Last year, a group of retired military generals and admirals made the case that the current state of childhood obesity is a national security threat.

I’ll wait while you read for yourself…
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done?

Okay, so here’s the thing. I can understand the fundamental concept of their proposition (our fighting forces need to be in excellent physical and mental condition to successfully defend the nation), but their solution is so far off the mark as to be laughable.

This isn’t a political rant, it’s a philosophical one. Childhood obesity is a problem, but it isn’t a mystery. I can tell you the secret to solving childhood obesity. You ready?

Here it is: diet and exercise.

Surprise!

Childhood obesity is solved the same way that adult obesity is. Get out and move, eat healthy, and be of a positive spirit.

When I was a boy, growing up in all the places I lived, I spent most of my free time outside, running around and playing. That has changed for kids today. Fear of injury, abduction, and any number of other unpleasantness has driven a large number of parents to keep their children inside “where it’s safe”. The addition of awesome gaming consoles add to the pleasure of staying inside. It provides an appropriate level of distraction and interaction, while keeping little Johnny or Janey safe inside.

So now another killer has reared its head: obesity. Instead of spending their formative years frolicking about the countryside, running and jumping and playing…today’s kids spend a lot of time on the computer and in front of a television. That, in and of itself, isn’t necessarily a problem. But there needs to be a balance.

This is why Martial Arts are so great. They allow a safe environment where kids can learn confidence, excellence, and integrity all the while moving around, sweating, and burning a lot of calories.

But Martial Arts aren’t a savior.

What??

I know…I was shocked when I wrote it. It takes something else to kick the obesity problem…and it isn’t found at school lunch.

There are two people who can impact childhood obesity more than any others: mom and dad.

Hey parents: Your kids, will learn important lifestyle choices by watching you. You want to combat childhood obesity…it isn’t about spending more money on school lunches, it’s about teaching your children to make proper food choices, good food choices, healthy food choices. The government isn’t going to help. Martial Arts will teach them how to protect themselves and how to have a positive and successful outlook on life.

But, until someone steps in to slap the twinkie out of Johnny Tonsoffun’s hand, there is no help.

What do you think?

The title says it all. The fitness industry has many methods of keeping myths alive so they can make money to address the false problems these myths create.

Myth 1: You need fancy/specialized/expensive products

If you have ever been up late, you have seen some silly infomercials for some ridiculous fitness products that make outlandish and foolish claims for fitness success. They suck. And, the companies that produce and market them prey on the weak and lazy. They promise fast results with little or no work.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against these companies producing these products, nor am I against them marketing and selling them. What I am against is the willingness of people (i.e. you and me) to buy into the “shortcut scheme”. You don’t get in shape by being lazy. You get in shape by working.

The Truth: There are no shortcuts

The truth is that you need none of these things to achieve your fitness goals…unless one of your fitness goals is to waste money on stupid, useless products. In which case, congratulations. Welcome to Sucksville, population YOU.

There are absolutely no shortcuts to achieving fitness goals. You have to put in the work to get the results. Save your money, spend your energy.

Myth 2: You can spot reduce

Spot reduction is the ridiculous idea that if you work a particular area of your body (e.g. your inner thigh), then that spot will begin to get firmer or less flabby. On the surface, it seems like a viable idea. Ironing a spot remove the wrinkles. Polishing a spot makes it shine. Cleaning a spot removes the dirt. So why is this different?

Because those things are inanimate objects and your body is a system of processes, and those processes react in certain ways to things that happen outside of your body.

The Truth: Fat loss occurs beyond your control

Your body will pack on fat in a specific order. For example, you may put on weight in your thighs first, then your stomach, then your face.

You with me?

So here’s the kicker…you will lose weight in the exact opposite order. That means you will lose fat in your face first, then your stomach, then your thighs. So you can work your stomach all you want, but you will never get a six-pack until you start losing fat FROM YOUR ENTIRE BODY. You’ll have very strong stomach muscles under a nice, thick layer of fat.

The only way you can get firmer is to lose the fat and you do that by working your whole body, not by working spots.

Myth 3: You can eat whatever you want

I love food. I don’t mean I enjoy an occasional meal. I mean, I LOVE food. It borders on unnatural. And I make no apologies for that. So when I hear or read an advertisement that claims, “Eat whatever you want” or some other paraphrase, it makes me think of what that would mean for me. I would eat a Chinese food and ice cream buffet.

Five times a day.

Every day.

That is, until I would have to be loaded onto a flatbed truck.

And that truck would remain parked in front of the buffet.

The Truth: Fitness requires sacrifice

Sorry folks, but the you can’t eat whatever you want. You have to make choices that lead to your goals. If you really want to get fit and lose fat (those two are not necessarily the same) you can’t do all the same things that got you fat and out of shape.

It’s that simple.

You have to change something. You have to make a sacrifice. You don’t get to eat whatever you want. You get to eat in moderation and you get to eat healthier foods. If you don’t want to, then you really don’t want to get fit and lose fat.

