SWEAT It Off- Part 1
Australia has much to be proud of on the international stage. We are a country with a short history but long list of champions and highly successful people.
Our musicians have been world class for a long period of time, from Dame Nellie Melba through to Kylie Minogue; from Roger Woodward to INXS.
We have a long list of champions on the sporting field, from the Bradman IX through to our current Olympic Champions in Women’s Rugby Sevens, from our first Olympic Gold medallist in 1896, Edwin Flack, through to Cathy Freeman.
Aussies have been extremely prominent in the movie making business, with famous names like Errol Flynn, Mel Gibson, Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman being some of the biggest names in Hollywood.
The list of successful, prominent Australians goes on in numerous fields of endeavour. We have world class scientists. Australians have made huge breakthroughs in the medical field. We shine in the IT and manufacturing industries. Australia is renowned for being relatively safe and peaceful. Our economy is strong. We are indeed, a country with much to be proud of. Australia is still the “lucky country”.
Aussies can be proud of the fact that we have built a reputation as being hard workers who can maintain a good sense of humour in tough times. The fact that we are one of the world’s top tourist destinations is a great reflection on our generous, relaxed nature and our beautiful, awe-inspiring country.
Unfortunately Australia has recently come very close to hitting the top of the international list as being the country with the most overweight and obese people. Yes, you read it correctly, we are very close to being WORLD OBESITY CHAMPS. Only the USA leads us in obesity/overweight rates in the international rankings.
The number of obese children in Australia has drastically increased in recent years. Australia now has more obese children under the age of five than every country in the world, including the United States. Thus we are the World Champs in this 0-5 age category. There is a very high chance that obese children will become obese adults and contract a disease or have serious health issues.
This blog is all about what we can do to swing these figures around so that we can one day become a top ranking nation at the other end of the scale, or in other words, a nation of fit people, not a nation of slobs. Quite frankly, that’s what we currently are, a nation of slobs. I know, you are reading this and thinking, “But I am super fit”. That’s great; but take a look around. All the figures clearly show that we are continuing a downward spiral.
I’ll be giving people tips to people on how they can make simple changes to their lives, and to the lives of their children, so they live their lives at a healthy weight. I’ll also being showing how much money you can actually save on the way to losing weight.
If you are a recreational runner and/or fitness enthusiast who is still carrying a fair bit of weight, this blog will be loaded with tips on helping you shed the pounds. Let’s start tackling this serious overweight/obesity issue head on. So stay tuned for ideas and tips in this blog over upcoming weeks and months.