The Skyrocketing Obesity Epidemic is a Deadly Trend
Recently I had the pleasure of chatting with Natalie Jill who is in amazing shape and has battled adversity many times to get there. We discussed the obesity rate in the United States with trends such as the Dad Bod and Jill says we must hold ourselves to a higher standard. Women who are claiming to prefer an overweight man are often doing so to make themselves feel more comfortable. She is all about self-love but to say you are ok with your spouse or significant other being completely out of shape we would be fooling ourselves. Jill lost her father when he was 49 which was a huge eye-opener for her and how she approaches health. She says her father didn’t drink or smoke but had a Dad Bod and ultimately dropped dead of a heart attack. She feels like if her mom or her would have taken more of a stance that maybe he would still be around. Jill says if you are embracing your husband being unhealthy then good luck to you.
Being Healthy Has Very Little to Do with Vanity
The media often confuses health and vanity. Jill says women should want their significant other to be healthy but that doesn’t necessarily mean having a 6-pack of abs. She appreciates that her husband values fitness but she sees him the same in a range of about 20 pounds. She wouldn’t want her husband on her case if she gained 10 pounds but if she was an unhealthy 50 pounds overweight and he was not encouraging her she feels like that is not love. Jill adds that as a society we often hate on things we don’t have and then wonder why we don’t have them. She says she has had clients in the past who say negative things about people who have the body they desire and our subconscious mind picks up on these feelings which makes it extremely difficult to reach our health and fitness goals. She adds that hate towards others speaks very loudly about a person’s insecurities and that secure people don’t hate on others.
Eliminating Barriers to Become the Healthiest Version of Yourself
Jill says she practices what she teaches and there are 7 important steps in order to achieve your fitness goals but she places a great emphasis on the first 3. A clear vision, a firm decision, and what she refers to as a driving core motivator which is very similar to what many people refer to as their “why.” A driving core motivator is the real reason a person wants to achieve something and it needs to be deep rooted and draw emotions. For Jill her driving core motivators have changed throughout the years and she says they will change for anyone else as well. Her first driving core motivator was experiencing her father’s death at a young age which lead to the strong desire not to end up dead at an early age. Then in 2007-2008 the stock market crashed, the housing market crashed, she gained 50 pounds after having her daughter, lost her job and was going through a deep depression. At that time, her driving core motivator changed to being an example for her daughter. It then shifted again after her business was born and she wanted to inspire and empower others. Jill says your driving core motivator is your strength and your superpower.
In Conclusion
When considering the rising obesity rate in the United States we have a serious epidemic on our hands. Heart disease is the number one leading cause of death and is directly related to obesity in a vast majority of cases. More and more people are dying at early ages due to this overwhelming obesity epidemic. It is extremely crucial for more people to find their “why” and spark the change this country so desperately needs. With projections at 50% by the year 2030, the obesity epidemic isn’t going away anytime soon unless more people take massive action and it all starts with finding their driving core motivator.