Welcome to THEJNSREPORT’S: Battling For Fitness, Health & Healthy Living 😀 I recently came across a post from a fellow blogger Venus Lotus who was sharing a post about actor Wentworth Miller.  In the post there was a before and after photo of him one in which he was in shape and obviously acting for the show “Prison Break” and one which I assume was taken after the series had ended.

The second showed him chunky and out of shape but with a smile on his face.  He (Wentworth) shed light on the context of the images we (the readers) were seeing in which he was the subject of memes online.  Reading his account resonated with me that at some point or other in our lives we all have struggles with our weight, depression and emotional well-being.

Since I was a kid I’ve always been into sports, being fit and active.  Having little understanding of what it’s like to be the out of shape and/or obese population, I assumed that it’s just a simple choice to be fit and healthy or fat and unhealthy.  I always thought you just have to stop eating so much and work out more, then the weight comes off.

To a certain extent this is true, but with all the fast food advertising, hectic work schedules, school, families, and/or other responsibilities, most of us choose an unhealthy lifestyle.  We choose to gorge ourselves on ice creams, fast foods, processed foods, alcohol (beer/liquor) and sugary drinks.  There are a multitude of reasons for this  however, one critical reason is costs.

Talking with my mother about the healthcare costs in America today exploding, I came to the realization that you will either pay for your health today or pay even more for it later.  The choice does matter.

Healthy food choices are for some of us prohibitively expensive while the unhealthy food choices are readily available, relatively cheaper, quick to prepare and consume while fast tracking us on a path to poor health and high medical costs for being unhealthy.  Is this by design or a simple by-product of the modern-day consumer lifestyle we live as Americans?

In my opinion it’s a combination of both but more so by design.  There is little profit to be made off a healthy person if a healthy person doesn’t have to pay for the doctor, or expensive surgeries, medications, & specialists etc.  I equate it to the same reason GM scrapped their first electric cars when they realized the electric car was so much better than gasoline dependent vehicles and how it affected the company’s bottom line when it came to other peripheral industries they derived revenue from such as the need for mechanics, parts, labor etc.

The electric car out performed the gas-powered car and wouldn’t need the maintenance of the gasoline car or dependence on fossil fuels to power and refuel it hence dramatically cutting the costs of routine maintenance and the need for expensive mechanics/technicians, not to mention all the oil used in changing engine oil.

The electric car merely needed a quick diagnostic check and a refilling of wiper fluid that was it.  GM said no, no, no this isn’t good for our bottom-line this product will be great for the consumer but bad for business.  EV 1 program scrapped.

It’s the same with our food industry.  We choose unhealthy eating habits and diets because it’s easy and comforting.  No one becomes obese over night just as no one becomes fit and healthy over night.  It’s a steady process and lifestyle.  What we choose to consume determines how healthy we are.

Having been out of shape relatively speaking for the past few years, I’ve come to the realization that in order to change that one has to decide to eat healthy, and exercise as a lifestyle not a diet fad for a short period of time.  Finding foods that aren’t so expensive yet high in nutritional value isn’t as hard as you’d think.  The question is how much desire do you have to be financially conscious of what you choose to spend your money on feeding your body a healthy diet.  In the outer boroughs the choice is made even more difficult for those of us living at or below the poverty line.

Many supermarkets in the outer-boroughs I have found have higher costs for the same groceries that you’d find say at Trader Joes.  It’s egregious greed in my opinion because the grocers know that a large part of the population shopping their supermarkets pay for their food choices with food stamps.

For this reason they screw everyone else who isn’t on food stamps by raising the price on the products that are popularly purchased or are basic food staples.  Case in point I went to buy a loaf of bread from one such supermarket and anticipated paying $3 at the most of a single loaf.  I was shocked when I went to the cashier to pay and found that the loaf cost almost $6.  I put that loaf of bread right back where I found it and left the store.  I had the time and the patience not to settle for getting price gouged for something as simple as a loaf of bread.

For someone who hasn’t been taught how to shop healthy or save money while shopping, this fits perfectly into the scheme to fast track many of us into unhealthy choices or the simple lazy mentality that “so what this is what it costs and I’m going to get what I like to eat.”

I say all this to say that the choice to begin living and eating healthy is one that I’ve decided to embrace again and with renewed vigor.  If I can impart any wisdom or information that I have learned or gained from making this decision I want to share it with as many people as I can instead of just shaking my head in disconcert.  After all it’s a matter of what you know and don’t know and what you do with that information that will make all the difference.  Stay tuned as I update you periodically on my journey and battle for fitness, health, & healthy living.