Myth 4: You need to lift weights

Don’t get me wrong, lifting weights is a great exercise. It helps build lean muscle mass, strengthen bones, and it can assist in improving your cardiovascular endurance. But, dude, seriously, you don’t have to lift heavy, hard, and often to lose fat or gain fitness. The primary advantage of lifting weights is to build muscle.

But lots of muscle does not make a person fit. It makes them have a lot of muscle. You need to decide for yourself what “fitness” means. If it means “having a lot of muscle”, then eat a ton and lift heavy, hard, and often.

However, if it means something else, like, say, losing 10 pounds, then you won’t have a lot of luck with weight training. There are lots of muscular folks who cannot run more than a quarter mile. Fitness is an individual goal.

Decide what yours is.

The Truth: Resistance training comes in a variety of forms

That doesn’t mean you should have some kind of resistance training in your fitness routine. You should, but it doesn’t have to require a gym membership and fancy equipment with attachments and complicated lever and pulley systems. You can use your own body weight. Exercises like lunges, push ups, crunches, planks, etc. utilize only body weight and the make for great exercises to strengthen muscle.

Myth 5: You don’t have to work hard

We are bombarded with silliness about how easy it is to lose weight or get fit (all you need to do is buy my product/system/contraption). People don’t get out of shape overnight. They don’t lay down looking like Adonis and wake up look like Homer Simpson. It takes time to get out of shape.

The reality is that it takes even more time to get back into shape. If you fall for the “get thin quick” scheme, then you really aren’t interested in being fit and thin. You’re interested in short cuts.

But, there are no short cuts.

The Truth: Your results are directly proportional to your efforts

You want to get fit. You are going to have to work. The harder you work, the better your results.

That’s life. You want it, you work for it. Period. You want to pretend and play, then that’s what you’ll get. You have to be honest about where you are, where you want to go, and how you want to get there.

Then you work. Hard.

Period.

There’s an old saying that goes, “When all is said and done, there’s more said than done.” The funny part about this saying is the reaction most people have to it. They agree with it. They may nod or think something along the lines of, ‘Yup, you got that right.’

But few of us think of ourselves in that light. We agree that OTHER people do more talking than doing. But not me. No, sir. I get stuff done.

So let’s work the numbers. If everyone else does more talking than doing, then how does anything else get done? Surely I’m not doing all of it…although sometimes it might feel like that.

Obviously there are plenty of people getting things done. Most people would categorize themselves in that group.

But we’d be wrong.

See, many of us claim to have goals, things we work toward, whether they are weight loss goals (I’m gonna lose 20 pounds), fitness goals (I’m gonna run a 10k race), professional goals (I’m gonna get a promotion), or personal goals (I’m gonna get a black belt). But, if a stranger were to observe us, would they agree that we are working toward those goals?

Here’s the rub: Most of us spend more time TALKING about what we’re going to do than we do DOING what we should do to achieve our goals. That’s a mouthful, no? Let me simplify it.

Most of us are PRETENDING that we actually want to achieve certain goals because we don’t actually live like we are trying to achieve them.

If you tell yourself (or someone else) that you want to lose 20 pounds, but you continue to eat all kinds of junk food, then you really don’t want to lose 20 pounds. You want people to think you want to lose 20 pounds. You don’t really want to lose 20 pounds. You’re pretending.

If you tell yourself (or someone else) that you want to run a 10k race, but you always have an excuse for not practicing or entering a race, then you really don’t want to run a 10k race. You want people to think you want to run a 10k race. You don’t really want to run a 10k race. You’re pretending.

If you tell yourself (or someone else) that you want a promotion, but you’re constantly late for work, then you really don’t want a promotion. You want people to think you want a promotion. You don’t really want a promotion. You’re pretending.

If you tell yourself (or someone else) that you want to get a black belt, but you never practice, then you really don’t want to get a black belt. You want people to think you want to get a black belt. You don’t really want to get a black belt. You’re pretending.

Pretending is easy. Discipline is difficult. That’s why most people talk more than they DO. But, if you’re serious, the solution is simple. Make sure that everything you do, in some way, allows you to achieve your goal.

I said it was simple. Not easy.

Just stop pretending.

One of my biggest pet peeves is one of my students telling me what he or she cannot do. I get tired of hearing, “I can’t, I can’t, I can’t.”

I get tired of it because it’s not the truth. Most of the time, when someone in class says to me, ‘I can’t,’ it means, ‘I don’t want to,’ or ‘I’m just too lazy to try my best.’ And I’m not okay with that.

And you shouldn’t be either.

The truth is, you never know what you can do until you try. Thinking that you cannot do something just because it seems hard is “stinkin’ thinkin’”, plain and simple. It is also the exact opposite of how successful people think. Successful people desire to improve, excel, and…well, succeed. They work hard at new things, because they know anything worth doing is worth doing badly…so long as you strive to improve.

Successful people don’t say, ‘I can’t.’ They say, ‘I’ll try.’

The great thing is, though, it isn’t permanent. You can choose to remove the stinkin’ thinkin’. You can choose to pursue success and excellence.

All you gotta do is try.