I am luckier than most. I have completely designed my lifestyle around fitness. I have to be in shape or it is impossible for me to do my job correctly. So that means it is easy for me to exercise consistently right…..??? It’s super easy for me to eat healthy….right??? I suppose to an extent it is true. But I think what’s important is to understand how long it took me to get to this level. I think it’s too often that people see someone who has made it to a certain level of fitness and they may think….oh he has good genetics…or wow she probably doesn’t even like chocolate. Take me for example; When I was freshman in high school, baseball first introduced me to the “weight room” from that moment on I always “wanted” a six pack, and veins in my arms….well fast forward 20 years later …and finally I have them…..but it did not happen overnight….I wish I could stress that, I wish I could have you all standing on my shoulders as I eyed a piece of candy, that I knew would only lead to more and more candy…..and feel how  I struggled to not eat it.  I wish you could visualize the back and forth battle it was…..”I can eat just that….it’s not a big deal”….vs “don’t touch that, look at how far you have come”….constant, relentless fight…..let me just fall of a track a second and say….sugar addiction sucks, but breaking sucks even more in the short term..lol….20 years it has taken me to undo what society, and my family put into me in the first 13 years of my life. Actually I once read a study that suggested that by 7 our eating habits are already firmly in place…that’s how early this starts. No wonder it took me 20 years to undo what was so firmly embedded in my mind… So why bring this up….I suppose because I want you to believe that it’s possible to be in whatever sort of shape you would like to be in, but you have to make the effort. You have to take on the responsibility….if you don’t do it for yourself you likely will never do it. Perhaps the only other “person” you may be able to get away with would be doing it for your children…..wouldn’t you like to be able to lift and play with their children (your own grandkids) one day? Ask yourself how likely is that scenario at the rate you are headed…and let’s pretend you who are reading this are doing fine with your health, as I anticipate plenty of you will be…then what about someone you know who isn’t going to be ok in 5 years, 10 years….what can you do today to help that person. Who can you put them in touch with to help change their life for the better? Do we, who are healthy and fit, owe it to the rest of society to help them get out of the rut they are in…to help show them how to be healthier,,,,and ultimately happier??? What do you think? Either that or live inside our Fit little box, with our fit little friends and watch Americas average waistline continue to grow….that is what is happening…how do we stop it…maybe you ask do we stop it?? Or do we act like a New Yorker…and look straight ahead and pay no attention to those hurting around us. I once posted that letting someone who is obese eat at a fast food restaurant is similar in my mind to allowing an alcoholic to have a shot a whiskey….that post offended some people…though I’m not really sure why. …I believe until we as a country are prepared to have these uncomfortable moments and recognize the nationwide epedemic for what it is…then I believe we will never begin to move in the right direction….at any rate it’s been a while buffalo…talk to you all soon..