Tim Terrio: Count the Costs! Can you afford it?

Can you really be healthy? Will I ever be able to lose weight and keep it off? The percentage of Americans that are now considered overweight or obese continues to rise, in some areas of the country passing 60%, but at the same time there are reports that 95-98% of diets fail. You might think “So what! Yeah I could stand to lose a few pounds but what’s the big deal.” OK but consider this…Can you afford to be fat? Can you afford to be unhealthy?

A recent study from George Washington University added up the cost of being overweight and obese and found, “The individual cost of being obese is $4,879 a year for women and $2,626 for men.” They considered obese as anyone with a BMI of 30 or higher. But wait there’s more…they also found that Obese workers had a 76% increase in risk for short-term disability as well as a decreased life expectancy of five years in men and four years in women. But wait there is still more…
A study from Ohio State University found that for everyone unit increase in a young person’s BMI (again starting at 30 was associated with an 8% reduction in net worth. As if those numbers were not scary enough consider this, the increasing percentage of people becoming overweight and obese are causing other statistics to change. From 2007 to 2012 there has been a 41% increase in costs associated with Diabetes. If you are overweight and either have type 2 Diabetes or are on the road to being diagnosed with it adds these costs to your number. The average medical costs for people diagnosed with diabetes is $13,700 per year. But wait there is still even more…indirect costs of having type 2 Diabetes include:

increased absenteeism ($5 Billion per year in the USA)
reduced productivity of working adults ($20.8 Billion per year in the USA)
inability to work as a result of the disease ($21.6 Billion)
lost productive capacity due to early mortality ($18.5 Billion)

Now let’s consider another disease with a direct link to being overweight or obese, Heart Disease:

1 in 4 deaths in the United States is due to heart disease.
1 in 3 adults (80 million) in the United States have some form of heart disease, stroke, or other blood vessel diseases.
Number of heart attacks and strokes that occur in the United States: 1.5 million/year.
Heart disease and stroke cost the nation $312.6 billion*/year in health care costs and lost economic productivity.
At the current rate of growth heart disease will triple in the next 20 years.

As you can see the economic impact of being overweight or obese is substantial and yet we are faced with the stark reality that 95% of diets fail so is there really a sustainable solution to this problem?

We are immersed in the information age, with unprecedented access to information and yet we are failing at an extremely high rate. There are a variety of opinions out there about how to lose weight and get healthy, everything from 'the law of positive attraction', to 'prayer', to reading books or attending seminars with 'experts.' Is the secret to success and having what you want really as simple as sending out a 'prayer' or simply creating a desire for something you want and then it will find you? Most 'experts' tell us that the key is to write goals, not just any goal but a SMART goal (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-based). Most New Year's Resolutions are perfect SMART goals..."I will lose 30lbs by June". Is that goal specific, yes. Is it Measurable, yes, just have to step on the scale. Is it Achievable, absolutely! Is it Relevant, it is if you have more than 30 lbs. to lose and is it time-based, yep, by June. Does it fail? Only 95-98% of the time. What if suddenly the priority changed and it was no longer something you wanted to do to look better, but something that a loved one needed to do?

It all starts with a full understanding of yourself, why you believe what you do, where you want to go and preparing and executing that journey. "Life Pioneers: The Edge of Possibility" can get the process started (available on Amazon and all TERRIO Therapy Locations). I will soon be announcing new programs to help people get control of their health and create the life they have always dreamed of but start planning out your journey today!!