reason of interruption of blood supply in parts or the entirety of the brain, this causes stroke. Same is connected with hypertension. Blockage or rupture of blood flow may be caused by clot, which forms in the blood vessels within the brain due to the long term, damaging effects of high blood pressure. Third is sleep apnea. Simply put, this is characterized by pauses in breathing during sleep. Obesity often contributes to obstructive sleep apnea. While central sleep apnea results from a problem with how the brain signals the breathing muscles. Last would be diabetes. Chronic obesity may lead to increased insulin resistance that can develop into diabetes. When the pancreas is not able to produce sufficient insulin or the body refuses to use the insulin appropriately---type 2 diabetes occurs.

With all of these diseases, let us now turn to the preventive measures. Proper food intake, monitored workout or a little help from fitness trainers, all of these are helpful. And all can be obtained through a fitness and nutrition training. That’s the upside of having your own certified fitness instructor. Because he will assess your current condition and from there, he will work with you, educate you and motivate you. This is more than mere stretching---motivation and determination of the person is a factor. A person may break under pressure and abandon the program but with professional help, the trainer will identify and set reasonable exercises and time frame for you to attain your objective. Also, they will focus on individuals who require special treatment due to health scares. Remember, there exists a thin line dividing healthful living, being overweight and obesity. And the diseases mentioned above, all of those may be prevented. With the right attitude and proper weight training nutrition, you will not succumb to the epidemic that is obesity.