The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment stated the following in 2010…
“Despite Colorado’s rank as one of the leanest states in the country, a report released Wednesday by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment shows the state has not escaped the national obesity epidemic. In fact, Colorado’s obesity rate climbed faster than the country’s from 1995 through 2008, rising 89 percent, while the number of obese adults nationwide rose 67 percent.
During that time, the percentage of Coloradans classified as obese nearly doubled, from 10.1 percent to 19.1 percent, or from one in 10 residents to nearly one in five. In some regions of the state, the proportion of adults who are obese exceeds the national average. Obesity rates in Colorado children, meanwhile, exceed the rates of several other states.
The dramatic rise in obesity carries severe consequences for Coloradans. Obesity is a major risk factor for chronic diseases, including diabetes and heart disease, and a major driver of health care costs. Nationally, per capita medical spending for obese people in 2006 was 42 percent greater ($1,429 per person) than spending for healthy weight people.
“Coloradans should be as concerned about the obesity epidemic as everyone else in the country,” said Eric Aakko, director of the health department’s Colorado Physical Activity and Nutrition program.”
So what can we do? Move more and eat less! Or move more and eat healthier. That’s the bottom line. Very few of us exercise as much as we should or push ourselves hard enough during the time we do spend exercising. There are several ways to make the most use of your time spent exercising to burn a maximum amount of calories both during and after a workout. Are you going to the gym and just going through the motions? Hopping on the elliptical or walking on the treadmill with a magazine in front of you? Walk in to your workout with the best intentions of pushing yourself but walk out feeling like you didn’t achieve that goal and you tell yourself “I’ll do that hard circuit next time.”? You’re better than many folks because you’re getting yourself to those workouts but you know you need to step it up a notch. Find out how to make the change and stick to it! www.fitdenver.com
Ok… so it’s almost June and many of us have been holding on to a few extra pounds to keep us warm all Winter. Well, now that Winter’s over and there’s a chance we’ll be wearing bathing suits and going sleeveless this Summer, we need to drop a layer. That layer is much easier to hide in sweaters and jeans than it is in shorts and tank tops.
