Take a trip to just about any public place in the United States and you won’t have to look too hard to see people that are overweight. Unfortunately, many people (myself included) only have to go so far as the bathroom mirror to see someone that is overweight.

According to a report on Overweight and Obesity provided by the American Heart Association, the following statistics might surprise you and should definitely scare you:

Among Americans age 20 and older, the following are overweight or obese (BMI of 25.0 and higher):

• For non-Hispanic whites, 71.0 percent of men and 57.6 percent of women.
• For non-Hispanic blacks, 67.0 percent of men and 79.6 percent of women.
• For Mexican Americans, 74.6 percent of men and 73.0 percent of women.

Of these, the following are obese (BMI of 30.0 and higher):

• For non-Hispanic whites, 30.2 percent of men and 30.7 percent of women.
• For non-Hispanic blacks, 30.8 percent of men and 51.1 percent of women.
• For Mexican Americans, 29.1 percent of men and 39.4 percent of women.

Nearly 3 out of 4 men are overweight, with 1 out of 3 being obese.

There are numerous reasons that we should all strive to be healthy and fit. Among them are the benefits such as of having more energy to play with your kids, reduce or possibly eliminate the risk of certain health disorders, and a longer expected lifespan.

If those benefits are not enough to coax you off of the couch and into the gym, here is something that will interest most men. Being fit can benefit you in the bedroom as well, as overweight men are more likely to have problems with erectile dysfunction. In addition, as you feel and look better, your spouse will likely have a hard time keeping their hands off of you.

With all of that said, I bring this up today because I wanted to share with all of you that I am making strides to adopt a healthier lifestyle for myself. Unlike Jeremy from Discovering Dad, I’m not quite ready to videotape myself on the scale but I would like to share the journey with all of you.

As I begin the process towards a healthier lifestyle, I am taking baby steps; as past efforts have started off strong and then burned out. From an exercise regimen, I am starting with simple walking – both outside with my family and on the treadmill – and traditional situps and pushups. Sounds basic I know, but I want to make it a habit before I begin to increase the intensity.

The most difficult part of a healthier lifestyle for me will be the food intake.

One of my biggest obstacles is thinking of food as fuel for my body as opposed to a source of comfort and enjoyment. Sure, people claim that eating healthy can be enjoyable but a tofu salad doesn’t sound nearly as enjoyable as a pepperoni pizza. With my schedule, I am often up late at night and have a hard time resisting the snacks. Simply cutting out the late night eating – or choosing healthier snacks – should make a big difference for me.

Based on the statistics that I mentioned earlier, I know that I am not alone in needing to adopt a healthier lifestyle. As much as we might know that we need to be healthier and even how to be healthier, we still struggle with following through and becoming healthier.

While each of us is clearly different and needs to find our own source of motivation, I thought that I would share with you my top three reasons that I am adopting a healthier lifestyle.

#1 – Me, Myself, and I

You’ve surely heard the saying that someone will not change until they are ready to change. This holds true for fitness and eating healthy as well. People can talk to me all day about the benefits of having a healthy lifestyle but they best not hold their breath waiting for me to change until I am ready to change.

I am ready to change.

With the small changes that I have begun to make, I have reached the point where I am ready to change. I’m tired of being overweight.

#2 – My Kids

According to The Surgeon General’s Call To Action To Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity, overweight adolescents have a 70% chance of becoming overweight or obese adults. This increases to 80% if one or more parent is overweight or obese.

As an overweight man myself, I do not want to see my two handsome boys grow up as overweight men. By eating healthy and making exercise a visible component of my life, my children will learn good habits and we will have the opportunity to do more things together.

Being a role model for my children, I want them to see a healthy and fit man rather than an out-of-shape couch potato.

#3 – My Wife

As much as I want to be healthy for myself, I want to be healthy for my wife. Not only are there the benefits in the bedroom that I mentioned earlier, but reducing the risk of major health disorders means we will have more time to spend together.

When I think of our retirement years, I don’t want to see either of us being in and out of hospitals with health problems that could have possibly been avoided had we been healthier. By following a healthy lifestyle, we will have more energy to do fun things together and make the most of the time that we have with one another.

Hopefully all of you will join me on this journey as well – even if you’re already leading a healthy lifestyle or are not ready to make changes in your own life. It will no doubt be a difficult change for me and I am sure that the support of the community will help keep me focused.

Who wants to help me change those alarming statistics?